https://www.scmp.com/rss/318732/feed The 2015 elections are seen as a crucial test of the credibility of reforms begun in 2011, when the junta stepped aside to make way for a quasi-civilian regime dominated by former generals. Democracy icon Aung San suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party are expected to make big gains at the polls - the first general election they have fought since they swept 1990 polls. The then-junta ignored the result.  However the current constitution bars Suu Kyi from running in a... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The son of Myanmar’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi demanded France’s help in seeking independently verified proof of his mother’s life after she was transferred to house arrest, her lawyers said. The country’s junta chief-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing on Thursday ordered the 80-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner to be moved, five years after putting her into detention in a coup. But her son, Kim Aris, says he has still not heard from his mother, who remains massively popular inside... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3352550/aung-san-suu-kyis-son-asks-france-help-him-locate-mother-myanmar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3352550/aung-san-suu-kyis-son-asks-france-help-him-locate-mother-myanmar?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 May 2026 01:27:44 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow Myanmar’s military-backed rulers have shaved time off Aung San Suu Kyi’s prison sentence and freed thousands of detainees, but analysts say the apparent goodwill gestures tell a story of a regime growing bolder, not more merciful. The government last week announced an amnesty for 4,335 prisoners, its third in six months, and reduced by a sixth the 27-year sentence of the 80-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, who has not been seen in public since her criminal trials ended in December... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3350967/why-myanmars-token-amnesties-are-no-cause-celebration?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3350967/why-myanmars-token-amnesties-are-no-cause-celebration?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Apr 2026 05:25:30 +0000 Reuters Reuters Myanmar’s new military-backed government wants to hold peace talks with ⁠opposition armed groups by the ⁠end of July, the country’s ⁠junta leader-turned-president said, but two key rebel groups rejected the offer on Tuesday. State media reported that President Min Aung Hlaing, who led a coup five years ago that plunged the Southeast Asian country into a civil war that continues to ‌rage, told a government meeting that he wanted rebel groups that were not part of a ceasefire deal to join talks to... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3350921/myanmar-president-seeks-peace-talks-july-31-2-rebel-groups-reject-offer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3350921/myanmar-president-seeks-peace-talks-july-31-2-rebel-groups-reject-offer?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:46:56 +0000 Reuters,Agence France-Presse Reuters,Agence France-Presse Myanmar ⁠has freed former president Win Myint and reduced the sentence of imprisoned former leader Aung San Suu ‌Kyi as part of an ‌amnesty that saw the release of 4,335 prisoners, according to state media. “The president has pardoned Win Myint,” said a statement on Friday from the office of newly elected president Min Aung Hlaing. Win Myint, an ally ‌of ⁠Suu Kyi, served as president ⁠from 2018 and 2021 but ‌was ousted ‌by a military coup and had been detained since. Suu Kyi’s 27-year sentence... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3350424/myanmar-cuts-aung-san-suu-kyi-prison-term-4-1/2-years-broad-ranging-amnesty-deal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3350424/myanmar-cuts-aung-san-suu-kyi-prison-term-4-1/2-years-broad-ranging-amnesty-deal?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2026 06:27:44 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow The Myanmar junta’s attempts to place its top man in the country’s highest civilian position have been described by analysts as a “constitutional repackaging of continued military rule”. On Monday, Min Aung Hlaing, who led the military in the 2021 coup and has headed the junta since then, resigned from the armed forces, moving one step closer to becoming president. He stepped down after Myanmar’s parliament had cleared the way for his nomination. He handed over the role of commander-in-chief of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3348662/why-myanmar-top-generals-exit-window-dressing-cement-military-rule?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3348662/why-myanmar-top-generals-exit-window-dressing-cement-military-rule?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Apr 2026 09:05:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Myanmar cleared the way on Monday for coup-leading General Min Aung Hlaing to become president and maintain his rule in civilian garb, with lawmakers nominating him as a vice-presidential candidate and the junta replacing him as military commander. Min Aung Hlaing has ruled Myanmar since 2021 when he ordered a coup toppling the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi – detaining the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, dissolving her party and triggering civil war. After five years of hardline rule, he... