Activist groups urge UN probe of its Myanmar envoy after report alleges ties to Chinese companies

BANGKOK (AP) — Activist groups are calling for the United Nations to investigate its special envoy to Myanmar over possible conflicts of interest, after a report detailed her consulting company's alleged ties to Chinese mining and construction companies with interests in the country.

Justice for Myanmar wrote to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres following a report in Australia's The Saturday Paper outlining what it said were Julie Bishop's links to Chinese state-owned companies that operate in Myanmar. Since then, multiple other groups have joined the call for a probe.

Bishop, a former Australian foreign minister and current chancellor of the Australian National University, told The Associated Press that her consulting firm had never provided advice to any company or individual on matters related to Myanmar.

“On no occasion have I, or would I engage in matters that conflict with my commitments to the U.N.,” she wrote in an email Wednesday.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Bishop, as staff member of the international body, is bound by the U.N. Charter and the organization's rules and regulations which require “upholding the highest standards of integrity, including regarding any potential conflicts of interest.”

"In this regard, the special envoy keeps the organization apprised of her outside activities,” he said in a statement to the AP.

Bishop, who was appointed Guterres’ envoy to Myanmar last April, said she has been “fully compliant” with U.N. disclosure and ethics obligations

Myanmar, also known as Burma, is embroiled in a civil war where the country's military rulers are fighting pro-democracy and other forces. China is one of the major suppliers of weapons to the military, which seized power from democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. Chinese-backed mining and construction projects are also a major source of revenue for Myanmar's military government.

Bishop's links to Chinese and other companies with interests in Myanmar create “unacceptable conflicts of interest that must be fully investigated,” Justice for Myanmar wrote to Guterres.

“The loss of trust of Myanmar civil society is a critical issue for the special envoy’s position since her mandate involves engagement with civil society, among other relevant stakeholders,” the group's spokesperson Yadanar Muang told the AP on Tuesday.

Australia’s Foreign Ministry directed questions to the U.N., noting that Bishop is not a government employee.

The Australian National University stressed that Bishop's role as chancellor was part-time and non-executive.

“Chancellors generally have interests outside of their university, and as long as these don't conflict with the university's interests, they are free to pursue these,” the university said in a statement emailed to the AP.

The Saturday Paper said her consulting firm was hired as a strategic advisor on a Greenland mining project by Melbourne-based Energy Transition Minerals, a rare earths company with significant backing from China's Shenghe Resources and “extensive commercial ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”

ETM is currently involved in a lawsuit against Greenland and Denmark, seeking billions in compensation over Greenland's ban on uranium mining that came after the company had already started developing a project there. The project stalled after the ban in 2021.

Shenghe Resources is a partially state-owned rare earths company and is believed to source rare earths from Myanmar, which is the largest supplier of heavy rare earths to China, Justice for Myanmar said.

Another ETM partner is the state-owned China Communications Construction Company, which is active in Myanmar, the group said.

Bishop also has business ties to Australian companies involved in current and past mining and energy projects in Myanmar, Justice for Myanmar said.

Justice for Myanmar urged Guterres to investigate Bishop’s "business activities, consider the appropriateness of her continued U.N. engagement, and disclose the findings” of the probe.