The military coup in Burma poses an initial critical test for the Biden administration on how it will respond to the crisis amid its promise to coordinate with international allies and to consult more closely with Congress on foreign policy issues.
President Biden was quick to denounce the military takeover and detention of democratically elected government officials, including the Nobel laureate and leader of the Democratic Majority of the National League by Aung San Suu Kyi.
The State Department announced Tuesday that it formally considered the crisis a coup, which sparked certain sanctions and a review of U.S. assistance to the country.
There is strong bipartisan support from lawmakers for the administration to take significant action in response to the military coup in Burma, also known as Myanmar.
Congress aides on both sides of the aisle welcomed a quick communication from State Department officials to inform them of the events unfolding rapidly in the country.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers are united in their condemnation of Burma’s democratic setback and are deeply invested in ensuring the protection of vulnerable minority communities such as the Rohingya, who suffered at the hands of the Burmese military in what the United Nations has said they were equivalent to a genocide. Suu Kyi is a complicated partner for the West. It enjoys popular democratic support at home, but has been criticized internationally for not defending the rights of the Rohingya.
“The administration made the right decision to determine that a coup has taken place in Myanmar,” Senator James Risch (R-Idaho), the outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement . “This determination will ensure that the dollars of U.S. taxpayers will not benefit the military junta that mistakenly took power in the civilian-led government.”
The Burmese army, the Tatmadaw, staged its coup on Monday morning, local time, and issued a national emergency statement in response to what it said the government did not address its allegations of fraud during the November elections, accusation disputed by locals and international election observers.
According to the United Nations, Burmese President U Win Myint, dozens of other political leaders, members of his family and civil society activists were arrested. Human rights groups reported Internet outages, phone outages and bank closures.
The Tatmadaw handed over control of the country for a year to military chief General Min Aung Hlaing, who was sanctioned by the US in 2019 for his role in human rights abuses and corruption related to the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya.
A congressional aide said the Biden administration’s assessment was that things seemed a little peaceful in the country at the time and that Americans on the ground were safe. The aide said the US wants to impose additional sanctions on the Tatmadaw.
American influence through sanctions is limited. The Trump administration had severely restricted the amount of U.S. foreign assistance to the Burmese government. The vast majority of the $ 135 million in U.S. aid flows into civil society and humanitarian projects.
“The Trump administration for any other issue did not affect human rights in Myanmar,” said Joshua Kurlantzick, a senior member of Southeast Asia on the Foreign Affairs Council.
More revealing will be how Biden can leverage diplomacy to influence the Burmese army to reverse course.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said U.S. officials in Washington and around the world were “burning their phones” to keep in touch with like-minded allies in Europe, the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. in efforts to restore democracy.
“This really comes down to our broadly focused approach to foreign policy,” Price said. “We understand that in all challenges, the United States will be the most powerful country in the world, but bringing these allies, these partners, is a multiplier of forces.”
The international community’s response has been somewhat divided, with Western democracies strongly condemning the coup, while regional countries and Myanmar’s neighbors are seen as taking a more cautious approach.
A key country is Japan, which regional experts believe has close economic ties to Myanmar and the ability to exercise strategic leverage, but may not be willing to do so.
“They are reluctant to take a tougher approach towards Myanmar because it is a place of major strategic and economic importance to them,” said Kurlantzick of the Foreign Relations Council.
Although it initially called the events in Myanmar a “grave concern”, Japan on Wednesday joined G7 countries in explicitly condemning the coup, joining with European and US allies, including the United States. USA
Regional experts also take note of the response from the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has so far shown dull concern. A statement from the intergovernmental organization, which is under the presidency of Brunei, did not address the role of the military in overthrowing the democratic government.
A congressional aide said the ASEAN statement indicates that it is unlikely to take action given the organization’s need to govern by consensus among its members, which include Burma.
“ASEAN is unlikely to do anything about it, which is unfortunate, but it is certainly something to see if ASEAN member states are committed to something even if it is not successful.”
The Philippines noted that it is practical in Myanmar, with a spokesman for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte saying the military takeover was “an internal matter.”
Thailand suffered its own military coup in 2014. Its current civilian government is widely seen as a representative of the military government, with a former army chief acting as prime minister.
China, for its part, has distanced itself from criticizing the situation in Myanmar, and the Foreign Ministry said Beijing is a friendly neighbor of Rangoon and expressed “hope that all parts of Myanmar will manage adequately their differences in the constitutional and legal framework and maintain political and social stability “.
State Department spokesman Price said the instability in Burma “does not interest the Chinese,” a point echoed by Kurlantzick.
“China had established a close relationship with Aung San Suu Kyi. The military in Myanmar and China do not have good relations, “he said. “The idea that this is somehow beneficial for China is wrong.”
Chris Ankersen, a professor at the Center for Professional Studies at the NYU School for Professional Affairs, said the rare alignment between Washington and Beijing could be an opportunity for cooperation.
“National security adviser Jake Sullivan
Jake Sullivan Xi Jinping increases pressure on Biden: Will Kim Jong Un join the battle? Recalibration of US strategy for peace in Afghanistan Biden’s task is to build a better national security policy MORE he has recently noted that he wants a dimension of China to be added to all foreign policy issues. This presents a clear opening to see how this intention unfolds, ”he said in an email to The Hill.
This cooperation did not occur during an emergency meeting in Myanmar at the United Nations Security Council, where the United States and China are permanent members.
Tuesday’s meeting ended without a joint statement, although UN special envoy for Burma Christine Schraner Burgener urged the body to “send a clear signal of support for democracy in Myanmar.”
“I call on this Council, especially any member who has influence over the military, to exercise its prevention and human rights obligations to help ensure the protection of lives and civil liberties,” Schraner Burgener said.