Myanmar’s military leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (front right), shakes hands with a military officer, while members of the State Administration Council, including deputy leader Deputy Senior General Soe Win (far right), mark their departure for China at the airport. Let’s see. Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on November 5, 2024. , Photo Credit: AP
General Min Aung Hlaing, head of Myanmar’s military government, embarked on an official visit to China on Tuesday (November 5, 2024). Troubled Southeast Asian NationsThe most important international partner for many regional meetings.
This is the first time that Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has visited the neighboring country since his tenure The army seized power in February 2021 From the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar army faced unprecedented defeat in the battlefield In the last one year, especially in areas near the Chinese border. Both Myanmar’s ruling generals and China’s government have shown concern as pro-democracy guerrillas and armed ethnic minority groups, sometimes working hand in hand, have taken the initiative in their fight against military rule.
But Beijing is now concerned about instability that threatens its strategic and commercial interests in Myanmar. China’s government has maintained good working relations with Myanmar’s ruling military, which many Western countries have rejected and sanctioned for military takeovers and major human rights violations.
state run mrtv Min Aung Hlaing departed on a flight from the capital Naypyitaw on Tuesday morning (Nov 5, 2024) to begin his journey, television said.
He will visit the Chinese city of Kunming on Wednesday and Thursday (November 6 and 7, 2024) to participate in three summits: Greater Mekong Subregion, Ayyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy and Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Cooperation. . , Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan province, is about 400 km (250 mi) from the Myanmar border.
The report said he would also hold meetings with Chinese government officials to “discuss ways to enhance goodwill between the two governments and peoples, across economic and social sectors.”
Editorial Changing stance: on democracy and Myanmar’s civil war
China, along with Russia, is a major arms supplier to Myanmar’s military in its war against resistance forces. Beijing is also Myanmar’s largest trading partner and has invested billions of dollars in its mines, oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure.
Apart from his attendance at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in April 2021 in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, Russia is the only other foreign destination Min Aung Hlaing has visited since taking power. He and other top Myanmar government officials were not invited due to his government’s unwillingness to cooperate with efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution to his country’s conflict. asean summit Since then.
Myanmar’s pro-democracy opposition has expressed concern over China welcoming Min Aung Hlaing’s visit.
Opposition National Unity Government spokesman Kyaw Zaw said in a recorded video posted on Facebook before the official announcement of the visit that he was very concerned about China’s invitation to Min Aung Hlaing and asked the Chinese government to review its action. requested.
“The people of Myanmar want stability, peace and economic development. It is Min Aung Hlaing and his group who are destroying these things,” Kyaw Zaw said. “I am concerned that this will inadvertently create misunderstanding among the Myanmar public about the Chinese government.”
The shadow national unity government was formed by elected lawmakers who were barred from taking their seats in 2021 and is closely linked to Suu Kyi’s former ruling National League for Democracy party, which had friendly relations with Beijing. . Although China is despised by many for supporting the military, the shadow government tries to avoid angering Beijing too much, recognizing its influence in the region.
Myanmar’s military has been on the defensive since late last year after ethnic armed groups inflicted a major defeat on it in the country’s north-east.
The offensive by the “Three Brotherhood Alliance”, including the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Arakan Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, was able to rapidly capture towns and military bases and command centers and strategic cities along the Chinese border. In northeastern Shan State at the time it was widely seen as Beijing’s tacit support for helping curb large-scale organized crime activities in a region controlled by ethnic Chinese.
Beijing helped broker a ceasefire in January, but it collapsed in June when ethnic rebel forces launched new attacks. China was unhappy with the ongoing war, closing border crossings, cutting electricity to Myanmar cities and taking other measures to discourage fighting.
published – November 05, 2024 12:19 PM IST