Myanmar Skips Asean Summit After Junta Leader Excluded

(Bloomberg) -- Myanmar didn’t show up at an annual summit of Southeast Asian countries after rejecting an invitation to send a non-political representative instead of its junta leader, a move that isolates its government internationally as it grapples with civil strife back home.

The Association of the Southeast Asian Nations took a rare step earlier this month in excluding military leader Min Aung Hlaing from the summit in Brunei on the grounds the regime has not done enough to end violence after seizing the government in a coup in February. 

Instead, the bloc extended an invitation to a diplomat from Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry to attend the summit, an offer the regime flatly rejected. On the first day of the summit on Tuesday, Myanmar’s video panel was left empty while leaders from the rest of the bloc made their appearance. 

The “Myanmar representative is denied to equal rights enjoyed by other Asean member states,” the junta’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that accused Brunei as the current Asean chair of breaching the bloc’s charter. The country will pursue “due processes” under the charter to resolve the issue. 

At the three-day summit, some countries addressed the Myanmar situation directly. Malaysia’s Prime Minister Ismail Sabri said in a tweet that his country fully supported the decision made by the Asean chair on Myanmar’s representation at the summit. 

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha told the meeting he hoped Myanmar will trust Asean to help the country “achieve peace and harmony, as well as return to the democratic process,” according to government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana. 

International Pressure

Asean has struggled to get concessions met by Min Aung Hlaing who declared himself prime minister in August and extended emergency rule for another two years before elections can be held. These come under a five-point consensus agreed with Myanmar at a special summit in April that include the cessation of violence. 

Myanmar has said that the military general’s exclusion from the summit in favor of a diplomat is an “assault to the sovereignty of our nation.” Its decision to skip the summit is a further strain in ties between Asean and one of its own members as the bloc faces international pressure, particularly from the U.S., to hold the regime accountable for the worsening domestic situation.

While Myanmar’s military-backed government didn’t show up, the other nine Asean members will take part in high-profile meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang later on Tuesday. 

Ahead of the Asean summit, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan virtually met on Monday with representatives of the pro-democracy shadow government directly challenging the legitimacy of the junta to discuss the situation on the ground.

“Sullivan underscored continued U.S. support for the pro-democracy movement in Burma and they discussed ongoing efforts to restore Burma’s path to democracy,” the White House said in a statement on Monday. He was also concerned over the “Burmese military’s brutal violence and noted that the U.S. will continue to promote accountability for the coup.”

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