Article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56398001
Myanmar’s military has expanded martial law into more districts across the country. This specifically has been done throughout Yangon and Mandalay to discourage the growing protests. The advantage of this is that by expanding martial law the military will be able to try protestors in military courts. This comes right after the deadliest protest since the coup began in February. These protests continue as the citizens of Myanmar demand the release of the leader of the National League for Democracy, Aung San Kyi.
The protestors are also claiming that the military is receiving support from China. China has still not condemned the military directly and hasn’t spoken outright in expressing an opinion on either side. This lack of support has led to an increased anti-China sentiment among protestors that feel this isn’t enough.
Unfortunately, from a realist perspective, the main goal of a nation is survival. Therefore, China has no obligation to express any lack of support as it will not directly benefit its national interests. However, it may not benefit China long term if Myanmar returns to democratic ways in the future, which is why it is unfortunate that the national interest is leaning towards military support over civilian support. Still, Myanmar itself is not a threat to China. On the other hand, from a liberal perspective, the core emphasizes reciprocity. This means that if China decided to assist the civilian population that they may return the favor in support of China, but this is still risky to assume given the anti-China sentiment.
The reaction to the coup could continue to have lasting effects on the region. Myanmar is eventually going to have to fall to the military or revert to its past more democratic ways. Once this happens, Myanmar is going to have a recovery period and won’t regain strength quickly. There is still reason to believe that China does have some interest because Myanmar lies on the border. Geopolitically, if other countries aligned with Myanmar and democracy prevails, it is possible to see easy access to China through this border.