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3348416/myanmar-paves-way-junta-chief-be-civilian-president-ruling-iron-fist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3348416/myanmar-paves-way-junta-chief-be-civilian-president-ruling-iron-fist?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 10:23:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Indian investigators have arrested seven foreigners – six Ukrainians and an American – on suspicion of illegally crossing into neighbouring Myanmar to train armed militia groups, the public radio broadcaster reported on Tuesday. Myanmar descended into civil war after a junta seized power in a 2021 coup, with pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic-minority armed groups fighting for control of large parts of the country. India has long been suspicious of certain Myanmar factions that have the same... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3346917/india-detains-6-ukrainians-1-american-suspected-training-myanmar-rebels?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3346917/india-detains-6-ukrainians-1-american-suspected-training-myanmar-rebels?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2026 12:27:20 +0000 Ben Dunant Ben Dunant Myanmar’s new parliament will convene next week, following an election tightly stage-managed by the junta. The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) will enjoy a commanding majority and the party of former generals can be expected to preserve the interests of the military and its associates. It’s unclear just how closely these broader interests align with the political ambitions of junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. He does not formally lead the USDP, whose majority means it can... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3346527/myanmars-junta-staged-election-it-couldnt-stage-legitimacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3346527/myanmars-junta-staged-election-it-couldnt-stage-legitimacy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 04:00:13 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Myanmar’s military junta granted amnesty on Monday to more than 7,000 prisoners convicted of financing or sheltering a “terrorist group”, a designation it has used to outlaw pro-democracy factions opposing its rule. Thousands of dissenting civilians have been swept into jails since Myanmar’s military snatched power in a 2021 coup, ending a decade-long experiment with democracy and detaining elected figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi. Pro-democracy activists backing Suu Kyi and armed groups challenging... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3345128/myanmar-convicts-charged-terrorists-junta-freed-mass-amnesty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3345128/myanmar-convicts-charged-terrorists-junta-freed-mass-amnesty?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 08:53:23 +0000 Laura Zhou Laura Zhou Early in 2021, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw and held talks with both General Min Aung Hlaing, the chief of the armed forces, and Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of the civilian government. The meeting was a chance for China to voice support for Myanmar’s “national conditions” development path and signal China’s long-term pragmatic approach to ties with its southwestern neighbour, irrespective of who was in power. That strategy, however, came under... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343830/5-years-and-1-election-later-why-chinas-myanmar-dilemma-still-isnt-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343830/5-years-and-1-election-later-why-chinas-myanmar-dilemma-still-isnt-over?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2026 22:00:10 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A prominent leader of an independent resistance group in Myanmar that had come under attack by rivals who are loyal to the mainstream opposition force has surrendered to the country’s military authorities, state media reported on Thursday. The surrender of Bo Nagar, a leader of the Burma National Revolutionary Army (BNRA), in the upper-central region of Sagaing was a dramatic reminder of fractures within the armed resistance movement, which has led to sporadic clashes over control of territory... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3344045/myanmar-rebel-leader-bo-nagar-surrenders-junta-amid-resistance-infighting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3344045/myanmar-rebel-leader-bo-nagar-surrenders-junta-amid-resistance-infighting?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Feb 2026 15:34:18 +0000 Reuters Reuters Thailand hopes to bring Myanmar back into Asean nearly five years after a military coup, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow has said after meeting his Myanmar counterpart. “Thailand wants to be a bridge connecting Myanmar back to Asean,” Sihasak told reporters. He also urged civil war-ravaged Myanmar to make moves to adhere to a long-standing Association of Southeast Asian Nations plan to restore stability. “Myanmar must help Thailand as well by responding to Asean’s concerns, such as... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3343937/thailand-seeks-leading-role-restoring-myanmar-asean-fold?