A symbolically empty Myanmar chair may be presented at the US-ASEAN summit, but hollow gestures and words do nothing to help the people of the junta-ruled country.
Thwarted by widespread civil disobedience and armed resistance, the military’s bid to illegitimately seize power has failed, bringing only civil war and economic collapse.
By banishing the State Counselor to a secret location and rejecting ASEAN’s envoy, Min Aung Hlaing is making his despised predecessors look like masters of statecraft.
If junta chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing is welcomed at ASEAN’s summit in Brunei this month, the regional bloc will be declaring itself morally bankrupt once and for all.
As the economy fails, the coup maker’s plan to turn the capital, Naypyitaw, into a shiny global hub shows the extent to which his regime has lost touch with reality.
Calls are mounting for the international community and neighboring countries to step in to secure humanitarian access to Myanmar to deal with its COVID-19 upsurge.