China acknowledges Myanmar junta chief, with eye on own interests and fresh election

SINGAPORE - On Nov 5, Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing set foot on China for the first time since staging a coup in 2021. He was visiting Kunming as a representative of Myanmar in the Greater Mekong Subregion Summit of Leaders, a meeting held every three years involving China, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

While this was a multilateral – not bilateral – meeting, it symbolised China’s tacit acknowledgement of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s authority. It came after some three years of Beijing trying to work with the military administration while keeping the junta chief at arm’s length. This is in stark contrast to Russia’s embrace of the senior general, who has visited Moscow several times since the coup and even met Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022.