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Bangkok Post
08-07-2025
- Business
- Bangkok Post
China pressures rebels in Myanmar rare-earth belt
The global supply of heavy rare earths hinges in part on the outcome of a months-long battle between a rebel army and the Chinese-backed military junta in the hills of northern Myanmar. The Kachin Independence Army since December has been battling the junta over the town of Bhamo, less than 100 kilometres from the Chinese border, as part of the civil war that erupted after the military's 2021 coup. Nearly half the world's supply of heavy rare earths is extracted from mines in Kachin state, including those north of Bhamo, a strategically vital garrison town. They are then shipped to China for processing into magnets that power electronic vehicles and wind turbines. China, which has a near-monopoly over the processing of heavy rare earths, has threatened to halt buying the minerals mined in KIA-controlled territory unless the militia stops trying to seize full control of Bhamo, according to three people familiar with the matter. The ultimatum, issued by Chinese officials to the KIA in a meeting earlier this year, underscores how Beijing is wielding its control of the minerals to further its geopolitical aims. One of the people, a KIA official, said the Chinese demand was made in May, without detailing where the discussions took place. Another person, a KIA commander, said Beijing was represented by foreign ministry officials at the talks. Reuters could not determine whether China had carried out its threat. Fighting in the region has restricted mining operations and rare-earth exports from Myanmar have plunged this year. China spooked global supply chains this spring when it restricted exports of the minerals in retaliation against US President Donald Trump's tariffs. It is now using its dominance to shore up Myanmar's beleaguered junta, which China sees as a guarantor of its economic interests in its backyard. China's foreign ministry said in response to Reuters' questions that it was not aware of the specifics of deliberations with the KIA. 'An early ceasefire and peace talks between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army are in the common interests of China and Myanmar as well as their people,' a ministry spokesperson said. A senior KIA general did not respond to a request for comment. The KIA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Beijing also offered a carrot: greater cross-border trade with KIA-controlled territories if the militia abandoned efforts to seize Bhamo, a logistics hub for the junta and home to some 166,000 people. 'And if we did not accept, they would block exports from Kachin State, including rare-earth minerals,' said the official, who did not elaborate on the consequences of an economic blockade. Beijing is not seeking to resolve the wider civil war but it wants fighting to subside in order to advance its economic interests, said David Mathieson, an independent Myanmar-focused analyst. 'China's pressure is a more general approach to calming down the conflict.' (Story continues below) Defying Beijing The battle for Bhamo began soon after the KIA wrested control of the main rare-earths belt in Kachin last October. After its takeover, the KIA raised taxes on miners and throttled production of dysprosium and terbium, sending prices of the latter skyrocketing. Supply has been squeezed, with Beijing importing 12,944 tonnes of rare-earth oxides and metals from Myanmar in the first five months of 2025, according to Chinese customs data. That is down by half from the same period last year, though exports rose more than 20% between April and May. The KIA, which analysts estimate has over 15,000 personnel, was founded in 1961 to fight for the autonomy of Myanmar's Kachin minority. Battle-hardened through decades of combat and funded by a combination of local taxation and natural resources, it is among the strongest of Myanmar's rebel groups. The militia is confident of its ability to seize Bhamo and believes Beijing won't ultimately carry out its threat to stop exports due to its thirst for the minerals, two of the people said. Myanmar has been in crisis since the military overthrew a democratically elected government in 2021, violently quashing protests and sparking a nationwide armed rebellion. Swathes of territory were subsequently seized by anti-junta forces, but the rebels have come under Chinese pressure to make concessions to the military. Beijing has also sent jets and drones to the junta, which is increasingly reliant on airpower, according to the US-based Stimson Centre think-tank. China, which has major investments in Myanmar, last year brokered a ceasefire for the junta to return to Lashio, a northeastern town housing a regional military command. More than 200km to the north, about 5,000 KIA and allied personnel have been involved in the offensive for Bhamo, according to a KIA commander with direct knowledge of the fighting. Losing Bhamo would cut off the military's land and river access to parts of Kachin and neighbouring region, isolating its troops housed at military bases there and weakening its control over northern trade routes, according to Maj Naung Yoe, who defected from the junta after the coup. The junta spokesperson's office told Reuters that China may have held talks with the KIA, but it did not respond to a question about whether it had asked Beijing to threaten a blockade. 