China s Wang Yi visits Myanmar in first trip since coup
China s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has arrived in Myanmar on his first visit to the country since the military seized power in a coup previous year.
China's top diplomat Wang will join his counterparts from Myanmar_ Thailand_ Cambodia_ Laos and Vietnam in a meeting of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation group on Sunday in the Myanmar's central city of Bagan_ a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The grouping is a Chinese-led initiative that includes the nations of the Mekong Delta_ a potential source of regional tensions due to an increasing number of hydroelectric projects that are altering the flow and raising concerns of ecological damage.
China has built 10 dams along the upper stretch of the Mekong_ the part it calls the Langcang.
Myanmar Military government spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun told a press conference_ Naypyidaw_ on Friday that the attendance of the foreign ministers at the meeting was a recognition of Myanmar s sovereignty and its government.
It was not clear whether China s Foreign Minister Wang would meet Senior General Min Aung Hlaing_ the head of the military government.
Myanmar s military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1_ 2021. It was quickly met by non-violent nationwide demonstrations and triggered armed resistance that some United Nations experts now characterise as a civil war.
According to a detailed list compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners_ 2_053 civilians have died in the crackdown on the resistance movement.
China's top diplomat Wang Yi last visited Myanmar to meet Aung San Suu Kyi just three weeks before the military removed her.
China is Myanmar s biggest trading partner and an old ally. Beijing has invested billions of US dollars in Myanmar s mines_ oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure and is its major arms supplier_ together with Russia.
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