China foreign minister Wang Yi meets Myanmar junta leader, ending rumors of internal coup

China's foreign minister Wang Yi visited Myanmar on Aug. 14, where he met Myanmar's leader Min Aung Hlaing.

The meeting appears to have put to rest rumours of an internal coup within Myanmar's junta.

Deepened ties and sowing discord

As reported by China's Xinhua news agency, Wang Yi made a working visit to Myanmar and Thailand.

When meeting with Min Aung Hlaing, Wang said China supported Myanmar's efforts towards political reconciliation within the constitutional framework, and that it was willing to work with Myanmar to deepen bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation.

The leaders of both countries reaffirmed long-standing ties, and promised further diplomatic and economic cooperation.

Both men played up the ties between the two nations, reinforcing the idea that China will continue working with the military government, despite its concerns about illegal activity taking place along the Myanmar-China border.

However, anti-junta news outlet The Irrawaddy characterised Wang’s remarks as a “mild rebuke”.

During the visit, Wang said China “opposes any remarks that attempt to sow discord in China-Myanmar relations or smear and vilify China”.

This was interpreted by The Irrawaddy to refer to remarks made by Min Aung Hlaing recently, where he made a claim that foreign forces were intervening in ongoing fighting in the country’s northern Shan State.

While the junta leader did not name a country specifically, it is thought that he was referring to China.

Unfounded coup rumours

Min Aung Hlaing came to power in February 2021, when the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, after the popular leader won the 2020 elections in a landslide.

The 79-year-old female leader has since been imprisoned and sentenced to 33 years in jail, although she was recently moved to house arrest.

But ever since October 2023, the military government has been facing an ongoing rebellion across the country.

Several ethnic armies have intensified military action against the junta government, regularly taking over towns and villages, with the junta retaliating with air strikes.

But the military has not been performing well, and losses have led to several senior officers and generals being replaced, leading to stories of dissatisfaction at all levels of the military government.

Earlier in August, rumours of an internal coup to replace Min Aung Hlaing began to circulate, with social media accounts purporting to be military officers suggesting that Hlaing had been arrested.

With his public meeting with China’s foreign minister, it appears that such rumours were unfounded.

Water from the same river

Wang Yi continued on to Thailand on Aug. 15, where he attended the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation foreign ministers’ meeting, along with representatives from Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar.

According to Bangkok Post, Wang urged Myanmar’s neighbours to help “create the economic and social conditions to prevent conflict”.

These neighbours are supposedly "sitting in the same boat, and drinking water from the same river” and would have a better understanding of Myanmar’s circumstances.

But given the history surrounding that "same river", this may not be the case.

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Image via Foreign Ministry of China