BANGKOK: Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday in Moscow — their first encounter since the 2021 coup that plunged Myanmar into civil war.
The meeting, confirmed by both Chinese and junta media, marks the highest-level engagement between Beijing and the internationally isolated regime. Min Aung Hlaing expressed gratitude for China’s humanitarian aid after the March earthquake and thanked Beijing for backing Myanmar’s position on global and regional affairs.
Xi reaffirmed China’s support for Myanmar’s “sovereignty and stability” and urged the junta to safeguard Chinese citizens and investments, while stepping up action against cross-border crime.
Since the coup, more than 6,600 people have died and millions have been displaced as the military fights rebel groups, many with ties to China. Beijing, a key arms supplier to the junta, has also kept channels open with ethnic armed groups near its border — including those in resource-rich Shan state, where it has Belt and Road ambitions.
While this is Min Aung Hlaing’s first meeting with Xi in his capacity as junta leader, the two last met in Naypyidaw in January 2020 — a year before the military takeover. – AFP
