Myanmar generals getting new weapons for war from Beijing
Fighting has resumed in Shan and Rakhine in recent weeks. The junta’s number two man, General Soe Win, and former president Thein Sein visited Beijing and Qingdao to discuss border stability, trade, and investment. According to some sources, new contracts have also been signed for the purchase of war materiel.
Yangon (AsiaNews) – As fighting intensified in Shan State and ethnic militias continued their advance in Rakhine, several representatives of Myanmar’s military junta travelled to China in recent weeks.
According to some sources, Beijing may be providing new weapons to Myanmar’s military, which seized power in a coup in February 2021, plunging Myanmar into civil war.
The junta’s number two man, General Soe Win, on Saturday landed in Qingdao, Shandong province, to participate in a forum on sustainable development promoted by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the junta's media reported. He is the highest-ranking Myanmar political representative Beijing has hosted since the coup.
General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar’s Defence Services and self-proclaimed chairman of the State Administration Council, the junta’s formal name, has not yet visited China.
But at the end of June, former President Thein Sein (who had favoured an initial period of democratic openings before the election of Aung San Suu Kyi) also flew to Beijing for a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
On 19 June, China's special envoy to Myanmar, Deng Xijun, met with the junta's foreign minister, Than Swe, in Naypyidaw, a few days before fighting resumed in Shan State, which had subsided in January thanks to a ceasefire brokered by China.
Not surprisingly, this diplomatic effort coincides with renewed offensives by ethnic militias fighting against the regime.
In recent days, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), which together with the Arakan Army (AA) form the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance, have headed towards Lashio, one of the main cities in Shan State where the junta’s Northeastern Military Command is based.
Thousands of civilians have fled the area trying to reach the city of Taunggyi.
In the meantime, the TNLA seized control of the Gokteik Viaduct, a colonial-era railway bridge, thus blocking all reinforcement and supply routes to the Northeastern Military Command.
Fighting has also been reported in neighbouring Mandalay Region. The Arakan Army has also launched a new offensive to take Thandwe and Maungdaw, the last two cities still under military control in Rakhine State, on the border with Bangladesh.
For its part, Myanmar’s Air Force has intensified its bombing campaign. According to Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica, 819 airstrikes were carried out between January and April of this year alone, killing 359 civilians and injuring 756 others.
The latest moves by the anti-junta forces seem to be a new phase in Operation 1027, the offensive launched by the Three Brotherhood Alliance in October last year.
Before the signing of a ceasefire in January, the Alliance had seized a large portion of territory on the border with China, including some border crossings, key to bilateral trade.
Frustrated by the military junta's inability to stop online scams in which thousands of Chinese are caught up, Beijing had passively accepted MNDAA control in Kokang, an important sector in the border area.
It seems that Beijing has now changed its mind. At the start of the month, China cut off power supply to Laukkai, the capital of Kokang, perhaps to signal to the MNDAA that it does not approve of its new offensive.
A more obvious clue are the new weapons Beijing is sending to Myanmar’s military regime.
“The [regime’s] shopping list is long and huge arms caches are on the way to Myanmar,” writes The Irrawaddy citing sources familiar with the matter. “They will arrive Myanmar in two weeks to a month,” it added.
For the military junta getting Chinese weapons is nothing new (even more so than from Russia). But it is likely that this is linked to recent visits by junta officials. As Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Army, General Soe Win has the power to sign weapons purchases.
According to the regime's media, during the general’s visit, which ended yesterday, the two sides discussed border stability, security for Chinese investments in Myanmar, eradication of online scam centres, promotion of bilateral trade, and even elections, a plan the junta has been putting forward for months.
In addition, on Monday, the junta announced that Chinese New Year (better known in the region as Lunar New Year) would become an official holiday in Myanmar starting next year.
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