Read RFA coverage of this story in Burmese In the months following the 2021 Myanmar military coup, ASEAN banned the junta from attending its annual summit. Earlier this year, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing oversaw staged, multi-phased elections which resulted in his being named President in April. On July 12-13, ASEAN foreign ministers held their first direct, in-person informal meeting with Myanmar’s foreign minister in Bangkok. Kim Aris on ASEAN and Myanmar (RFA Video) Kim Aris, son of Aung San Suu Kyi, spoke to RFA on July 20 about ASEAN’s…
Tag: Myanmar
Myanmar removes at least 15 statues of national hero Gen. Aung San nationwide
Myanmar’s military-backed government removed or destroyed at least 15 statues of Gen. Aung San, who led the country to independence from British rule and was the father of jailed former State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, residents tell Radio Free Asia. Since former general Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as Myanmar’s new president in April, the removal of statues of Aung San in public areas have increased in Magway, Bago, Yangon, Ayeyarwady, Sagaing, and Mandalay regions, according to an RFA tally. aung-san-suu-kyi-father Women show the three-finger salute as they…
What to Know About Myanmar’s Chaotic War
The civil war in Myanmar has churned for five years, with the military finding ever more creative ways to kill people who are fighting for democracy and an end to ethnic repression. But the conflict has garnered little attention compared with those in the Middle East and Ukraine. Myanmar’s former army chief, U Min Aung Hlaing, staged a coup in 2021, ousting the elected government. That event catalyzed a full-blown war that has pitted the powerful military against hundreds of disparate rebel groups united in their mission to unseat the…
China Arrests U.S. Scholar on Spying Charge
Chinese security officers have arrested an American citizen who studies politics in Myanmar, an authoritarian nation on China’s southwest border, and accused him of endangering national security, according to people with knowledge of the arrest. The U.S. citizen, U Min Zin, was arrested in early June, the people said on the condition of anonymity because of sensitive diplomacy surrounding the previously unreported arrest. He disappeared on June 3 while in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, which borders Myanmar. American diplomats visited him on Friday. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman…
China arrests US academic at conference for ‘espionage activities’
China has arrested a US scholar who writes about Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy on suspicion of spying. Min Zin was suspected of “engaging in espionage activities that endanger China’s national security,” China’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Lin Jian, said on Friday. It is uncommon for Beijing to arrest a US citizen on national security allegations, and the case comes just a month after Donald Trump met the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in Beijing as the two countries aim to reset their tumultuous relationship. A Burmese activist said Min…
Aung San Suu Kyi transferred to house arrest
Updated on April 30, 2025 at 7:42 p.m. ET Myanmar’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been transferred to house arrest, the country’s military-controlled state media announced Thursday. Kim Aris speaks about his mother Aung San Suu Kyi’s transfer from prison to house arrest (RFA Video) The 80-year old state counselor was moved from Naypyidaw prison to “the designated residence” to serve the remainder of her sentence, state-run MRTV reported without specifying exactly where this residence was. State media also showed a the first public photo of the former…
Weather tracker: Torrential rain in southern China leads to flooding fears
Widespread heavy rain is sweeping over southern China. By Wednesday, rainfall totals are expected to exceed 100mm across many parts of Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces, and in some areas as much as 150-200mm. As a result, the Office of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management have been holding meetings with meteorological and hydrological departments to emphasise the importance of reinforced patrols and emergency responses to mitigate against the probable flooding that the intense rainfall is expected to bring.…
Award-winning Burmese journalist Shin Daewe released from prison
YANGON — Myanmar’s military junta Friday released award-winning documentary filmmaker and former RFA contributor Shin Daewe who had been in detention since October 2023 for buying a video drone. Outside of Yangon’s Insein Prison, Shin Daewe, who was handed a life sentence for “abetting terrorism” in 2024, told Radio Free Asia that there are still many on the inside that were in need of prayers. “I am the happiest,” she said. “Whether it’s me or one of the others, we all just wanted every day to see our families. I…
The Guardian view on Myanmar’s forgotten war: the military cosplay democracy but people demand the real thing | Editorial
China promoted elections in Myanmar, while those fighting for democracy boycotted them. That tells you everything about the shift to a supposedly civilian administration in the coming days, five years after the military seized power in a coup. It appears likely that Min Aung Hlaing will swap his leadership of the army for the presidency. Whatever the details, the junta will still be running the show, and bombing civilians – just while cosplaying as democrats. Myanmar’s suffering has been overshadowed by higher-profile wars. But the conflict-monitoring organisation Acled estimates that…
Lunar new year 2026: year of the fire horse around the world – in pictures
From the heart of Beijing to far-flung Manila, Panama, Moscow and New York, communities around the globe ring in the lunar new year Continue reading… The Guardian