Head of Myanmar's military government on first visit to ally China since coup | News

Myanmar's army chief will attend three summits in Kunming, China, as the conflict escalates near the Chinese border.

The head of Myanmar's military government made his first visit to China since seizing power in 2021.

According to state television station MRTV, Colonel-General Min Aung Hlaing left on Tuesday morning. The visit will include several regional meetings in a country considered Naypyidaw's most important international ally.

Min Aung Hlaing led a coup in February 2021 that wrested power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party.

However, his government has suffered recent setbacks on the battlefield as rebels and armed ethnic minority groups fight military rule, particularly in areas near the Chinese border.

China is a key ally and arms supplier to the military government, but analysts say Beijing also has ties with ethnic armed groups that hold territory along its border.

Beijing is concerned about instability that threatens its strategic and business interests.

Relations between Beijing and Naypyidaw have also been tested by the military government's failure to crack down on online fraud platforms in Myanmar's border areas that target Chinese citizens.

“Unity and Cooperation”

A Myanmar government statement said Min Aung Hlaing “will meet with government officials of the People's Republic of China and discuss with them the friendship between the governments and people of the two countries to develop and strengthen economic and multi-sectoral cooperation.”

China is an important arms supplier and also Myanmar's largest trading partner. It has invested billions of dollars in its mines, oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure.

But as Myanmar's leader makes his first trip to the country, he has visited Russia, another key ally, several times since the coup, including a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in 2022.

Myanmar's ruling military is shunned and sanctioned by many Western nations over its coup and serious human rights abuses.

The army chief will visit the southwestern city of Kunming on Wednesday to attend a two-day summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) – a group that includes China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed Min Aung Hlaing's participation, saying: “Against the backdrop of a slowing global recovery and geopolitical turmoil, the need to strengthen unity and cooperation and focus on development and prosperity is becoming increasingly prominent.” .”