MYANMAR’S UN ENVOY ASKS JAPAN TO CUT TIES WITH JUNTA

Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations who openly criticized the coup by his country's military junta in a speech to the UN General Assembly, has asked Japan to cut ties with the junta.

He sat down with the Mainichi Shimbun for an exclusive interview on March 22 and said he felt sanctions would be effective at ending the coup, and called for Japan's government to introduce economic measures against businesses and other initiatives with connections to the military, saying, "whatever you have business ties with (a) military regime, wherever you have financial ties with the military regime, please turn it off right away."

Ambassador Tun gained attention after a Feb. 26 speech at the General Assembly, in which he criticized the Myanmar military and raised a three-fingered salute -- an anti-dictatorship symbol in the country.

Since the coup began on Feb. 1, he said that he had been asking himself what he could do in his capacity as UN ambassador and concluded that he "wanted to use this opportunity to have maximum positive impact, especially on our young generation who are risking their own lives on the streets and protesting and demanding the end of (the) military coup."

Although he worried about his parents still living in the country, he said they had told him they were proud after his speech. Following his remarks, the military announced that Tun had betrayed his country and would be relieved of his position. It attempted to replace him with the country's deputy UN ambassador, Tin Maung Naing, but he refused and resigned.

Now, Tun remains as Myanmar's UN envoy, and the military has charged him with treason. He said that after his dismissal, the military regime issued instructions to all Myanmar embassies telling them "no one can engage" with him.

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