On June 30, Burmese state television reported that Burmese government forces had arrested 11 people responsible for commercial facilities. The 22 commercial facilities where these people work have joined forces to inflate the price of rice, making the price of rice 50~70% higher than the government's regulatory limit.
Of the 11 people arrested, four were Japanese.
On July 1, AEON, a leading Japanese retail company, admitted that one of them was Hiroshi Kasamatsu, who was the head of the product headquarters at the local subsidiary of the AEON Group in Myanmar.
It's not okay if you don't come forward and take the initiative to claim it. In a clip exposed by the news of Myanmar state television, it is clearly written that Mr. Kasamatsu Hiroshi of Aeon Orange Company (Kasamatsu Hiroshi)
When the news reached Japan, there was an uproar.
After all, the previous cases of Japanese arrests were almost all about "suspected of incitement and participation in local anti-government activities". This time, it turned out to be such a "trivial matter" as selling rice at a high price.
But the "little thing" is not small, quite big!
Seven years ago, the Myanmar subsidiary of the AEON Group opened its first AEON supermarket in Yangon, the capital city.
As the head of the commodity headquarters of AEON Myanmar, Hiroshi Kasamatsu has the authority to determine the price of products in the country.
Due to the current instability in food supply and other aspects, the Myanmar military junta has demanded that prices be controlled, especially for rice.
Originally, this required the merchants to work together and cooperate to tide over the difficulties of the food crisis, but the greed of the merchants for profit made them see a huge business opportunity - the stronger the wind, the more expensive the fish.
Taking advantage of the shortage of rice, they raised the price of rice and made a lot of money from other countries.
The rice they sell is 50~70% more expensive than the government's regulatory price cap. And it's 22 commercial facilities that join forces to play monopoly. If you calculate that the people are too expensive, you can only admit it.
Myanmar's military junta has called for control of rice prices, which has led to arrests for illegally inflating rice prices over the past three years. But driven by huge interests, merchants do not listen to persuasion and feel that they can insist on making a profit.
Eventually, the junta was annoyed, and in June, a succession of rice sellers were arrested. Among them is Aeon Orange, a Japanese-owned supermarket.
On the morning of July 1, the Japanese government held a press conference: the person concerned is in good health and will work actively to be released as soon as possible.
When reporting on the incident, Japan emphasized that "the Burmese military arrested the Japanese." Implicitly pointed out that "the local government is too chaotic" and "the military power is in power".
It makes many Japanese villagers sympathize with the arrested Japanese executives, and it is dangerous to deal with the unreasonable local government in that environment.
The high arguments of the villagers
●AEON and other large retail companies have contributed to improving the living standards of local people.
This accident happened, but fortunately, I learned that Mr. Kasamatsu's personal safety is no problem now. It is hoped that the detailed reasons for the arrest will be obtained so that similar incidents will not happen again.
● Japanese companies say that they want the whole world as the market, so they send employees to fly all over the world. They live an unaccustomed life in the local area and work hard with all their might. But they are not government employees, they are just employees of enterprises. Once you are involved in the situation in the local country and the disputes between countries, it cannot be solved by relying on the backing of enterprises alone.
• If it were the P5, it would put pressure on the Burmese regime to release its own nationals who were detained. This is especially true in cases like this one where there is no criminal activity.
This is a difference between whether or not you have diplomatic skills, and whether or not you really want to protect your citizens.
After Chinese capital entered Yangon, the Myanmar military government was a comparative target in terms of investment. This incident shows that the Burmese military junta is becoming less and less concerned about the Liberal Democratic Party government in terms of money.
● In recent years, Myanmar has become close to China, so Myanmar is also in danger. When dealing with Myanmar and China, it is necessary for the Japanese government to think deeply about ways and means.
Raise the price of rice, disrupt the market, and destabilize the situation.
Such a serious problem is invisible. Such a tricky innocent, pure, and noble angle was found by the villagers. And, no matter what, you have to talk about the thousand-year-old godfather.
Last year, AEON opened its first major shopping mall in Myanmar in the "sub-capital" area, 10 kilometers from Yangon. It covers an area of 72,000 square meters. It is located next to the Dilova Special Economic Zone, which is being developed locally by the Japanese government.
The Thilova Special Economic Zone, also known as the Myanmar-Japan Cooperation Special Economic Zone. Claiming to attract $2.1 billion in investment, the Japanese side advertised: it is the most concerned in the entire ASEAN, and Myanmar is a major industrial accumulation area.
On the one hand, he said that he would build and develop for others, so that the local people could live a good life. On the one hand, their own large enterprises have set up a local grain monopoly and raised prices. It is not as simple as disrupting the market, but it is considered by the Myanmar military junta to be to the extent of jeopardizing the situation.
Do you want to be on par with the squid that sold for 500,000 marks a loaf of bread back then?
The Japanese Government did not mention the vile nature of the incident itself, and the Japanese media did not mention it, and they went to the same time as if an international righteous man who had gone to the local area to help the poor and relieve his worries was being imprisoned by an arrogant military leader.
In short, I am innocent and the other party is at fault.