Trump has also imposed a 40% tariff on Myanmar, but the leaders there are still considering it as good news for themselves. Myanmar’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing sees Trump’s tariff letter as a recognition for his military government. Min Aung Hlaing has issued a long letter in English and Burmese languages in response to Trump’s letter. In the letter, Hlaing has praised Trump’s leadership and justified the military government’s seizure of power. He said that ‘just like there was election fraud in America in the year 2020, there was electoral fraud in Myanmar as well.’ Myanmar appealed to Trump to lift the sanctions. US President Donald Trump has been sending letters to many world leaders for the last few days, warning of increasing tariffs on their countries’ exports. Most of the countries of the world are upset with this move of Trump. But Myanmar is seeing it as an opportunity. Taking advantage of this, Myanmar’s military chief Hlaing has appealed to Trump to remove or reduce the sanctions imposed on Myanmar, as it creates problems in the interests of both countries. He said that America should impose a tariff of only 10-20% on Myanmar. He also said that Myanmar wants to remain connected with America’s huge economy and if needed, Myanmar can soon send a high-level delegation to America for talks. Praising Trump’s policies of stopping funding of media institutions, Hlaing praised the decision to cut funding of independent media institutions like Radio Free Asia and Voice of America. He said that these media institutions ‘exacerbated the conflicts’. Radio Free Asia and Voice of America have now stopped broadcasting in Burmese language in Myanmar, because the Trump administration had stopped the aid for them. Now in this entire incident, Trump’s letter is being presented as a diplomatic victory for the military regime. American news channel CNN has sought clarification from the US Embassy about this letter whether it is a sign of policy change from the Trump administration, but no official answer has been received yet. There was a coup in Myanmar in 2021 It is worth noting that the Myanmar army took over the country in 2021 by removing the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, due to which Myanmar got caught in civil war. After this, the US imposed sanctions on many military leaders of Myanmar. Min Aung Hlaing carried out a coup in 2021 by removing the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The US and the rest of the Western countries have not recognized the military government. The military government of Myanmar is currently dependent on the help of countries like Russia and China. The US, European Union and Britain have imposed sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders. The United Nations also considers them guilty of war crimes. However, after Trump’s tariff letter, speculation has started about a change in the policy of the US and Western countries. Civil war continues in Myanmar since 2021 The civil war in Myanmar began with a military coup on February 1, 2021, when the army overthrew the elected government of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and detained the leaders of the Aung San Suu Kyi government. The army termed the NLD’s victory in the 2020 elections as fraudulent, after which widespread protests began. The army’s violent suppression gave rise to resistance, which includes the National Unity Government (NUG) and its People’s Defense Force (PDF) along with several ethnic armed organizations (EAOs). 75 thousand people have died in the civil war so far This civil war brought a humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. According to the United Nations, 17.6 million people need assistance, more than 3 million have been displaced, and more than 75 thousand people have been killed. The army is accused of burning villages, air strikes and war crimes, which have also affected the Rohingya community. The civil war in Myanmar caused the economy to shrink by 18%, leading to hunger and poverty.
