Dictator points finger at Beijing
Min Aung Hlaing has again blamed China for his regime’s loss of more territory in the month since ethnic armed groups near the Chinese border resumed their Operation 1027 offensive.
Speaking at a meeting of the military-dominated National Defense and Security Council on Wednesday, the junta boss said certain foreign countries were funding the armed groups and supplying them with food, pharmaceuticals, arms, technology and administrative aid to prolong conflicts in Myanmar.
Though Min Aung Hlaing did not name the countries he accused of backing the armed groups, everyone is aware he is referring to China. The ethnic Brotherhood Alliance, which has ousted the regime from most of northern Shan State, has close ties with Beijing.
Min Aung Hlaing previously pointed the finger at China after anti-regime groups made sweeping gains during the first phase of Operation 1027, from late October to mid-January.
Back then, he alleged anti-regime groups were using China-made drones to drop bombs on junta positions in northern Shan. He also claimed ‘foreign experts’ were fighting alongside the ethnic armed groups, though didn’t mention the country they allegedly hailed from. Following his outburst, junta-backed nationalists staged protests against Beijing in downtown Yangon and outside the Chinese Embassy.
Over the past month, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) has seized much of Lashio, the capital of northern Shan State near the Chinese border, where the junta’s Northeastern Command is now under attack.
Coded confession
The regime would “work to restore peace and stability in Lashio, Nawnghkio, Kyaukme, Hsipaw and Mogoke towns,” Min Aung Hlaing told the National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) on Wednesday, indirectly admitting that his junta has lost control of the towns in northern Shan State and Mandalay Region.
More humiliating still, the same day saw the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) take control of another town in northern Shan State, Mongmit. Meanwhile, the junta’s Northeastern Command in Lashio is under attack by the MNDAA.
This explains why Min Aung Hlaing cursed the two ethnic armed groups at Wednesday’s NDSC meeting, which he presided over as acting president. He accused the two groups of violating the China-brokered ceasefire and destroying lives and property.
The regime has retaliated to MNDAA attacks on Lashio by conducting at least four bombing raids on the MNDAA headquarters of Laukkai in northern Shan State since July 14, according to residents.
Return of rationing?
Min Aung Hlaing chose Monday’s meeting of the junta cabinet to announce his plan to revive co-operatives, a failed system dating back to the dictatorship of Ne Win.
Describing co-operatives as appropriate for the country’s current situation, the junta chief promised to provide the assistance required to revive the cooperative movement.
The cooperative system may have merits, but it has a poor reputation among the people of Myanmar for the way it was imposed under Ne Win’s rule. The system failed due to the corrupt ex-military officers who implemented it. They exploited cooperatives for the exclusive benefit of their families.
Back then, cooperatives were state-controlled entities. Ne Win’s regime used them to centralize the distribution of goods, with state-run shops rationing food and household items sold to the public. The Ne Win era is infamous for the long lines that formed outside state-run shops, as people queued for rice, cooking oil, sugar, soap, candles and other necessities.
But even before Min Aung Hlaing unveiled his plan to revive cooperatives, long queues were often seen at filling stations as fuel ran short. Meanwhile, queues for subsidized rice and cooking oil sold in junta-controlled shops are commonplace in the commercial capital of Yangon, prompting criticism that Myanmar has returned to the socialist era.
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