https://www.scmp.com/rss/518132/feed The latest news on Min Aung Hlaing, Burmese army general and chairman of the State Administration Council of Myanmar, including political news and updates. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Resty Woro Yuniar Resty Woro Yuniar A genocide complaint filed with Indonesian prosecutors against Myanmar’s newly elected President Min Aung Hlaing marks a further step by rights activists to hold the country’s military rulers accountable for their alleged international crimes, regardless of where they were committed. The complaint, lodged on Monday with Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office (AGO), accuses the former military chief of genocide against the Rohingya, including mass rape, forced eviction, killings and arson attacks... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3349532/indonesian-activists-target-myanmars-president-genocide-case-against-him?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3349532/indonesian-activists-target-myanmars-president-genocide-case-against-him?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:00:12 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Myanmar’s weak economy is being brutally exposed to the fuel crisis, with farmers unable to fill up tractors to work their fields and a fertiliser shortage caused by the throttling of the Strait of Hormuz threatening food security just as the planting season begins. Battered by civil war and runaway inflation, and with a quarter of its population already lacking sufficient food, Myanmar is poorly positioned to absorb the oil shock and its cascading effects on an economy that is among the most... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3349380/myanmars-food-security-crisis-fuel-fertiliser-shortages-threaten-fragile-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3349380/myanmars-food-security-crisis-fuel-fertiliser-shortages-threaten-fragile-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2026 09:06:26 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones His makeover from junta chief to president now complete, Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing may seek to tiptoe back into the international fold as a civilian leader. But critics say the change is just a “veneer” that poses a challenge for Asean, the regional bloc that has frozen out Myanmar from its top summits, while its military wages war on its own people. On Friday, a parliament stuffed with military loyalists made Min Aung Hlaing president. They were put there by an election held five years after... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3348909/myanmars-junta-chief-min-aung-hlaing-wins-parliamentary-vote-become-president?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3348909/myanmars-junta-chief-min-aung-hlaing-wins-parliamentary-vote-become-president?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2026 06:00:59 +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 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Five years after armoured vehicles rolled through the streets of Myanmar’s capital and the generals tore up an election result they did not like, a new parliament sat for the first time on Monday. The legislature that convened in Naypyidaw was stacked almost entirely with allies of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the coup leader who ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. In Myanmar’s recent election, held across barely a third of the country, the army-backed Union Solidarity... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3346724/myanmars-junta-proxy-parliament-meets-first-time-2021-coup?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3346724/myanmars-junta-proxy-parliament-meets-first-time-2021-coup?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 06:51:29 +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 Myanmar ’s military government ordered East Timor ’s senior diplomat to leave the country after judicial authorities from the fellow Southeast Asian country accepted a criminal complaint against Myanmar’s armed forces, state media said on Monday. The move sharply escalates tensions between the two countries and is a rare step between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which East Timor joined only last year. There was no immediate response from East Timor’s government when... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3343753/east-timor-triggers-asean-first-accuses-myanmar-war-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3343753/east-timor-triggers-asean-first-accuses-myanmar-war-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 10:46:33 +0000 Sharon Seah Sharon Seah Derided by most international observers and the Myanmar diaspora as a sham, the recently concluded three-phase elections in Myanmar have entrenched military rule under a new constitutional government. For Asean, the outcome throws into sharp relief an increasingly uncomfortable question: should it continue to marginalise the intransigent junta until it complies with the bloc’s Five-Point Consensus (5PC), or find a way to re-engage without betraying the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ own... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3343518/how-asean-can-resolve-its-myanmar-dilemma-post-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3343518/how-asean-can-resolve-its-myanmar-dilemma-post-election?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 04:30:18 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran As foreign ministers from Asean member states gathered in the Philippine city of Cebu this week, the bloc faced a familiar dilemma: how to keep pushing for peace in Myanmar without sliding into what critics warn could become “de facto acceptance” of its military regime. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, held on Wednesday and Thursday, is the first major gathering hosted by the Philippines since it assumed the bloc’s chairship this year. Much of its... