＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49) on X
(Reference) Original article in Japanese
・ミャンマーの「軍事クーデター」の背後に中国の影！？今後日本への影響は？
1. Military Coup in Myanmar
On February 1, 2021, news broke of a military coup in Myanmar, in which State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), and other ruling party members were arrested.
“First Vice President Min Sue, a former military officer, became interim president,” and “a one-year state of emergency was declared, with the military seizing power.”
Furthermore, the Myanmar military unilaterally declared that all power had been transferred to “Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing,” making him the “de facto national leader.”
The return of military rule in Myanmar, less than 10 years after the “transition to civilian rule” in 2011, has drawn widespread criticism from the United Nations and Western countries. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato requested a “peaceful resolution” from those involved, and Foreign Minister Motegi expressed “serious concern about the undermining of the democratization process.”
2. Background to the military coup
(1) Election fraud issue
The military’s claim of “election fraud” regarding the general election held on November 8, 2020, is the background to this military coup.
The results of Myanmar’s general election showed the ruling NLD winning 396 seats, more than the previous election, a landslide victory representing over 80% of the 476 seats up for re-election. The military appears to be questioning this result.
However, “election monitoring groups” from Japan and Western countries maintain that “the election was fair.”
In the 2020 US presidential election, former President Trump also claimed “election fraud.” While this resulted in the “Capitol storming incident” by Trump supporters on January 6th of this year, it was largely resolved with the inauguration of President Biden on January 20th.
(2) No progress in peace talks with ethnic armed groups
Because there has been no progress in “peace talks with ethnic armed groups,” which was considered the biggest challenge for the Aung San Suu Kyi administration, prior predictions had anticipated that the “NLD would struggle.” However, the result was a “landslide victory for the NLD.”
Incidentally, while many of the “ethnic minority armed groups” sat down at the peace talks table, there is also information that China is behind some of the ethnic minority armed groups that are still resisting.
(3) The issue of persecution of the Rohingya ethnic minority
Following the August 2017 military crackdown, which the UN has described as potentially constituting Rohingya genocide, approximately 740,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar’s Rakhine State to Bangladesh as refugees.
Aung San Suu Kyi, then the de facto leader of Myanmar’s government, defended the military at a 2019 International Criminal Court (ICC) hearing on atrocities against the Rohingya, including sexual assault and murder.
Fareed Ula, a leader of a refugee camp in Bangladesh, said upon hearing of Suu Kyi’s arrest, “She is the cause of all our suffering. There is no reason not to celebrate.” Another leader, Mohammad Yusuf, expressed his dissatisfaction, stating, “She was our last hope, yet she ignored our plight and supported genocide against the Rohingya.”
In this general election, a large number of Rohingya living in western Rakhine State were denied the right to vote as “illegal immigrants.” Furthermore, voting in some areas where ethnic minority parties have strongholds was canceled due to security concerns, resulting in the deprivation of voting rights for over one million people.
(4) The military’s final use of force after protests against election irregularities were ignored
The military protested the general election, claiming irregularities, and its supporters called for an investigation. On January 26, the military hinted at the possibility of a coup.
However, the Election Commission issued a statement declaring that the general election was conducted fairly and transparently, and the United Nations, the US, and the EU called on the Myanmar military to “respect the election results.”
On January 28, talks were held between the government and the military to resolve the situation. During these talks, the military requested a recount of votes and a postponement of the parliamentary session, but the government refused.
On January 31st, the day before the parliamentary session opened, the military claimed that there was a possibility of over 10.5 million cases of fraud in the general election and opposed the parliament’s opening on February 1st.
Ultimately, negotiations broke down, leading the military to resort to force.
3. Expectations for a thorough investigation into the “election fraud issue” and concerns about China’s neocolonialism, the “Belt and Road Initiative”
While the military may not have been able to fully control the situation, the Aung San Suu Kyi government has not been sincere in its response to human rights issues, such as neglecting the persecution of the Rohingya.
Recently, the Aung San Suu Kyi government has been rapidly drawing closer to China, which has the Belt and Road Initiative, including receiving economic aid from China.
China has territorial disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia in the South China Sea, so it likely wants to secure a route to transport oil and other goods via Myanmar through the Indian Ocean, avoiding the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca.
There is no doubt that China is trying to draw Myanmar into its ranks, and a military regime is more convenient for China, which is probably why they are not condemning the coup. This is because a military regime would likely lead to economic sanctions from Western countries, further increasing Myanmar’s dependence on China, which is advantageous for China.
If there was “election fraud” as the military claims, I hope for a thorough investigation by an impartial third-party organization.
However, given that 433 Japanese companies have established a presence in Myanmar, I hope the Japanese government will maintain close contact with the military regime and take all necessary measures to protect these companies.
Considering the potential for economic sanctions led by Western countries and concerns about political instability, I believe now is the time to further promote the return of manufacturing to Japan.
4. Who is State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi?
Aung San Suu Kyi (born 1945) was born in Rangoon (present-day Yangon), the capital of Burma, as the eldest daughter of General Aung San (1915-1947), revered as the “father of modern Burma” for his struggle against British colonial rule.
Her father was assassinated in 1947 when she was two years old. After General Ne Win’s coup in 1962, she moved to New Delhi with her mother, who had been appointed ambassador to India.
She later studied at Oxford University and married a British Tibetan scholar in 1972; they have two sons.
In April 1988, she returned to Burma to visit her ailing mother, during a turbulent period of rising pro-democracy movements.
In August of the same year, when the Sein Lwin regime collapsed and a new military junta was established, she rose to prominence as a central figure in the anti-government forces, advocating for the “early realization of democratization” at the “United Front Rally.”
In September of the same year, he became the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD), Myanmar’s largest opposition party.
In June 1989, the military regime’s Council for the Restoration of Law and Order changed the country’s English name from “Burma” to “Myanmar.” However, anti-government movements intensified again around this time, leading to his house arrest in Yangon by the military regime in July. He was subsequently banned from political activities and remained under intermittent house arrest until 2010.
While under house arrest in 1991, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his “courage in the nonviolent struggle for democracy and human rights.”
His house arrest was lifted in November 2010. Myanmar transitioned to civilian rule in the spring of 2011. In January 2012, he was elected Chairman (party leader) of the NLD, and in April, he was elected to the Lower House of Parliament for the first time in a by-election. He was re-elected as party leader in March 2013.
In November 2015, in the first general election since the transition to civilian rule, the NLD achieved a landslide victory over the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which had its roots in the military regime, becoming the largest party.
President Thein Sein issued a statement declaring a “peaceful transfer of power,” acknowledging the change of government from the military regime that had been in power since the 1960s. However, because the constitution does not recognize the eligibility of a person with foreign relatives to be president, he was unable to assume the presidency. Instead, he created a new position, “State Counsellor,” to effectively secure the position of “supreme power.”