China's efforts to charm Myanmar's military junta are motivated by economic and security self-interest and this bodes ill for finding a solution to the crisis, writes Mikael Gravers (Aarhus University)
Rights groups have urged the international community to pressure Myanmar's military to reverse its decision to execute 10 people, a move observers say comes as a response to the killings of high-ranking soldiers by anti-coup fighters. Those on death row include seven students from Dagon University who reportedly participated in anti-coup protests and in the resistance against the junta's rule,.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's trip to Myanmar this week has received mixed reactions by analysts, with some welcoming China's willingness to keep dialogue channels open and others saying it had undermined Asean's efforts to help resolve the country's crisis. The trip made Wang, who was attending the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation in Bagan, the highest-ranking Beijing official to visit Myanmar since.
"Dr Phi Phi", a senior emergency doctor in Myanmar, remembered treating a patient with a gunshot wound to his chest and abdomen in Yangon last March. "We managed to put in the chest tube, but there was a lot of bleeding. One litre of blood came out, and there was a lot of blood in his abdomen, in every part.