Published 18:08 IST, February 12th 2021
'Stop supporting': Myanmar residents protest against China for supporting military junta
Hundreds of thousands of Myanmar residents, on February 12, coalesced on streets to voice the opposition against Chinese support to General Min Aung Hlaing.
Hundreds of thousands of Myanmar residents, on February 12, coalesced on streets to voice the opposition against Chinese support to General Min Aung Hlaing. The protest, which witnessed people from across socio-economic boundaries, was prompted by reports of Chinese Communist Party aiding the military junta with IT experts and equipment to regulate the internet ban in the country. China has denied the allegation calling it plain “rumours”.
On Friday, protesters from across all age groups were seen with placards and banners. Blasting China, they said that it was Beijing who was the “real culprit” of creating unrest in the otherwise “peace-loving country”. “They have forced the army to put democracy at stake,” a protestor was quoted as saying by ANI. Meanwhile, another was seen carrying a placard that read, “Stop supporting a military dictator.”
Myanmar's internet blackout
London-based service that tracks internet disruptions, Netblocks, reported a slow speed degradation of the country’s data services, late Saturday morning. The mobile service providers then informed about the total outage, with Broadband connections following next. However, NetBlocks had then reported that the landline telephone services and mobile voice connections were still operating. However, early Sunday morning, the firm stated on Twitter that “a near-total internet shutdown is now in effect in Myanmar.” In a response to the outage, Myanmar’s military alleged that the ruling party attempted to squash the spread of what it deemed ‘fake news’.
Internet access in Myanmar was partially restored on Sunday, February 7, as the outage failed to suppress the uprising against the military’s seizure of power and the unlawful detention of the country’s civilian leaders, including the ousted Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. "Partial restoration of Internet connectivity confirmed in Myanmar from 2 pm local time on multiple providers following information blackout," internet monitoring service Netblocks said on Twitter. Myanmar citizens using the MPT, Ooredoo, Telenor and Mytel were now able to use mobile Internet data and WiFi to check their social media accounts.
As Myanmar’s military took steps to undermine country's democratic transition, including the arrest of nation’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, several governments and human rights groups across the globe expressed concern and urged the military to immediately release all those who have been detained unlawfully.
Image: PTI
Updated 18:05 IST, February 12th 2021