Burma / Myanmar
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Partnerships
Southeast Asian leaders urge end of Myanmar violence, inclusive talks
Reuters Southeast Asian leaders meeting in Indonesia called for an immediate end to violence in military-ruled Myanmar, in an effort to create a window for talks and the delivery of humanitarian aid as fighting intensifies. “We were deeply concerned with ongoing violence in Myanmar and urged the immediate cessation of all forms of violence and the use of force,” leaders…
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Southeast Asia
PRC prioritizes national interests over peaceful resolution in Myanmar
FORUM Staff The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) and Chinese government’s interests in war-torn Myanmar are largely self-serving. Since a military coup in February 2021 plunged the nation into chaos, the party’s support, which has included supplying military weapons, has fluctuated between the junta and the resistance movement, and sometimes to both simultaneously. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) generally favors…
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Conflicts - Tensions
PRC, Russia deepen ties amid Beijing’s unconvincing call for peace
FORUM Staff On the heels of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) dubious peace plan in Russia’s war against Ukraine, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping paid a three-day visit to Moscow in March 2023. The PRC billed the trip as a “visit of friendship, cooperation and peace” as Beijing attempts to paint itself as a neutral party…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Russian support for Myanmar junta ‘destabilizing’ Southeast Asia, U.S envoy says
Reuters Russia’s backing for Myanmar’s military rulers is unacceptable and destabilizing, with Moscow’s supply of weapons helping to fuel a conflict that has become a catastrophe for the Southeast Asian country, a top United States official said in March 2023. The U.S. is concerned about the wider impact of the escalating crisis in Myanmar since a coup in February 2021…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Women key to Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement
Dr. Miemie Winn Byrd The military coup in Myanmar has given rise to a widespread pro-democracy movement, with women accounting for an estimated 60% of participants These women not only have assumed combat roles but also are vital to nonlethal resistance efforts. The Karenni Nationalities Defense Force Battalion 5 was the first ethnic armed organization (EAO) to form a female…
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Key Issues
Hope for peace, democracy inspires Myanmar resistance movement
FORUM Staff Myanmar’s disparate resistance groups share a vision of a democratic nation and have made progress toward that end. Many observers agree: If opponents of the brutal armed forces that took over Myanmar two years ago coalesce, and international condemnation is backed by action, the ousted democratically elected government can prevail. Since the military coup February 1, 2021, the…
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Key Issues
An Indo-Pacific view: 5 key issues to watch in 2023
FORUM Staff A year that erupted with seismic events — one geological, the other geopolitical — rumbled to its close with war still raging in Europe but also with the forging of partnerships for peace in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Just weeks after an underwater volcano in the Pacific Ocean’s Ring of Fire spewed an immense cloud of ash and…
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Key Issues
ASEAN issues warning to Myanmar’s military junta
FORUM Staff Southeast Asian leaders warned Myanmar’s military junta in November 2022 that it faces further isolation from a regional bloc unless it moves forward with a languishing peace plan nearly two years after seizing power in a coup and unleashing a bloody crackdown to quell a pro-democracy uprising. In a statement issued during its dayslong series of summits in…
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Key Issues
ASEAN rebukes Myanmar’s junta for lack of progress toward peace
FORUM Staff Myanmar’s military junta has brutally repressed political opponents and civilian protesters while largely ignoring a plan devised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to work toward peace and democratic reforms. In a communique issued in early August 2022, foreign ministers from nine members of the 10-nation bloc “expressed our concerns over the prolonged political crisis in…
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Key Issues
EU, Southeast Asia to hold first full summit amid security fears
Reuters European Union (EU) and Southeast Asian nations will hold their first full summit in December 2022, a sign that the two blocs are looking for closer ties amid concerns about security threats from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia, officials told Reuters. The summit, to be held in Brussels on December 14, 2022, is seen as a…
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