Cambodian strongman to visit Myanmar for talks with junta

Cambodian strongman Hun Sen will travel to Myanmar for talks in January, his spokesman said Tuesday, becoming the first international leader to visit the country since its military seized power in a coup.

Myanmar has been in chaos and its economy paralysed since the generals ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in February.

Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia with an iron grip for over three decades, on Monday pledged to “work with” the Myanmar junta, despite widespread international efforts to pile diplomatic pressure on the military.

Myanmar’s junta-appointed foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin held talks with Hun Sen in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, where he formally extended the invitation.

Eang Sophalleth, spokesman for the Cambodian premier, said the visit is scheduled for January 7 and 8.

The invitation comes as Cambodia attempts to bring Myanmar back into the fold of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after a humiliating snub by the regional bloc.

In an unprecedented move for a group often criticised for its toothlessness, ASEAN barred junta chief Min Aung Hlaing from its October summit after it refused to let the bloc’s envoy meet Suu Kyi.

The State Administration Council — as the junta dubs itself — “warmly welcomes this gesture to support Myanmar,” its information minister Maung Maung Ohn told an online press briefing.

“Myanmar does not want to be apart from the ASEAN family.”

Cambodia takes over ASEAN’s rotating chairmanship next year and on Monday, Hun Sen said the Myanmar leader had the right to attend summits.

The junta has been an international pariah this year, with more than 1,300 people killed and thousands arrested in a brutal crackdown on dissent, according to a local monitor.

On Monday, Suu Kyi was sentenced to two years’ detention for incitement against the military and breaching coronavirus rules, drawing fresh condemnation from around the world.

But diplomatic pressure has shown no sign of knocking the military regime off course.

The junta has justified the coup by alleging electoral fraud in last year’s poll, and Suu Kyi faces a raft of further charges that could see her jailed for decades if convicted.

Agence France-Presse

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