Senior Japanese envoy Masahiro Komura met representatives from Myanmar’s ethnic armed organizations on Tuesday, according to Tokyo.
The participants and location were not revealed.
A picture showed Komura with Karen National Union (KNU) president Padoh Kwe Htoo Win and Khu Oo Reh, head of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) who also represented the Karenni revolutionary government.
Komura, a parliamentary vice-minister for foreign affairs and vice-president of the Liberal Democratic Party, discussed Myanmar’s crisis and told the meeting that Japan was willing to hold talks to resolve the issue, according to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The rebel leaders reportedly expressed their appreciation for Japan’s involvement.
Japan said it has called on Myanmar’s regime to stop violence, release political detainees and establish democracy. Tokyo said it supported ASEAN’s diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis.
In February, Japan’s foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa condemned the regime’s repeated extensions of the state of emergency without working towards a peaceful resolution while civilians were killed each day.
Japan said it has provided more than US$109 million in humanitarian assistance to Myanmar through international organizations since the 2021 coup.
On March 28, representatives from the civilian National Unity Government, KNU, KNPP, Kachin Independence Army and Chin National Front met US diplomat Derek Chollet to discuss the conflict and the plight of displaced people.
The KNU is Myanmar’s oldest revolutionary organization and it is the political wing of the Karen National Liberation Army, which has been fighting the regime. The KNPP is the political arm of the Karenni Army in Karenni State which is fighting the regime.