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3343937/thailand-seeks-leading-role-restoring-myanmar-asean-fold?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Feb 2026 14:15:26 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Myanmar’s junta called for ex-civil servants who quit their jobs in protest over the coup five years ago to report back to work, pledging to remove absent state employees from “blacklists” on Sunday. After the military snatched power in a coup on February 1, 2021, tens of thousands of public workers, including doctors and government administrators, left their posts in a surge of civil disobedience. Some found private employment, while others joined pro-democracy rebels defying the military in a... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3341992/myanmar-junta-pledges-remove-former-civil-servants-blacklists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3341992/myanmar-junta-pledges-remove-former-civil-servants-blacklists?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Feb 2026 08:54:05 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Myanmar’s military proxy party has claimed a predictable victory in an election widely condemned as a sham, a result likely to hardwire the junta into power indefinitely. For millions of disenfranchised citizens like May*, who fled to neighbouring Thailand to escape the crackdown, the landslide win holds no credibility. “None of us voted,” the 38-year-old migrant said. “The military held the election for themselves and they won. But they have all of the power anyway, so what was the point?” On... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3341224/myanmars-junta-backed-party-declares-majority-poll-decried-fraudulent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3341224/myanmars-junta-backed-party-declares-majority-poll-decried-fraudulent?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Jan 2026 06:20:10 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow With Myanmar in the throes of an election widely expected to return its military junta to power, calls have renewed for Asean to rethink its approach of not engaging the regime. The region, observers warn, should also brace itself for the “very real possibility” that half of Southeast Asia might eventually recognise the results of Myanmar’s election and by extension the ruling junta. On Sunday, Myanmar began its second round of voting in the country’s first general election since the military... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3340024/asean-urged-rethink-stance-myanmar-election-risks-normalising-junta-rule?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3340024/asean-urged-rethink-stance-myanmar-election-risks-normalising-junta-rule?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Jan 2026 10:30:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Myanmar’s main pro-military party on Monday claimed victory in the parliamentary seat of sidelined democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi in an election being derided as a ploy to prolong junta rule. The armed forces have ruled Myanmar for most of the nation’s post-independence history before a decade-long democratic thaw saw civilians assume control. But the military snatched back power with a 2021 coup, deposing and detaining Aung San Suu Kyi after claiming a landslide election victory over the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3339573/myanmars-pro-junta-party-wins-aung-san-suu-kyis-former-seat-surprise-no-one?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3339573/myanmars-pro-junta-party-wins-aung-san-suu-kyis-former-seat-surprise-no-one?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2026 07:32:44 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Myanmar’s pro-military party has a decisive lead in the first phase of junta-run elections, winning 90 per cent of the lower house seats announced so far, official results published in state media showed. The military grabbed power in a 2021 putsch that triggered civil war, pitting pro-democracy rebels against junta forces for control of the country. Myanmar’s junta opened voting in the phased month-long election a week ago, with its leaders pledging the poll would bring on democracy. However,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3338653/myanmars-junta-backed-party-wins-90-seats-first-vote-phase?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3338653/myanmars-junta-backed-party-wins-90-seats-first-vote-phase?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jan 2026 04:32:22 +0000 Reuters Reuters Myanmar’s military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party is leading after the first phase of a contentious general ‍election, early results cited by state media showed, in the first vote since a 2021 coup. Having sparked a nationwide rebellion after crushing pro-democracy protests in the wake of its coup, the ruling junta has said the three-phase vote would bring political stability to the impoverished Southeast Asian ⁠nation. Partial results from Myanmar’s first election since 2020,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3338595/myanmar-military-backed-party-leads-elections-first-phase-wide-margin?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3338595/myanmar-military-backed-party-leads-elections-first-phase-wide-margin?