China blocks UN condemnation of Myanmar coup

 

China has blocked a UN Security Council statement condemning the military coup in Myanmar.

 

The military took power in the south-east Asian nation on Monday after arresting political leader Aung San Suu Kyi and hundreds of other lawmakers.

 

The coup leaders have since formed a supreme council which will sit above the cabinet.

 

In Myanmar's biggest city Yangon though, signs of resistance and civil disobedience have been growing view more info….

 

The United Nations Security Council met on Tuesday but failed to agree on a joint statement after China did not support it.

 

A joint statement would have needed China's support which holds veto power as a permanent member of the (UN) Security Council.

 

Ahead of the talks, the UN's Special Envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner had strongly condemned the military takeover which came after the army refused to accept the outcome of general elections held in November view more info….

 

She said it was clear that "the recent outcome of the election was a landslide victory" for Ms Suu Kyi's party.

 

'An internal issue'

"Through this foreign policy equivalent of gaslighting, China seems to be signalling its tacit support, if not emphatic endorsement, for the generals' actions," Myanmar expert Elliott Prasse-Freeman, of the National University of Singapore, told the BBC.

 

"China seems to be proceeding as if this is Myanmar's 'internal issue' in which what we are observing is a 'cabinet reshuffle,' as China's state media put it."

 

While he thinks a UN statement would not have made an immediate difference, it would still serve as "a first step for cohering an international response. That appears to not be forthcoming" view more info….