Myanmar's isolated junta chief visits China

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing embarked on an official visit to China on Tuesday — the first such trip since his army seized power in February 2021.

Min Aung Hlaing will visit Kunming for a summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), which also includes Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Myanmar state broadcaster MRTV said Min Aung Hlaing will also attend "meetings with Chinese government officials to discuss ways to enhance goodwill, economic and various sectors between the two governments and the people."

China has maintained good working relations with the isolated military junta but instability within Myanmar is seen as threatening Beijing's strategic and business interests.

China and Myanmar's delicate ties

Myanmar is a vital part of China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, with railways and pipelines to link China's landlocked southwest to the Indian Ocean.

But the relationship is wracked by decades of mistrust.

As recently as last year, junta supporters said China gave its tacit backing to a major rebel offensive in return for the dismantling of major online scam compounds that are run by Chinese human traffickers in Myanmar.

Crisis Group's senior Myanmar adviser Richard Horsey said Min Aung Hlaing had been lobbying for an official invitation ever since the 2021 coup as a public show of support.

Chinese state media referred to the coup at the time as a "cabinet reshuffle."

"While this [invitation to the summit] still implies recognition as head of state, it does not have the same diplomatic weight as a bilateral invitation to visit Beijing," Horsey told the AFP news agency.

The visit could also potentially backfire on the junta as it fights for control over the country.

"If anything, it could create new problems, as the general is likely to be perceived as making major economic and geo-strategic concessions to Beijing in exchange for Chinese assistance," Jason Tower from the United States Institute of Peace told AFP.

zc/sms (AP, AFP)