The United States has threatened to reimpose sanctions on Myanmar’s generals after they seized power in a coup and and called for a concerted international response to press them to relinquish power. Whereabouts of detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi remain unknown on Tuesday, more than 24 hours after her arrest.
Biden assailed the country’s army for the coup, calling it a “direct assault on the country’s transition to democracy and rule of law.” The coup in Myanmar, also known as Burma, has also been roundly condemned internationally.
The UN Security Council was due to meet later on Tuesday, diplomats said, amid calls for a strong global response to the military’s arrest of the Noble Peace laureate and dozens of her political allies on dawn raids on Monday.
The army handed power to General Min Aung Hlaing and imposed a state of emergency for a year, crushing hopes of the poverty-stricken country also known as Burma. Myanmar has been a Western democracy promotion project for decades and had been a symbol of some success. But over the past several years, there have been growing concerns about its backsliding into authoritarianism.
The crisis in Myanmar is one of the first major tests of Biden’s pledge to collaborate more with allies on international challenges, especially on China’s rising influence.
“The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy. The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action,” Biden said in a statement.
“We will work with our partners throughout the region and the world to support the restoration of democracy and the rule of law, as well as to hold accountable those responsible for overturning Burma’s democratic transition,” he said. The streets of Myanmar were quiet overnight during the curfew already in place to stop the spread of Covid. Troops and riot police took up positions in the capital, Naypyitaw, and the main commercial centre Yangon. By Tuesday morning, phone and internet connections were running again but usually bustling market places were quiet and the airport in the commercial hub of Yangon was closed.
