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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Burmese protest as US sanctions generals
People hold up a caricature of Chinese President Xi Jinping and coup leader Burmese Senior General Min Aung Hlaing at a protest against the military coup in front of the Chinese embassy in Yangon, Myanmar, yesterday. Photo: EPA-EFE
NEW DEMONSTRATIONS: US President Joe Biden announced that his administration was freezing coup-leading generals’ access to US$1 billion in funds in US institutions
/ AFP, YANGON, Myanmar
Anti-coup protesters yesterday took to the streets of Myanmar for a sixth consecutive day, after US President Joe Biden announced sanctions against the nation’s generals and demanded that they relinquish power.
There has been an outpouring of anger and defiance since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi last week and detained her along with other senior figures of her National League for Democracy （NLD） party.
Security forces have used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets against the protesters, with isolated reports of live rounds also being fired. Police also ramped up their harassment of the NLD with a raid on its headquarters.
However, demonstrators again yesterday marched peacefully in Naypyidaw — the capital and military stronghold — as well as Yangon, the largest city and commercial hub, which saw tens of thousands flood into the streets.
“Don’t go to the office,” chanted a group of protesters outside Myanmar’s central bank in Yangon, part of an effort urging civil servants and people in other industries to boycott work and put pressure on the junta.
“We aren’t doing this for a week or a month — we are determined to do this until the end when [Aung San Suu Kyi] and President Win Myint are released,” one protesting bank employee said.
Joining the protest were dozens from the ethnic Karen, Rakhine and Kachin minority groups, marching down Yangon’s main Myaynigone Boulevard.
“Our ethnic armed groups and ethnic people have to join together to fight against the military dictatorship,” said Saw Z Net, an ethnic Karen protester and sound engineer.
There are more than 130 ethnic minority groups across Myanmar, some of whom have been forced to flee their homes due to clashes between the military and ethnic armed groups, who agitate for autonomy in various states.
Fresh rallies also cropped up in the cities of Dawei and Mandalay, with protesters carrying signs that read: “Restore our Democracy” and “We condemn the military coup.”
Western nations have repeatedly denounced the coup, with the US leading calls for the generals to relinquish power.
In the most significant concrete action to pressure the junta, Biden on Wednesday announced that his administration was cutting off the generals’ access to US$1 billion in funds in the US.
“I again call on the Burmese military to immediately release democratic political leaders and activists,” Biden said, as he flagged further sanctions.
“The military must relinquish power,” he said.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has also said that the bloc could impose fresh sanctions on the Burmese military.
There were more reports of arrests yesterday, including the deputy speaker of the parliament’s lower house and a key aide to Aung San Suu Kyi, taking the number of coup-linked detentions to more than 200, monitor Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said.
The military justified last week’s power grab by claiming widespread voter fraud in the polls held in November last year, which saw a landslide for Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.
It quickly moved to stack courts and political offices with loyalists, as it ended a decade of civilian rule.
Fears are growing over how long the junta will tolerate the protests.
Live rounds were fired at a rally in Naypyidaw this week, critically wounding two people — including a woman who was shot in the head.
Images showing the woman have been shared widely online alongside expressions of grief and fury.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
