Asean member states took part in low-key dialogues that included India, China, Japan and Bangladesh earlier this year, as the bloc seeks to help Myanmar resolve its crisis.

During a rare visit, China’s foreign minister meets Myanmar’s junta leader, the most senior official to do so since the 2021 military coup.

A 15-year-old boy from Sichuan province missing a month after crossing border into Myanmar for promised ‘high-paying job’, according to Shanghai media.

Any polls will fall short of democratic standards, and prospects for peace and stability are ‘extremely bleak’ this year, critics say.

A junta spokesman said the US dollar was being used ‘to bully smaller nations’. Other options Myanmar has discussed with Russia’s Vladimir Putin include the Indian rupee, ‘as well as the barter system’.

China has signed ‘cooperation documents’ with 149 countries and 32 international organisations, while taking on 3,000 projects as part of its Belt and Road Initiative despite accusations that Beijing is creating a ‘debt trap’.

Moscow has become ‘even more accommodating’ towards Myanmar’s junta, as both seek closer economic and military ties, analysts note.

U Myo Thant Pe died in Kunming on Sunday of a suspected heart attack. Since September, a German, a Ukrainian and a Philippine ambassador have also died while in China.

Beijing has used its influence in Myanmar to broker a repatriation agreement before, Bangladesh’s foreign minister noted, but the Rohingya refugees previously refused to return.

No group has so far claimed the attacks in Muse – Myanmar’s main gateway to China – which is home to several militia groups jockeying for control over lucrative casinos and the drug trade.

While the visit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi reflected open dialogue and engagement channels, critics argue that it undermined Asean unity.

The 25,000-strong UWSA is one of the world’s largest non-state militaries – so far it has had little involvement in the fighting sparked by the toppling of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government by the military last year.

The proposed British-drafted statement expressed concern at the limited progress of the Five Point Consensus over a year since it was agreed.

Myanmar’s military regime is reported to have cancelled tenders relating to 26 solar power projects, the majority of which involved Chinese investment.

The report said Russia had supplied drones, two types of fighter jets, and two kinds of armoured vehicles, and China had transferred fighter jets.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military council that seized power last year, appealed for unity and held a colourful parade; opponents boycotted the ceremony, describing it as wasteful.

Former captain gives first-hand account of intensified fighting with military junta; has classified documents detailing major clash and further evidence of rebellion spreading across the country.

In an exclusive interview with the Post, Myanmar’s National Unity Government’s (NUG) Foreign Minister Zin Mar Aung says Beijing and other regional powers need to pressure the military junta to avoid more violence

As the junta’s bloody crackdown on dissent intensifies, experts and advocates call on Chinese firms to take a more ethical approach and withdraw their investments.

Cynics question whether Hun Sen is an ‘honest broker’, given his own crackdown on political opponents and dependence on Beijing. Others doubt his leverage.

Sun Guoxiang has made his second trip to the crisis-hit country since the military seized power in February.

Evacuation planned for 2,000 residents in Wanding town after resident injured and houses damaged by stray bullets from Myanmar.

Beijing has quietly shipped thousands of vaccines, medical workers, and construction materials for quarantine centres, according to multiple rebel groups.

Elsewhere, the Philippines’ Duterte slams ‘selfish’ rich countries at UN for hoarding vaccines; India readies roll-out of world’s first DNA-based vaccine for children 12 and older.

It’s been more than six months since the coup in Myanmar, yet the Association of Southeast Asian Nations appears to have done little other than appoint Brunei’s Erywan Yusof as a ‘special envoy’.

China’s influence has grown in Myanmar in recent years, with the opening of oil and gas pipelines and plans for economic zones and a port.

While China’s official guidelines previously cautioned against investing in conflict zones, the temptations in Myanmar – including rare earths and access to the Indian Ocean – are strong.

A multi-year investigation by campaign group Global Witness finds up to 90 per cent of Myanmar’s jade is being smuggled out of the country, most of it into China.