- Brazil's top court takes on regulation of social media
- Thousands still queuing to vote after Namibia polls close
- Trump taps retired general for key Ukraine conflict role
- Canadian fund drops bid for Spanish pharma firm Grifols
- Argentine ex-president Fernandez gives statement in corruption case
- Mexico says Trump tariffs would cost 400,000 US jobs
- Car-centric Saudi to open first part of Riyadh Metro
- Brussels, not Paris, will decide EU-Mercosur trade deal: Lula
- Faeces, vomit offer clues to how dinosaurs rose to rule Earth
- Ruby slippers from 'The Wizard of Oz' up for auction
- Spain factory explosion kills three, injures seven
- US Fed's favored inflation gauge ticks up in October
- Defence lawyers plead to judges in French mass rape trial
- US says China releases three 'wrongfully detained' Americans
- New clashes in Mozambique as two reported killed
- Romania officials to meet over 'cyber risks' to elections
- Chelsea visit next stop in Heidenheim's 'unthinkable' rise
- Former England prop Marler announces retirement from rugby
- Kumara gives Sri Lanka edge on rain-hit day against South Africa
- Namibia votes with ruling party facing toughest race yet
- Spurs goalkeeper Vicario out for 'months' with broken ankle
- Moscow expels German journalists, Berlin denies closing Russia TV bureau
- Spain govt defends flood response and offers new aid
- France says Netanyahu has 'immunity' from ICC warrants
- Nigerian state visit signals shift in France's Africa strategy
- Stock markets waver as traders weigh Trump tariffs, inflation
- Tens of thousands in Lebanon head home as Israel-Hezbollah truce takes hold
- Opposition candidates killed in Tanzania local election
- Amorim eyes victory in first Man Utd home game to kickstart new era
- Fresh fury as Mozambique police mow down protester
- Defeat at Liverpool could end Man City title hopes, says Gundogan
- Indonesians vote in regional election seen as test for Prabowo
- Guardiola says no intent to 'make light' of self harm in post-match comments
- New EU commission gets green light to launch defence, economy push
- Opposition figures killed as Tanzania holds local election
- Taiwan Olympic boxing champion quits event after gender questions
- European stocks drop on Trump trade war worries
- Volkswagen to sell operations in China's Xinjiang
- FA probes referee David Coote over betting claim
- Serbia gripped by TV series about murder of prime minister
- Putin seeks to shore up ties on visit to 'friendly' Kazakhstan
- New EU commission pushes for defence and economy spending
- Plastic pollution talks must speed up, chair warns
- Pakistan web controls quash dissent and potential
- 1,000 Pakistan protesters arrested in pro-Khan capital march
- ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Myanmar junta chief
- Philippine VP's bodyguards swapped out amid investigation
- EasyJet annual profit rises 40% on package holidays
- Ukraine sees influx of Western war tourists
- Greeks finally get Thessaloniki metro after two-decade wait
Myanmar junta chief visits key ally China
Myanmar's embattled junta chief arrived in China Tuesday -- his first reported visit since leading a coup in 2021 -- but analysts say the invitation is only a lukewarm endorsement from his key ally and could backfire.
Min Aung Hlaing was in the southwestern city of Kunming for a summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) -- a group including China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia -- starting Wednesday.
The senior general will meet Chinese officials "to develop and strengthen economic and multi-sectoral cooperation", the junta said on Monday.
When the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected civilian government in 2021, Chinese state media refused to describe it as a coup, preferring "major cabinet reshuffle".
China has stood by the junta since, even as others shun the generals over their brutal crackdown on dissent which opponents say includes massacring of civilians, razing villages with air and artillery strikes.
Richard Horsey, Crisis Group's senior Myanmar adviser, said Min Aung Hlaing had been lobbying for an official invitation ever since the coup, as a public show of support.
But Beijing has stressed the regional focus of the Kunming gathering, saying it wanted to consult "all sides" against "a background of a weakening global recovery and geopolitical turbulence".
"While this (invitation to the summit) still implies recognition as head of state, it does not have the same diplomatic weight as a bilateral invitation to visit Beijing," Horsey told AFP.
- Battlefield losses -
Ming Aung Hlaing's trip comes with the junta reeling from a devastating rebel offensive last year that seized an area roughly the size of Bosnia -- much of it near the border with China.
Analysts say Beijing is worried about the possibility of the junta falling and suspicious of western influence among some of pro-democracy armed groups battling the military.
Myanmar is a vital part of Beijing's trillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative, with railways and pipelines to link China's landlocked southwest to the Indian Ocean.
"Beijing has now made clear its intentions for the Myanmar military to succeed," said Jason Tower of the United States Institute of Peace.
China has been reluctant to give a clear show of official recognition since the coup, Crisis Group's Horsey said, but this may be changing.
"China has pivoted to greater support for the regime -- not because it is better disposed with the regime or its leader, but out of concern at a disorderly collapse of power in Naypyidaw," he said.
- Deep mistrust -
But the relationship is wracked by longstanding mistrust.
The junta's top brass are wary of China, insiders say -- stemming from Beijing's support for an insurgency waged by the Communist Party of Burma in the 1960s and 1970s.
China gave its tacit backing to last year's rebel offensive, military supporters say, in return for the rebels dismantling online scam compounds in territory they captured.
Those compounds were run by and targeting Chinese citizens in a billion-dollar industry and major embarrassment for Beijing.
But the rebels pushed further and in August captured the city of Lashio -- miles from the scam compound heartland and home to a regional military command.
The fall of Lashio, home to around 150,000 people to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) was a step too far for Beijing, said Tower.
China has since cut electricity, water and internet services to the MNDAA's traditional homeland on the border with Yunnan province, a source close to the group told AFP.
A visit to China is "unlikely to resolve Min Aung Hlaing's internal troubles," said Tower.
"If anything, it could create new problems, as the general is likely to be perceived as making major economic and geo-strategic concessions to Beijing in exchange for Chinese assistance," he told AFP.
One demand from Beijing will be speeding up elections the junta has promised to hold, said Tower -- polls China's foreign minister announced Beijing's backing for in August.
Opponents of the polls say they will be neither free nor fair while clashes continues across the country and with most of the popular political parties banned.
H.Seidel--BTB