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Jan 2026 03:56:23 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Myanmar’s dominant pro-military party claimed an overwhelming victory in the first phase of the elections, a senior party official said, after democracy watchdogs warned the junta-run poll would entrench military rule. The armed forces snatched power in a 2021 coup, but on Sunday opened voting in a phased month-long election they pledge will return power to the people. “We won 82 lower house seats in townships which have finished counting, out of the total of 102,” a senior member of the Union... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3338058/myanmar-pro-military-party-claims-big-lead-disputed-junta-run-poll-election-not-credible?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3338058/myanmar-pro-military-party-claims-big-lead-disputed-junta-run-poll-election-not-credible?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2025 12:40:08 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Myanmar’s junta-held election will not mask the nation’s dire economic condition, experts warn, as civil war drives some of the highest inflation in Asia, power shortages hack at production and the country’s military rulers seek fast cash from the sale of rare earths and kickbacks from drugs and scams. The military has begun a phased election, with voting in some areas taking place on Sunday and further rounds planned in January, a process critics say is designed to project control rather than... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3337994/why-myanmars-junta-election-cannot-hide-collapsing-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3337994/why-myanmars-junta-election-cannot-hide-collapsing-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2025 07:00:13 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Taya says her life was looking up as Myanmar crept out from decades of isolation. She had a job in marketing, enough money to shop in Yangon’s new retail plazas and fuel her quiet dreams of opening a small bakery, as her generation enjoyed unprecedented economic and personal freedoms. But that was before Myanmar’s short-lived experiment with greater democracy ended in a coup in 2021. With the military once more in charge, the economy is in free fall, and inflation has surged to well over 20 per... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337820/lost-my-future-myanmars-charade-election-dims-hopes-diaspora?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337820/lost-my-future-myanmars-charade-election-dims-hopes-diaspora?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Dec 2025 00:00:08 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele Rashid arrived on the Malaysian island of Langkawi as a young child after spending weeks at sea in a fishing boat crammed with Myanmar’s unwanted: Rohingya Muslims driven out by soldiers and ethnic Buddhist militias who had razed their villages. A decade on, the now 14-year-old has witnessed countless boats arrive on the island over the years, as his stateless community continues to flee persecution. “We did not choose Malaysia because we thought it was a good or nice country,” he told This Week... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3337690/rohingya-crisis-deepens-myanmar-election-offers-no-hope-return?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3337690/rohingya-crisis-deepens-myanmar-election-offers-no-hope-return?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Dec 2025 03:00:09 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow The Myanmar junta’s recent air strikes on a hospital just days before a general election this month are aimed at securing more territory and “intimidating” voters while major powers look the other way due to their own economic and strategic interests, according to analysts. The country’s junta said last Wednesday’s air strikes on a hospital in Mrauk-U in the western state of Rakhine were part of a counterterrorism operation targeting armed groups using the facility as a base for their... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337001/myanmar-hospital-air-strikes-heighten-election-turmoil-amid-global-inaction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337001/myanmar-hospital-air-strikes-heighten-election-turmoil-amid-global-inaction?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Dec 2025 04:30:08 +0000 Bochen Han Bochen Han A bipartisan group of US lawmakers is urging Donald Trump’s administration to reject Myanmar’s “sham” elections next month, days after the administration cited the country’s electoral progress as grounds to remove legal protections for Myanmar nationals in the US. “Burma’s planned elections this December are proving to be a sham,” said Representatives Brian Mast and Gregory Meeks and Senators Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen on Wednesday, using the former name for the war-torn country. “Orchestrated... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3334287/us-lawmakers-urge-trump-condemn-myanmars-china-backed-sham-elections-next-month?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3334287/us-lawmakers-urge-trump-condemn-myanmars-china-backed-sham-elections-next-month?