NUG warns uneven ASEAN engagement risks fueling Myanmar junta ‘Divide-and-Rule’ tactics

The opposition National Unity Government (NUG) said 12 July that ASEAN risks strengthening the military junta’s hand unless the bloc engages Myanmar’s array of resistance actors — including the NUG itself, the Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union (SCEF), and ethnic armed organizations — with equal political weight in a coordinated framework. The statement came hours after Thailand hosted an informal meeting in Bangkok between ASEAN foreign ministers and junta-appointed Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe, the first in-person, ministerial-level contact between the bloc and Naypyidaw since the 2021 coup. Rather than condemning the talks outright, the NUG described Thailand’s role as an exercise in host-country diplomacy distinct from any shift in ASEAN’s collective position, citing Bangkok’s legitimate interests as Myanmar’s neighbour in border security, cross-border trade, humanitarian concerns and regional stability. The NUG was formed by lawmakers ousted in the February 2021 coup that ended a decade of civilian-led government in Myanmar and triggered a nationwide armed uprising against the junta. ASEAN’s collective framework for the crisis remains the Five-Point Consensus (5PC), adopted in April 2021, which calls for an immediate end to violence, dialogue among all parties, humanitarian assistance and engagement by ASEAN’s special envoy with all stakeholders. According to the statement, the central obstacle to peace is not a shortage of diplomatic engagement but the junta’s continued failure to implement the commitments it accepted under the 5PC. More than five years after the framework’s adoption, it said, attacks on civilians and indiscriminate airstrikes continue, humanitarian access remains severely restricted, and meaningful political dialogue has yet to begin. The NUG also cautioned that although ASEAN and its member states have engaged separately with the NUG, the SCEF — an umbrella body formed by the NUG and allied ethnic armed groups to build a federal democratic system — ethnic armed organizations, and other democratic forces, such engagement has too often lacked equal political weight or a coherent framework. It warned this unevenness could allow the junta to exploit “divide-and-rule” tactics rather than build the trust needed for genuine dialogue. The statement argued that ASEAN’s credibility ultimately rests on measurable outcomes — reduced violence, expanded humanitarian access and an advancing inclusive political process — rather than on the number of meetings it holds with Naypyidaw. Sustainable peace, it said, requires a coordinated political process that reflects realities on the ground, not fragmented or parallel tracks that treat stakeholders unequally. Despite its criticism, the NUG reiterated its commitment to working with ASEAN, Thailand and regional partners toward a peaceful and durable political solution, and called on ASEAN to ensure future engagement is balanced in practice, not only inclusive in principle. Myanmar’s future, the statement said, cannot be determined by the military junta alone. The post NUG warns uneven ASEAN engagement risks fueling Myanmar junta ‘Divide-and-Rule’ tactics appeared first on ENG.MIZZIMA.COM.