'China may have been exerted pressure and offered incentives to the KIA,' it said in a statement. Beijing first advised the rebels to pull back from Bhamo during negotiations in early December, according to the KIA official. Instead of withdrawing from Bhamo after those talks, the KIA doubled down, according to the commander and the official. The International Institute for Strategic Studies said in a May briefing that the battle for Bhamo had cost the KIA significant resources and hundreds of casualties. Beijing became more confrontational during further discussions that took place in spring, when its representatives threatened to stop rare-earth purchases, the official said. A disruption in the movement of heavy rare earths from Kachin could lead to a deficit in the global market by the end of the year, said Neha Mukherjee of the UK-based consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. Supplies of the critical minerals outside China were already constrained, she said: 'In the short term, during the brief disruption period, prices outside of China could shoot up higher.' Battle for Bhamo The KIA has pushed junta troops into a handful of isolated pockets, according to the commander. But the junta retains air superiority and has devastated large parts of Bhamo with relentless airstrikes, according to the KIA official, the commander and a former resident of the town. The junta spokesperson's office said it was permitted to strike such sites because the KIA had been using them for military purposes, though it did not provide evidence. Nathan Ruser, an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, who has reviewed satellite imagery of Bhamo, said much of the damage across the town appeared to be from airstrikes. Airstrikes have killed civilians including children and destroyed schools and places of worship, according to Khon Ja, a Kachin activist from Bhamo who said her home had been bombed. 'I don't know for how long that the revolutionary groups will be able to resist Chinese pressure,' she said, adding that existing border restrictions had led to shortages of petrol and medicine in Kachin. Despite the obstacles, KIA leaders believe capturing Bhamo would shift momentum in their favour and strengthen public support. If the ethnic army were to take control of the entire state, then Beijing would have no option but to negotiate and sideline the junta, the commander and the official said.
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
How one tiny Myanmar town controls the globe's rare earth supply and is holding the world hostage
Bhamo, a town in the northern hills of Myanmar, home to just 166,000 people, may appear to be a small town, but it is where almost half of the world's heavy rare earths are found, like the minerals essential for electric cars and wind turbines, as per a report. The Civil War That Could Disrupt EVs Worldwide Since December, Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an ethnic militia, has been fiercely fighting Myanmar's junta for control of Bhamo, which is a civil war that started after the military's 2021 coup, as reported by Reuters. The town is within 100 kilometres of the Chinese border and is a strategically vital garrison town, according to the report. The takeover of Bhamo would grant the KIA control of the primary rare-earth mining area, something that has shaken China and caused supply chain disturbances globally, as per the Reuters report. China's Critical Role in Rare Earth Processing The heavy rare earths are usually shipped to China for processing into magnets that power electronic vehicles and wind turbines, as China has a near-monopoly over the processing of the minerals, as reported by Reuters. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play War Thunder now for free War Thunder Play Now Undo ALSO READ: SoFi stock surges 7% on Trump tax plan hype — earnings buzz builds ahead of July 29 Beijing's Ultimatum China has now reportedly threatened to stop buying the minerals mined in KIA-controlled territory unless the militia stops trying to seize full control of Bhamo, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Live Events A KIA official told Reuters that, in May, China had made its demand, and a KIA commander pointed out that Beijing was represented by foreign ministry officials at the talks, according to the report. The ongoing fight in the region has limited mining operations, and rare-earth exports from Myanmar and now China is "using its dominance to shore up Myanmar's beleaguered junta, which China sees as a guarantor of its economic interests in its backyard," wrote Reuters in its report. While China's foreign ministry told Reuters that it was not aware of the specifics of deliberations with the KIA, but said that, "An early ceasefire and peace talks between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army are in the common interests of China and Myanmar as well as their people," as quoted in the report. ALSO READ: Wolfspeed stock soars over 100% after shock CFO appointment — who is Gregor van Issum? The KIA official revealed that Beijing had offered a greater cross-border trade with KIA-controlled territories if the militia stopped efforts to seize Bhamo, as reported by Reuters. The official said, "And if we did not accept, they would block exports from Kachin State, including rare-earth minerals," as quoted in the report. An independent Myanmar-focused analyst, David Mathieson, pointed out that