The United Nations is facing mounting pressure to investigate its special envoy on Myanmar, Julie Bishop, over alleged ties between her consulting firm and Chinese companies with significant mining and construction interests in the Southeast Asian nation, Al Jazeera reports.
The calls for an investigation were sparked by a report in Australia’s The Saturday Paper, which detailed Bishop’s alleged connections to Chinese state-owned firms. Justice for Myanmar, a leading advocacy group, has formally requested UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to launch an inquiry, alleging these links represent “unacceptable conflicts of interest that must be fully investigated.” Since then, several other activist groups have joined the call.
In their letter to Guterres, Justice for Myanmar urged the UN chief to investigate Bishop’s “business activities, consider the appropriateness of her continued UN engagement, and disclose the findings.” They argue that these ties undermine her role as UN envoy, particularly given her mandate to engage with civil society in Myanmar.
Bishop, a former Australian Foreign Minister and current chancellor of Australian National University, was appointed UN envoy to Myanmar in April. She has yet to publicly address the allegations.
Myanmar has been embroiled in civil war since the military coup in 2021 that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government. The country heavily relies on Chinese-backed mining and construction projects for revenue, and China is also a key supplier of weapons to Myanmar’s military rulers.
According to The Saturday Paper, Bishop’s consulting firm has advised Melbourne-based Energy Transition Minerals, a rare earths company with significant Chinese backing. This backing reportedly includes investment from Shenghe Resources, a partially state-owned Chinese firm believed to source rare earths from Myanmar.
Justice for Myanmar argues that these connections compromise Bishop’s impartiality and ability to effectively fulfill her role as UN envoy.
The UN has acknowledged receiving Justice for Myanmar’s letter but has so far declined to comment further, according to the Associated Press.
