Brutal bargain
Min Aung Hlaing’s first visit to China since the 2021 coup provided further proof that both the regime and Beijing are focused solely on promoting their own interests, with no regard for the hopes and wishes of a Myanmar people fighting a military takeover.
Desperate for Beijing’s backing to retain his grip on power, the junta boss assured Chinese Premier Li Qiang that he attached great importance to the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. Part of Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative, the project is expected to boost China’s influence in the region.
Min Aung Hlaing also pledged to begin constructing a railroad linking Muse on the Chinese border in northern Shan State with Rakhine State’s Kyaukphyu on the Indian Ocean, starting in secure areas.
The economic corridor linking Kunming with Kyaukphyu through Mandalay in central Myanmar is designed to provide maritime access for China’s landlocked Yunnan province, linking with the Bay of Bengal and strengthening China’s presence in the Indian Ocean.
However, the project runs through territory controlled by ethnic armed groups and their resistance allies. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Ta’ang National Liberation Army occupy most of northern Shan State, while anti-regime groups have made inroads in central Myanmar, including Mandalay and Magwe regions. The Arakan Army has also seized most of Rakhine State, though it has yet to attack Kyaukphyu, home to Chinese projects.
Kyaukphyu’s China-backed special economic zone and deep-sea port project has stalled amid the AA’s Rakhine offensive.
China meanwhile pledged to help Min Aung Hlaing with his poll plan, which has been widely condemned as a sham to prolong military rule. Beijing is also pressuring ethnic armed organizations to halt hostilities in northern Myanmar so it can resume border trade and proceed with mega-projects in Myanmar.
Conscription falling flat
Introduced nine months ago by the regime to shore up its depleted army, mandatory military service has failed to deliver the desired result, judging by the latest meeting of the conscription committee.
At its seventh meeting this year on Thursday, Defense Minister and panel chairman Tin Aung San voiced frustration over young people evading the draft.
“Those who failed to show up after registering, failed to report after passing medicals, or fled after arriving at training schools must be punished,” said the former admiral.
Tin Aung San is not the first general to call for action against draft dodgers. Junta No. 3 General Maung Maung Aye earlier threatened conscripts with jail if they failed to turn up for service.
Activation of the conscription law in February triggered a mass exodus, as young adults fled abroad or joined anti-regime groups to avoid forcible recruitment into a military widely reviled for its war crimes against civilians.
Around 14 million people are eligible for conscription under the law. The regime claimed at first that many conscripts had registered voluntarily. However, reports of young people being snatched from their homes and streets or forced to join conscription lotteries tell a different story.
Food fantasy
Min Aung Hlaing is known for harboring grand ambitions that far exceed his capabilities. While his military loses ground to a nationwide armed uprising, the junta boss has switched his attentions to global issues, namely the growing food crisis.
On Wednesday, during his first visit to China since staging the 2021 coup, Min Aung Hlaing invited Chinese business leaders to invest in Myanmar’s “untapped agriculture to feed the world.”
The junta chief unveiled an ambition to turn Myanmar into a major global food supplier, but said this would require Chinese investment in fertilizer, pesticides, modern agricultural machinery and storage facilities. Only 20 percent of arable land is being farmed in Myanmar, he added.
His claim is in stark contrast to the latest United Nations report, which included Myanmar in the list of 14 countries where acute food insecurity is projected to worsen.
The report says 13.3 million people (24 percent of the population) are projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity, with 2 million at risk of starvation within months. These estimates do not take into account the impact of severe flooding in central and southeastern parts of the country in September.