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Nov 2025 20:14:04 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran As the 47th Asean summit came to a close this week, questions remained over the bloc’s handling of the Myanmar crisis and whether it had done enough to bring peace to the war-torn country. The three-day summit saw the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations discuss various issues, including the ongoing clashes between Myanmar’s junta and opposition forces. Several members also signed trade deals with the United States. “Myanmar was lower on the agenda at the summit compared with other... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330894/aseans-meek-diplomacy-sufficient-end-myanmar-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330894/aseans-meek-diplomacy-sufficient-end-myanmar-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Oct 2025 10:00:34 +0000 Joseph Sipalan,Aidan Jones Joseph Sipalan,Aidan Jones United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged Myanmar’s junta to focus on increasing aid to its struggling people instead of holding an election, which he said would be neither free nor fair. Myanmar’s junta has been widely pilloried for pressing on with the election starting this December, while it continues to bomb civilians in a civil war that has killed thousands and displaced more than 3.5 million people. Guterres, who was in Kuala Lumpur for a summit between the UN and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330513/un-chief-urges-myanmar-junta-focus-boosting-aid-forget-about-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330513/un-chief-urges-myanmar-junta-focus-boosting-aid-forget-about-election?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Oct 2025 12:42:33 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof,Aidan Jones Iman Muttaqin Yusof,Aidan Jones From slumping exports and rampant scams to border disputes among its members, Southeast Asia is in the teeth of overlapping crises. But among a lengthening list of troubles its leaders will discuss next weekend in Kuala Lumpur, one problem hangs heaviest: what to do with Myanmar’s renegade junta? Led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta seized power in February 2021 after being trounced by pro-democracy parties at an election held a few months before. Since then, Myanmar has sunk into... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3329471/asean-faces-diplomatic-dilemma-over-myanmar-juntas-sham-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3329471/asean-faces-diplomatic-dilemma-over-myanmar-juntas-sham-election?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Oct 2025 04:00:17 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Before a Myanmar student descends into a classroom entombed in a concrete bunker, she prays for compassion and her community’s safety, knowing her appeal will go unanswered. “May the fighter jets not come. May the pilots show kindness to us. May the bombs not explode,” 18-year-old Phyo Phyo said, recalling her unspoken wishes. She is enrolled in a class of around a dozen at the subterranean academy, founded in June after a junta strike obliterated a nearby school and killed at least 20 pupils... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3328618/myanmar-students-bunker-schools-learn-lesson-fear-air-strikes-intensify?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3328618/myanmar-students-bunker-schools-learn-lesson-fear-air-strikes-intensify?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Oct 2025 01:31:07 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran A group of lawmakers in the Philippines have urged their government to take a firmer stance on the crisis in Myanmar, filing a resolution that calls for stronger support for the country’s pro-democracy movement and greater pressure on its ruling military junta. The push comes as the Philippines prepares to assume the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) next year, raising expectations over how it will handle one of the bloc’s most divisive issues. Analysts say the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3328390/will-philippine-push-bolder-action-myanmar-strain-asean-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3328390/will-philippine-push-bolder-action-myanmar-strain-asean-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Oct 2025 09:57:04 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Myanmar and Asean leaders are locked in a “diplomatic impasse” with the military junta determined to prevent the bloc from interfering with its plans for a general election later this year, according to observers. Four foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last week postponed their planned trip to Myanmar to discuss the election, which is set to begin in December, and other matters. The diplomats from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines were originally... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3326361/aseans-failure-meet-myanmar-junta-over-election-shows-its-limited-leverage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3326361/aseans-failure-meet-myanmar-junta-over-election-shows-its-limited-leverage?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Sep 2025 07:01:42 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Myanmar’s military regime wants to hold the first election since it seized power in 2021, but opponents have decried the idea as senseless amid the country’s civil war, as they warn of more bloodshed while the junta embarks on a doomed attempt at a reset. The country has announced that the first phase of the general election is scheduled to begin on December 28, with additional stages to follow. The statement offers the clearest timeline yet after months of vague promises by the junta’s leader,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3322662/myanmar-juntas-sham-election-plan-slammed-gateway-more-bloodshed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3322662/myanmar-juntas-sham-election-plan-slammed-gateway-more-bloodshed?