US calls on China to escalate pressure on Myanmar after junta’s execution of 4 jailed activists
- ‘Arguably no country has the potential to influence the trajectory of Burma’s next steps more so than the PRC’, says State Department
- But Beijing counters condemnation by citing its adherence to ‘principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs’
The US State Department called on Beijing to ramp up pressure on Myanmar’s military government and pledged to escalate its own punitive actions on Monday after the country’s junta executed four prisoners, including a former lawmaker and a prominent rights activist.
“Arguably no country has the potential to influence the trajectory of Burma’s next steps more so than the PRC,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
“The fact is that the regime [in Myanmar] has not faced the level of economic – and in some cases diplomatic – pressure that we would like to see,” Price said. “We are calling on countries around the world to do more. We will be doing more as well.”
While Price did not outline any new sanctioning plans by Washington, he said “all options that serve to cut off the regime’s revenue – which it uses to perpetrate this violence – [are] on the table”.