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3341678/asean-cautioned-against-legitimising-myanmar-junta-ministers-meet-peace-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3341678/asean-cautioned-against-legitimising-myanmar-junta-ministers-meet-peace-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2026 08:33:17 +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 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran A visit by the Philippines’ foreign minister to Myanmar has raised concerns over how Asean will be perceived under Manila’s chairmanship this year, with critics arguing it risks appearing as tacit support for the junta amid an election widely condemned as a sham. Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro met Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and other junta leaders in Naypyidaw on January 6 in her capacity as special envoy from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ 2026 chair, according to official... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3339844/philippine-ministers-premature-myanmar-visit-casts-doubts-over-aseans-role?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3339844/philippine-ministers-premature-myanmar-visit-casts-doubts-over-aseans-role?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2026 08:02:59 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo Myanmar’s military junta is staging the country’s first general election since its coup in 2021. Western critics have dismissed it as a “sham”, while the generals have insisted that the polls are “free and fair”. Posting on X, Tom Andrews, the United Nations rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, called the election “a theatre of the absurd”. He may be right but it is also beside the point. Andrews was a long-time foreign supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi, whose second-term government was... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3338022/why-china-myanmars-only-real-hope?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3338022/why-china-myanmars-only-real-hope?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Dec 2025 01:30:08 +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 The first day of voting in Myanmar’s three-stage election was held on Sunday, a process decried as a charade with the most popular pro-democracy party banned and up to half the war-torn country unable to vote. In the capital, Naypyidaw, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cast his vote in an election he views as a way to cement the future of the military in a country torn apart by civil war since he seized power after the public rejected army-linked parties in the last poll. “People should vote,” the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337919/myanmar-polls-open-amid-civil-war-junta-seeks-prolong-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337919/myanmar-polls-open-amid-civil-war-junta-seeks-prolong-power?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:10:36 +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 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse One of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed opposition factions has agreed to a China-brokered withdrawal from a lucrative ruby mining hub, the group said on Wednesday. Myanmar has been mired in a civil war since the military grabbed power in a 2021 coup, with the junta fighting an array of pro-democracy guerrillas and powerful ethnic minority armed groups. The ragtag opposition initially struggled to make headway before organising a combined offensive in late 2023 that seized huge swathes of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3330795/myanmar-rebels-agree-china-brokered-pull-out-ruby-mining-town?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3330795/myanmar-rebels-agree-china-brokered-pull-out-ruby-mining-town?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Oct 2025 12:02:12 +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 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 Dewey Sim Dewey Sim Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto had a last-minute change of plan when he travelled to Beijing to attend China’s military parade in Tiananmen Square, just hours before it began. Prabowo had earlier decided to cancel the trip because of widespread protests at home. But he showed up for the parade in a grey suit on the morning of September 3, taking a seat at the rostrum beside Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who was to the right of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Sources said the Indonesian... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3325969/how-southeast-asia-showed-its-support-china-and-sent-message-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3325969/how-southeast-asia-showed-its-support-china-and-sent-message-us?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Sep 2025 22:00:20 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow Since seizing power in a coup 4 ½ years ago, Myanmar’s military rulers have had a strained relationship with much of the outside world. Largely shunned by the West, the generals have even struggled for diplomatic recognition within Asean, which has barred the junta from high-level meetings and blocked it from assuming the rotating chairmanship that it was scheduled to take up next year. But in China late last month, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing chalked up a victory in his quest for validation,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3324539/indias-short-sighted-myanmar-diplomacy-imperils-aseans-peace-plans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3324539/indias-short-sighted-myanmar-diplomacy-imperils-aseans-peace-plans?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Sep 2025 03:00:09 +0000 Yuanyue Dang Yuanyue Dang In less than a week, Chinese President Xi Jinping has held bilateral talks with leaders from more than 20 countries during two high-profile events – the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the northern port city of Tianjin and the Victory Day commemoration in Beijing. The themes of the talks have shed more light on China’s engagement with partners as Beijing casts itself as a champion of a multipolar global order and forges closer economic cooperation. Multilateralism: a keyword... