In a situation where many territories of the country have fallen into the hands of the revolutionary forces and even the city of Mandalay is engulfed in flames of conflict, the second and former dictator Than Shwe has stooped to foreign influence by pleading with the Chinese government to save the military council’s life through foreign assistance.
On August 14, former dictator Than Shwe met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Naypyidaw and expressed that China should protect Myanmar from foreign interference and provide valuable support for maintaining its domestic stability.
Essentially, Than Shwe’s statements can be interpreted as a plea to the Chinese government to save the struggling military council which is on the verge of eradication.
On August 14, in Naypyidaw, the military coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, and former dictator Than Shwe met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. During the meeting, the Chinese foreign minister reaffirmed China’s strong opposition to foreign intervention in Myanmar’s affairs and expressed support for the five-point roadmap of the military council, offering comfort to the fatigued dictators.
Supporting the military council’s five-point roadmap is a clear opposition to the Myanmar people’s Spring Revolution, which has fiercely resisted the military coup. However, the Chinese foreign minister also dared to emphasize that China’s policy toward Myanmar is focused on the whole populace of Myanmar.
During his visit to Naypyidaw, the Chinese foreign minister restated that China firmly practices the non-interference policy in Myanmar’s internal affairs. Moreover, at a discussion among the foreign ministers of Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and China held in Thailand on August 16, he again emphasized China’s non-interference stance in Myanmar’s internal issues and outlined three fundamental principles that must be upheld.
These three principles are: preventing instability and civil war in Myanmar, preventing Myanmar from drifting away from ASEAN’s path, and not allowing external forces to infiltrate and interfere as they wish.
While the Chinese foreign minister was laying down these principles, Myanmar has already been inflicted with flames of conflict. What sort of root cause has affected the raging fire? The root cause of the problem must be identified and understood to be able to truly address the instability and conflicts.
The root cause of the problem is the lingering military dictatorship, which recklessly attempted a failed coup in 2021.
China pretends to be unaware of the instability and conflicts caused by this dictatorship. Moreover, China points fingers at those trying to confront and resolve the issues caused by this dictatorship, treating them as if they are the ones creating the instability, while conveniently forgetting all the atrocities committed by the military council and even guiding Myanmar to walk along the path laid out by the military.
China has no desire to confront or denounce the failed coup, the war crimes committed by the military council, its ongoing attacks on civilians, and its unwillingness to engage in dialogue, all in the name of non-interference. Additionally, promoting the military’s roadmap calls into question the goodwill and moral integrity of this neighboring country towards the people of Myanmar.
It is acceptable that China’s foreign minister expressed concern about the current situation in Myanmar. As he highlighted during the meeting with Min Aung Hlaing, that if there is to be a long-term peaceful solution, China should not disregard the will of the Myanmar people by engaging only with the military council.
Nevertheless, the people of Myanmar continue to pave their way with self-reliance and determination toward the victory of the Spring Revolution.
