Suu Kyi and our Ursula
Victor Angelo
I
intended to write about the coup d'état in Myanmar. I follow regularly what
happens there, especially the role of civil society associations in defending
citizens, the Chinese investments, and their political impact, as well as the
actions carried out by the different ethnic-based armed groups. China, which is
the second largest foreign investor in the country - the first is Singapore -
shares a long border with Myanmar and sees its neighbour mainly as an economic
corridor with shorter and more direct access to the Gulf of Bengal. This
corridor is of huge strategic interest to the Chinese, both for gas and oil
imports and for exports to the Middle East and Africa. The messages I would
include in my text would be to condemn the military coup and defend the process
of democratisation that began in 2015 and the November 2020 legislative elections
– which the Carter Center considered acceptable despite the restrictions
imposed by the pandemic and the armed rebellions.
I
would also seek to discuss the question marks that Aung San Suu Kyi's political
activity has raised in Western circles, while recalling that she won the
November elections by a large majority. The appreciation of the Burmese is very
different from the judgments that we, with our European eyes, make. I would
have mentioned in my text the impasse that exists in the UN Security Council when
it comes to take decisions about that country. This inability to condemn has
been clearly demonstrated since 2017 when close to a million Rohingya people
were persecuted and expelled to neighbouring Bangladesh. The objection always
comes from the same side, from Beijing, and with Moscow doing the political
favour of aligning itself with the Chinese, in a tactical manoeuvre to obtain Chinese
political dividends. This time, however, I was surprised by the positive. China
and the other members of the Security Council yesterday approved a declaration
which I consider strong and which explicitly condemns the military coup and the
arbitrary arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and all the others. It was an encouraging
surprise, including a clear call for respect for human rights and freedoms,
including those of the press. I would speculate that this agreement on Myanmar
is a good sign, which could be seen as a conciliatory gesture by Xi Jinping addressed
to Joe Biden.
However,
I have decided to change my mind and focus on the mess that the vaccination
campaign in the European Union has become. Each day shows that the issue of
vaccines is highly political, and that delays, failures, slowdowns and
injustices can have a devastating effect on the image of the European Commission
and the moral authority and stability of national governments. It is also clear
that the priority in the EU must be to immunise without delay the largest
number of citizens.
At
the end of December, Ursula von der Leyen said, with a mixture of joy and
arrogance, that the campaign was being launched simultaneously across Europe.
The Commission rightly decided that orders with pharmacy industry would be
placed in a unified way, for the whole EU. This would increase our negotiating
strength in the face of a sector which is immensely powerful and experienced in
writing commercial contracts. After five weeks, we have about 2.9% of the
population vaccinated in the Union, and over 14.5% on Boris Johnson's land. The
vaccines ordered are not made available to national health services because
there is not enough production capacity, logistics and because the
pharmaceuticals already had other contracts signed in advance.
Thus,
we enter February with the clear realization that there is no more explosive
subject than this. And with the certainty that it is fundamental to transform
vaccination into a real campaign, urgent, massive, effective and with fair
criteria accepted by the people. Otherwise, we would be heading for political
and social chaos. Far and different from Myanmar, of course, but equally
destabilising.
(Automatic translation of the opinion piece I published today in the
Diário de Notícias, the old and prestigious Lisbon newspaper)
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