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3324340/xi-jinpings-diplomatic-marathon-casts-new-light-chinas-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3324340/xi-jinpings-diplomatic-marathon-casts-new-light-chinas-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Sep 2025 09:03:56 +0000 Zhao Ziwen Zhao Ziwen Despite a deadly anti-government protest raging across his country, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto stood overlooking Beijing’s Tiananmen Square watching China’s grand military parade with a group of world leaders. Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his appreciation to Prabowo for the visit later on Wednesday, and affirmed support for Prabowo’s governance, which had been shaken amid the ongoing protests. “President Prabowo overcame difficulties to attend the event in China,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3324169/indonesias-prabowo-attends-chinas-military-parade-protests-rage-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3324169/indonesias-prabowo-attends-chinas-military-parade-protests-rage-home?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Sep 2025 07:38:16 +0000 Ji Siqi Ji Siqi A slew of foreign leaders took China’s signature high-speed railway from the northern port city of Tianjin to Beijing on Monday and Tuesday, having departed from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to attend a Victory Day parade. Seven state leaders arrived on Monday night: President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko, Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Maldives Mohamed... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3324061/foreign-leaders-ride-rapid-rails-chinas-technological-prowess-after-sco-summit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3324061/foreign-leaders-ride-rapid-rails-chinas-technological-prowess-after-sco-summit?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Sep 2025 09:31:46 +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 Maria Siow Maria Siow And so it has come to this. After months of threats, intensive shuttle diplomacy and last-minute trade negotiations, Washington’s new tariff regime has finally come into force. For Southeast Asia, whose nations jostled for favour – and relief – from a White House wielding economic might with Donald Trump’s trademark unpredictability, this ledger of punitive levies has laid bare the US president’s vision for a new global trade order: one underpinned by “reciprocal” transactions. The wide spectrum... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3321264/how-southeast-asia-haggled-erratic-us-economic-might?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3321264/how-southeast-asia-haggled-erratic-us-economic-might?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Aug 2025 00:00:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Myanmar’s junta ended the country’s state of emergency on Thursday, ramping up preparations for a December election being boycotted by opposition groups and criticised by international monitors. The military declared a state of emergency in February 2021 as it deposed the civilian government of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a multi-sided civil war that has claimed thousands of lives. The order gave junta chief Min Aung Hlaing supreme power over the legislature, executive and... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3320260/myanmars-state-emergency-ends-junta-prepares-controversial-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3320260/myanmars-state-emergency-ends-junta-prepares-controversial-election?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Jul 2025 06:59:13 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Myanmar’s junta said on Wednesday it had enacted a new law dictating prison sentences for critics or protesters of their planned election, which was being boycotted by opposition groups. The junta seized power in a 2021 coup, sparking a many-sided civil war, and has touted elections at the end of this year as a path to peace. Opposition groups – including democratic lawmakers ousted by the military takeover – and international monitors have called the poll a ploy to legitimise the junta’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3320158/myanmar-junta-enacts-new-law-jail-election-critics-protesters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3320158/myanmar-junta-enacts-new-law-jail-election-critics-protesters?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Jul 2025 11:19:07 +0000 Reuters Reuters The United States on Thursday lifted sanctions designations on several allies of Myanmar’s ruling generals, two weeks after the head of the ruling junta praised President Donald Trump and called for an easing of sanctions in a letter responding to a tariff warning. A notice from the US Treasury Department said KT Services & Logistics and its founder, Jonathan Myo Kyaw Thaung; the MCM Group and its owner Aung Hlaing Oo; and Suntac Technologies and its owner Sit Taing Aung; and another individual,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3319524/myanmars-praise-trump-pays-us-gives-junta-sanctions-relief?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3319524/myanmars-praise-trump-pays-us-gives-junta-sanctions-relief?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Jul 2025 02:30:54 +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 Associated Press Associated Press The head of Myanmar’s military government made a rare appearance at a ceremony on Saturday honouring General Aung San, an independence hero and father of jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi. It was the first time that 69-year-old Senior General Min Aung Hlaing attended the Martyrs’ Day wreath-laying since the army ousted Suu Kyi and seized power in February 2021. The leader’s appearance comes as his embattled government is preparing to hold elections while fighting armed opposition groups... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3318862/myanmars-military-leader-makes-rare-appearance-event-honouring-aung-san-suu-kyis-father?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3318862/myanmars-military-leader-makes-rare-appearance-event-honouring-aung-san-suu-kyis-father?