Myanmar or Burma

A Chinese actor who went missing Friday near the Thai-Myanmar border has been rescued unharmed by Thai police.

Xingxing was reported missing in the Thai border town of Mae Sot on Friday.

He vanished close to an area in Myanmar where Chinese people and ethnic armed groups affiliated with them run online scam centers.

After conquering most of Arakan, this marks Arakan Army's first adventure into the Ayeyarwady Region.

Given the recent closer relationship China has made with Min Aung Hlaing's junta, this snub is interesting. It demonstrates China's disapproval of the military regime to a certain extent.

The fall of the Myanmar military’s Western Command headquarters in Rakhine State’s Ann Township last month has exposed regime weapons factories along the Irrawaddy River to resistance attacks.

There are 25 weapons factories in Myanmar, 15 in Magwe Region, seven in Bago Region, two in Naypyitaw’s Tatkone, and one in Yangon’s Taikkyi Township.

The weapons factories in Magwe and Bago are located on the west bank of the Irrawaddy River.

General Ne Win’s Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) regime began building munitions factories after China provided extensive military aid to the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) in 1968, leading to intense fighting between the Myanmar military and CPB in northern Shan State.

Those who establish a VPN or provide VPN services without obtaining the permission of the ministry shall be imprisoned for one month to six months. The law also requires digital platform service providers to keep the names and other personal data and records of their users for up to three years, and to disclose them to the authorities if asked.

The junta’s census report, released Tuesday, reveals it could gather data from only 44 percent of the country’s people due to limiting the count to areas under its control.

According to the report, junta officials tasked with leading the project were unable to conduct a census in the 58 townships currently under resistance and ethnic armed organisations’ (EAOs) authority.

The census could not be conducted in many townships across Myanmar, including areas in Rakhine State, Kachin State, Sagaing Region, Shan State, Mandalay Region, Chin State, Karenni (Kayah) State, and Magway Region.

This limited coverage highlights the regime’s restricted control over the nation. The census faced significant challenges due to ongoing conflict and security concerns, preventing comprehensive data collection across the country.

Notably, the towns of Natogyi, Singu, Mandalay, and Thabeikkyin in Mandalay Region—home to the junta’s Central Regional Military Command headquarters—are among the areas where census data could not be collected.

In October, Myanmar’s military regime chose to proceed with a population survey intended to lay the groundwork for planned elections, which the pro-democracy resistance has condemned as illegitimate.

The census revealed that the regime could only carry out assessments in 145 of the 330 townships nationwide, accounting for just 44 percent of the country’s total population.

The survey also suggests that of the 145 townships in junta territory, 127 of these are under partial control.

A previous census, which was carried out under President Thein Sein’s government in 2014, failed to collect data in Kachin, Karen, and Rakhine states due to security conditions, leaving nearly 1.2 million people out of the count.

This latest military-conducted census indicates an inability to collect information from an estimated 19 million people.

Despite significant criticism over the prospective elections’ legitimacy and transparency, the junta has stated it will hold general elections in 2025, using this census data for the voter lists.

on 29th December, Arakan Army released (AA) a statement declaring its readiness for political solutions. This comes on the heels of its reported meeting with China in Yunnan on December 1. While China doesn't hold the same leverage on AA as it does on MNDAA and UWSA, it has appeared to have persuaded AA to its positions on the on-going crisis in Burma. Whatever incentives the Chinese gave AA must be powerful because AA is about to achieve its military objectives - complete control over the state except for 2 pockets - the state capital, and the Chinese deep-sea port.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/35417209

A powerful ethnic armed group in western Myanmar claimed Friday to have scored a major victory in the war against the ruling military, even as neighboring nations at a meeting in Thailand were discussing efforts to end the conflict peacefully.

The Arakan Army (AA) has reportedly captured the Western Region Military Command headquarters in Ann Township, Rakhine State, marking a significant development in the ongoing conflict in the region. A military source close to the AA confirmed the capture on 16 December, stating that many personnel surrendered and raised white flags.

“The AA’s capture of the Western Command signals a weakening of the Military Council’s position in Rakhine State,” said U Myat Tun, director of the Rakhine Human Rights Defenders Association.

He added that simultaneous attacks on other key locations like Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, and Myanaung could further shift the balance of power, allowing the Rakhine people to pursue their long-awaited [goal of] self-determination.

Myanmar’s military has been destroying entire villages in northern Mandalay Region since recapturing them late last month, according to locals and resistance forces operating in the area.