Myanmar coup latest: Protesters block main roads in Yangon - Nikkei Asia

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Myanmar coup latest: Protesters block main roads in Yangon

Activists call for large-scale march after crowds shrink in last two days

Demonstrators take part in a protest against the military coup in Yangon on Feb. 17. © Reuters

Nikkei staff writersFebruary 1, 2021 14:18 JSTUpdated on February 17, 2021 14:49 JSTYANGON --

-- On Feb. 1, Myanmar's military detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint in the country's first coup since 1988, bringing an end to a decade of civilian rule.

The Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD) had won a landslide in a general election last November. But the military has claimed the election was marred by fraud.

For all our coverage, visit our Myanmar Coup page.
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-- Myanmar: Inside the coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's government

Follow the latest developments here

(Yangon time):

Wednesday, Feb. 17

12:00 p.m. In Yangon and elsewhere, a broken-down car campaign spreading on social media has resulted in motorists stopping their vehicles on streets and bridges. The campaign is meant to block police and military trucks. The drivers who stopped also got out of their cars and checked under their hoods. Social media activists are also calling for a massive demonstration on Wednesday, an apparent attempt to turn the tide as protests in Yangon have been noticeably smaller since the military began patrolling the streets days ago.

9:30 a.m. Internet service has resumed following another blackout starting at 1 a.m. Protesters marched in the main roads in Yangon to express their anger over additional charges brought against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

3:50 a.m. The Myanmar coup has emerged as the first major diplomatic challenge for U.S. President Joe Biden since his Jan. 20 inauguration.

On Feb. 10, the day Biden announced sanctions on Myanmar's military leaders, a senior State Department official briefed bipartisan members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the situation in the Southeast Asian country.

While lawmakers expressed strong support for the condemnation of the coup and the need for a return to democratic control, they also recognized that Washington has little direct leverage over Myanmar to persuade the junta to change course.

"There was an urging by both Republican and Democratic members to pursue a multilateral sanctions-and-pressure campaign against Myanmar to exert more leverage, and in particular convince Japan and Singapore to act, given they are Myanmar's largest financial partners behind China," according to one participant in the briefing. Read more.

1:20 a.m. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi express "deep concern over the coup in Burma" in a phone call.

Blinken also "agreed on the key role of ASEAN-centrality in the Indo-Pacific, and underscored the importance of protecting and preserving a free and open South China Sea," according to U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price.

Separately, Price told a news conference that the U.S. is "disturbed" by reports of additional criminal charges Aung San Suu Kyi.

Tuesday, Feb. 16

10:30 p.m. U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab blasts Aung San Suu Kyi's detention in a Twitter post.

"Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained in a clear violation of her human rights by the military," Raab says after reports of additional charges against Myanmar's de facto leader before the recent coup.

6:20 p.m. The Chinese ambassador to Myanmar says the current situation is "absolutely not what China wants to see," according to Reuters.

In a local media interview posted on the Chinese Embassy's Facebook page, Ambassador Chen Hai dismisses rumors of Chinese involvement in the Feb. 1 coup as "completely nonsense" and insists Beijing was "not informed in advance." He says China had "friendly relations" with both the army and former civilian government.

4:30 p.m. In the first press conference held by the junta since it seized power on Feb. 1, Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson for the ruling State Administration Council, blamed protesters for inciting violence and illegally pressuring civil servants to join the civil disobedience movement. Authorities have been using firearms to disperse protesters.

"Our objective is to hold an election and hand power to the winning party," he added. "We guarantee ... that the election will be held," he said during the news conference, broadcast from Naypyitaw, that last nearly two hours.

3:45 p.m. Aung San Suu Kyi's attorney tells reporters that the police has filed additional charges against her.

Suu Kyi's lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said the ousted leader is being charged with violating the country's Natural Disaster Law, without elaborating further. Suu Kyi was first charged with illegally importing walkie talkies and meant to be held under house arrest until Wednesday.

1:00 p.m. Dozens of Buddhist monks protest on the streets near Shwedagon Pagoda, the most famous temple in Yangon.

12:45 p.m. Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan tells parliament he does not support slapping "widespread generalized indiscriminate sanctions" on Myanmar because such measures could hurt ordinary citizens. The island state is a major investor in Myanmar and a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Indonesia, Malaysia and other ASEAN members have been calling for a special meeting to discuss the situation in Myanmar.

9:03 a.m. Residents say internet access has been restored. The army had cut off access for a second consecutive night early on Tuesday, raising concerns among coup opponents, particularly after the army suspended legal constraints on search and detention powers. "There is suspicion this blackout was to commit unjust activities, including arbitrary arrests," said a local political prisoners group, which has recorded 426 arrests as of Monday.

7:30 a.m. The United Nations special envoy has warned Myanmar's army of "severe consequences" for any harsh response to the protests, a U.N. spokesman said. Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener spoke on Monday to the deputy head of the junta via phone. "Ms. Schraner Burgener has reinforced that the right of peaceful assembly must be fully respected and that demonstrators are not subjected to reprisals," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said. Myanmar's army stated that deputy head Soe Win discussed the administration's plans and information on "the true situation of what's happening in Myanmar."

2:15 a.m. France "will continue to support the Burmese people in their struggle for democracy and the rule of law" in partnership with European and international partners, the French foreign ministry says in a statement.