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Jul 2025 11:38:07 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing praised Donald Trump in a rare letter and compared his military’s coup to the US president’s baseless claims of election fraud, suggesting both leaders were victims of rigged votes. “Similar to the challenges you encountered during the 2020 election of the US, we also experienced major electoral fraud and significant irregularities,” Min Aung Hlaing wrote to Trump, in the regime’s first known direct correspondence with the US government in over four... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3317856/myanmar-junta-chief-hails-trump-rare-overture-seeks-tariff-cuts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3317856/myanmar-junta-chief-hails-trump-rare-overture-seeks-tariff-cuts?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Jul 2025 07:49:12 +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 Joseph Sipalan,Hadi Azmi Joseph Sipalan,Hadi Azmi Malaysia is nudging the United States to negotiate tariffs with Asean as a single trading bloc, as Southeast Asia’s leaders express “deep concern” over Washington’s unilateral levies that threaten to disrupt growth in their trade-reliant economies. Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) converged on Kuala Lumpur on Monday for their two-day annual summit, focused on the potential economic crisis from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs but also to pressure Myanmar’s warring... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3311769/asean-summit-opens-malaysia-trade-dismay-us-tariffs-top-mind?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3311769/asean-summit-opens-malaysia-trade-dismay-us-tariffs-top-mind?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 May 2025 03:01:10 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Malaysia called on Sunday for the extension and expansion of a post-earthquake ceasefire in Myanmar, as it ramped up calls for the long-awaited implementation of a five-point peace plan. The ruling military junta initially declared a truce in the many-sided civil war after a huge quake in late March killed nearly 3,800 and left tens of thousands homeless. That agreement, which has been extended before, is due to expire at the end of May – though conflict monitors say fighting and junta air... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3311735/malaysia-calls-expansion-myanmars-post-earthquake-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3311735/malaysia-calls-expansion-myanmars-post-earthquake-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 May 2025 12:33:58 +0000 Joseph Sipalan,Aidan Jones Joseph Sipalan,Aidan Jones Asean must aggressively pursue new export markets as the bloc strives to convince the US of its economic relevance during tariff negotiations, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said, ahead of a crucial summit of Southeast Asian leaders. Tariffs, trade disruption and a shrinking growth forecast will frame talks as Malaysia hosts the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Monday. The crisis in Myanmar, which is wracked by civil war and recovering from an earthquake, will... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3311325/malaysias-anwar-says-asean-summit-should-tackle-trumps-tariffs-myanmar-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3311325/malaysias-anwar-says-asean-summit-should-tackle-trumps-tariffs-myanmar-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 May 2025 05:30:12 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow A rare meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Myanmar’s junta leader has signalled Beijing’s growing support for a military regime widely viewed as faltering and its strategic alignment with Russia in backing the embattled government, according to analysts. Xi and junta chief Min Aung Hlaing met in Moscow on May 9 on the sidelines of Russia’s Victory Day celebrations. According to Xinhua, this meeting marked the highest-level contact between Beijing and the isolated junta since the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3310528/xi-jinpings-meeting-myanmars-junta-leader-moscow-signals-chinas-backing-regime?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3310528/xi-jinpings-meeting-myanmars-junta-leader-moscow-signals-chinas-backing-regime?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 May 2025 03:00:13 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Air strikes by Myanmar’s junta have cast doubt on the viability of extending the ceasefire until the end of May to allow relief to reach tens of thousands of people displaced by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake on March 28, as the UN warned a tiny fraction of the needed emergency relief funds have been received. Official reports indicate the disaster has killed 3,700 people, with an additional 500 still missing. But the true toll is likely higher, with hundreds – possibly thousands more – feared... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3309576/myanmar-quake-relief-hindered-air-strikes-un-funding-shortfall-junta-way?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3309576/myanmar-quake-relief-hindered-air-strikes-un-funding-shortfall-junta-way?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 May 2025 10:00:31 +0000 China has promised to provide 100 million yuan (US$13.8 million) in emergency aid to Myanmar following the devastating earthquake there, while President Xi Jinping spoke to the head of the ruling junta on Saturday to offer his condolences. Beijing has also sent two rescue teams and will supply tents, blankets, first aid kits, food and drinking water, state news agency Xinhua reported. Meanwhile, the death toll continued to rise. Friday’s 7.7-magnitude quake was the most powerful to hit Myanmar... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3304403/chinese-rescue-team-arrives-myanmar-help-search-earthquake-survivors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3304403/chinese-rescue-team-arrives-myanmar-help-search-earthquake-survivors?