Beijing is not seeking to resolve the wider civil war, but it wants fighting to stop as it wants to advance its economic interests, and said that, "China's pressure is a more general approach to calming down the conflict," as quoted in the Reuters report. Conflict Disrupts Mining and Exports The ongoing conflict in Bhamo started just after the KIA wrested control of the main rare-earth belt in Kachin last October, and since its takeover, the KIA has increased taxes on miners and throttled production of dysprosium and terbium, sending prices of the latter skyrocketing, as reported by Reuters. FAQs Who is fighting over Bhamo? The Kachin Independence Army is fighting Myanmar's military junta for control of the region, as per the Reuters report. What happens if China follows through on its threat? Global supply chains could be shaken, prices for rare earths could spike, and manufacturers might struggle to get the materials they need, as per the Reuters report.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How Myanmar's Junta Is Complicating Earthquake Recovery
Myanmar's junta chief Min Aung Hlaing meets with earthquake survivors gathered at a hospital compound in Naypyidaw on March 28, 2025. Credit - Sai Aung Main—AFP/Getty Images Myanmar's junta government doesn't often want others to intervene in its affairs. Years of internal strife and alleged human rights abuses in the authoritarian-led Southeast Asian nation have pushed it toward isolation. But after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake ripped through the country on March 28, killing thousands, the disputed military leadership made a rare cry for help. 'We need and want the international community to provide humanitarian aid,' said spokesman Gen. Zaw Min Tun in the immediate aftermath of the tremors. 'We will cooperate with them to ensure the best care for the victims.' Read More: Photos Show Devastating Impact of Powerful Earthquake That Rocked Myanmar and Thailand But recovery efforts—including understanding the full extent of the damage and getting aid to where it's needed most—are complicated by Myanmar's ongoing civil war. Since staging a coup in 2021, the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military—has been in breakout wars with pro-democracy rebels and ethnic militias across the country. Even before the quake struck, the nation of 52 million was already fractured. More than 6,000 civilians have died and over three million have been displaced since 2021, according to Genocide Watch; critical infrastructure linking cities and communications were heavily damaged or destroyed; and press freedoms were virtually nonexistent. The health care system was also already under strain: hospitals in Mandalay and Naypyidaw, the largest urban areas impacted by the quake, are overwhelmed with patients, face shortages in medical supplies, and were hard hit even before the disaster, particularly since the junta has for years deliberately closed facilities that hired medical staff who were professionally blacklisted for aligning with the Civil Disobedience Movement, an anti-junta protest movement involving non-cooperation with the military. The country, says Burmese activist Maung Zarni, was 'utterly unprepared for natural calamity.' Here's what to know about the challenges today—and where the country could go from here. Initial estimates suggested the quake's death toll in Myanmar could exceed 10,000—but the true total may never be known. Many international journalists have been blocked from entering impacted areas, and internet blackouts that originated before the quake have limited the reach of images and information from the ground. The Myanmar Internet Project has recorded 357 total internet shutdowns since the coup in Feb. 2021, and every township has experienced some level of communications outage at least twice since the coup, according to Myanmar-focused pro-freedom of expression nonprofit ATHAN. 'For the junta, taking these areas off-grid is a two-pronged strategy: to disrupt the flow of information among resistance groups and to isolate these areas from global attention,' ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute researcher Surachanee Sriyai wrote in January, before the earthquake. Calls for the junta to lift internet restrictions to facilitate emergency rescue efforts have mounted, while researchers say power outages as a result of the earthquake only further limit access. 'Compare the coverage of the earthquake in Thailand, where tremors and damage have been extensively reported, posted and documented, to Myanmar, where we still don't have a clear picture of the extent of the damage and loss and may not for some time,' Joe Freeman, a Myanmar researcher at Amnesty International told the New York Times. If any information trickles out, it likely has the junta's approval. Min Aung Hlaing (MAH), the military commander-in-chief and Myanmar's unelected leader, made visits to earthquake hit areas, flanked by pro-junta outlets and select foreign media. More critical local press slammed MAH's appearances for treating the disaster as photo opportunities, claiming it was in effort to boost his international image. Such images have little impact domestically, says Phil Robertson, director of the Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates Consultancy. 