The French statement comes as security forces in Myanmar appeared to toughen their stance toward widespread protests against the country's return to military rule.

"France remains deeply concerned about the deterioration of the situation in Burma with the increasing use of violence against peaceful demonstrators and the deployment of armored vehicles in several cities of the country," the statement says.

"The attacks on freedom of expression and the freedom of the press are of great concern," the statement says. "France calls on the security forces to restore access to communication networks as soon as possible."

Monday, Feb. 15

9:15 p.m. Malaysia says it will not deport any Muslims or migrants registered with the U.N. refugee agency.

Malaysia had agreed to return them after Myanmar's military, which seized power in a Feb. 1 coup, offered to send three navy ships to pick up its citizens held in Malaysian immigration detention centers.

In response, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees has urged Malaysia not to hand over asylum-seekers, saying many of those in detention may require international protection, including vulnerable women and children.

4:58 p.m. Myanmar security forces open fire to disperse protesters in the city of Mandalay, local media outlet Frontier Myanmar reports. The number of casualties is not clear, it says. A member of a student union in the city says some people have been wounded.

11:00 a.m. Aung San Suu Kyi will be remanded in detention until Wednesday for a court hearing and will not appear on Monday as initially expected, her lawyer tells journalists in the capital Naypyitaw, according to Reuters. "Whether it is fair or not, you can decide yourself," the lawyer says.

9:30 a.m. Residents in Yangon say internet service has resumed. Protests have broken out in the commercial capital, with many military vehicles seen in the city.

1:00 a.m. All four telecommunications networks were inaccessible from about 1 a.m. on Monday (1830GMT), residents in Myanmar reported. In the early days after the coup, the internet was cut across the country.

12:02 a.m. Reuters reports that two journalists from The 74 Media, which was broadcasting live from the site of the confrontation, were arrested along with three other journalists, the news outlet said in a Facebook post.

Sunday, Feb.14

11:01 p.m. Western embassies in Myanmar called on the country's military to "refrain from violence against demonstrators and civilians" in a statement released late Sunday.

9:41 p.m. Soldiers were deployed to power plants in the northern state of Kachin, leading to a confrontation with demonstrators. Security forces fired to disperse protesters outside one plant in Kachin's state capital Myitkyina, footage broadcast live on Facebook showed. It was not clear if they were using rubber bullets or live fire.

8:45 p.m. The U.S embassy in Myanmar urged its citizens to "shelter-in-place" on Sunday, citing reports of military movements in the commercial capital Yangon, after armored vehicles were sighted there for the first time since the Feb. 1 military coup. The embassy also said there was a "possibility of telecommunications interruptions overnight between 1:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m".

1:30 p.m. Thousands of people from Myanmar living in Japan marched in Shibuya, downtown Tokyo on Sunday to protest the military coup back home, some holding photos of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and signs deploring the loss of human rights.

11:30 a.m. "I haven't slept last night. People are getting tired of patrolling at night in their neighborhoods since the military released 23,000 prisoners," said a young man. He quit his job at a garment factory to join the protests; 400 out of 2,000 workers have left the plant, he said.

10:20 a.m. According to Reuters, tens of thousands of protesters take to the streets in major cities. It is the ninth straight day of anti-coup demonstrations, after a fearful night as residents formed patrols and the army rolled back laws protecting freedoms.

"We created two teams with our neighbors, each team with three to four people, to secure the streets in the neighborhood," said a seafood seller in Yangon. The team formed a makeshift checkpoint from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. armed with sticks. He said it was to "protect ourselves because we don't know what kind of weapons the suspicious person might bring. But we are trying not to be violent."

9:10 a.m. Myanmar's army reinstates a law requiring people to report overnight visitors to their homes, as police hunt supporters of protests that have rocked the country since a military coup on Feb. 1.

The amendment to the Ward or Village Tract Administration Law, announced late on Saturday on a military-run Facebook page, is the latest in a raft of legislative changes introduced by the army.

Saturday, Feb.13

4:00 p.m. Peaceful protests continue in Yangon. Hledan district, the commercial hub of the city, is becoming the main place to protest. People gather on street corners and chant for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

12:30 p.m. Many people in Myanmar are now tweeting: 'STOP NIGHT ARRESTS.' Rumors are circulating that the police are arresting citizens at night without proper legal procedures, targeting civil servants who are taking part in the boycott against the military.

9:30 a.m. Protesters start to gather in central Yangon. Young people demonstrate in the streets, chanting "Release Mother Suu," in front of Myanmar Plaza, a large shopping center. People also gather around the U.S. embassy in Yangon, urging tougher sanctions against the military.

3:50 a.m. The Bank of Japan, like most central banks around the world, is watching carefully to see how Myanmar's coup may affect bilateral and regional cooperation on monetary policy and financial stability.

As news of the military takeover reached the halls of the BOJ, staff raced to gather information about the ongoing developments, including the fate of the Southeast Asian nation's central bank governor.

The shocking news was passed up the command chain at the head office in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district. Read more.

12:15 a.m. The spokesperson for the United Nations secretary-general calls the U.N. Human Rights Council resolution on Myanmar "a very important step."

"It shows that the international community will speak strongly and with a strong voice, calling for the reversal of the events we've seen in Myanmar, and for the full respect of the democratic will of the people of Myanmar as well as full respect of their human rights," Stephane Dujarric says.

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Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Myanmar coup latest: Protesters block main roads in Yangon

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