Junta seeks election legitimacy

Disputed Myanmar poll wins China's vote of confidence, writes AFP

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Su Su Nway, People's Party campaign manager speaks at an election campaign event in Yangon on Dec 14.AFP

(AFP)

Myanmar's military-run elections are being pilloried abroad and shunned at home, but neighbouring China has emerged as an enthusiastic backer of the pariah poll.

International monitors have dismissed the vote starting on Sunday as a charade to rebrand Myanmar's military rule since a 2021 coup, which triggered a civil war.

But Beijing's brokerage has secured watershed truces and retreats by rebel groups - turning the tide of the conflict and strengthening the junta's hand ahead of the weeks-long vote.

Once backing opposition factions, analysts say China now throws its weight behind the military and its polls as Beijing pursues its own private interests in Myanmar - and even the reordering of its leadership.

"It's as if an outsider were involved in our family issues," complained a resident of northern Lashio city, once the rebels' biggest war prize but returned to the junta via Beijing's intervention in April.

"I want to sort out my family matters by ourselves," said the 30-year-old woman, declining to be named for security reasons. "I don't like other people involved."

'NO STATE COLLAPSE'