Debunking the rumours of a shift in US policy toward Myanmar

The junta’s propaganda machine is currently exploiting U.S. bureaucratic transitions to spread a false narrative that Washington is shifting its policy to support the military regime. In reality, the U.S. is not abandoning the democratic movement, and these rumors are nothing more than calculated psychological warfare designed to demoralize the public. Congressional testimonies and misinterpretations Propagandists are making the best of ambiguous, hedging answers provided by Assistant Secretary Michael DeSombre during a June 25 House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. However, this does not represent a policy shift, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio firmly reaffirmed U.S. support for a democratic civilian government over a Chinese-backed military regime during a June 3 Senate Appropriations hearing with Senator Mitch McConnell. Secretary Rubio explicitly stated the U.S. is actively seeking to identify democratic partners to shape Myanmar’s future, directly contradicting claims of a pivot toward the junta. The structural funding freeze The current pause in the dispersal of funds authorized by the Burma Act is not a political decision to abandon the resistance, but rather a global, structural freeze. The current administration’s ongoing integration of USAID into the State Department has temporarily suspended $19 billion USD in global aid closeout funds. Recognizing this bureaucratic hurdle, a bipartisan group of 17 senators, led by Brian Schatz and Jeanne Shaheen, sent a formal letter to Secretary Rubio in April demanding the immediate release of these crucial funds. Geopolitical priorities and the CCP A fundamental pillar of U.S. foreign policy remains countering the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During his May 2025 confirmation hearing, DeSombre testified to Senator James Risch that helping the Myanmar people build resilience against CCP influence is a primary American objective. Because the military junta is heavily reliant on China and Russia, a U.S. pivot to support a proxy of its greatest geopolitical rival is strategically illogical and practically impossible. The SCAM Act and transnational crime Recent reports of U.S. officials meeting with junta representatives in Tokyo regarding scam centers sparked a July 1 protest letter from 25 civil society organizations. As Myra Dahgaypaw noted, the junta and the scam centers share a symbiotic relationship, making cooperation with the military akin to “asking an arsonist to help put out a fire.” Instead of genuine cooperation, this meeting was likely a pressure tactic tied to the SCAM Act—introduced by Senators John Cornyn and Jeanne Shaheen—which threatens to sanction the junta as an “enabler country” for transnational crime. Surviving and winning the asymmetric war The Myanmar people must avoid harboring false expectations of foreign intervention, but they must equally reject the undue discouragement manufactured by junta propaganda. To achieve victory, the junta must demonstrate good governance and win back public consent—an impossible task for a regime reliant entirely on terror. Conversely, the resistance merely needs to survive, sustain its momentum, and continue degrading the junta’s capacity to control the country. James Shwe is a Myanmar democracy advocate and writer based in California. His previous DVB analysis of Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to India appeared on June 3. DVB publishes a diversity of opinions that do not reflect DVB’s editorial policy. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our stories: [email protected]