China continued its efforts to undermine the Myanmar pro-democracy forces’ struggle against he ruling junta in the ongoing civil war.
In May 2025, Beijing issued an ultimatum to the Kachin Independence Army – one of the major rebel organizations fighting against the junta – demanding from it to stop trying establish control over the town of Bhamo, for which the group had been battling the junta forces since December 2024.
China threatened to stop buying rare earth minerals that the Kachin Independence Army has on the territory it controls. China “has a near-monopoly over the processing of heavy rare earths.” Beijing also offered the rebel group to allow “greater cross-border trade with KIA-controlled territories if the militia abandoned efforts to seize Bhamo.”
As of early July 2025, the rebel group reportedly had not given in to the Chinese pressure.
Efforts Category: China’s Political and Economic Subversion vs the National Unity Government of Myanmar and its allies
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