What are Biden’s options?

US President Joe Biden, facing his first major international crisis after Myanmar's military seized power, could impose a new program of sanctions, cut aid or target generals and the companies they run to pressure for a return to democracy.

How the new US administration responds will be an early test of Biden's dual pledges to re-center human rights in US foreign policy and work more closely with allies.

Biden on Monday pledged to "stand up for democracy" and threatened to re-impose sanctions gradually rolled back by former President Barack Obama after Myanmar's generals initiated democratic reforms and released many political prisoners a decade ago.

The Trump administration hit four military commanders, including the top general Min Aung Hlaing, with such sanctions after a brutal 2017 purge that drove more than 700,000 members of the Rohingya minority from their homes and into neighboring Bangladesh. 

Biden could establish a fresh sanctions program against Myanmar with an executive order that would declare a national emergency regarding developments in the country, said Peter Kucik, a former senior sanctions adviser at the US Treasury.

Activist groups including Human Rights Watch have joined calls for Biden to target companies run by the military.

The military's two major conglomerates Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corp (MEC) are sprawling holding companies with investments spanning various sectors including banking, gems, copper, telecoms and clothing.

State Department officials had prepared Magnitsky sanctions against the companies in 2018 in response to violence against the Rohingya, but had not gone through with them, said Kelley Currie, US ambassador-at-large for global women's issues under former President Donald Trump, who was deeply involved in that administration's Myanmar policy.