To understand yet another coup in Burma, the keywords are “socialism” and China
In recent days we have witnessed yet another military coup in Myanmar, a nation formerly known as "Burma" (or Burma , when it was part of the British Empire). In the last political elections, the “National League for Democracy”, the party headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1991, won a landslide by winning an absolute majority of votes.
The Burmese army, whose official name is Tatmadaw , has dominated the local scene for decades both politically and economically, and seemed to have accepted the electoral response after holding Suu Kyi in prison for a very long period. Evidently the generals were instead seized by the fear of having to share power and preferred to assume it again in the first person.
However, it is difficult to understand what is happening in the Asian nation if we ignore the term "socialism". The local military, in fact, have adopted since 1962 a sort of national and autarchic socialism not unlike that in force in other countries of the area, even if they have always been careful not to identify themselves fully with the former socialist bloc. Soviet and then with the Chinese one.
However, there are strong similarities with the People's Republic of China. In the latter, after the death of Mao Zedong, a strange mix of Marxism and Confucianism came into force, used extensively as it allows the Communist leadership to recover the Confucian tradition that Mao had outlawed. This tradition is very useful to Xi Jinping and his leadership group as it allows to further increase the iron social control exercised by the Party-State. Confucius in fact exalts the collective dimension by reducing the individual to a mere mechanism of the state.
In Myanmar, on the other hand, Buddhism performs this function. The army has always emphasized the Buddhist identity of Burma, where the overwhelming majority of the population practices the Theravada doctrine, which means "School of the Elderly". Doctrine also prevalent in Thailand (where, however, there is no mention of socialism), Sri Lanka, Laos and Cambodia.
The "socialist" characterization of the military juntas which succeeded one another in power in present-day Myanmar since the post-war period must be taken seriously. From the very beginning, in fact, a "Burmese way to socialism" was drawn up which provided for a specific model of collectivist economic development, considered the most suitable for the conditions of the country.
The military took on the task of fully realizing this model, based on an almost absolute autarchy and on the fight against any kind of foreign influence, and in particular Western influence. Thanks to this strategy, Burma has remained a very poor nation, with an almost exclusively agricultural economy and where private property is considered anathema.
The military has also ensured the unity of the country which, in reality, includes numerous ethnic and linguistic minorities, often fighting with the central government to obtain autonomy and, in some cases, even independence. Bloody conflicts have therefore characterized the recent history of the nation, and the military has always repressed every instance of autonomy with an iron fist.
The case that has caused the greatest stir is that of the Rohingya , a population of Islamic faith who are denied citizenship and who are forced to move to neighboring Bangladesh. A large-scale humanitarian tragedy followed, condemned by the UN and other international bodies.
And it is in this context that the strange fate of Aung San Suu Kyi, who is now 76 years old, must be placed. Exalted in the West as a heroine of democracy and champion of the fight against military dictatorship, to the point of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, she then became a negative example when it was understood that her conception of democracy did not coincide at all with ours. .
In reality, it has practiced a nationalist and identity policy which, in many respects, does not differ much from that of the military, proponents of a country closed to external influences and favorable, as previously said, to self-sufficiency. Suu Kyi has therefore adopted an identity line that considers Buddhism as the unifying bond of the country, in a way not unlike what happens in neighboring Thailand (but with less dramatic consequences). It therefore did not oppose the persecution of religious minorities.
Despite the age-old mistrust of Chinese expansionism, the Burmese military, who define themselves precisely as "socialists", find in Beijing an ideal side to carry out their policy. After all, the Myanmar army has a history of brutal repressions that have caused thousands of victims, involving, in some cases, also correspondents of foreign newspapers. The new situation will benefit – as always – China, which assigns Myanmar a role of great importance in the project of the "New Silk Road", the pivot of Xi Jinping's foreign policy. Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that Burma borders India, which Beijing considers a dangerous strategic rival in Asia. It is no coincidence that the People's Republic has granted Myanmar large loans to improve its infrastructure, thus tying the neighboring "socialist" country to its wagon.
The post To understand yet another coup in Burma, the key words are "socialism" and China appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL http://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/per-capire-lennesimo-golpe-in-birmania-le-parole-chiave-sono-socialismo-e-cina/ on Fri, 05 Feb 2021 04:52:00 +0000.