Irrawaddy-Sept 24
Japan has become the latest country to downgrade diplomatic ties with Myanmar’s military regime, with plans to replace its ambassador with a lower-ranked representative. Sources familiar with the matter said the current ambassador, Ichiro Maruyama, will end his term soon and be replaced by a Chargé d’Affaires – a second-ranking diplomat. The Irrawaddy has learned that a Mr. Yoshitake has been in position as Chargé d’Affaires since Sept.15 and is in Yangon. The US, UK, Australia and other western countries downgraded their diplomatic representatives in Myanmar to Chargé d’Affaires following the 2021 military coup.
The downgrades were seen as a refusal to legitimize a military regime whose human rights violations include a deadly crackdown on peaceful protesters and airstrikes against civilian populations. The Irrawaddy’s request for comment from the Japanese Embassy in Yangon went unanswered on Tuesday.
Since the 2021 coup, Japan has joined other global powers in urging the regime to halt violence immediately, release political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and restore democracy. When the junta escalated its bloody crackdowns on peaceful protests in March 2021, Ambassador Maruyama met regime foreign minister Wanna Maung Lwin in Naypyitaw to call for an end to the killings and the release of all dissident detainees.
The military-controlled MRTV announced instead that the talks addressed the maintenance and enhancement of friendly bilateral relations, prompting the embassy in Yangon to release a clarification. On the third anniversary of the coup in February this year, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said she condemned a “situation where the Myanmar military has repeatedly extended the state of emergency without working towards a peaceful resolution while many innocent civilians are killed and wounded daily by air strikes and other acts of violence.” Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmars-crisis-the-world/japan-downgrades-diplomatic-ties-with-myanmar-junta.html
