{"id":227979,"date":"2021-02-18T20:10:04","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T04:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=227979"},"modified":"2022-09-09T18:20:40","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T01:20:40","slug":"myanmar-coup-puts-china-in-tough-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2021\/02\/myanmar-coup-puts-china-in-tough-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"Myanmar Coup Puts China In Tough Spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Disinformation linking Myanmar\u2019s recent coup d\u2019\u00e9tat<\/a> to Chinese influence has inspired anti-China protests in the capital, Yangon. Protesters\u2019 suspicions were inflamed by a meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Myanmar\u2019s senior military staff<\/a> that took place just weeks before the coup and a peculiar statement issued by Xinhua<\/a> in the immediate wake of the coup describing it as a \u201cmajor cabinet reshuffle.\u201d International relations experts point out that it is highly unlikely that China orchestrated the coup seeing as Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar\u2019s deposed leader, had guided the two countries\u2019 rapprochement in recent years. At The Financial Times, John Reed and Edward White wrote about Myanmar youth\u2019s conviction that China is behind the coup, the absence of evidence notwithstanding<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

Anti-coup demonstrators have massed outside the Chinese embassy in Yangon over the past week, holding placards attacking Beijing or showing President Xi Jinping dangling senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta chief, by marionette strings.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] \u201cChina! Don\u2019t make firewall to block internet in Myanmar,\u201d one of the signs held up by protesters at a recent embassy protest said.<\/p>\n

A junta spokesman on Tuesday denied China was building a firewall, adding that Myanmar had enough experts to do so itself.<\/p>\n

Chinese officials have sent ambiguous and at times conflicting signals about Beijing\u2019s stance since the coup. However, the youth taking to Myanmar\u2019s streets and social media in hopes of reversing the coup have made up their minds that China is involved. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rumors of internet censorship have been particularly inflammatory. The term \u201cMyanmar Great Fire Wall\u201d is even censored in China<\/a>, according to CDT Chinese\u2019s weekly Sensitive Words Series. The term doesn\u2019t return search results on Zhihu, a popular social media network, and searches on Weibo and Weixin lead to results displaying Chinese embassy denials. In an interview with local media, republished by Global Times<\/a>, China\u2019s ambassador to Myanmar called the accusations \u201cnonsense and even ridiculous,\u201d warning that the rumors \u201conly [prove] to have manipulation and instigation by forces with ulterior motives behind the scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The youth counter-coup protesters\u2019 suspicion is, according to James Palmer at Foreign Policy,<\/a> a reflection of China\u2019s new preeminence in the region: \u201cChina is blamed even when it hasn\u2019t actually done much. As with anti-U.S. feelings, resentment follows hegemony.\u201d Myanmar youth have seemingly been paying close attention to similar democracy movements across Southeast Asia, including that of Hong Kong in 2019. At The Wall Street Journal, Feliz Solomon wrote about Myanmar protesters\u2019 adoption of the three-finger salute inspired by \u201cThe Hunger Games\u201d <\/strong><\/a>and popularized by protesters in Thailand in 2014<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Asia\u2019s pro-democracy activists have adapted, often by developing flexible strategies. Thai activists embraced a motto popularized during Hong Kong\u2019s 2019 protests, borrowed from kung-fu legend Bruce Lee: \u201cbe water.\u201d The phrase came to signify fluid protests that were hard for authorities to get ahead of. In recent weeks, activists in Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan and elsewhere have also shown support for the demonstrations in Myanmar online and in smaller protests abroad.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] Two Thai campaigners who helped popularize the three-finger salute, Mr. Rittipong and Sombat Boonngamanong, say that to them, the gesture represented the French Revolution values of liberty, equality and fraternity. It quickly took on new meaning, adopted by counterparts in Hong Kong during the 2014 \u201cUmbrella Protests\u201d demanding universal suffrage, and now in Myanmar\u2019s anticoup demonstrations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s universal,\u201d Mr. Sombat said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about one country, it\u2019s a symbol for all people who want freedom.\u201d [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Chinese government has been comparatively reticent on the coup, most likely because it has thrown the two countries\u2019 relationship into flux. According to experts interviewed by The New York Times\u2019 Steven Lee Myers and Hannah Beech, China will have difficulties engaging with the generals behind the coup, and might lament the overthrow of Aung San Suu Kyi, with whom they had cultivated close ties<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

The coup poses challenges of its own for China. The country\u2019s leader, Xi Jinping, had cultivated closer political ties with Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy. As Myanmar\u2019s civilian leader, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi visited China more than any other foreign country.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] \u201cThey spent considerable energy, time cultivating Aung San Suu Kyi \u2014 with some success,\u201d [Bilahari Kausikan, a former Singapore diplomat] said. \u201cNow they have to start again with a new bunch of generals, and these generals are not just difficult for the West. They\u2019re difficult for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u2026] \u201cChina\u2019s relationship with Myanmar is not dependent on who is in power,\u201d said [Yun Sun, the director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington]. \u201cWhoever in power will always need to work with China. The difference is with the quality of the partnership, and the costs that China has to carry for it.\u201d [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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China is Myanmar's friendly neighbor.Both the NLD&the military have friendly ties with China. We hope that parties in Myanmar will put their people's wishes&interests first, address differences through talks within constitutional&legal framework&ensure political&social stability.<\/p>\n

— Spokesperson\u53d1\u8a00\u4eba\u529e\u516c\u5ba4 (@MFA_China) February 19, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n