"Konnichiwa! Thank you for having me, I am really grateful to you all for giving me this opportunity. The brave people and National Unity Government of Myanmar greatly appreciate the People, Parliament and Government of Japan for standing with us at this critical moment in our history. This is the darkest of hours and the most pivotal moment in the history of Myanmar. While the fate and future of Myanmar hangs in the balance, the strong and continued support from the people, parliamentarians, and Government of Japan and its International alliance are absolutely crucial in stopping this reign of terror and great tragedy in Myanmar. More than ever before, the 54 million courageous citizens of Myanmar need the continued strong friendship and coordinated support and recognition from the people, parliamentarians and Government of Japan in fulfilling the hopes, aspirations and dreams of those who have suffered so much for far too long under the hands of the brutal and cruel military generals and their regime. I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate my sincere thanks to the People, Parliament and Government of Japan for standing in solidarity with the 54 million citizens of Myanmar in this very difficult time in our history. Thank you for being a strong voice for the people of Myanmar and extending the visas for our grateful citizens living in Japan. Thank you for your leadership at G7 on behalf of the people of Myanmar, and for the recognition of CRPH and NUG as important voices of the people of Myanmar. Thank you for joining countries that have imposed an arms embargo in solidarity against the cruel and ruthless military junta in Myanmar. The duty of a nation’s military is to defend and protect its people. However, under the command of Min Aung Hlaing, the supposed guardians of our nation are doing precisely the opposite of their duty and continue arbitrarily murdering and detaining the brave and innocent civilians of Myanmar without cause on a daily and hourly basis. The people of Myanmar unanimously consider Min Aung Hlaing and those who report to him as terrorists and perpetrators of crimes against humanity. It has been four months since Min Aung Hlaing and his gunmen instigated this illegal coup d’etat and took the nation hostage. Since the 1 st of February 2021: Nearly 900 civilians have been murdered by the junta, including at least 72 children. Nearly 6,000 civilians have been arrested by the junta, and over 1,900 are evading arrest warrants. I have been charged with high treason by these military generals who are in fact the ones committing high treason against the people of Myanmar themselves. The junta continues using the ASEAN Summit as a propaganda tool while the junta forces make daily raids on private homes in villages, towns, and cities across the nation. The torture and cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians under the junta forces continue. They have abolished free media outlets in the vain attempt to stop the truth from getting out. Harassment and imprisonment of journalists continue under the junta. We are however thankful to courageous Japanese journalist Mr. Yuki Kitazumi for his bravery in reporting the true situation inside the prisons that he observed while illegally detained. We were all relieved by the news of his release, but more than 40 more journalists remain behind the junta’s cruel prison bars. The violence we are seeing by the junta is both systematic and widespread. It is clear that they are engaging in crimes against humanity against by using heavy battlefield weapons against unarmed civilians. They have been purchasing these weapons from China and Russia, among other countries by using the stolen wealth of the people and Country of Myanmar. As a result, Myanmar is now quickly becoming a failed state: Nearly a million people have become displaced, food insecurity is rising sharply, and the UNDP is predicting that over half of the population of Myanmar (approximately 27 million people) will be living in poverty within a year. The WFP analysis has also shown that more than 3 million people in Myanmar are going to face hunger in the coming months, while so many have already had to flee their homes and are facing hunger hiding in the jungle. It will be heart breaking to count the number of deaths caused by not only the deepening crisis of violence, but also by the tragedy of poverty and hunger that has begun. We, the sovereign citizens of Myanmar, are doing all that we can to prevent these great tragedies of violence, genocide, criminal atrocities, poverty and hunger by courageously and peacefully resisting the junta’s efforts to cause us maximum pain, suffering, death and destruction. They continue trying to take away our freedom and democracy with their blood-stained battlefield weapons. The peaceful Civil Disobedience Movements (CDM) led by dauntless medical and health workers, schoolteachers, students, activists, and joined by hundreds of thousands of civil servants and private sector workers continues unabated. Make no mistake, this is the most powerful peaceful movement ever to rise against a military junta. Day after day the defenseless people of Myanmar march across the nation and continue to demonstrate enormous valiancy in the face of the murderous and oppressive military dictators. This peaceful movement has even been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, however, this peaceful movement deserves not only the Nobel Peace prize, but also the full support of the People, Parliamentarians and Government of Japan, and the international communities. The citizens of Myanmar have initiated strong domestic sanctions against the junta through this peaceful movement of CDM, strikes and other acts of civil disobedience. We are boycotting junta produced goods, and a large percentage of civil servants are refusing to support the junta’s work. The sanctions that have been imposed to date by Japan and the International Community