Myanmar junta chief thanks China for pressure on ethnic armed groups

At a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on Sunday, Myanmar’s junta chief acknowledged the Chinese government’s efforts to push anti-junta fighters based near the countries’ shared border to cease hostilities. Having travelled to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) 2025 summit in Tianjin, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said Chinese influence had helped bring about a recent reversal in Myanmar’s internal conflict, with the military now regaining control over territory previously lost to ethnic armed groups and resistance fighters. “I would like to express my gratitude regarding the peaceful situations that have been achieved because China has been exerting pressure on the armed groups in the border areas for the development of northern Myanmar,” the Myanmar junta chief said. “Only when we achieve peace in the future will we be able to enhance cooperation between our two nations and all nations in the region,” he added. Chinese officials applauded the meeting in comments on social media, with foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Mao Ning evoking Myanmar’s historical role in fighting against the Empire of Japan—China ’s enemy in the Second World War—and calling for deeper cooperation between China and Myanmar. “The two sides should seize the opportunity of the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations to deepen strategic cooperation, accelerate the building of their community with a shared future, and bring greater benefits to people in both countries,” Mao Ning posted on X, formerly Twitter. “China supports Myanmar in following a development path suited to its realities, in safeguarding its sovereignty, security, and development interests, in rebuilding after the earthquake, and in delivering a better life to its people,” she added. The junta-controlled outlet Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM) reported that Min Aung Hlaing had spoken at a China-Myanmar economic cooperation meeting in Tianjin, China on Sunday, noting that commerce between the countries exceeded US $8bn in value in the 2023-24 financial year and emphasising the need to reopen border gates for trade. The junta chief also touted major ongoing infrastructure projects in his remarks, including the planned Mandalay-Muse high-speed railway--designed to connect the Beijing-Kunming-Ruili line currently under construction in China to one of Myanmar’s busiest border crossings—as well as the Kyaukphyu deep-sea port in Rakhine State, which could position Myanmar as China's strategic gateway to the Indian Ocean. Myanmar and Chinese businesses signed memoranda of understanding (MOU) regarding electric vehicle manufacturing, energy, and mining investments at the economic cooperation meeting, according to the GNLM. Development projects in Myanmar represent a crucial component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a transnational infrastructure development and foreign policy strategy adopted by China more than a decade ago. The ongoing civil war in Myanmar has severely impeded the progress of the Chinese-backed infrastructure projects. Beijing has used Myanmar’s dependence on Chinese trade for diplomatic leverage. In 2024, China closed gates used for commercial shipments on its Myanmar border, deliberately cutting off the flow of supplies and revenue to territories controlled by anti-junta ethnic armed groups. The Chinese government also leaned on the United Wa State Army (UWSA), Myanmar’s largest ethnic armed group, to block routes into territory held by one of the anti-junta groups, the Kokang army or Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA). Myanmar Now has published a series of reports revealing how China’s border restrictions are being used to pressure groups opposing Myanmar’s military junta. UWSA has recently declared that it would stop providing material support—including weapons and funds—to allied ethnic armed groups like the MNDAA and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), another anti-junta group that China has pushed to negotiate peace terms with the Myanmar military regime. The Kokang army bowed to Chinese pressure to return control of the city of Lashio, northern Shan State and the Myanmar military’s Northeastern Regional Command headquarters to the junta in April 2025, having captured the city the year before. The same month, China also brokered peace talks at which the junta demanded that the TNLA return control of the five captured towns of Nawnghkio, Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Mongmit, and Mogok. The control of these towns, all located on the Mandalay-Muse road, is essential for controlling border trade between China and Myanmar. Myanmar’s military has also reportedly benefitted from weapons and military technologies imported from China, including high-powered drones the junta has been deploying on the battlefield, a factor in its recent recovery of territory from anti-junta armed groups.

Myanmar junta chief thanks China for pressure on ethnic armed groups

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing openly acknowledged that influence from China on anti-junta armed groups had enabled the military’s recent recovery of territory in Myanmar

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