\WASHINGTON: United States President Joe Biden called on Myanmar’s military to relinquish power immediately and ordered a review to consider reimposing sanctions lifted during the nation’s transition to democracy.
“The international community should come together in one voice to press the Burmese military to immediately relinquish the power they have seized,” Biden said in a statement. “The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy,” he said, using Myanmar’s former name.
“The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action. The United States will stand up for democracy wherever it is under attack.”
Myanmar’s transition had initially been seen as a major success story of the administration of former president Barack Obama, in which Biden served as vice president, with the strategically placed country seen as moving toward democracy and away from China’s orbit.
But Myanmar’s once iconic democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi drew Western criticism over her reticence to condemn mass killings of Rohingya Muslims. On Monday, the military arrested her and other politicians after her party scored another sweeping election victory.
“The United States is taking note of those who stand with the people of Burma in this difficult hour,” Biden said, in what was likely a veiled reference to China “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.”
Biden’s administration is under pressure for a swift and strong US response to the military takeover in Myanmar, a crisis that could be the first major test of its bid to work with allies on a new Asia strategy to stand up to China.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Myanmar military leaders to release Suu Kyi and others detained and the White House said it opposed any attempt to alter the outcome of Myanmar’s November 8 elections, while vowing “action against those responsible if these steps are not reversed.”
The US government did not specify what measures might be under consideration but it could strengthen sanctions already in place and impose new ones on Myanmar.
The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, Robert Menendez, said the United States and other countries “should impose strict economic sanctions, as well as other measures” against Myanmar’s army and the military leadership if they did not free the elected leaders and remove themselves from government.
“The launch of another coup is a tragedy for the people of Burma after a decade of work to establish a civilian-led democratic government,” Menendez said in a statement.
Menendez charged that the Myanmar army was guilty of “genocide” against minority Rohingya Muslims – a determination yet to be stated by the US. government – and of a sustained campaign of violence against other minorities.
A senior House of Representatives Democrat, Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, also called for sanctions on “the senior military leaders responsible for this coup.”
The events in Myanmar are a significant blow for the Biden administration and its effort to forge a robust Asia Pacific policy to stand up to China.
