Beijing is one of the few international allies of Myanmar’s military, which supplies weapons and refuses to call the power grab that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s government a coup. Wang Yi, the foreign minister, said China expects all parties in Myanmar to “observe rational consultation” and “try to achieve political reconciliation.” Wang also told his counterpart, Wunna Maung Lwin, that “China sincerely hopes that Myanmar will be politically and socially stable,” according to a statement on the foreign ministry’s website. In Beijing’s most significant visit to Myanmar since the coup, Wang is attending a meeting of foreign ministers with representatives from Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. His comments follow a junta spokesman who indicated last week that talks between the military and ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to resolve the chaos were not “impossible”. Spiraling civil violence in Myanmar has alarmed its neighbours, with a regional envoy visiting to try to start talks between the army and its rivals. And with Western governments imposing post-coup sanctions and violently cracking down on dissent, the isolated junta is increasingly turning to allies, including China and Russia. In May, a powerful ethnic Myanmar rebel group with close ties to China called on the junta to open dialogue with the opposition to end the escalating violence, which has come under fire from Chinese business interests. Beijing said in April it would help ensure Myanmar’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity “no matter how the situation changes”.
