Myanmar coup: Singapore's foreign minister says 'widespread' sanctions won't work

Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Tuesday that the international community should rule out "widespread" sanctions against Myanmar following the military coup there, arguing that such punitive measures would hurt ordinary citizens the most.

Speaking to lawmakers in parliament, Balakrishnan said he underscored his message in recent phone calls with counterparts from the United States, Germany and other nations.

Balakrishnan's remarks came amid intensive behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to bring the coup's leader, Senior General Aung Min Hlaing, to the negotiation table and avert a violent crackdown against protesting citizens.

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Singapore and other Asean countries have also urged the Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar military is known, to release the deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other members of the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD).

"In all my discussions, my phone calls, I've said that we should not embark on widespread, generalised, indiscriminate sanctions because the people who will suffer the most will be the ordinary people in Myanmar," Balakrishnan said in response to questions from lawmakers.

That sentiment was largely in line with opinions expressed by other officials and commentators within Asean countries.

Some in the broader international community, however, say broader sanctions would be effective. US President Joe Biden's administration has so far imposed targeted sanctions on 10 current and retired top-ranking Tatmadaw leaders, adding to sanctions already imposed on Aung Min Hlaing and others for their alleged role in the 2016 mass killings of Rohingya Muslims.

Last week, New Zealand announced the suspension of high-level military and political contacts with Myanmar, imposed a travel ban on the country's military leaders, and pledged to ensure that its aid disbursements would not be for projects that benefited the junta.

Balakrishnan said Singapore was aware of the "complex collage" of historical, geostrategic, economic and demographic factors that weighed on Myanmar's political situation and "hoped fervently" for national reconciliation in the country.

"It is in that context that I express my hope that President Win Myint and the state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi would be released from detention so that they can sit down at the negotiating table and talk," Balakrishnan said.

With widespread protests continuing and the reported deployment of troops in several cities and the movement of armed vehicles, the situation in Myanmar was "alarming", Balakrishnan said.

The minister said 17 Singaporeans had returned home on relief flights since the February 1 coup.

While Asean countries operate on the principles of consensus and "non-interference" in member states' internal affairs, Balakrishnan said the bloc could play a "constructive role in facilitating a return to normalcy and stability in Myanmar".

"Engagement rather than isolation will go further in ameliorating this crisis, and Asean will work closely with all its external partners, including the United Nations, the United States, China, India, Japan and the EU to foster an inclusive dialogue with all key stakeholders, and we encourage Myanmar to return to its path of democratic transition," he said.

Balakrishnan added that there had been "an intense flurry of communications" among Asean leaders, though difficulties remained to convene a formal meeting to discuss the coup since one can take place only with approval from the governments of all 10 Asean member states, including Aung Min Hlaing's junta.

Singapore is Myanmar's largest foreign investor, with cumulative investments totalling US$24 billion as of December, Balakrishnan said. Over the last five years the democratically elected NLD government has ruled Myanmar, Singapore's direct investments in the country have grown tenfold compared with the five-year period before that.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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