Biden Imposes Sanctions Against Myanmar Military Leaders; Expresses Concerns on Hong Kong Crackdown to Xi Jinping

Washington: US President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the leaders of the military coup in Myanmar. Biden said his administration was taking steps to prevent Myanmar’s generals from having access to $1 billion of government funds held in the US.

“Today, I am announcing a series of actions that we are taking to begin imposing consequences on the leaders of the coup. The US government is taking steps to prevent the generals from improperly having access to the 1 billion dollars in Burmese (Myanmar) government funds held in the United States and today I have approved a new executive order, enabling us to immediately sanction the military leaders who directed the coup, their business interests and their family members,” Biden said at the White House.

The US would identify the first round of sanctions targets this week and impose export controls, Biden said.

The US President also called on the Myanmar military to immediately release detainees, including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. Notably, a one-year state of emergency was declared in Myanmar after U Win Myint and Aung San Suu Kyi were detained by the military on February 1.

Meanwhile, Biden also shared his concerns with Chinese President Xi Jinping on “coercive and unfair economic practices, the crackdown in Hong Kong and human rights abuses in Xinjiang”. He also extended his greetings to Chinese people on Lunar New Year.

“President Joe Biden underscored his fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices, the crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan,” the White House said in a statement.

“President Joe Biden, spoke today with President Xi Jinping of China. President shared his greetings with Chinese people on Lunar New Year. President affirmed his priorities of protecting American people’s security, prosperity & preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific: White House,” it added.

(With agency inputs)