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Mar 2025 05:09:03 +0000 A conscription order by Myanmar’s weakened junta has seeded dread among the nation’s youth, with many making plans to flee or join pro-democracy fighters to avoid being drafted into the loathed military. Fighters from the People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) have a simple message for compatriots who have so far not directly supported their resistance against the junta, but are now at risk of being pulled into the violent chaos that has engulfed the country since the 2021 coup. “Join us,” John Paw, 27,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3253196/myanmar-youth-look-flee-conscription-or-join-armed-rebels-fighting-junta-army-losing-control?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3253196/myanmar-youth-look-flee-conscription-or-join-armed-rebels-fighting-junta-army-losing-control?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Feb 2024 09:00:20 +0000 Three years after it seized power, Myanmar’s military junta faces a huge challenge as ethnic insurgent groups rebel across the country. The Three Brotherhood Alliance – a coalition of three armed rebel groups – has taken control of more than a dozen towns and trade ports in Myanmar’s northern Shan state. It has also made advances in Rakhine state despite a ceasefire agreement brokered by China. Beijing, which is seen to have considerable influence over both sides in the conflict, has facilitated... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3250796/china-plays-peacemaker-myanmar-high-expectations-trust-issues-and-belt-and-road-projects-thwart?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3250796/china-plays-peacemaker-myanmar-high-expectations-trust-issues-and-belt-and-road-projects-thwart?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Feb 2024 02:00:21 +0000 Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives launched the first-ever congressional caucus on Myanmar on Thursday, marking the third anniversary of the military coup in the country. Chaired by Democrat Betty McCollum of Minnesota and Republican Bill Huizenga from Michigan, the bipartisan caucus aims to bolster congressional support for people in Myanmar fighting against the junta, which deposed the Southeast Asian nation’s democratically-elected leaders on February 1, 2021. Congressional caucuses... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3250665/us-lawmakers-launch-congressional-caucus-myanmar-bolster-support-pro-democracy-fighters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3250665/us-lawmakers-launch-congressional-caucus-myanmar-bolster-support-pro-democracy-fighters?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Feb 2024 03:19:12 +0000 Military-ruled Myanmar sent a bureaucrat to Monday’s meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Laos, Indonesia’s top diplomat said, adding the move was in line with Asean’s policy on the conflict-torn country’s attendance. Myanmar’s ruling generals remain barred from key meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) over their failure to implement a peace plan agreed with the bloc two months after a 2021 coup that unleashed chaos in the country. Asean has a policy of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3250158/myanmars-generals-barred-asean-meetings-junta-sent-official-first-bloc-event-2-years-laos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3250158/myanmars-generals-barred-asean-meetings-junta-sent-official-first-bloc-event-2-years-laos?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Jan 2024 09:00:11 +0000 Three years after the coup, the walls are closing in on Myanmar’s junta and its leader Min Aung Hlaing. Humiliated and overrun across an arc of territory running east to west, his once unassailable military is slowly shrinking back into a central Myanmar heartland, harried by battle-hardened ethnic armed groups and bands of young pro-democracy rebels. A “spring revolution” is the buzzword almost being willed into existence over Myanmar’s vituperative anti-junta social media. “I think it may take... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3249968/three-years-after-myanmars-coup-clock-finally-running-out-embattled-junta-it-slowly-falls-apart?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3249968/three-years-after-myanmars-coup-clock-finally-running-out-embattled-junta-it-slowly-falls-apart?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Jan 2024 01:30:18 +0000 Beijing announced on Friday that it had mediated a formal ceasefire in northern Myanmar, in China’s latest show of influence in the war-ridden neighbouring country. The ceasefire agreement between the Myanmar junta and a coalition of ethnic militias was reached after a series of meetings in Kunming, the Chinese foreign ministry said. The city is the capital of China’s southwestern Yunnan province bordering Myanmar. Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said representatives of Myanmar’s military... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3248278/china-brokers-myanmar-ceasefire-urges-junta-and-rebel-militia-exercise-maximum-restraint?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3248278/china-brokers-myanmar-ceasefire-urges-junta-and-rebel-militia-exercise-maximum-restraint?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Jan 2024 13:20:59 +0000 The move by Myanmar’s shadow government to escalate its bid to oust the junta by seeking support from China is aimed at capitalising on the military’s inability to protect Chinese interests in the Southeast Asian nation, analysts say. While the National Unity Government (NUG) is signalling that it can be a reliable partner for China in Myanmar, it is unlikely that Beijing would respond favourably to NUG’s olive branch, according to the analysts. Last week, the group released a 10-point document... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3248068/myanmar-conflict-china-unlikely-pull-carpet-junta-and-accept-resistance-groups-olive-branch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3248068/myanmar-conflict-china-unlikely-pull-carpet-junta-and-accept-resistance-groups-olive-branch?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Jan 2024 01:29:47 +0000