Burmese people in Japan protesting the new military regime in their home country, asking Japan to take a rougher stance. (Image via Japan Today)

Thousands of Burmese in Japan protest, demand tougher action

On Wednesday, thousands of Burmese in Japan gathered outside the Foreign Affairs Ministry in a protest, demanding Tokyo to join other countries in imposing a stricter stance against the current military coup d'etat in Myanmar. The long line of protesters was seen wearing red and waving photos of Aung San Suu Kyi and they surrounded several government buildings in Tokyo, a city where political demonstrations are scarce.

With one voice, nearly 3,000 protesters only demanded only one thing, to free Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar. The Union of Myanmar Citizen Association urged the Foreign Ministry officials to let Japan utilize its political, diplomatic, and economic power to topple the military government and restore the civilian government in the Southeast Asian country. They also said that Japan should not acknowledge the newly-formed regime.

On Monday, the military of Myanmar launched a coup and seized the power. They accused the National League of Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi committed fraudulent acts in the last November's general election. During the election, NLD won in a landslide, and the general election committee stated that they did not find any evidence of fraud.

Moreover, Myanmar and Japan's ties are recently pretty tight, and Tokyo has been a major donor for Naypyidaw. The Japanese companies are actively investing and expanding their businesses to Myanmar. Japan also sees Myanmar as ASEAN's last major market. When being asked on Tuesday about whether it would impose sanctions like its ally, the U.S, did, Japan did not clarify much. The government's top spokesperson only said that the country would monitor the situation in Myanmar.

Source: https://bit.ly/2O652xN