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Aug 2025 09:12:52 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Myanmar’s junta said on Monday that long-promised elections would start on December 28, despite a raging civil war that has put much of the country out of its control, and international monitors slating the poll as a charade. Myanmar has been consumed by conflict since the military deposed the government of democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, making unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud. Swathes of the country are beyond military control - administered by a myriad of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3322200/myanmar-hold-election-december-28-junta-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3322200/myanmar-hold-election-december-28-junta-says?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Aug 2025 06:55:36 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A Myanmar junta air strike on a rebel-occupied ruby mining hub killed 13 people on Saturday, according to a resident and a spokesperson for an armed opposition group. Civil war has consumed Myanmar since the military seized power in a 2021 coup, sparking resistance from pro-democracy guerillas who found common cause with long-active ethnic armed groups. Their scattered forces initially struggled to make headway, but a combined offensive starting in late 2023 seized swathes of territory,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3320596/13-killed-myanmar-junta-strike-rebel-occupied-ruby-mine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3320596/13-killed-myanmar-junta-strike-rebel-occupied-ruby-mine?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Aug 2025 10:53:49 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow Myanmar has capitalised on a tariff letter from United States President Donald Trump that could have unintentionally legitimised its junta, according to observers, who warn that the “huge diplomatic gift” risks undermining Washington’s existing policy ahead of the Southeast Asian country’s key election. While the election is not viewed by Asean as a priority, Naypyidaw is not expected to further delay the polls, particularly given pressure from China. Trump had earlier informed the junta’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3319110/trumps-diplomatic-gift-myanmar-junta-letter-sparks-us-policy-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3319110/trumps-diplomatic-gift-myanmar-junta-letter-sparks-us-policy-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Jul 2025 07:00:57 +0000 Yuyun Wahyuningrum Yuyun Wahyuningrum Ahead of the 58th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on July 8-9 in Kuala Lumpur, officials must move beyond rhetorical consensus and seize the moment to embrace transformative, people-centred approaches that reflect the realities on the ground and restore the bloc’s credibility and relevance. More than four years have passed since Myanmar’s military staged a violent coup, plunging the country into a deepening political and humanitarian crisis. The regime’s grip has inflicted devastating harm:... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3316365/myanmar-crisis-demands-asean-rethink-regional-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3316365/myanmar-crisis-demands-asean-rethink-regional-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Jul 2025 21:30:08 +0000 Hadi Azmi Hadi Azmi Southeast Asian leaders have said they are “deeply concerned” about the violence and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Myanmar, in a statement at the end of the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur, but significantly held back from further action against a junta that continues to kill civilians four years after it seized power. The junta has continued deadly air strikes against civilian areas held by ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy forces in the weeks following a devastating earthquake in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3312024/concerned-asean-leaders-fail-issue-fresh-condemnation-myanmars-junta?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3312024/concerned-asean-leaders-fail-issue-fresh-condemnation-myanmars-junta?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 May 2025 14:00:37 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow The Myanmar junta’s growing use of advanced drones – many supplied by China and Russia – has intensified its campaign against resistance forces, shifting the momentum on the battlefield and inflicting rising civilian casualties, analysts say. While the military’s gains remain limited, experts warn that the deployment of infrared and night-vision-equipped drones has raised the cost of the rebellion, as foreign-made technology bolsters a regime once seen as losing ground on multiple... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3311143/myanmar-juntas-drones-china-russia-tilt-balance-war-against-resistance-forces?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3311143/myanmar-juntas-drones-china-russia-tilt-balance-war-against-resistance-forces?