Daisuke Kondo, a China expert in Japan, recently wrote an article about how Burma is as important to the United States and China as Taiwan is to these two powers. According to Kondo, the situation in Burma now deserves even more attention as Beijing is trying to regain the influence it lost on Burma from the United States after the military coup.
Since that coup in Burma (officially known as Myanmar), Beijing has demanded the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) political party. However, Beijing has also blocked the United Nations from imposing sanctions on the Burmese military. Chinese state-run media Xinhua avoided calling it a “coup,” instead calling it a “cabinet reshuffle.”
