Lifelong nightmare for millions
Less than a month after introducing a repressive bylaw to its Conscription Law, the military regime has launched training for the 10th batch of military conscripts across six regional commands, including in Naypyitaw.
The regime enacted the long-dormant Conscription Law last February amid a string of military defeats to ethnic armed organizations and People’s Defense Forces, and began training the first batch of conscripts just two months later in April. Around a quarter of the 56 million population are eligible for mandatory service under the law.
The junta announced that around 5,000 men aged 18 to 35 would be drafted in each intake, which would mean it has so far forcibly recruited around 50,000 civilians.
However, the bylaw introduced on January 23 means the nightmare of forced service in the junta’s brutal war against a nationwide uprising no longer ends after the two-year mandatory term. It allows the junta to recall former conscripts to the frontline whenever necessary. It also tightens restrictions on new conscripts, barring those who have passed their medicals and are awaiting training from leaving the country without permission from the central conscription body.
Previously, men could also avoid conscription – at least temporarily – by ordaining as monks. But under the new rules, only permanent monks are exempt from mandatory military service, making it nearly impossible for conscription-age men to escape the draft.
Shunned by Chinese tourists
After scam operations near China’s border damaged Myanmar’s appeal to Chinese tourists last year, cyberfraud compounds near the Thai border have dealt another blow to the country’s tourism industry.
Yet despite the dangers posed by the scammers – who have reportedly lured thousands of Chinese citizens into forced labour – the cash-strapped regime remains desperate to attract China’s vacationers.
On Tuesday, Tourism Minister Kyaw Soe Win urged ministry staff graduating from a basic Chinese language course to target China’s vast tourism market, which currently favors Europe, Russia, Japan and other Southeast Asian countries.
He added that China was Myanmar’s largest foreign tourism market in 2024 – a dubious claim given the current situation.
The next day, the tourism minister joined defense and foreign ministry officials overseeing Chinese culinary training at a hotel in Naypyitaw. There, he offered further guidance on how to attract visitors from China, suggesting Chinese restaurants be opened in Myanmar’s major travel destinations.
On Thursday, his deputy, Phyo Zaw Soe, attended the launch of Chinese culinary training at a Chinese temple in Mandalay, where he dutifully echoed his boss’s instruction.
However, it’s not the lack of familiar food that is keeping Chinese tourists away.
Myanmar has long been perceived as an unsafe destination in China due to scam syndicates and the ongoing civil war. Even the Chinese government has acknowledged the dangers. After Chinese actor Wang Xin was kidnapped and trafficked to a scam compound on the Thai-Myanmar border last month, China’s Embassy in Myanmar issued a travel warning to its citizens. The risks for Chinese visitors to Myanmar are heightened by the junta’s alliance with the Karen Border Guard Force, the ethnic militia that controls the scam city of Shwe Kokko.
Hence, the regime’s hopes for a surge in Chinese tourists seem wildly unrealistic.
Meanwhile, Western travellers from the US, EU, and Britain have shunned Myanmar since the 2021 coup, with their governments warning citizens against visiting due to security concerns.
Targeting mines – and civilians
Seeking to cut off revenues to ethnic armed organizations and People’s Defense Forces (PDFs), the regime has urged civilians working at mines in rebel-controlled areas to flee, warning of imminent attacks.
Junta newspapers have been carrying the warning daily for some time now, claiming greedy businessmen are exploiting natural resources in conflict zones and funding terrorist groups. They are referring to gems and lead mines in Mogoke and Namtu controlled by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, jade and rare earth mines in Hpakant and other parts of Kachin State controlled by the Kachin Independence Army, and gold and oil operations in central Myanmar controlled by PDF groups.
On Friday, junta propaganda newspapers reiterated that the regime would take action against “armed terrorists”, urging citizens in the mining areas to seek safety.
Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing echoed the warning on a visit to southern Shan State in September last year. His trip was followed by intense aerial bombardments of resistance-held towns in northern Shan State and elsewhere.
Junta-affiliated media are also reporting that the Myanmar military is poised to launch conduct air and artillery strikes on resource extraction sites in rebel-held areas in Kachin, Sagaing and Mandalay.
Recent history shows that the regime will not hesitate to target local civilians to cut off revenue for rebel groups fighting to oust it.
Reaching out to the Middle East
In a desperate bid to secure new allies in the Middle East for his isolated regime, Min Aung Hlaing extended the mission of Myanmar’s Ambassador to India, Zaw Oo, to Iran on Wednesday.
The move follows appointment of Iran’s Ambassador to Myanmar, Nassereddin Heidari, who presented his credentials to the junta boss last month and discussed enhancing defense-sector cooperation between their two countries. Heidari also held talks with Foreign Minister Than Swe on boosting cooperation in trade and investment.
The diplomatic activity came amid speculation about secret military-to-military cooperation between Naypyitaw and Tehran since the 2021 coup. Fears that Iran is arming the junta were stoked when an Iranian cargo plane landed in Naypyitaw and Yangon three times between January and April 2022. Than Swe has also visited Iran twice.
Meanwhile, the regime is seeking to join BRICS, an economic bloc that includes its key allies Russia, China and India, along with Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE in the Middle East.
Min Aung Hlaing appears to have accelerated that push by expanding the mission of Myanmar’s ambassador to India, a BRICS leader, to cover Iran.
Chinese boots on the ground
The military regime on Tuesday promulgated the Private Security Services Law, which enables Chinese private security organizations to be stationed in Myanmar to protect Beijing’s interests in the country, including Belt and Road Initiative related projects.
The law emerged nearly four months after the regime formed a working committee to sign a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a joint venture security company on Oct. 22 last year.
Though the law allows foreign companies to apply for licenses, it is fair to say the law is specifically designed to accommodate China, among…
Boosting investment from India
Myanmar’s Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Minister Kan Zaw attended the ninth Global Business Summit in India over the weekend amid growing support from New Delhi for the junta.
Kan Zaw, who is also the chairman of the Central Working Committee for Myanmar Special Economic Zones, was a panelist at a discussion titled “Global Cooperation in a Polarized World” together with his counterparts from Albania and Sri Lanka.
Junta media said Kan Zaw elaborated on the junta’s attempts to…
Decrying Argentina arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing
Myanmar’s ruling junta criticized an Argentine court on Saturday for issuing an arrest warrant for its top leader over alleged “genocide and crimes against humanity” towards the Rohingya minority.
The Rohingyas are a predominantly Muslim community from Buddhist-majority Myanmar where, according to Amnesty International, they have been subjected to apartheid conditions.
In response, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said: “Does Argentina know Myanmar? The Myanmar government does know Argentina.”
“We like to suggest Argentina to appoint their needed and vacant judge positions firstly…
