ASEAN Beat | Diplomacy | Southeast Asia

Ahead of Credentials Showdown, Myanmar Accuses UN Representative of ‘Illegal’ Acts

Naypyidaw is seeking the replacement of Kyaw Moe Tun, who pledged his loyalty to the opposition after the 2021 coup.

Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Aug. 26, 2026.

Myanmar’s military-backed government is ramping up the campaign against its rogue permanent representative to the United Nations, ahead of an expected credentials battle later this month.

Kyaw Moe Tun was appointed by the civilian government that was removed from power in a military coup in February 2021. After the coup, he gave an emotional address to the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA), in which he publicly broke with the junta and appealed for “the strongest possible action from the international community” to restore democracy to the country.

He later pledged his loyalty to the National Unity Government (NUG), which was formed by members of the ousted government and other members of Myanmar civil society.

The military junta subsequently terminated Kyaw Moe Tun and nominated another candidate, the retired colonel Aung Thurein, to replace him. However, Kyaw Moe Tun has been allowed to remain in the seat, due to repeated deferrals by the U.N. Credentials Committee on the question of who has the right to represent Myanmar at the U.N.

On September 8, the UNGA appointed a new nine-member Credentials Committee that will soon consider whether to enact another deferral or to make a definitive ruling on who should represent Myanmar at the U.N.

In recent months, Naypyidaw and its various propaganda organs have been waging a campaign against Kyaw Moe Tun, seeking his removal and accusing him of various forms of wrongdoing. In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Naypyidaw accused Kyaw Moe Tun of undertaking “illegal activities,” saying that ​his status had been “revoked and withdrawn.” Specifically, it accused him of the misuse of state funds and property for “personal interest” and for colluding with resistance groups, such as the NUG, that “have been declared unlawful associations and terrorist organizations.”

It said that Kyaw Mow Tun had acted “as an accomplice to terrorist acts by concealing, defending, and supporting unlawful violent operations targeting innocent civilians, civil servants, and public infrastructure within Myanmar on the international stage.”

The Ministry added that the Myanmar Embassy in Washington, D.C. was coordinating with INTERPOL and the United States National Central Bureau in order to pursue “necessary action” against the envoy.

“Kyaw Moe Tun’s continued representation of Myanmar at the United Nations does not constitute formal recognition of his legitimacy,” the Ministry said. “Rather, his continued status is merely a temporary arrangement, with the Credentials Committee’s decision deferred annually.”

As with its ongoing fight against the former ambassador to the United Kingdom, who declared for the resistance and refused to leave the ambassador’s London residence since the coup, the Myanmar government has likely gauged that the time is ripe to........

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