‘Rule by force’ draws support from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Myanmar’s military, which overthrew the democratic government in a coup, is expanding its “rule by force” by taking advantage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. e international community must not sit idly by.

More than a year has passed since the coup, and the pro-democracy elements have been driven into a di cult position. In urban areas, Aung San Suu Kyi, who led the democratic government, and other senior o cials have been detained and their political activities have been blocked. Citizen protests have also been suppressed by the military.

In remote areas, ethnic minority militants have cooperated with some pro-democracy forces in armed clashes with the military. In response, the commander-in-chief of the military declared in a speech that he considered the opposition forces terrorists and would annihilate them all.

e military commemorative ceremony at which the speech was delivered featured weapons, including ghter jets, tanks and missile-equipped vehicles.

e aim was apparently to show o the overwhelming power of the military and make people who are resisting lose the will to ght.

It is obvious that the Ukrainian crisis is behind the military’s hard-line stance.

ere has been no change in that both Russia and the Myanmar military are trying to make their rule a fait accompli by using military power to in ict blows and instill fear into their opponents. In both cases, pressure from the international community’s sanctions is being thwarted.

e U.N. special rapporteur noted that China and Russia continue to provide weapons to the Myanmar military and urged the U.N. Security Council to take action, but the situation has not improved. is is because the Security Council is unable to come up with measures to pressure the military due to opposition from permanent members China and Russia.

e Myanmar military itself has been repressing the people, rather than protecting them. Since the coup, the death toll from military violence has exceeded 1,700 and the number of refugees has reached 500,000. China and Russia bear an extremely heavy responsibility.

e Association of Southeast Asian

Nations (ASEAN) has also been unable to make its presence felt. It had agreed with the Myanmar military to send a special envoy to resolve the situation, but it took nearly a year to implement the agreement.

In addition, the envoy only met with the commander-in-chief and others, but was not allowed to meet with Suu Kyi, thus failing to play a mediating role at all.

e military has also not complied with the immediate cessation of violence that was supposed to have been agreed upon with ASEAN.

e situation in Myanmar is shaking ASEAN’s founding principle of “regional peace and stability.” ASEAN should force the military to change its behavior with a view to imposing sanctions on Myanmar or even expelling the country from its membership.

In Afghanistan, as well, the oppressive rule of the Taliban regime has been pointed out. Even while the eyes of the world are focused on the crisis in Ukraine, there is a need to continue paying attention to the people su ering in Myanmar and Afghanistan.