U.S. seeks sanctions over coup in Myanmar

Biden walks fine line, not wanting to push country into China’s sphere

The United States on Tuesday declared the military roundup of civilian leaders in Myanmar a coup, and said it would look for ways to impose more sanctions or other penalties on the country’s military and officers.

The military power grab poses challenges for the two-weekold Biden administration, which says it wants to support wobbly democracy movements globally, but also wants to avoid driving countries like Myanmar toward China.

And with Myanmar’s generals already under U.S. sanctions over the brutal campaign against the country’s Muslim Rohingya minority, it was unclear how much effect any new penalties could have. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, an ardent supporter of Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, called Tuesday for “the strongest possible sanctions” and a U.S.-led effort to rally international condemnation against the coup leaders, including in the UN.

Biden administration officials had held off on describing the military’s weekend roundup as an outright takeover. State Department officials said Tuesday they were satisfied the move met the legal definition of a coup.

Whatever penalties the U.S. decides on will spare direct humanitarian aid to the country’s people, the State Department said.

The weekend military roundup swept up Suu Kyi and other political and elected officials. Hundreds of parliament members were confined to a government housing complex.