Southeast Asian bloc's defense chiefs renew support for 5-Point consensus on Myanmar

ANKARA

The defense chiefs of Southeast Asians nations renewed their support Friday for the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar, urging a peaceful solution to the conflict in the Buddhist-majority nation.

Defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have been meeting in the Laotian capital of Vientiane since Wednesday for an annual summit where they held bloc-level meetings with counterparts from China, the US and other nations.

Soon after the February 2021 coup launched by the Myanmar's military, known as the Tatmadaw, ASEAN issued a Five-Point Consensus plan, or the 5PCs, when Brunei was at the helm of the regional bloc, to normalize the political situation.

It includes building trust and confidence to engender a dialogue among all parties concerned, end violence and alleviate the suffering of residents.

The military takeover triggered mass protests in Myanmar, with the junta's forces killing 5,909 victims while 27,612 have been arrested since February 2021, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a local monitoring group.

The internal strife, however, has exacerbated with rebel groups forming a "Brotherhood Alliance" in northern Myanmar, bordering China, against the junta.

The alliance maintains control over several areas in the region.

Recently media reports claimed that China placed Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) commander Peng Daxun under house arrest in the southern province of Yunnan.

Beijing refuted the reports, however, and said Daxun entered China for medical care and was "still under treatment."

The MNDAA is part of the Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army.

The alliance previously entered a China-mediated cease-fire with the junta, known as the Haigeng agreement, which broke down following clashes in northern Shan State.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid