{"id":5749,"date":"2025-04-18T04:17:36","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T21:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/?p=5749"},"modified":"2025-04-18T04:17:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T21:47:36","slug":"%f0%9f%9a%ab-armed-groups-oppose-channeling-earthquake-aid-through-military-junta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/2025\/04\/%f0%9f%9a%ab-armed-groups-oppose-channeling-earthquake-aid-through-military-junta\/","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udeab Armed Groups Oppose Channeling Earthquake Aid Through Military Junta"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-3-2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5750\" src=\"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-3-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"929\" height=\"523\" srcset=\"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-3-2.png 929w, https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-3-2-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-3-2-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-3-2-560x315.png 560w, https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-3-2-260x146.png 260w, https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-3-2-160x90.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 929px) 100vw, 929px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Myanmar Spring Chronicle \u2013 April 16 Overview&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>published by <em>MoeMaKa<\/em> on April 17, 2025:<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>\ud83d\udeab Armed Groups Oppose Channeling Earthquake Aid Through Military Junta<\/h3>\n<p>Ahead of the expected meeting on <strong>April 17<\/strong> in <strong>Bangkok<\/strong> between Malaysian Prime Minister <strong>Anwar Ibrahim<\/strong> and Myanmar junta leader <strong>Min Aung Hlaing<\/strong>, there are growing concerns that the junta is gaining diplomatic legitimacy under the pretext of earthquake relief coordination.<\/p>\n<p>Although Malaysia has clarified that the meeting is not on behalf of ASEAN but to discuss <strong>humanitarian assistance<\/strong> and <strong>extending the ceasefire<\/strong>, the optics suggest the junta is gaining ground diplomatically.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfe Malaysia\u2019s Role in ASEAN Engagement<\/h3>\n<p>Malaysia has historically taken a strong stance against Myanmar\u2019s military regime since the 2021 coup. Former Malaysian foreign ministers often pushed ASEAN to apply more pressure on the junta.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, Malaysia holds the <strong>ASEAN chair<\/strong>, and its Prime Minister has appointed <strong>Thaksin Shinawatra<\/strong>, the former Thai Prime Minister and father of the current Thai PM, as an adviser on Myanmar affairs. Thaksin has reportedly met with both the junta leader and some ethnic armed groups \u2014 raising further speculation about a shift in ASEAN\u2019s strategy beyond the long-standing <strong>Five-Point Consensus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>\ud83d\udcdd Statement from NUG, Ethnic Armed Groups &amp; Civil Society<\/h3>\n<p>On <strong>April 16<\/strong>, one day before the Bangkok meeting, the <strong>National Unity Government (NUG)<\/strong>, along with four armed groups (KNU, KNPP, CNF, ABSDF), the <strong>Women\u2019s League of Burma<\/strong>, the <strong>Rohingya National Alliance<\/strong>, and several unnamed organizations issued a <strong>joint statement<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The statement, titled <strong>\u201cPosition Statement Regarding the Meeting Between Min Aung Hlaing and ASEAN Leaders\u201d<\/strong>, outlines <strong>9 points<\/strong>. While not aggressively worded overall, <strong>Point 9 strongly opposes<\/strong> delivering humanitarian aid through the military junta, warning that doing so would open the door to <strong>political exploitation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Other parts of the statement include cautionary phrases like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>\u201cShould be noted carefully,\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\u201cOf serious concern,\u201d and<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\u201cAttention must be paid.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In <strong>Point 8<\/strong>, the groups state:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cEngagements with the junta should be approached with extreme caution,\u201d<br \/>without explicitly demanding that all contact be avoided.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>\ud83d\udd0d Who Controls What?<\/h3>\n<p>The statement also notes that the junta controls <strong>only 22% of Myanmar\u2019s territory<\/strong>, and urges the international community to <strong>engage not only with the junta<\/strong>, but also with the NUG and ethnic resistance groups who control large parts of the country.<\/p>\n<p>However, the extent to which this joint statement influences <strong>ASEAN leaders<\/strong> remains uncertain.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>\ud83d\udd04 Will ASEAN Change Course?<\/h3>\n<p>ASEAN has diplomatically <strong>isolated the junta<\/strong> and pressured it for four years to implement the Five-Point Consensus. But with no results, there are now concerns that ASEAN might <strong>change direction<\/strong> \u2014 either by:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Escalating pressure<\/strong> (e.g., suspending Myanmar from ASEAN); or<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Ending isolation<\/strong> and <strong>re-engaging with the junta<\/strong> to push for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Current signs suggest ASEAN is <strong>leaning toward re-engagement<\/strong>. The Malaysian PM\u2019s decision to meet with the junta leader <strong>without preconditions<\/strong> signals a shift toward <strong>diplomatic contact<\/strong> rather than continued isolation.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>\ud83d\udcc9 Who Benefits from This Meeting?<\/h3>\n<p>It appears that the junta may <strong>benefit more<\/strong> from the April 17 meeting than ASEAN does. It gives the appearance of <strong>diplomatic legitimacy<\/strong> at a time when the junta is being widely condemned for ongoing violence and humanitarian obstruction.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>true outcomes<\/strong> of the meeting \u2014 whether it results in meaningful humanitarian coordination or just strengthens the junta&#8217;s image \u2014 will become clear in the days that follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Myanmar Spring Chronicle \u2013 April 16 Overview&#8221; published by MoeMaKa on April 17, 2025: \ud83d\udeab Armed Groups Oppose Channeling Earthquake Aid Through Military Junta Ahead of the expected meeting on April 17 in Bangkok between Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/2025\/04\/%f0%9f%9a%ab-armed-groups-oppose-channeling-earthquake-aid-through-military-junta\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,58],"tags":[100],"class_list":["post-5749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current","category-features","tag-myanmar-spring-revolution"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-3-2.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3RDLm-1uJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5751,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5749\/revisions\/5751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}