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China’s top diplomat arrived in Myanmar on Saturday, his first visit since the military seized power last year, for a regional meeting the government said was a recognition of its legitimacy and opponents protested that it violated peace efforts.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will join the foreign ministers of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam for a meeting of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Group in the central city of Bagan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The group is a China-led initiative that includes countries in the Mekong Delta, which could be a source of regional tensions as a growing number of hydropower projects are altering flows and raising concerns about ecological damage.
China has built 10 dams on the upper Mekong, a section known as Langcang.
The foreign minister’s presence at the meeting was a recognition of Myanmar’s sovereignty and its government, junta spokesman Major General Zomin Tun told a news conference in the capital Nay Pyi Taw on Friday. He said the ministers would sign the memorandum of understanding, the contract. He did not elaborate.
It is unclear whether Wang will meet with the junta chief, General Min Aung Hlaing.
Myanmar’s military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021. It was quickly met with nonviolent nationwide demonstrations and sparked armed resistance that some UN experts now describe as civil war.
According to a detailed list compiled by the Political Prisoner Aid Society, 2,053 civilians were killed in the crackdown on the resistance.
Wang last visited Myanmar to meet Aung San Suu Kyi three weeks before the military expelled her.
China is Myanmar’s largest trading partner and old ally. Beijing, which has invested billions of dollars in mines, oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure in Myanmar, is its main arms supplier, along with Russia.
Many in Myanmar suspect that China supports the military takeover, and Beijing refuses to condemn the military’s power grab. China says it pursues a policy of non-interference in the affairs of other countries.
Myanmar’s shadow government foreign minister, who opposes the ruling military council, protested the Bagan meeting, saying any cooperation with Myanmar’s military goes against the will of the people and undermines community building.
The statement said that holding the foreign ministers’ meeting in Myanmar directly violated the peace plan of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Myanmar is ASEANhas done little to implement the plan, and its obstruction has led other members of ASEAN to prevent government leaders from attending major ASEAN meetings.
Since the military seized power, Chinese Special Envoy Sun Guoxiang has visited Myanmar twice, and Wang Yi has twice visited Myanmar to meet Myanmar Special Envoy Win Na Maung Lwin.
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