10th February 2021
The question still in the forefront of the Burmese people’s minds is why has the coup taken place? Well, in the words of Woodward and Bernstein, follow the money.
By seizing absolute power, Myanmar coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has protected his and his family’s financial interests and the military’s unscrutinized economic domination.
Min Aung Hlaing spent much of his military career as a quiet, publicity-shy officer steadily promoted to higher positions before grabbing absolute power at dawn on February 1, five months before his mandatory retirement at age 65 on July 3.
Among other goals, the military’s commander-in-chief apparently hopes he has protected himself, his family, and military colleagues from possible investigation over their extensive, lucrative financial deals and economic holdings, sources say.
“His financial interests must be considered as a motive for his coup,” the Justice for Myanmar campaign group of activists said in a statement.
This was always going to be a problem for him if Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was returned to power with increased support.
“Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has ultimate authority over Myanmar’s two military conglomerates – Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL),” the group noted.
MEC and MEHL are reportedly invested in Myanmar’s commercial port activity, container depots, jade and ruby mining, real estate, construction and other lucrative sectors.
Min Aung Hlaing’s son, Aung Pyae Sone, operates a “medical supply business, A&M Mahar, sells Food and Drug Administration clearances and brokers imports, as well as trading and marketing pharmaceuticals and medical technology,” the statement said.
“Aung Pyae Sone also owns Azura Beach Resort, which promotes itself as the ‘largest resort in Chaung Tha’,” a seaside area in the Ayeyarwady Region popular with Yangon elites.
Sky One Construction was granted permission a few years ago to “build a resort on 22.22 acres of land leased from the government… Sky One Construction is owned by Aung Pyae Sone,” it said.
“Aung Pyae Sone’s wife, Myo Yadanar Htaik is also in business, including as a director of Nyein Chan Pyae Sone Manufacturing & Trading Company with her husband.
“Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter, Khin Thiri Thet Mon, owns Seventh Sense, a media production business that makes big budget films and has exclusive contracts with Nay Toe and Wut Hmone Shwe Yi,” the statement said.
The list of the family’s holdings is long and wide. A UN report in 2019 said MEC and MEHL “are contributing to supporting the Tatmadaw’s [military’s] financial capacity.”
It said those military conglomerates display a “high risk of contributing to or being linked to, violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law.”
The coup-leader enjoys strong support from fellow officers, including those who have benefited from the military’s various business ventures.
He has also reportedly pleased the rank and file with recent procurements of expensive weaponry and equipment from China, Russia, Israel and others, deals which traditionally have allowed top generals to skim off inflated public prices.
Corruption watchdog Transparency International has consistently ranked Myanmar among the most offenders worldwide, according to its Corruption Perceptions Index.
But it is the tight control Min Aung Hlaing, his family and his military comrades enjoy that makes their financial activities especially problematic to measure without public scrutiny or accounting over their profits and transfers of ownership.
If Min Aung Hlaing had retired instead of launching his February 1 coup, he would have potentially been vulnerable to financial investigations under Aung San Suu Kyi’s new National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government, which won in a landslide against the military’s proxy party at last November’s election.
The ending of the gravy train is a powerful motivator.
“When Suu Kyi won another election handsomely, [it] risked actual democratization – even if illiberal in nature – potentially undermining the military’s position for a long time to come,” wrote Avinash Paliwal, an author who teaches at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies.
What is even less understood is how Min Aung Hlaing and the military perceived Suu Kyi and the NLD’s growing commercial relations with China, which has vast interests in infrastructure developments in Myanmar under its Belt and Road Initiative.
It is not clear how much of those big-ticket contracts, ranging from roads, railroads and ports, were guided and controlled by the NLD and whether the military was sharing in the related contractual riches.
It’s yet to be seen how the foreign investors who entered the country under Suu Kyi’s elected government will respond. Many have already taken a reputational beating for their continued involvement in the country after the Rohingya atrocities.
Foreign investors could, if they chose, knock down some of the economic and financial pillars Min Aung Hlaing and his colleagues will need to keep the economy afloat during their emergency rule regime, which they have promised to lift after one year.
Kirin have ended their agreement and JV with Mandalay and Myanmar breweries.
In Thailand, Amata temporarily halted its $1 billion industrial estate development work in Myanmar amid concerns that new sanctions could make the project taboo for international investors.
“We and our clients are concerned about a possible trade boycott by Western countries,” Amata’s Chief Marketing Officer Viboon Kromadit said on Tuesday.
Suzuki Motor, meanwhile, stopped its two car-making factories in Myanmar until the post-coup situation stabilizes. China’s growing commercial interests in Myanmar are expected to be less affected as Beijing has already effectively endorsed the coup.
Asia Times February 7th.
And created a vacuum for China to exploit. The West is paying the price for not understanding Daw Aung Sun Suu Kyi’s position during the Rohingya crisis and cutting the rug from under her whilst virtue signalling. Of course, the treatment of the Rohingya was appalling, but the blame was directed at the easy target.
This is a very high stakes game with huge problems for General Min Aung Hlaing if it fails. It will only fail if the military withdraw its support for him.
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