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 projects 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, has not commented on those links. There was no response to a query sent to her consulting company.
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 sources 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 Associated Press on Tuesday.
In a statement sent to The Australian newspaper, Bishop's company said it was "a private-advisory firm engaged to provide strategic analysis and guidance."
It added that it "does not take fiduciary or executive roles, nor does it provide legal, corporate or financial advice" and that "any potential or actual conflicts are declared and vetted."
Guterres' office confirmed it had received Justice for Myanmar's letter but did not comment. Australia's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and 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.
Bishop was appointed Guterres' envoy to Myanmar last April.
The Saturday Paper said her consulting firm was hired as a strategic advisor on a Greenland mining 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.
