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Josephine Ma

Chinese Premier Li Qiang told Myanmar’s visiting junta chief Min Aung Hlaing on Wednesday that Beijing supports its political reconciliation and plan to hold an election next year.
Min Aung Hlaing’s trip is being widely watched – it is his first visit to neighbouring China since the military seized power in a 2021 coup and comes soon after the Chinese consulate in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, was hit with an explosive device in October.
China is an ally of the junta government, which has been losing ground in a civil war against insurgent groups – many of whom also maintain ties with Beijing.
Min Aung Hlaing met Li in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, Yunnan province, where he also attended the Greater Mekong Subregion summit on Wednesday and Thursday.

During their talks, Li told Min Aung Hlaing that China supports Myanmar to “push forward political reconciliation and transformation”, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Li also called for efforts to push forward infrastructure projects under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor – part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Min Aung Hlaing and Li also discussed the military’s battle with rebel groups and the breakdown of a ceasefire brokered by Beijing earlier this year, according to state-run Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM).
“The door of peace is always open if they genuinely want peace. The armed insurgents should do what needs to be done instead of giving priority to their needs and wishes,” the junta leader was quoted as saying.
He said the rebel groups should “have clear and specific actions for peace so that dialogue can materialise”.
Li said Beijing supported a five-point road map initiated by the junta government to work towards the handover of power to an elected government after a proposed election next year.
The junta’s election plan has been criticised by Western governments and analysts as lacking fairness and political representation, and it is unlikely to be recognised internationally. Opposition groups have also dismissed the proposal as a sham. So far no election date has been confirmed.


Li also called on the junta government to ensure the safety of Chinese projects and personnel in Myanmar, which Min Aung Hlaing pledged to do, according to Xinhua.
The military chief also discussed the Muse-Mandalay-Kyaukpyu railway project that will connect with the Chinese network, saying construction would start in “possible areas”, the GNLM report said.
The railway is part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor that aims to link landlocked Kunming to a deep-sea port in Rakhine state on Myanmar’s western coast.
It will run though restive areas including Rakhine and also northern Shan state, which borders China and has been roiled by fighting between the military and rebel groups.
Li said the border posts should remain under the control of the respective governments, and that China reaffirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Myanmar, according to GNLM.
The junta has continued to lose ground to the rebels in the last year, particularly in the border areas.
A coalition of rebel groups known as the Three Brotherhood Alliance reportedly captured 16 townships in northern Shan state between October 2023 and January 2024 after they launched an assault called Operation 1027.
Beijing stepped in and brokered a ceasefire in January this year, but in June the rebels captured a series of strategic cities and towns where the junta’s regional military commands were based.
The loss of Lashio, capital of Shan state, in late July marked one of the biggest victories for the anti-junta forces since the coup.
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi called for “political reconciliation” when he travelled to Myanmar in August and met Min Aung Hlaing – the highest-ranking Chinese official to meet the junta leader since the coup.


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Myanmar

Chinese premier backs Myanmar’s ‘political transformation’ in talks with junta chief

Chinese Premier Li Qiang (right) meets Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing in Kunming on Wednesday. Photo: Xinhua

It was Min Aung Hlaing’s (third left) first visit to China since the 2021 coup. Photo: Xinhua

Consulate attack highlights China’s ‘delicate’ balancing act in Myanmar

China’s consulate in Mandalay, the second-largest city in Myanmar, was damaged by an explosive device last week. Photo: AFP

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi meets Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on August 14. Photo: AFP/Myanmar Military Information Team

can cut for print  Members of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army gather inside a captured military base in Hsipaw on October 15. Photo: AFP

China lodges ‘solemn protest’ and demands justice from Myanmar over consulate attack

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Beijing seeks a thorough investigation into an attack on its consulate in Mandalay on Friday. Photo: AFP

Does China risk losing it all as it plays both sides in Myanmar’s lengthy civil war?

 Illustration: Henry Wong

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Myanmar’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing, in Naypyidaw on August 14. Photo: AFP / Myanmar Military Information Team 

Myanmar is part of the China-Laos Railway project, which is intended to connect Southeast Asian countries with the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan through a series of high-speed railways. Photo: Bloomberg

China’s PLA air and ground forces start live-fire drill near Myanmar border

People’s Liberation Army troops pictured on a previous exercise in China. Photo: Weibo/Southern Theatre Command

News

China

Diplomacy

Premier Li Qiang and visiting military leader Min Aung Hlaing also discussed the breakdown of a ceasefire brokered by Beijing earlier this year


Premier Li Qiang and visiting military leader Min Aung Hlaing also discussed the breakdown of a ceasefire brokered by Beijing earlier this year.


Myanmar’s changing ties with China

War and conflict