Don't Know About Myanmar Coup, Chinese Ambassador Says Beijing Establishes Good Relations With Aung San Suu Kyi And LDP

Demonstration against Myanmar military coup. (Wikimedia Commons / Ninjastrikers)

JAKARTA - Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai said the current situation in Myanmar was not what China had hoped for.

In addition, Ambassador Chen said that Beijing was not informed of Myanmar's planned military coup. Launching The Irrawaddy, Myanmar Military Leader and coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, just 20 days before staging a coup and detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint.

"China hopes that all parties in Myanmar can properly handle the current issue through dialogue and consultation, getting back on track as soon as possible," said Ambassador Chen.

He further said that Beijing wants things to work out well for Myanmar, which is China's southern neighbor, rather than seeing it become unstable or even fall into chaos.

"The National League for Democracy (LDP) and the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) maintain friendly relations with China," the ambassador said.

Demonstrations demand the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. (Twitter / @ kyawthe47410367)

The LDP was the winning party for the Myanmar elections in November 2020, whose results were not recognized by the Myanmar military. Apart from being led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the party has many officials detained by the military in this coup.

Apart from the LDP, Ambassador Chen also said that Beijing maintains good relations with Aung San Suu Kyi. According to him, both parties are committed to building a China Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), part of Beijing's international infrastructure development scheme (Belt and Road Initiative-BRI) and cooperation in other fields.

"We are watching the situation for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and others," said the Chinese ambassador.

This statement was issued after Myanmar citizens accused China, along with Russia, of supporting the Myanmar military coup. This is because China did not condemn the military coup, instead saying it was a massive cabinet reshuffle. Along with Russia, China also vetoed the UN Security Council's efforts to condemn Myanmar's military coup.

The anti-Chinese and Russian movements followed by a boycott of the products of the two countries were echoed in Myanmar. They also held demonstrations in front of the Chinese Embassy and the Russian Embassy in Myanmar.