Expressing annoyance over execution of four pro democracy leaders which has attracted widespread condemnation across the world, a senior US official has urged China to do more to rein in Myanmar’s military, saying that “it cannot be business as usual with the junta”.
State department spokesperson Ned Price told a briefing: “Arguably, no country has the potential to influence the trajectory of Burma’s next steps more so than the PRC [People’s Republic of China]”, noting that the junta “has not faced the level of economic and in some cases diplomatic pressure that we would like to see”.
Price noted in-depth discussions had already been held with China and India on how to put Myanmar back on the path to democracy.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken, who met activists from Myanmar in Bangkok this month, voiced confidence the killings would not hinder the country’s democracy movement. “The regime’s sham trials and these executions are blatant attempts to extinguish democracy; these actions will never suppress the spirit of the brave people of Burma,” Blinken said in a statement, using Myanmar’s former name.