Chinese special envoy arrives in Naypyitaw as junta chief returns from Russia trip

China’s special envoy for Asian affairs, Deng Xijun, arrived in Naypyitaw on Monday, just as junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was returning from a trip to Russia, regime-controlled state media reported on Tuesday.The Chinese envoy met with the junta’s foreign minister, Than Swe, on the first day of his visit, according to regime mouthpiece the Global New Light of Myanmar. The pair discussed a range of issues, including peace and stability along the two countries’ shared border, continued Chinese support for Myanmar’s socioeconomic development, and the war-torn nation’s “national reconciliation process,” the newspaper said.The two sides also agreed to work together to address the “growing challenges” of illegal online gambling and telecoms fraud in scam centres located along Myanmar’s borders with its neighbours, it added.The issue has been a major source of friction between the two sides in recent years, with Myanmar coming under growing pressure to rein in criminal activity that observers say has been an important source of revenue for the junta.Last month, the Karen Border Guard Force, a group aligned with the regime, cracked down on scam centres operating within its territory on the Thai-Myanmar border. The move, prompted by China, saw the release of thousands of foreign nationals forced to work for Chinese crime syndicates at the centres.Deng’s last visit to Naypyitaw, in August of last year, came amid an even greater crisis for the regime. Days earlier, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, an ethnic Kokang armed group based on the Chinese border, seized control of the junta’s Northeastern Regional Military Command in Lashio.The current visit follows one by junta chief Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing to Russia and Belarus from March 3-9 that included a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin on March 4. The Russian leader has become one of the Myanmar dictator’s closest allies since he overthrew the country’s democratically elected government in February 2021.Late last month, Russian state media reported that the two countries signed a deal to cooperate on investments in the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ), covering port and energy projects in southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region.

Chinese special envoy arrives in Naypyitaw as junta chief returns from Russia trip

The envoy last visited in August of last year, days after the regime lost control of its Northeastern Regional Military Command in northern Shan StateThe envoy last visited in August of last year, days after the regime lost control of its Northeastern Regional Military Command in northern Shan State

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