Long read:
ASEAN on Myanmar’s Coup: Revisiting Cold War Diplomacy on Cambodia
Deepak Nair - 22 Mar, 2021

A battle for international recognition between Myanmar’s junta and Aung San Suu Kyi’s deposed civilian government is underway. The opposition in the incarnation of the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) has urged the international community not to recognize the junta, while the junta has charged the CRPH as “illegal” and guilty of “high treason.”

The battle lines have been drawn with the extraordinary address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) by Myanmar’s Permanent Representative U Kyaw Moe Tun. In his speech, Kyaw Moe Tun broke ranks with the junta and delivered a message from the CRPH that urged international condemnation of the coup and denial of recognition for the junta-led State Administration Council regime.

While the junta swiftly moved to sack Kyaw Moe Tun, the diplomat has staked a claim to represent the deposed civilian government at the UN. He has found support from the United States, the European Union, and a growing number of Myanmar overseas diplomats in Washington, Berlin, United Kingdom, and Tokyo. Within the region, Indonesia’s foreign minister Retno Marsudi disclosed that she had “communicated intensively” with the CRPH, signaling informal acceptance of the entity as a “stakeholder” in Myanmar’s political crisis.

In light of these developments, the United Nations Credentials Committee and the UN General Assembly are set to be the stage for a likely diplomatic contest between the CRPH provisional government and the Myanmar junta when the world body convenes for a new session in September 2021.

With this looming UN battle ahead, what role can ASEAN’s diplomats and decision-makers play?
Full article: https://www.newmandala.org/asean-on-mya ... -cambodia/