Myanmar’s junta declares it will enforce military service laws for young people

The Guardian
Guardian staff and agencies
Sun 11 Feb 2024 

State media report all men aged 18-35 and women 18-27 must serve for up to two years and up to five years in a state of emergency 

Myanmar's military-controlled government has been gripped by chaos since seizing power from an elected government in a 2021 coup. Photograph: Aung Shine Oo/AP 

 

Myanmar’s junta has declared mandatory military service for all young men and women, state media said, as it struggles to contain armed rebel forces fighting for greater autonomy in various parts of the country.

Myanmar’s junta kills off all economic hope

ASIA TIME
BERTIL LINTNER
November 3, 2021

A Myanmar shopkeeper counts out kyat notes in Yangon's Pazundaung market in in March 2020. Photo: AFP

As Myanmar descends deeper and deeper into civil war, a conflict driven by nationwide resistance to the military’s disastrous democracy-suspending coup, the economy is taking the brunt of the chaotic collateral damage.

The February 1 coup sparked countrywide labor strikes, runs on banks and now rising warfare punctuated by bomb blasts in key urban areas including the commercial capital of Yangon.

That’s all put the economy in a tailspin while raising stability risks that have caused a growing number of foreign investors to either suspend or abandon their operations and outlays, many committed earlier on the belief Myanmar’s “last frontier” market was moving in a new hopeful democratic direction.

Are formal interactions with China helping legitimise Myanmar’s junta in the eyes of the world?

SCMP

Pei-Hua Yu
10 Jun, 2021

• A recent Chinese embassy statement referring to coup architect Min Aung Hlaing as the ‘leader of Myanmar’ is among the exchanges decried by the shadow National Unity Government
• But analysts say while there are concerns over Beijing’s actions, they should not be over-interpreted – and Asean’s next moves could play a significant role in how the regime is perceived

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) bumps elbows with junta representative Wunna Maung Lwin at a June 8 meeting marking the 30th anniversary of formal relations between China and Asean. Photo: Xinhua

Recent formal interactions between Myanmar’s junta and officials from China have raised questions about whether the generals who staged February’s coup are garnering international recognition as the Southeast Asian nation’s legitimate executive authority.

US Targets Myanmar’s Junta-Controlled Jade Sector in New Sanctions

Radio Free Asia

Richard Finney

2021-04-08

A buyer checks a jade stone during the annual Myanmar Jade, Gems, and Pearl Emporium in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw, Sept. 16, 2019. AFP

The United States on Thursday announced new sanctions targeting the country’s multi-billion dollar jade industry, a sector long controlled by Myanmar military figures responsible for ousting the country’s democratically elected government in a coup on Feb. 1.

The move follows economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and UK at the end of March on other military companies controlled by the junta, and aims to block the flow of revenue supporting junta leaders and military operations in Myanmar that have killed more than 600 civilian protesters to date.