have been a helpful start to supporting our domestic efforts. While the brutal crackdown by the junta and its forces continue, opposition to the junta remains strong and unanimous among the people of Myanmar. However, greater help and support from the people, Parliament and Government of Japan and its allies from the international community are vitally important. We have three core requests to present to the People, Parliament and Government of Japan and its allies from around the world: 1) Engage with the National Unity Government as the sole legitimate representative of the people of Myanmar. We are comprised of leaders elected in Myanmar’s democratic November elections as well as leaders of ethnic states and regions. The people of Myanmar recognize us as the sole legitimate government and our hope is that you will also work with us as the sole legitimate government of Myanmar as well. 2) Help us address a growing humanitarian crisis. We need aid. The National Unity Government knows how to get aid to where it needs to go. A humanitarian crisis is growing due to conflict and the spread of COVID-19. Myanmar’s economy is in collapse and millions are already, or at risk of being, without water, food, sanitation, shelter and medicine. (UNWFP estimates 6.4m people will be without food in Myanmar by October 2021). We desperately need aid for 1) FOOD SECURITY, 2) HEALTH 3) SHELTER, 4) EDUCATION: 3) Help us put more financial pressure on the junta. It is critical for the nations of the world who stand with us to band together in a coordinated campaign of further sanctions that would cut the flow of revenue to this murderous regime. We are respectfully requesting that the Government of Japan ensure that no funds from any entity under the control of Japan, whether public or private, be allowed to continue to be transferred to the Junta, its business entities, leaders or their families. The largest source of revenue to the junta, the oil and gas sector, remains unscathed by the international community. Coordinated and targeted sanctions and legislation would make a clear legal obligation for companies to stop the flow of this revenue to the junta. We must not continue to allow this illegal junta to spend the wealth of the people of Myanmar in murdering the people of Myanmar. Therefore, the Government of Japan and the International Community must place sanctions against Myanmar Oil and Gas and all state-owned enterprises, including the transfer of dual use technology, and impose an international arms embargo and a strict no-fly-zone above the territory of Myanmar by whatever means necessary. These measures are critically vital to prevent civil war and another genocide in Myanmar. Our National Unity Government Myanmar is ready, willing and able to help in all of these coordinated efforts. This is the first time in the history of Myanmar that there has been a National Unity Government with the full support of the people. We need the endorsement, recognition, acknowledgement and engagement from the Government of Japan and the free countries and leaders from around the world who believe in freedom, justice and democracy. This is the first time in our history that elected members of Parliament, political parties, ethnic leaders, ethnic armed organizations and grass roots civil society organizations have come together as one united people to oppose the common enemy. This is the greatest opportunity of the century. We must then seize upon this window of opportunity and put an end to this wicked, illegitimate regime, and begin afresh with a transparent and inclusive federal democratic union of Myanmar. As the true legitimate and democratically elected Government of Myanmar, the National Unity Government of Myanmar is here to help generate the will of the brave people of Myanmar by whom, and for whom it was elected. This united will of the people is: - Building of a Federal Democratic Union of Myanmar where both Federal States and Federal Union Governments are by the people and for the people, and where the rights of ALL regardless of race, sex, culture, ethnicity, background, and religion are equally respected, protected and promoted. It will be a place where power and resource sharing will be based on the principles of equality and self-determination, and where the three branches of Parliament, Judiciary and Executive will function independently. - Total eradication of military dictatorship and the current genocidal military which has become a cancer to the country and people of Myanmar, and to replace it with an ethical and inclusive armed force that belong to the people of Myanmar and is led by the civilian government. - Complete nullification of the 2008 constitution created by the junta and for the junta, and repealing and replacing discriminative laws, such as the 1982 citizenship law, with new laws and a federal constitution for the people of Myanmar. This will be done in an inclusive manner and only with the consensus of ALL the stakeholders. A constitutional convention and referendum will be held on the permanent draft constitution which will be won by the people and belong to the people of Myanmar for generations to come. I am very proud of the courageous people of Myanmar who are on the front lines of this movement to liberate our nation from a brutal military regime, and for their bravery and their commitment to human rights, a federal democracy and freedom for ALL the people of Myanmar. Mark my words: we, the opposition to the illegal junta, will win in our struggle to liberate Myanmar from the brutal military junta, and on the other end of this fight we will emerge an inclusive Myanmar that is committed to democracy, human rights, and to being a responsible partner in the global community. With the help of the People, Parliament and Government of Japan, our vision and our dream will become a powerful reality and will bear testimony to our strong friendship and unyielding gratefulness. Sincerely, Arigatou..."