Let us put things in context. Let us connect things which are related and come together.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visited Myanmar on Aug. 14. Wang told junta boss Min Aung Hlaing that China remained steadfast in supporting his regime’s five-point roadmap “to achieve political reconciliation, restore the democratic transition process as soon as possible, and find a path to long-term peace and stability.”
On Sept. 3, a senior Indian military official, Maj-Gen Ajay Kumar Singh, met the Myanmar military’s No. 3 General Maung Maung Aye to discuss training and academic cooperation between the two sides. According to junta media the two discussed the promotion of friendship between the two militaries, increased cooperation in defense, training, border stability and rule of law, plus the exchange of trainees. India is the third-biggest supplier of arms and equipment to the junta, trailing only Russia and China.
On Sept. 6, Lieutenant General Soe Min Oo of the junta’s Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services attended the 21st ASEAN Chiefs of Defense Forces Meeting in Laos. During the visit he held separate talks with Royal Thai Armed Forces Chief of Defense General Songwit Noonpackdee, the chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA), and Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) General Vong Pisen on promoting ties and cooperation between the two militaries
A few days ago, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing vowed there would be “counterattacks” in areas captured by ethnic armed groups and other anti-junta fighters.
In the last two days, the “counterattacks” materialized.
Junta aircraft launched near simultaneous airstrikes on a town liberated by ethnic armed forces near the Chinese border and a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Shan State on Thursday night and early Friday, killing a total of around 20 civilians including children in the space of less than five hours.
Late on Thursday night, a junta warplane targeted a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs), named the Bangkok IDP Camp, in Pekon Township, where over 600 civilians are sheltering after fleeing violence near their homes. The attack killed two boys and five girls aged between 10 and 13. Two women including a teacher were also among the victims. Many others were injured. Precise numbers are yet to be confirmed. The IDP camp is not near any site of fighting between junta troops and resistance forces.
This was a DELIBERATE TERROR BOMBING targeting the civilian population.
Elsewhere, in Namkham, northern Shan State, 11 civilians were killed in a junta airstrike. The victims included two children, five men, and four women. Eleven others sustained injuries. The airstrike was conducted over two urban wards at night as people were falling asleep. There were no resistance targets anywhere near.
Once again, it was civilians who were DELIBERATELY TARGETED.
China, India and ASEAN are complicit in the junta’s terror bombing.
Despite their Orwellian talk about wishing to help “restore the democratic transition process and find a path to long-term peace and stability”, in reality they are enabling, encouraging and sponsoring continuation of the junta’s war of terror against the whole nation.
This is a war which the junta is losing and will lose. But India’s, China’s and ASEAN’s engagement and assistance to the junta is prolonging its war of terror and indeed encouraging the junta to continue to believe they have enough critical support from neighbors to prevail through atrocities and destruction.
