Chanting “Shame on you, China” and holding up banners in English, Chinese and Burmese, dozens of pro-democracy protesters gathered on Monday at the Chinese embassy in Yangon to denounce what they called Beijing’s backing for Myanmar’s military coup on February 1.
“Myanmar’s military dictatorship is made in China,” read one placard.
“If this is an internal affair, why are you helping the junta?” read another.
The nearly-daily rallies at the gates of the Chinese mission forced a response from China’s ambassador to the country, Chen Hai, who said on Tuesday that “the current development in Myanmar is absolutely not what China wants to see”.
Malaysia’s first transfer of power in six decades was hailed as a milestone for transparency, free speech and racial tolerance in the multiethnic Southeast Asian state. Two years later, in 2020, the young coalition collapsed amid an all-too-familiar mix of political intrigue and horse trading that stems in part from an entrenched system of affirmative-action policies that critics say fosters cronyism and identity-based politics. The political upheaval brought back elements of the old regime into