Mohammad Reza Asgari Moroodi told the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations that “in the current situation, in the atmosphere of the international system, basically, any military coup and change of the political system that is outside of the democratic process and through military power and coercive means, in no way accepted and the credibility of the governments arising from non-democratic processes has never been accepted by the international community.

He emphasized that “therefore, the issue of Myanmar is not an exception to this rule, and since the military took power in Myanmar through a coup, the international community has basically refused to accept the rule of the military in this country.”

According to this expert, in such a situation, there were many criticisms and protests domestically in response to the political blockage in the internal space of Myanmar, and even the issue of Myanmar’s expulsion from the regional union of Southeast Asian countries, “ASEAN” was also raised.

He explained that “in this situation where domestic, regional and international pressures against the military rule in Myanmar increased, the rulers of Myanmar promised that after a while, they would hand over power to the people through democratic processes and by holding elections. But in the last two years, and since the coup in February 2021, no signs of change have been observed in the military’s plan to hand over power to the people through elections, and this is why Myanmar has always been in a kind of isolation regionally and internationally since the coup.

Regarding Beijing’s view of the military regime in this country, Asgari said that “since the military coup in Myanmar and the removal of the National Democratic Front led by Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, countries in the region, including India and China, have had their reactions and sensitivities to the developments in Myanmar especially China, which had many similarities and commonalities with Myanmar politically and ideologically.

This expert continued that “in a period where the military seems to be forced to hand over power to political parties through elections, the Chinese are trying to advance the conditions inside Myanmar in line with Beijing’s regional policies and help to somehow shape the future developments of Myanmar in line with China’s regional policies.”

This expert on the issues of the Indian subcontinent also explained the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister to Myanmar in mid-May: “This trip was aimed at examining the latest political developments in this country after the coup, and at the same time, one of the important aspects of the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister to Myanmar was to define a role for China as a mediator to establish stability in this country and free it from the autocracy of military rulers.”

He emphasized that “actually, based on the models defined at the international system level, Beijing is trying to improve its image and prestige at the regional and international levels by playing the role of a mediator in some territorial areas facing political or economic and security problems.

Asgari said, “Therefore, part of the objectives of the Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit to Myanmar is to review the latest conditions and adapt Myanmar’s future policies to China’s regional plans. At the same time, China’s regional and mediating role can gain meaning by establishing political stability and bringing peace to Myanmar by holding elections.