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A Welcome With Caveats
The red carpet in Beijing came with a little bit of fine print. Xi Jinping received Min Aung Hlaing at the Great Hall of the People with full state honors, military salute included, and the two sides signed agreements on trade, infrastructure, transportation, health, and security. Bilateral trade was just under $20 billion in 2025, up 19.1 percent year on year, giving Beijing a good reason to stay engaged, but Xi also took the opportunity to tell his guest to find the "right path." That may have been the bill arriving with the banquet.
Read more: The Economist (coup rebrand), Mizzima (China dependence), Nikkei Asia ("right path"), CGTN (agreements), Chinadailyasia (aid)
What the Election Can’t Paper Over
A UN Human Rights Office report verified at least 702 civilian deaths between August 2025 and January 2026. Airstrikes were responsible for 476 of them. Victims included 224 women and 153 children. Sagaing saw the biggest toll at 191 dead, among them 23 killed at a candlelit Buddhist celebration outside a school in Chaung-U and 19 bombed while watching a football match at a Tabayin tea shop.
Read more: Upi (UN appeal), Deccanchronicle (election period), BBC (Chaung-U and Tabayin)
The Crisis Grinds On (and On… and On…)
UN Special Envoy Julie Bishop told the General Assembly that conditions have been getting worse since the election, not better, with "records being set for all the wrong reasons." The numbers are, once again, bleak. By the UN’s count, 3.7 million people are internally displaced, another 1.6 million have fled abroad, and Myanmar is now among the world’s six worst hunger hotspots. Bishop called Myanmar a "global epicenter" for cybercrime, with scam syndicates growing human trafficking networks across Asia, Africa and the United States. She also reminded everyone that the UN "neither supported nor observed" the election.
Read more: The Irrawaddy (child casualties, airstrikes), Aa Com TR (Rohingya refugee camp), DVB (Khampat military advance)
An 81st Birthday in Isolation
Aung San Suu Kyi apparently turned 81 without anyone reliably confirming she's alive. She was ostensibly moved to house arrest in Naypyidaw in April, but her whereabouts remain unknown even to her family. The junta spent her birthday stationing plainclothes officers at flower markets to question anyone buying fresh blooms, and arrests were threatened for anyone joining the annual "Flower Strike," a digital solidarity campaign now in its fifth year. About 134 current and former parliamentarians from 11 countries wrote to ASEAN demanding proof of life and the granting of independent medical access.
Read more: Khaosod English (ASEAN letter), DVB (81 for 81), DVB (China trip), DVB (UN address)
The Junta Sold Ports It Doesn't Control
Min Aung Hlaing spent recent weeks in New Delhi and Beijing signing promises about the Kyaukphyu deep-sea port and Kaladan transit corridor, both of which run through Rakhine, where the Arakan Army now controls most of the state and virtually the entire border with Bangladesh. Observers watching Chinese construction say the project sites connect directly to AA-administered areas, even though the junta has been able to continue clinging to Sittwe, Kyaukphyu town and Manaung. From Dhaka’s perspective, the relevant border authority on the return of more than a million Rohingya is a non-state actor it has no framework to deal with and no formal way to engage.
Read more: The Irrawaddy (airstrikes, CMEC), Arab News (Bangladesh pivot)
The Border Keeps Voting No
Bangladesh turned down a UN request for more land for Rohingya refugees, with Dhaka’s UN ambassador telling Julie Bishop that the crisis began in Myanmar and must be solved there. The border, less politely, continues to disagree. Three Bangladeshis were killed by landmines near Naikhongchhari in Bandarban in May, and a 12-year-old died when an abandoned mortar shell exploded in the same area in June. Bangladesh is already sheltering 1.2 million refugees in Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char, and a UK-backed XCEPT study described those camps as "extended battlefields" of the civil war.
Read more: Mizzima (land refusal), Thedailystar (border spillover)
Not Every Guest Gets to Leave
Min Zin, a US citizen and founder of the Myanmar-focused think tank ISP-Myanmar, landed at Yunnan's airport after accepting an invitation from a Chinese academic institution and didn't surface again for nine days. Beijing's Foreign Ministry eventually confirmed his detention on suspicion of espionage and endangering national security. He was held incommunicado in Kunming the entire time, and colleagues reportedly went to journalists only after diplomatic channels went quiet. ISP-Myanmar studies China-Myanmar relations, cross-border trade, resource extraction, and Beijing's support for the junta, which made this a very different kind of academic hospitality.
Read more: Article19
China Got There First
Russia has secured tungsten mining rights in eastern Shan State, planting its flag near an existing Chinese-linked operation close to the Thai border. The junta approved the project despite controlling little of the actual ground, where ethnic armed groups and China-friendly militias shape what moves and what doesn't. On the mining side, Russia offers little that China doesn’t already have covered. Its currency with Naypyidaw runs to weapons, aircraft, diplomatic cover and nuclear cooperation.
Read more: Think China
Still On The Blacklist
FATF confirmed that Myanmar is staying on its three-country blacklist alongside Iran and North Korea, with foreign banks still required to apply enhanced due diligence on any Myanmar-linked transaction. The agency pointed to progress on cross-border investigations and asset confiscation, but said prosecutions and financial intelligence are still weak. It also highlighted the growing problem of fraud and cyber-scam networks that exploit trafficked workers.
Read more: Sigma World
Junta's Ninety-Seven Scalps
Three more outlets, Myaelatt Athan, Red News Agency, and Asia Citizens, lost their licenses in May, bringing the junta's tally of suspended media permits to 97. The count includes 23 independent outlets and 12 printing presses, all racked up inside the first 50 days of a new term that followed an election widely panned as fraudulent. The country is still ranked among the world's worst for press restrictions by the Independent Press Council Myanmar, which is not a crowded field anyone wants to lead.
Read more: BNI Online
An Easy Target
Myanmar authorities permanently deactivated 143,409 SIM cards between March 2025 and May 2026 after catching them blasting bulk gambling promotions, shut more than 1,000 mobile wallet accounts, and blocked 102 gambling sites and apps through IP restrictions. Legal action has also been opened against actors and social media influencers who ran online slot-game ads. The enforcement is reaching anonymous SIM farms and small-time influencers, even as the scam compound bosses have been operating openly for years. A separate bill working through the legislature proposes the death penalty for abduction-to-fraud schemes and life behind bars for people running scam centers or committing fraud involving digital currencies.
Read more: Xinhua (SIM enforcement), VietnamPlus (death penalty bill)
That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.
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