WASHINGTON – After the armed military coup in the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar, U.S. President Joe Biden threatened sanctions on the country Monday. Formerly British Burma, the country’s democratically elected government was overthrown by the military in a response to what military leaders called a fraudulent election in the region. The United States has a history of imposing sanctions on the country after many human rights abuses by the politically potent military. The coup is a significant setback for the Biden’s administration’s strategy to counter the influence of increasing Chinese control in the region.

(Compiled from Reuters for the Guilford Voyager by Aidan Benham, original reporting by David Brunnstrom, Matt Spetalnick, and Jarrett Renshaw)