Cambodian leader’s visit with junta stirs backlash
BANGKOK — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s visit to Myanmar seeking to revive peace efforts after last year’s military takeover has provoked an angry backlash among critics, who say he is legitimizing the army’s seizure of power.
Hun Sen is the first head of government to visit Myanmar since the military takeover last February. The authoritarian Cambodian leader has held power for 36 years and keeps a tight leash on political activity at home.
In his role as the current chairperson of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, he met with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, plunging Myanmar into violent conflict and economic disaster.
The Myanmar Information Ministry said the two held talks on bilateral ties and issues of mutual concern, including ASEAN. It did not elaborate.
Protests and rallies were held in some parts of Myanmar as people expressed fury over Hun Sen’s visit. Hundreds of protesters burned portraits of the Cambodian prime minister and chanted, “Torch inhumane Hun Sen. People who engage with Min Aung Hlaing should die horrible deaths,” videos of the protest posted online showed.
Last April, ASEAN leaders, including Min Aung Hlaing, agreed on a five-point road map toward a peaceful settlement of the Myanmar crisis, including an end to violence and a political dialogue between all stakeholders.
The Myanmar leader was barred in October from attending ASEAN meetings after the group’s special envoy was prevented from meeting with Suu Kyi and other political detainees, which was one of the stipulations of the agreement.
Hun Sen said before leaving Cambodia that he had not set any preconditions for his visit. “What I would like to bring to the talks is nothing besides the five points, consensus points that were agreed upon by all ASEAN member states,” he said.
Myanmar’s military has said Hun Sen will not be allowed to meet with Suu Kyi, who was convicted in December on charges of incitement and violating coronavirus restrictions and sentenced to four years in prison — a sentence that Min Aung Hlaing then cut in half.
A legal official familiar with Suu Kyi’s legal proceedings said she appeared at a special court in Naypyitaw, Myanmar’s capital, on Friday for hearings in three corruption cases against her that include allegations she diverted charitable donations to build a residence and abused her authority.
The Myanmar military has engaged in violent suppression of all dissent, disappearances, torture and extrajudicial killings.