31-5-2023 (YANGON) A high-ranking Chinese intelligence official has visited Myanmar to hold discussions on military “cooperation” with the ruling junta, as reported by Myanmar state media on Wednesday (May 31). This visit marks the latest in a series of prominent delegations sent by Beijing to its internationally isolated ally.
Since the 2021 coup, Myanmar has been embroiled in turmoil, leading to renewed clashes with ethnic rebels and the emergence of numerous “People’s Defence Forces” that are currently engaged in battles against the junta.
This publicly acknowledged visit by a Chinese military official is the first since the coup took place. Major-General Yang Yang, the acting director-general of the Intelligence Bureau of the Joint Staff Department of China’s Central Military Commission, met with Vice-Senior General Soe Win, the junta’s second-ranking official, to discuss “cooperation between the two armies,” according to state media.
During the meeting held on Tuesday, they also addressed matters of “cooperation in peace, tranquillity, and development programs for border areas,” as stated by the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar. The report mentioned the presence of China’s defence attaché at the gathering.
While the junta has faced isolation from much of the international community due to its violent crackdown on dissent, China has maintained its ties with the regime. According to Tom Andrews, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, the military has procured arms and equipment worth $267 million from China, including acquisitions from state-owned entities, since seizing power earlier this year.
A number of projects linked to China’s extensive Belt and Road infrastructure initiative are planned to pass through northern Myanmar, connecting China’s landlocked Yunnan province to the Indian Ocean. Analysts also suggest that Beijing supports and arms various ethnic rebel groups along the China-Myanmar border.
Some of these rebel factions have clashed repeatedly with Myanmar’s military in the aftermath of the coup. In March, a coalition of China-backed rebels called for assistance from Beijing to defuse the crisis.
Earlier this month, China’s foreign minister made a trip to Myanmar to meet with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, making him the highest-ranking Chinese official to meet with the top general since the coup. During the meeting, Qin Gang, the Chinese foreign minister, urged the international community to “respect Myanmar’s sovereignty,” according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.
Furthermore, Chinese diplomats are engaged in mediating between Myanmar and Bangladesh on a pilot program for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees who fled a military crackdown in 2017. This crackdown is currently under investigation by the UN for potential acts of genocide.
According to a local monitoring group, over 3,500 people have lost their lives in the Myanmar military’s violent suppression of dissent.
