The five-day visit to China by Burmese President Min Aung Hlaing further establishes his legitimacy at the head of a country that he plunged into chaos by overthrowing on 1isFebruary 2021 the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. “This is a boost for the new administration of Min Aung Hlaing†, écrit The Straits Times.
Richard Horsey, senior advisor for Burma at Crisis Group, judges in the Straits Times :
“A state visit hosted by Xi Jinping is a clear signal that Beijing is ready to deal with the new Burmese government as a full partner.â€
In addition to Xi Jinping, Min Aung Hlaing met, on June 16, the Prime Minister, Li Qiang, and Zhao Leji, president of the National People’s Congress, who respectively occupy the second and third ranks within the Chinese Communist Party.
Coming out of isolation
This “high-level recognition†is vital, continues the Singapore daily, to bring Burma out of the diplomatic isolation into which the country has been plunged since the coup d’état and the civil war.
Min Aung Hlaing’s tour in China offers him “a second dose of international legitimacy†in two weeks, note Nikkei Asia. At the end of May, he went to India for five days to meet
