Myanmar

This week's virtual ASEAN Summit will be the first meeting of the 10-member bloc's leaders since they gathered in Jakarta in April. One -- Myanmar's top general -- is not invited this time.
International relations

ASEAN kicks off 3 days of summits as Myanmar threatens credibility

Bloc under growing pressure to show relevance in wake of AUKUS

26 October 2021
Construction work at many redevelopment projects funded by foreign investment has come to a halt in Myanmar. Photo was taken Oct. 8.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar FDI drops to 8-year low, reflecting post-takeover unrest

IMF expects economy to shrink next year as foreign currency revenue disappears

19 October 2021
ASEAN foreign ministers held an unscheduled virtual meeting Friday to discuss Myanmar's representation at the bloc's upcoming summit.
Myanmar Crisis

Consensus-based ASEAN tested by Myanmar army chief's exclusion

Diplomatic deadlock forced bloc to act as international pressure mounted

18 October 2021
Southeast Asian leaders attend an emergency summit in Jakarta on Apr. 24: not surprisingly, ASEAN efforts to implement a five-point plan on Myanmar have gone nowhere.
Opinion

Myanmar crisis highlights ASEAN's identity dilemma

Failure to manage difficult choices undermines bloc's credibility

18 October 2021
The commander-in-chief of Myanmar's armed forces, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, a conference on international security in Moscow in June.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar military chief to be excluded from ASEAN summit

Foreign ministers see 'insufficient progress' in Naypyidaw, bloc's chair says

16 October 2021
A Telenor sign outside a cellphone retailer in Myanmar's Shan state, pictured in June 2018: the company's task now is to find a buyer for its local assets and wholly-owned subsidiary. (Photo by Yuichi Nitta)
Opinion

No easy exit for investors from post-military takeover Myanmar

Foreign companies face challenging problems withdrawing from the market

12 October 2021
Soldiers stand next to military vehicles in Yangon: unrest in Myanmar is only growing as the military and the parallel government in exile both turn to arms.
Comment

World powers need to stop Myanmar civil war before it is too late

Japan and international community must think outside the box for solution

7 October 2021
Detail of "2021 Burma" by Yarzar Myo. Since the Feb. 1 military takeover, Myanmar has seen an outpouring of artistic expression among both seasoned professionals and young artists who oppose the new regime. (Courtesy of the artist)
Arts

Myanmar artists draw on creative arsenal

Protest art goes underground as opposition steps up 'war' on military regime

6 October 2021
"At this point, Myanmar is not speaking," said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
25 September 2021
Taliban fighters stand guard outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Aug. 16: the White House has praised the Taliban for being businesslike and professional on evacuations.
Opinion

Helping the Taliban but not Myanmar detrimental to Western interests

Naypyitaw's generals treated as bigger threat than the terrorists controlling Kabul

22 September 2021
There are believed to be between 120 and 300 militias under the People's Defense Force banner across Myanmar. (Photo taken from Facebook)
Myanmar Crisis

Attacks on Myanmar military spike following call for revolt

Pro-democracy camp abandons nonviolence amid growing crackdown

22 September 2021
The ADB confirms Myanmar's industrial output and employment have fallen since an inconclusive military takeover in February.
Economy

ASEAN's delta battle mows nearly 1% off ADB growth forecast

Myanmar in line to contract 18.4% in 2021 as military rule and COVID take toll

22 September 2021
A protester objecting to the Myanmar military's takeover of the country in Seoul on April 10.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar shadow government sets up office in South Korea

First 'mission' in Asia for democratically elected leaders overthrown by military

18 September 2021
A money-changer's office in Yangon: Myanmar's currency, the kyat, has fallen 20% to 30% since a military takeover of the government on Feb. 1.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar currency hovers near all-time low

Flip-flopping on forex trading band rules rattles market, pushes down kyat

16 September 2021
A flash protest in Yangon on May 2. Opposition to Myanmar's military government continues to swell.  (Photo by Berry)
The Big Story

Myanmar, a violent tale of two governments

A failed state plunges toward civil war

15 September 2021
The United Nations headquarters in New York and protesters in Yangon: Myanmar's military junta is battling the opposition for international recognition. (Source photos by Getty Images)
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar shadow government reaps diplomatic harvest

Group gaining allies ahead of UN meeting, says group's foreign minister

9 September 2021
Industry insiders say the head of Myanmar's junta, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, may reject Telenor's exit plan. (Nikkei montage/Reuters/Getty Images)
Myanmar Crisis

Telenor's Myanmar sell-off mired in uncertainty

Alibaba's pullout from stake purchase of payments service clouds picture

7 September 2021
Duwa Lashi La, acting president of Myanmar's National Unity Government, addresses the nation in an online speech on Sept. 7.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar parallel government calls for revolt against regime

Acting president starts 'defensive war' and demands officials abandon posts

7 September 2021
Anti-coup protesters march in Mandalay on Aug. 8, the anniversary of a 1988 uprising. Myanmar's parallel government is preparing to subsidize 250,000 people who have joined the civil disobedience movement.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar parallel government to challenge regime with $700m budget

Shadow finance minister takes aim at military generals on economic battlefield

2 September 2021
A Buddhist monk protests the arrest of Wirathu, an ultranationalist monk who has been accused of conspiring to persecute Muslims, in Yangon in January. Even well before the coup, the military and some racist monks were tapping into a latent xenophobic strain among the country’s mainly Buddhist ethnic Burman majority to target Muslims and other minorities. 
Life

As anti-coup protests continue, where are Myanmar's monks?

Ignoring history, some prominent Buddhist clergy have sided with the military

28 August 2021
ASEAN leaders' meeting in Jakarta on Apr. 24: the organaization is more likely to be a useful partner on the humanitarian rather than the political front.
Opinion

Weak and inadequate, ASEAN yet remains indispensable

Myanmar crisis highlights the limits of the 10-member bloc's ambitions

24 August 2021
The Central Bank of Myanmar, which is under the military's control, is wrestling with a steady depreciation of the country's currency, the kyat. (Source photos by Reuters)
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar tightens grip on forex rates to combat kyat slippage

Central bank reinstates old regulation but concerns arise in growing black market

19 August 2021
People in remote areas of Myanmar under the control of ethnic armies are being inoculated against COVID-19 with support from China. (Source photos by Getty Images and Kachinwaves/AFP/Jiji)
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar ethnic armies march to China's tune amid COVID spike

Beijing fortifies 'Southern Great Wall' as imported cases rise in border areas

18 August 2021
Ko Min, left, and his wife Ma Moe. Together with their two young children, they live in this poor district on the outskirts of Yangon. Ko Min was a bricklayer but lost his job when construction sites closed due to recent civil unrest. (©WFP Myanmar/2021)
Life

Photo essay: Close-up on Myanmar's growing hunger

'It's for my family': Parents struggle to keep children fed amid country's multiple crises

11 August 2021
As citizens protested the coup, Myanmar Brewery, in which Kirin owns 51%, became the target of a boycott as many restaurants stopped serving the brand.
Myanmar Crisis

Japan's Kirin writes off $193m for Myanmar beer unit

Military-linked foreign businesses hit by double whammy of February takeover and COVID

10 August 2021