The head of Myanmar's military government is visiting close ally China for the first time since coming to power

BANGKOK (AP) — The head of Myanmar's military government began an official visit to China on Tuesday embattled Southeast Asian nation key international ally, for several regional meetings.

It is the first time since his time in the army that Major General Min Aung Hlaing is traveling to the neighboring country took power in February 2021 by the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar's army suffered unprecedented defeats on the battlefield last year, particularly in areas near the Chinese border. Both Myanmar's ruling generals and the Chinese government expressed concern as pro-democracy guerrillas and armed ethnic minority groups, sometimes working hand in hand, took the initiative in their fight against military rule.

But Beijing is now concerned about instability threatening its strategic and business interests in Myanmar. The Chinese government maintains good working relations with China Myanmar ruling military that is shunned and sanctioned by many Western nations because of the army's takeover of power serious human rights violations.

State television MRTV reported that Min Aung Hlaing departed on a plane from the capital Naypyitaw on Tuesday morning to begin his visit.

He will visit the Chinese city of Kunming on Wednesday and Thursday to attend three summits: the Greater Mekong Subregion, the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy and the Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Cooperation. Kunming, the capital of China's Yunnan province, is about 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the border with Myanmar.

The report said he would also “hold meetings with Chinese government officials to discuss ways to strengthen goodwill, economic and various sectors between the two governments and the people.”

ChinaAlong with Russia, it is a key arms supplier to Myanmar's military in the 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.

Russia is the only other foreign destination Min Aung Hlaing is known to have traveled there since coming to power, apart from attending an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in the Indonesian capital Jakarta in April 2021. His government's unwillingness to cooperate with efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in his country has resulted in him and other senior Myanmar government officials being excluded from ASEAN summits since then.

Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition has expressed concern that China might welcome a visit from Min Aung Hlaing.

Kyaw Zaw, an opposition spokesman Government of National Unitysaid in a recorded video posted on Facebook before the official announcement of the trip that he was deeply concerned about China's invitation to Min Aung Hlaing and called on the Chinese government to review its actions.

“The people of Myanmar want stability, peace and economic growth. It is Min Aung Hlaing and his group who are destroying these things,” Kyaw Zaw said. “I fear that this will inadvertently create misunderstandings about the Chinese government among the people of Myanmar.”

The shadow government of national unity was formed by elected lawmakers who were barred from taking their seats in 2021 and is closely linked to Suu Kyi's former ruling party, the National League for Democracy, which had friendly relations with Beijing. Although China is despised by many for its support of the army, the shadow government is trying not to anger Beijing too much, recognizing the influence the country has in the region.

Myanmar's army has been on the defensive since late last year when ethnic armed organizations inflicted heavy defeats on it in the country's northeast.

The “Three Brothers Alliance” offensive, consisting of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Arakan Army and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, was able to quickly capture cities and overrun military bases and command centers as well as strategic cities along the Chinese border northeastern Shan State. At the time, it was widely assumed that this represented tacit support for Beijing to combat the rampant scale Organized crime activities in the area controlled by ethnic Chinese.

Beijing helped negotiate a ceasefire in Januarybut that failed in June when ethnic rebel forces launched new attacks.

Unhappy with the ongoing war, China closed border crossings, cut off power to cities in Myanmar and took other measures to contain the fighting.