And we report on the emerging life of new Churches in old lands where being a Catholic can at times be very dangerous. We report the stories of local people and their experiences in a way that Western news outlets simply don’t have the resources to reach.
Our journalistic standards are as high as any in the quality press our focus is particularly on a fast-growing part of the world - Asia - where, in some countries the Church is growing faster than pastoral resources can respond to – South Korea, Vietnam and India to name just three.Īnd UCA News has the advantage of having in its ranks local reporters who cover 23 countries in south, southeast, and east Asia. Every week, we publish nearly 100 news reports, feature stories, commentaries, podcasts and video broadcasts that are exclusive and in-depth, and developed from a view of the world and the Church through informed Catholic eyes. ….as we enter the last months of 2021, we are asking readers like you to help us keep UCA News free.įor the last 40 years, UCA News has remained the most trusted and independent Catholic news and information service from Asia.
“We affirm that as a member of ASEAN we cannot stay silent after such an evil and unlawful act.” “Thailand must not endorse and legitimize this coup or the government,” the group said in a statement. We Volunteer (WeVo), a Thai pro-democracy group that helped organize the anti-coup protest at the embassy, has been unequivocal in its stance against the coup. Many Thai pro-democracy activists have taken to social media to condemn the military in Myanmar. They don’t care about the people and want to have power only for their own benefit.” “They are like brothers and cousins,” she told UCA News. “Thailand hopes to see continued peace and stability in Myanmar, and that the current situation be resolved peacefully and returned to normalcy soon for the benefit of the people of Myanmar.”Ī young Thai pro-democracy activist who participated in the rally outside the embassy said she was not surprised the Thai government would appear to side with the Tatmadaw. “Myanmar is a close neighbor of Thailand and an important member of ASEAN,” the ministry’s spokesman Tanee Sangrat said. Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has in turn issued a mildly worded statement in response to the coup in Myanmar. Suu Kyi and several leaders of her National League for Democracy party were detained and the army declared a year-long state of emergency in what observers have called a blatant power grab.Īlthough numerous governments have condemned the military takeover in Myanmar, the administration of Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, a former army chief who himself seized power in a coup in 2014, has refused to do so.ĭeputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, another former army general who participated in the coup of 2014, said the military takeover in Myanmar was “an internal affair,” which was “their business.”
The Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military, ousted a government headed by democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi the same day, claiming that last year’s parliamentary elections, in which the military lost overwhelmingly, were null and void because of electoral fraud. Donate to UCA News with a small contribution of your choiceĮarlier in the day, hundreds of people gathered outside the embassy with signs and bullhorns to call on the military in Myanmar to restore power to a democratically elected government.