YANGON: Myanmar’s embattled junta chief and China’s foreign minister on Wednesday discussed security along their shared border, where ethnic minority armed groups have captured territory from the Myanmar military in recent weeks, junta media said.

Earlier on Wednesday the junta said rumours on social media that top generals had detained Min Aung Hlaing in a new coup in Naypyidaw were “propaganda” spread by “traitors”.

China is a major ally and arms supplier to the junta, but analysts say it also maintains ties with ethnic groups fighting the military in Myanmar’s northern Shan state.

The meeting in the capital Naypyidaw was the first between Wang Yi and Min Aung Hlaing, chief of the junta that seized power in 2021 when it deposed the government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The two discussed “stability of the border regions”, according to a junta readout of the meeting.

Myanmar’s northern Shan state has been the site of repeated clashes since late June after an alliance of rebel groups renewed an offensive against the military along a vital trade highway to China.

Shan state borders China’s Yunnan province and is a vital piece of Beijing’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

Min Aung Hlaing and Wang also “discussed and exchanged views openly regarding... free and fair multi-party general elections”, according to the junta. Wang, for his part, said China opposes chaos or conflict in Myanmar and supports work towards restoring the democratic transition process as soon as possible, according to Xinhua state news agency.

The junta has pushed back a timetable for elections multiple times and last year banned the widely popular National League for Democracy of Suu Kyi.

Clashes between the military and ethnic armed groups in Shan state continued on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2024