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 May 2025 00:13:59 +0000 Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has made a belated visit to the earthquake epicentre of Sagaing, a city levelled by the disaster and where aid workers say relief supplies have been blocked and delayed by security forces in an area of resistance to military rule. The junta chief visited Sagaing on Sunday – his first reported trip in 10 days since the March 28 quake, according to state mouthpiece Global New Light of Myanmar. His visit, reported on Monday, comes as the official death toll... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3305504/myanmar-junta-leader-min-aung-hlaing-visits-quake-epicentre-10-days-after-disaster?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3305504/myanmar-junta-leader-min-aung-hlaing-visits-quake-epicentre-10-days-after-disaster?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Apr 2025 08:42:58 +0000 For the millions of Myanmar’s people living overseas, there is one rule in their determination to help their compatriots in a homeland devastated by Friday’s earthquake: do not give anything to the junta. Millions have fled Myanmar since the 2021 coup led by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, whose crackdown on pro-democracy protests has killed thousands, sparked an attritional civil war and tanked the economy – all before the earthquake hit. Hours after the 7.7-magnitude quake – followed by an... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3304589/quake-chaos-myanmar-diaspora-shares-guilt-pain-and-one-rule-do-not-help-junta?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3304589/quake-chaos-myanmar-diaspora-shares-guilt-pain-and-one-rule-do-not-help-junta?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 31 Mar 2025 09:30:29 +0000 Myanmar’s junta has pressed ahead with its campaign of air strikes despite the country’s devastating earthquake, with a rebel group saying on Sunday that seven of its fighters were killed in an aerial attack soon after the tremors hit. The Myanmar military has increasingly turned to air strikes as it struggles to gain the upper hand against a complex array of anti-coup fighters and ethnic minority armed groups in the civil war. Friday’s massive 7.7-magnitude earthquake, which has killed at least... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3304473/myanmar-rebels-accuse-junta-air-strikes-quake-aftermath?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3304473/myanmar-rebels-accuse-junta-air-strikes-quake-aftermath?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Mar 2025 11:05:42 +0000 Myanmar’s junta chief said the country would hold an election in December or January, the first in the war-torn nation since the military staged a coup in 2021. “We are planning to hold the election in December 2025 or … by January 2026,” General Min Aung Hlaing was quoted as saying in the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar published on Saturday. The vote would be “free and fair” he said on Friday during a state visit to Belarus, adding that 53 political parties had “submitted their... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3301645/myanmar-election-be-held-january-junta-chief-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3301645/myanmar-election-be-held-january-junta-chief-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Mar 2025 14:20:54 +0000 Myanmar’s ruling junta criticised an Argentine court on Saturday for issuing an arrest warrant for its top leader over alleged “genocide and crimes against humanity” towards the Rohingya minority. The Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim community from Buddhist-majority Myanmar where, according to Amnesty International, they have been subjected to apartheid conditions. This week an Argentine court issued warrants for military and civilian officials including junta leader Min Aung Hlaing,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3298823/myanmar-junta-criticises-argentina-arrest-warrant?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3298823/myanmar-junta-criticises-argentina-arrest-warrant?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Feb 2025 08:00:12 +0000 Myanmar’s military government on Friday announced another six-month extension of its mandate to rule in preparation for elections it has said will be held this year, as the country enters its fifth year of crisis. However, it did not announce an exact date for the polls. The military declared a state of emergency on February 1, 2021, when it arrested the country’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and top officials from her government in an army takeover which reversed years of progress toward democracy... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3297024/myanmar-military-junta-extends-mandate-rule-6-months?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3297024/myanmar-military-junta-extends-mandate-rule-6-months?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Feb 2025 11:15:08 +0000 For Myanmar’s people, year four under military junta rule has only brought more death, displacement and despair, as their troubled homeland is torn further apart by a seemingly intractable civil war. In capital Naypyidaw, the military – or Tatmadaw – calls all the shots, but after a series of chastening battlefield defeats, the generals increasingly find themselves boxed-in to the country’s central heartlands. Still, few among the anti-junta resistance forces harbour any illusions about an... