Cambodia gives Myanmar post-coup leader red-carpet reception

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia gave Myanmar’s coup leader turned civilian president a red-carpet welcome on Friday, images from his office showed, as another nation embraced the ex-junta chief back into the diplomatic fold.

Min Aung Hlaing touched down in Phnom Penh at the start of a two-day state visit to meet acting head of state Hun Sen and his son, Prime Minister Hun Manet.

“The leaders of the two countries will discuss ways to strengthen their close relations and expand mutually beneficial cooperation,” said a Cambodia foreign ministry statement.

Myanmar’s authorities were persona non grata in many foreign capitals after the military snatched power and triggered civil war with a 2021 putsch ousting Aung San Suu Kyi’s government.

But Min Aung Hlaing is making a diplomatic drive for recognition since retiring as armed forces chief and taking over as civilian president in April.

The 11-member regional Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has frozen Myanmar’s leaders out of high-level summits since the coup.

But Cambodia is the fourth Asean country — following Thailand, Laos and Vietnam — to welcome Min Aung Hlaing since he took over as civilian leader.

He made the transition following deeply restricted elections organised by his junta starting in late 2025, which returned a walkover win for pro-military parties.

Suu Kyi’s party was sidelined. She remains jailed and protest or dissent over the vote was made punishable by prison time.

The poll was also blocked from huge tracts of territory held by rebels in the civil war, which some monitors estimate has killed more than 100,000 across all sides.

While Min Aung Hlaing advertised the vote as a return to diplomatic norms, democracy watchdogs described it as window dressing to disguise his ongoing rule.

Nonetheless, analysts say it has proven effective at breaking Myanmar’s diplomatic isolation by giving other nations an excuse to reboot their relations.

The Myanmar president, who first came to power in a 2021 coup, visited Thailand in August, part of efforts by Bangkok to push for re-engagement between its war-torn neighbour and Asean.

Engagement or endorsement?

“There is a fine line between re-engaging and endorsing Min Aung Hlaing’s legitimacy,” said Dulyapak Preecharush, a Southeast Asia expert at Thammasat University in Bangkok.

“When relations become close and friendly, they can naturally drift in that direction. The perception that Thailand is validating or conferring legitimacy on Min ⁠Aung Hlaing could rise very quickly.”

Myanmar’s government on Monday allowed Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since ​her government was ousted in 2021, to meet a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross after years of uncertainty over her health, wellbeing and whereabouts.

The Asean special envoy has sought unsuccessfully to get access to Aung San Suu Kyi, but the unexpected Red Cross visit could support Thailand’s argument for engagement, according to Dulyapak.

Source – Bangkok News