And now it appears that Japan is playing a double game, officially allied with governments critical of the coup, while increasingly normalizing diplomatic contact with the junta. This approach risks undermining the international community’s efforts to hold the Myanmar junta accountable for ongoing crimes against humanity in Myanmar, including torture, murder, and rape.
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May 15, 2021
Japanese freelance journalist Yuki Kitazumiwas indicted May 3 in Myanmar for spreading “fake news,” according to the country’s junta. Kitazumi was covering the anti-government protests that have roiled Myanmar since the military staged a coup there in February, and, according to Kyodo News, the coverage was “deemed to be critical of the military.”
The arrest placed additional pressure on the government of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to come out strongly against the junta and its actions. Though Japan has decried the coup and suspended new aid to Myanmar, it has not officially condemned the junta or implemented sanctions in the way other countries have. Instead, Japan says it will use the “channels” it has with the junta to do something as yet unspecified, but in at least one regard this special relationship seems to have paid off: On Thursday it was reported that Kitazumi would be released.