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3296205/asias-forgotten-war-generation-sacrifices-its-youth-defying-myanmars-brutal-junta?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3296205/asias-forgotten-war-generation-sacrifices-its-youth-defying-myanmars-brutal-junta?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Jan 2025 00:00:16 +0000 A Myanmar junta air strike killed at least 15 civilians and wounded 10 others at a market in a gold-mining area in northern Kachin state, a spokesman for an ethnic rebel group that controls the area said on Sunday. The junta has been accused of carrying out multiple attacks on civilian targets as it struggles to quell resistance to its 2021 coup. The latest attack happened around 11am on Saturday, according to Colonel Naw Bu, a spokesperson from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). “All those... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3294443/myanmar-junta-air-strike-market-kills-15-civilians-ethnic-rebel-group-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3294443/myanmar-junta-air-strike-market-kills-15-civilians-ethnic-rebel-group-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Jan 2025 13:00:13 +0000 Hadi Azmi Hadi Azmi The appointment of former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra as an adviser to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has sparked criticism from Myanmar resistance groups, who fear his involvement may align Malaysia’s approach to the Myanmar crisis with the military junta’s interests. Myanmar is one of Asean’s most pressing challenges as it remains afflicted by a civil war and political turmoil following the military coup in February 2021. Thaksin’s tenure as Thailand’s prime minister was marked by... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3291678/malaysias-pick-thaksin-adviser-raises-fears-his-pro-myanmar-junta-stance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3291678/malaysias-pick-thaksin-adviser-raises-fears-his-pro-myanmar-junta-stance?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Dec 2024 06:19:43 +0000 China’s involvement in mediating a peace deal between Myanmar’s rebel groups and the ruling military junta has given Beijing leverage over India as both powers jostle to bolster their strategic interests in the country. Last month, two key members of the anti-junta Brotherhood Alliance – Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) – said they were willing to hold peace talks under China’s mediation. The announcement came shortly after a visit to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3290945/india-plays-catch-influence-myanmar-chinas-clout-over-junta-and-rebels-grows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3290945/india-plays-catch-influence-myanmar-chinas-clout-over-junta-and-rebels-grows?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Dec 2024 04:36:27 +0000 As the Arakan Army (AA) gains more ground against the forces of the state Administration Council (SAC) regime in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, analysts are asking questions about the AA’s administrative capacity. The AA has steadily gained momentum against SAC troops since November last year, when it opened a new front as a part of Operation 1027, a coordinated attack against SAC forces that started in October 2023, primarily in northern Myanmar. Since its formation in 2009 with the aim of greater... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3286803/myanmars-arakan-army-capable-governing-rakhine-state?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3286803/myanmars-arakan-army-capable-governing-rakhine-state?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Nov 2024 02:00:15 +0000 As Myanmar’s military junta teeters on the brink of collapse, China is making a bold power play – nudging the war-torn nation towards elections in a bid, experts say, to install a predictable government that will protect Beijing’s interests. The calculus is clear: with the junta haemorrhaging territory to a tenacious insurgency, China wants to ensure the military retains a seat at the table, no matter the outcome. “They cannot win and indeed are losing at a rate they can never recover from,”... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3275684/china-pushes-secure-myanmar-militarys-seat-table-junta-falters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3275684/china-pushes-secure-myanmar-militarys-seat-table-junta-falters?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Aug 2024 07:30:11 +0000 Rebel opposition groups fighting the Myanmar military junta may have ethnic and cultural connections to China, but that does not mean Beijing is happy to see them add to major territorial gains in the country’s civil war, which threatens to spill over the border into Yunnan province. China attaches too much importance to the stability of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), of which Myanmar is a member. As a result, it supports a plan by the junta to conduct an election next year... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3275249/stability-myanmar-paramount-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3275249/stability-myanmar-paramount-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Aug 2024 19:22:39 +0000