Myanmar coup: Chinese factories set on fire and at least 38 dead on the deadliest day since the army took power

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The biggest casualties were in an industrial suburb of Yangon’s largest city, where the military and police opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing at least 22, according to the advocacy group, the Association of Political Prisoners Assistance (AAPP), which said Hlaingthaya District “has become like a battlefield”.

In an unconfirmed image, a protester can be seen crammed under a makeshift shield while holding the shirt of a fallen demonstrator colleague.

At least 16 people were killed on Sunday in other parts of the country, including the second city of Mandalay and Bago, where state media said a police officer died of a chest wound after a confrontation with protesters, Reuters reported. This is the second policeman reported dead in the protests.

According to AAPP, the deaths over the weekend brought the death toll to at least 126 people.

The Chinese embassy in Myanmar said several Chinese-funded factories were destroyed and set on fire in the Yangon industrial zone during Sunday’s protests. Chinese citizens were also injured, according to the embassy

It is not clear who the perpetrators were and no group has claimed responsibility for the fires.

“China urges Myanmar to take other effective measures to stop all acts of violence, punish the perpetrators in accordance with the law and ensure the safety of life and property of Chinese companies and personnel in Myanmar,” the embassy quoted CGTN as saying.

Anti-coup protesters were suspicious of China, with frequent demonstrations targeting the Chinese embassy in Yangon and protesters accusing Beijing of supporting the coup and the junta.

Although China did not directly condemn the military takeover, it backed a United Nations Security Council statement saying it “strongly condemns violence against peaceful protesters” and called on the military to “exercise the utmost restraint.”

In its statement on Sunday, China called on protesters in Myanmar to legally express their demands and not to undermine bilateral ties with China.

The smoke rises as protests against the military coup and the detention of members of the elected government continue in the city of Hlaingtharya, Yangon, on March 14.

After the bloodshed, the military junta imposed martial law in Hlaingthaya, one of the city’s largest districts, which is home to many poor factory workers, according to the MRTV news channel. Local media reported that martial law was also declared in the Shwepyithar district of Yangon. On Monday, the military declared martial law in four other Yangon localities in North Dagon, North Okkalapa, South Dagon and Dagon Seikkan – areas where most of the city’s factories are located.

Junta martial law means that the military commander in the Yangon region is granted “full administrative and judicial authority” in districts where martial law is declared, according to local media Myanmar Now.

Mobile networks remained “nationally disabled” despite the restoration of internet connectivity on Monday after being shut down for the 29th night in a row, according to NetBlocks internet monitoring service. Protesters and journalists relied on their mobile phones to broadcast live demonstrations and document police crackdowns.

“People have the right to defend themselves”

As protests continue in Myanmar, the leader of a group of parliamentarians fired by the army has vowed to continue a “revolution” to overthrow the ruling junta.

Speaking publicly for the first time on Saturday, Mahn Win Khaing Than, who was the speaker of the upper house of parliament before the coup, said in a video on Facebook: “This is the darkest moment of the nation and the moment when it’s dawn. “

Mahn Win Khaing Than, along with other lawmakers fired from the party leading the National League for Democracy (NLD), remains hidden. With civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint under house arrest, former lawmakers have formed a parallel civilian government – called the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Committee (CRPH) – that is pushing for international recognition as a rule of law.

“To form a federal democracy, which all ethnic brethren, who have suffered various kinds of oppression from the dictatorship for decades, really wanted, this revolution is the chance for us to put our efforts together.” said Mahn Win Khaing Than, who is ethnic Karen, said.

He also said the civilian government would “try to legislate the necessary laws so that people have the right to defend themselves” against military repression, Reuters reported.

The military considers CRPH illegal and has warned that anyone found to be cooperating with them will be charged with treason. The CRPH said Myanmar’s military was a “terrorist organization,” according to Reuters.

On Sunday, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener issued a statement condemning “continued bloodshed in the country as the army defies international calls, including from the Security Council, for restraint, dialogue and full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. “

“The special envoy personally heard heartbreaking accounts from contacts in Myanmar about the killings, ill-treatment of protesters and torture of prisoners over the weekend,” she said.

As of Sunday, 2,156 people had been arrested, charged or convicted in connection with the military coup, according to AAPP, and about 100 protesters – including students and youth – were arrested in repression on Sunday.

Why is Myanmar protesting?

The protests have been going on in Myanmar for more than a month after the military seized power in a February 1 coup, detaining democratically elected leaders, ousting the ruling government and setting up a junta called the State Board.
The military, led by the leader of the coup, General Min Aung Hlaing, justified its takeover by assuming widespread electoral fraud during the November 2020 general election, which gave Suu Kyi another overwhelming victory and shattered. hopes for some backed military figures could take power democratically.

The now reformed Electoral Commission has denied evidence of mass voter fraud.

It was only the second democratic vote since the previous military junta began a series of reforms in 2011, after half a century of brutal military rule that plunged Myanmar, then known as Burma, into poverty and isolationism.

Relatives and friends react during the funeral procession of Ko Saw Pyae Naing, 21, who died in anti-coup protests in Mandalay, Myanmar, on March 14.
Protesters are demanding that the army restore the power of civilian control and demand the release of Suu Kyi and other government figures. Many ethnic groups in Myanmar, which have long fought for greater autonomy for their lands, are also calling for the abolition of the written military constitution of 2008 and the establishment of a federal democracy.
In addition to the protests, a civil disobedience movement saw thousands of white-and-blue-collar workers, from doctors, bankers and lawyers to teachers, engineers and factory workers, leaving their jobs as a form of resistance to the coup.
In recent weeks, the military has stepped up its response to the protests, launching a systematic crackdown nationwide in which security forces opened fire on protesters. Amnesty International said the military was using increasingly deadly tactics and weapons normally seen on the battlefield against peaceful protesters and those around them, and that troops – documented to have committed human rights abuses in conflict zones – were deployed on the streets. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar said the army’s “brutal response” to peaceful protests “probably meets the legal threshold for crimes against humanity.”

Despite the danger, thousands of young protesters continued to defy the army. Demonstrations are dominated by young people who have grown up with a level of democracy and political and economic freedoms that their parents or grandparents did not have and say they are fighting for their future.

CNN’s Hira Humayun and Richard Roth contributed to the reporting.

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