People bang utensils to make noise in a market as part of a campaign of civil disobedience on February 05, 2021 in Yangon
Credit: Stringer/ Getty Images AsiaPac
One of the world’s largest beer companies said it would halt operations in Myanmar in protest at the military coup there, in the first example of economic fallout from the take over.
Japanese beverage giant Kirin, which owns brands including Kirin Ichiban lager, said it was “deeply concerned” by the coup and would end its partnership with the Myanmar Economic Holding (MEHL) “as a matter of urgency.”
The company said it had believed its initial investment in 2015 “could contribute positively to the people and the economy of the country as it entered an important period of democratization.”
Kirin controls about 80 percent of the Myanmar beer market via two joint ventures with MEHL, a conglomerate controlled by the military and believed to be overseen by General Min Aung Hliang, the head of the army.
But the company has faced repeated criticism over the investment. Three years ago following an investigation by Amnesty International it emerged that its subsidiary Myanmar Brewery had made public donations to the authorities totalling $30,000 during the 2017 Rohingya genocide, including one directly to Mr Aung Hlaing.
The military has denied genocide. Phil Robertson, a Burma expert at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the news, saying: “I hope that other foreign investors doing business with Myanmar’s military companies will do the same."
Kirin Holdings (HD) announced on 05 February 2021 that it will cut a joint venture with military-linked breweries
Credit: KIMIMASA MAYAMA/Shutterstock
Myanmar’s army seized power after arresting Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s civilian leader, and Win Myint, the president, in early morning raids on Monday.
Mr Aung Hlaing has said the military would rule for a year and justified the takeover by saying the government had failed to investigate allegations of fraud during national elections in November, which Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won by a landslide.
The junta widened its crackdown on opposition supporters on Friday with the arrest of Win Htein, a veteran aide to Ms Suu Kyi and former political prisoner.
He told the BBC on Friday morning that he had been arrested for sedition, and called for civil disobedience against the coup.
Medical workers at Yangon General Hospital wear red ribbons and flash the three-fingered salute of the opposition during a protest against the coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi
Credit: Stringer/Reuters
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Yangon-based group that monitors political arrests in Myanmar, said more than 130 officials and lawmakers have been detained in relation to the coup.
Two days after a temporary ban on Facebook, the main means of accessing the internet and communication for millions of people in Myanmar, authorities also ordered internet providers to block Twitter and Instagram, said Norway’s Telenor Asa.
The NLD has responded by throwing its weight behind a growing civil disobedience campaign that began with strikes by doctors earlier this week.
At least two universities saw further demonstrations against the military on Friday. In Yangon, an estimated 200 teachers and professors on Friday held signs supporting civil disobedience and flashed a three-fingered salute signifying resistance, a gesture they adopted from anti-government protesters in neighboring Thailand.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's commander-in-chief, left, shakes hands with National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2015
Credit: SOE ZEYA TUN/Reuters
"We do not accept a government formed by themselves after they seized power illegally with guns from the government chosen by the public," lecturer Dr Nwe Thazin said of the military. "We will never be together with them. We want that kind of government to collapse as soon as possible."
At the same time nearby, a small number of staff from a university hospital held their own demonstration. They held signs saying "Protect Democracy" and "Reject the military coup."
The takeover has been criticized by world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, who have pushed for the elected government to be restored.
"The Burmese military should relinquish power they have seized, release the advocates and activists and officials they have detained, lift the restrictions on telecommunications, and refrain from violence," Mr Biden said Thursday at the US State Department in Washington, using Myanmar’s former name.
Both the British and US governments have said they will consider re-imposing sanctions that had been eased since the country’s first free elections in decades in 2015.
Свежие комментарии