'There's nothing that Min Aung Hlaing can do to improve his image in the eyes of the Burmese people,' he tells TIME. The recovery effort also appears to function as a display of political alliances: the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that emergency responders from China and Russia were allowed to fly into Yangon, while multiple Western aid agencies struggled to get into the country. (Emergency workers from Taiwan, which junta ally China does not recognize as independent, were even told to stand down.) What aid does reach Myanmar, some worry, may not end up in the right hands. A group of 13 civil society organizations in Myanmar put out a statement on March 30, appealing for humanitarian assistance on the ground while also warning against channeling such aid through the military junta. The junta has 'a long history of weaponizing aid by blocking, diverting, and exploiting it to consolidate its control,' the statement said. Across the world, Burmese people living overseas have echoed that concern, instead imploring those who wish to help to donate to grassroots organizations. These concerns are based on past experience. In 2008, after Cyclone Nargis killed at least 84,500 people in Myanmar, the junta at the time refused to receive international assistance, lacking the transportation infrastructure and organization to distribute aid and rejecting pleas from an exasperated international community to set up a transport corridor for foreign aid workers. The current junta similarly blocked relief in 2023 after Cyclone Mocha, denying visas to aid workers and holding up aid packages in customs. U.N. Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said in a post on X that the junta's response to previous natural disasters 'demonstrate[s] its willingness to weaponize aid.' International coordinators of the emergency response to the latest quake and rescue workers on the ground have accused the junta of confiscating aid, the Guardian reported. One doctor claimed that the military was using its control over checkpoints to block medicine from going to areas controlled by pro-democracy forces and ethnic groups. The junta controls only less than a quarter of the country, according to the BBC, but access to areas it doesn't control are more highly restricted. In Naypyidaw, the seat of the junta, the regime has provided robust assistance, including water, temporary toilets, and phone-charging stations. But in the more densely populated city of Sagaing, which was also severely impacted by the quake but is a pro-democratic stronghold, locals have reported a less urgent aid response. (Sagaing already had the most townships lacking public services like electricity and water, according to a 2024 report from research group Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar.) Richard Horsey, senior Myanmar adviser of the International Crisis Group, tells TIME that the junta has 'a track record of blocking aid to areas controlled by its adversaries,' and has used blockades to 'deprive its enemies of resources,' which he believes 'has certainly given pause to some donors and will negatively impact levels of assistance.' To many in Myanmar, the quake is an omen. In the deeply superstitious nation, an astrologer told Al Jazeera they believe the tremors signal that the junta's 'downfall is not far away.' Some commentators also see the natural disaster as a window of opportunity to spur the end of the protracted conflict. The junta's sluggish response to the 2008 cyclone ramped up scrutiny of the military government at the time and placed pressure on it to change, eventually leading to the rise of a civilian government, albeit short-lived. The National Unity Government (NUG)—a shadow government composed of those ousted in the 2021 coup—proposed a two-week cease-fire from March 30 to allow for emergency rescue operations, promising to pause 'offensive military operations, except for defensive actions.' The Three Brotherhood Alliance, an alliance of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, and the Arakan Army, joined that call, announcing a monthlong cease-fire. But for now at least, that cease-fire remains one-sided: junta chief MAH rejected the proposal, arguing that organizing and training by ethnic armed groups 'are still considered attacks.' The NUG on March 31 claimed the military continued with airstrikes in Sagaing, as well as Karenni, Mandalay, and Naypyidaw, even though there's already extensive earthquake damage in those areas. The Ta'ang National Liberation Army also claimed the junta attacked a Chinese Red Cross convoy that was bringing aid supplies to Mandalay on April 1. The rebel group said the convoy had reported its route to the military, which a junta spokesman disputed to state-run MRTV. While Naypyidaw may have suffered damages from the quake, Morgan Michaels, a Southeast Asian security and defense research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, tells TIME these weren't significant enough to hamper military campaigns and stop attacks: 'The runway is serviceable, and satellite imagery shows that hangars didn't collapse. Airstrikes continue.' 'The generals are insane to seek to politically and materially benefit from the newly emerging international goodwill towards Myanmar people and to keep bombing cities and towns and rebel positions, including schools and religious sites,' Zarni, the Burmese activist, tells TIME.'The junta is 100% focused on keeping itself in power,' says Zarni. 'Those in charge of the military operations seem determined to wage on their wars.' Contact us at letters@
