In what junta media portrayed as a display of bravery, Min Aung Hlaing finally visited the capital of northern Shan State. He visited Lashio one month and 14 days after his army began suffering successive, ignominious defeats in the area.
He met internally displaced persons (IDPs) and injured soldiers, but his main objective seemed to be to generate propaganda and spread it via the media outlets his regime controls.
The last time Min Aung Hlaing visited Lashio was in September, one month before the Brotherhood Alliance launched Operation 1027. During that visit, ethnic Shan dancers gave the junta boss a lively welcome at Mansu Shan Monastery.
Now, the dancers have been replaced by IDPs. And, instead of wearing a long-sleeve shirt and longyi as he did in October, on Sunday Min Aung Hlaing was in military attire with a pistol in his waistband. Perhaps he feels unsafe.
His military has lost seven towns and more than 250 military bases and outposts in northern Shan State in a little more than one month. On Sunday Min Aung Hlaing responded by donating 500 million kyats (about 238,000 US dollars), food and other relief supplies to IDPs.
His wife did her part too. Junta media highlighted a photo of Kyu Kyu Hla showing she cared for a displaced child. Not to be outdone, junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun sent propaganda into overdrive, telling junta-controlled media, “The fatherly spirit of the state leader who is taking care of the entire national people regardless of race and religion can be clearly seen.”
Min Aung Hlaing – with air force chief Tun Aung and navy chief Moe Aung – also visited wounded soldiers and police at a military hospital in Lashio. Or, as Zaw Min Tun put it, the generals ventured dangerously close to the front line in a display of commanding fatherly spirit.
To be fair, Lashio, the seat of Myanmar military’s North-Eastern Command, is located in northern Shan State. It is the safest place in the area. Laukkai Town is closest to the front line, but Min Aung Hlaing avoided it.
He has rarely left Naypyitaw since Operation 1027 was launched on Oct. 27. He left the capital on Dec. 8 to attend the 65th intake of the Defense Services Academy in Pyin Oo Lwin and then proceeded to Lashio.
His visit to Lashio came after junta foreign minister Than Swe asked his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing last Wednesday to put pressure on the Brotherhood Alliance to stop fighting.
