Ex-Japanese Minister’s Firm Partners With Myanmar Military-Linked Company Monks protest against the military coup in Yangon on Feb. 16. / Kyodo 2.5k By Kyodo News 28 June 2021 TOKYO—A company headed by a former Japanese minister has been pursuing a project to develop land owned by Myanmar’s Defense Ministry through a joint venture with a military-affiliated firm, according to sources close to the matter. With the ministry and the Southeast Asian country’s ruling military acting as one body, there are concerns such business projects may become sources of income for the junta, which has killed more than 800 people and repeatedly violated human rights since it seized power from Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government on Feb. 1.