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| US holds more secret talks with Myanmar's military-backed rulers in Tokyo, sources say |
| 2026-10-22 |
| [Reuters] The US and Myanmar's military-backed government held talks in Tokyo last week, people familiar with the matter said, their second meeting in a month as Washington steps up re-engagement with the generals it shunned after their 2021 coup. Earlier talks in Myanmar's capital Naypyitaw in mid-September focused on securing the release of an American businessman and shutting down scam centers that target Americans, but could pave the way for broader discussions, including on Myanmar’s rare-earth mineral deposits, Reuters previously reported. It was not immediately clear exactly what the two sides discussed at last week's talks, disclosed to Reuters by three people with knowledge of the engagement. The people, including one US official, all spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the meeting. US Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research Michael Vance again led the Tokyo talks, which involved more than a dozen US officials, one of the people said. Reuters could not establish who represented Myanmar. The US State Department declined to comment on Vance's presence in the delegation but said the bureau he heads was not playing a leading role on US policy toward Myanmar. The department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs is "shaping, implementing and engaging on" US policy toward the country, a spokesperson said, while Vance's Bureau of Intelligence and Research "informs policy makers but does not lead on policy." A major focus of the US push is securing Myanmar's help in shutting down scam hubs that run romance and other frauds and have swindled Americans out of billions of dollars, the people said. Researchers say many scam operations are based in areas controlled by army-backed militia, with some proceeds flowing to the military, raising doubts about whether Myanmar's leaders are serious about enforcement. Myanmar's military-backed government has said it is participating in a multinational effort to curb scam centres. US officials have also discussed access to Myanmar's large deposits of heavy rare earths, which are used in products ranging from electric vehicles to wind turbines. US officials acknowledge significant obstacles: the deposits are largely located in territory controlled by ethnic armed groups fighting the military, while China, the main buyer of Myanmar rare earths, could balk at any US role. The US last week lifted sanctions on the daughter of a Myanmar businessman accused of supporting the country's military, saying the move was part of a new approach to the country. "This approach highlights the importance of pursuing dialogue with all groups involved in Burma’s civil war and commits to re-examining the range of tools the United States has historically leveraged to promote core interests in the country," the State Department said of the sanctions move. Min Aung Hlaing remains under US sanctions for human rights abuses, including for his role in the coup and crushing a subsequent popular uprising, and the 2016-2017 mass killings and expulsions of Rohingya Muslims that Washington declared a genocide. The armed forces have killed thousands of people in airstrikes since the putsch, which sparked widespread civil war, the United Nations says. The latest engagements in Japan show the Trump administration views Myanmar through a "purely transactionalist lens," said Hunter Marston, Southeast Asia director at the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank. "The critical minerals and rare earths that Myanmar holds are viewed as probably the chief strategic asset that Washington is interested in within Myanmar," Marston said. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |