Pro-democracy song in Myanmar propaganda video?; Military chief laments foreign influence at ASEAN

Pro-democracy song in Myanmar propaganda video?

Singer-songwriter and pro-democracy activist Mun Awng, 66, is accusing the regime in Naypyidaw of exploiting the pro-democracy song “Thway Thitsar [Blood Oath],” also known as “The Time is Critical,” for propaganda after an a new version of the song was broadcast on military-owned Myawaddy TV on May 24, then shared to social media on May 25. The new video drew criticism online from democracy advocates.

The song was renamed “Soldier’s Red Blood March Forward,” and contained pro-military messages in its lyrics. The music video depicts battles between regime and resistance forces, highlighting territory recaptured by the military. A source close to the military’s Office of the Commander-in-Chief told DVB that the video production involved the regime’s Public Relations and Psychological Warfare Department.

“Blood Oath” was written by late singer-songwriter Htoo Eain Thin in 1989 while in hiding with Mun Awng following the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1988. It was recorded by Mun Awng in Thailand in 1991. It has since become an anthem for the pro-democracy movement and was sung at anti-coup protests in 2021. Mun Awng performed the song at a fundraising concert in Tokyo on May 24.

Military chief laments foreign influence at ASEAN

Pro-regime media reported that Burma’s new Commander-in-Chief Ye Win Oo told his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), at a virtual meeting of the 23rd ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces Meeting on Thursday, that “major powers are trying to exert influence” over smaller Asia-Pacific nations through aid, propaganda and diplomacy, without specifying which countries he was referring to.

Ye Win Oo claimed on May 21 that Burma now has a “government” elected by the people through “free and dignified” general elections, which ended on Jan. 25. The 2025–26 elections—which resulted in a landslide victory for the military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)—were widely dismissed by the international community and civil society as a “sham,” as no real opposition parties were allowed on the ballot.

Naypyidaw accused ASEAN of “non-constructive” engagement for excluding it from the 48th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, Philippines, May 7-8. Min Aung Hlaing, inaugurated as the president by a pro-military parliament on April 10, accused nations of placing undue pressure on his “democratically-elected government” by imposing sanctions on May 6. Ye Win Oo was appointed Burma’s commander-in-chief on March 30.