Irrawaddy-Apr 27
A recent meeting of China and India’s ambassadors with Myanmar’s junta-appointed electoral body has raised concerns that the two neighboring countries are offering additional disguised support to the military regime. Chen Hai, China’s ambassador to Myanmar, and Vinya Kumar, India’s ambassador to Myanmar, held separate meetings with Union Election Commission (UEC) head U Thein Soe on April 19 and 25 respectively to discuss the military regime’s planned new election, according to junta-controlled media. During the meetings, the ambassadors revealed their interest in the electoral processes of the new election, which are said to have been overseen by coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. The Myanmar military staged last year’s coup on the pretext of “massive electoral fraud” in the 2020 general election won overwhelmingly by the National League for Democracy (NLD). Army chief Min Aung Hlaing’s flimsy justification for the military takeover was condemned at home and abroad, and sparked nationwide peaceful protests against the coup that were put down brutally by the junta. Since then, a growing resistance movement has waged armed struggle against the regime. Soon after the February 1, 2021 coup, Min Aung Hlaing annulled the 2020 general election results, and said that he would organize a “free and fair” election sometime in 2023 and hand over power to the winning party. China and India’s embassies in Yangon did not respond to The Irrawaddy’s request for comment. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/interest-in-regimes-planned-election-reveals-china-and-indias-disguised-support-for-myanmar-junta.html
