China’s Bloody Red Carpet for the Bloodthirsty Junta

China is playing with the lives of the people of Myanmar, further propping up the Myanmar military junta by rolling out the red carpet for war criminals while bullying and pressuring resistance forces. This includes China welcoming the murderous junta chief to two high-level events last week. The junta’s growing ties with China and other authoritarian regimes must spur urgent action from true allies of democracy to support the people of Myanmar in their revolution to establish democracy and end military tyranny. As the junta hobnobs among tyrants, the people’s struggle for federal democracy grows even more urgent and vital.

Applauding himself in Beijing’s shadow, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing attended China’s commemoration of 80 years since the end of World War II on 3 September in Beijing—rubbing elbows with authoritarian leaders: North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and China’s Xi Jinping. Two days earlier, the junta chief also joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Tianjin, as China flexed its political and economic power. 

The junta has no legitimacy and must not be granted any, yet China treats it as a tool to advance its own geopolitical interests in Myanmar, lending it false legitimacy by referring to the war criminal junta chief as “acting president.” China has been overtly backing the junta diplomatically, from dispatching Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Naypyidaw on 14 August 2024 to inviting the junta to its lavish parade last week commemorating the 80th anniversary of Victory Day. 

On the financial front, China provided USD 3.3 million in August from the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Special Fund to the junta by approving new 14 projects, for which funding will go to nine junta ministries. Furthermore, the junta chief instigated a meeting with Chinese investors to draw China’s eyes to Myanmar’s resources. In Tianjin, Min Aung Hlaing inked seven memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with companies closely tied to the junta and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). These MoUs are promises to China that come at the cost of escalating violence and terrorizing the people of Myanmar to protect China’s interests, personnel, institutions, and projects. Then, on 6 September, the junta attended the second Myanmar-China Economic Cooperation Forum in Chengdu with selected Chinese enterprises and companies involved in BRI and China-Myanmar Economic Corridor projects.  

Today, all eyes are on Myanmar’s rare earth minerals, which China has been heavily extracting from Kachin and Shan States in areas under the control of the Kachin Independence Organization, the United Wa State Army, and the National Democratic Alliance Army. Companies are scrambling for minerals using the in situ leaching method—an extremely destructive process that poisons the land and is already exposing local communities to severe health and natural disaster risks. This destruction has spilled across borders, polluting the river along the Thailand-Myanmar border, causing a public health crisis and destroying people’s livelihood. 

China has no genuine interest in peace or stability in Myanmar; it seeks strategic dominance over the country’s resources and aligns itself with whoever best serves its interests. China’s money-grab attitude in Myanmar is exacerbating the people’s suffering by destroying their lands and stealing their resources with no benefits conferred, and this is further compounded by China’s blatant, shameless support of the junta’s terror campaign targeting civilians. 

In siding with the junta, China has deepened its forceful interference, pressuring ethnic resistance organizations—including the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)—into ceding territory to the junta and steering clear of project areas where China has invested billions of dollars in many commercial ventures. Even more concerning, the junta is creating conditions for Chinese private security companies (PSCs) to operate in Myanmar, particularly in Kyaukphyu Town, Rakhine State, where reports suggest these PSCs have deployed drones, jammers, and mines to defend economic zones. 

China’s past and present cancerous intrusion in Myanmar spreads deep and comes at a devastating cost. Every step of its invasive footprint fuels destruction—through financial backing, exploitative economic projects, as well as siding with and legitimizing the junta. Furthermore, China is backing the junta’s illegal and fraudulent election plan—an attempt to block the Myanmar people’s road to federal democracy. In response, the people of Myanmar have clearly called on China to stop interfering, while the National Unity Government (NUG) has urged Beijing to withdraw its support and reject the junta’s request for Chinese election monitors to observe its illegitimate election.

By deepening business ties with the illegal junta that is selling off the country to finance its terror campaign against civilians, China has made its aiding and abetting of the junta’s atrocity crimes undeniable. Fueling the junta’s violence is unacceptable. China must stop prioritizing money over Myanmar people’s lives and must face full accountability under international law for aiding and abetting the junta’s crimes. Especially as a UN Security Council member, China is meant to safeguard human security, peace, and global stability—not fuel violence and instability. It must live up to that responsibility by withdrawing all support to the junta and its sham election. The people of Myanmar are making immense sacrifices for a future where they can live in peace and dignity. At this critical juncture of their struggle, China must stop harming them.

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[1] One year following the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, the former military junta changed the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar overnight. Progressive Voice uses the term ‘Myanmar’ in acknowledgement that most people of the country use this term. However, the deception of inclusiveness and the historical process of coercion by the former State Peace and Development Council military regime into usage of ‘Myanmar’ rather than ‘Burma’ without the consent of the people is recognized and not forgotten. Thus, under certain circumstances, ‘Burma’ is used.

Progressive Voice is a participatory, rights-based policy research and advocacy organization that was born out of Burma Partnership. Burma Partnership officially ended its work on October 10, 2016 transitioning to a rights-based policy research and advocacy organization called Progressive Voice. For further information, please see our press release “Burma Partnership Celebrates Continuing Regional Solidarity for Burma and Embraces the Work Ahead for Progressive Voice.”