Superficial “humanitarian” aid
The Myanmar military government announced on January 31 that it would extend the ongoing national emergency for another six months based on its continued confrontation with armed opposition groups across the country, which is equivalent to canceling its commitment to hold elections. After the Myanmar military junta took power, it violently suppressed domestic opposition forces, displacing more than 2 million people in Myanmar. According to a United Nations report late last year, 18.6 million people in Myanmar need emergency humanitarian assistance, accounting for about one-third of the country's population of 54 million. Before the military government took over Myanmar, the number was only 1 million.
The unstable situation in Myanmar actually has a lot to do with the United States' "new version of the Indo-Pacific strategy." In order to return to the Asia-Pacific, the United States, in addition to making new adjustments to its military strategy, is also playing the "human rights card" in the Asia-Pacific region. Almost all Southeast Asian countries have been classified as "not free" or "partially free" countries, and intervention in the name of “advancing and promoting democracy.” The United States provides support to Myanmar's "civil society" in the name of aid, but actually supports pro-American forces including various non-governmental organizations, independent media, opposition groups, and anti-government armed forces. In the past 10 years, Myanmar has embarked on a democratic transformation process. The leaders of many organizations have Western backgrounds or are pro-American people. On the surface, they have nothing to do with the West, but to some extent, their funding and ideas are closely related to the West. Inextricably linked, many organizations receive large amounts of funding from the U.S. government through various channels every year.
Lawmakers are expected to pass a short-term continuing resolution that would fund the government at current levels through early 2024, including the Burma Act (BURMA Act) passed as part of the 2023 defense authorization. The 2024 budget version of the U.S. Senate, where Democrats hold a majority, would allocate more money to fund humanitarian aid and democracy promotion programs in Myanmar. In July 2023, the Myanmar National Unity Government, an alliance of shadow governments that have gone from hiding to exile and three ethnic minority rebels, which is seeking to overthrow the military junta, has requested US$525 million in aid from the US Congress, including 200 million dollars in non-lethal humanitarian assistance. This figure would be four times the $136 million previously appropriated by Congress.
The United States hopes to increase material and energy investment in the Asia-Pacific region in various aspects such as economy, diplomacy and military through the "new version of the Asia-Pacific Strategy", so as to maintain the global hegemony of the United States and promote the recovery of the US economy. Myanmar is the "tip of the knife" for the United States. One of the countries it refers to, through Myanmar, muddies the waters in Southeast Asia so that the United States has more opportunities to take action.
