Japanese freelance journalist Yuki Kitazumi was indicted May 3 in Myanmar for spreading "fake news," according to the country's junta. Kitazumi was covering the anti-government protests that have roiled Myanmar since the military staged a coup there in February, and, according to Kyodo News, the coverage was "deemed to be critical of the military."
The arrest placed additional pressure on the government of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to come out strongly against the junta and its actions. Though Japan has decried the coup and suspended new aid to Myanmar, it has not officially condemned the junta or implemented sanctions in the way other countries have. Instead, Japan says it will use the “channels” it has with the junta to do something as yet unspecified, but in at least one regard this special relationship seems to have paid off: On Thursday it was reported that Kitazumi would be released.
Last month during Diet deliberations, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, when pressed to explain how the government plans to address the crisis, cited a proverb from one of Aesop's fables that weighs compelling someone to do something you want them to do against giving them a reason to do something you want them to do, which only seemed to increase the confusion surrounding the administration's position.