Myanmar: News & Insights

Myanmar Brewery is owned 51% by Japanese brewer Kirin, which decided in February to unwind the partnership after Myanmar's military took control of the country.

Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar court rejects dissolution of Kirin brewery joint venture

Japanese company's military partner has means to drag out legal proceedings

26 January 2022

Aung San Suu Kyi, seen here attending the 2019 ASEAN summit, is among the key officials of the National League for Democracy who have been detained.

Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar military won't dissolve Suu Kyi's NLD party: official

Postponing decision seen as bid to lend credibility to 2023 election

26 January 2022

Soldiers and protesters outside Myanmar's Central Bank in Yangon on February 15, 2021. Myanmar's economy is expected to remain fragile.

Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar's 'critically weak economy' to grow 1% in 2022: World Bank

Bleak outlook comes after 18% contraction last year and as conflict rages

26 January 2022

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, left, and Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen spoke by video conference on Jan. 25. (Source photos by Singapore Press/AP and Cambodia Government House/Reuters)

International relations

Malaysia to Hun Sen: Myanmar regime still not welcome at ASEAN

Ismail Sabri, Cambodian counterpart speak amid spat over latter's Naypyitaw trip

25 January 2022

Myanmar Plaza, a major shopping mall in Yangon, remains virtually deserted after a violent security crackdown on protesters in late November led to a boycott.

Myanmar Crisis

Two-month boycott of Myanmar mall after harsh protest response

Consumers band together because of violent excesses of security guards

24 January 2022

Myanmar's proposed cybersecurity law stipulates imprisonment of up to three years for use of a VPN. (Source photo by Reuters and Ken Kobayashi)

Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar renews plans to curb internet usage with VPN ban

Proposed cyberlaw would limit Facebook access and cash to democracy groups

21 January 2022

Foreign wireless operators Telenor and Ooredoo entered Myanmar in 2014 in what was seen as a symbol of the country's market liberalization.

Telecommunication

Myanmar's mobile carriers grapple with tax hike targeting internet

Military government tightens grip on symbol of country's market opening

20 January 2022

The NUG is letting citizens use Tether because its greater use could weaken the power of the military. (Source photo by Reuters and Tether website)

Cryptocurrencies

Myanmar's pro-democracy forces resist with cryptocurrency

Tether emerges as potential savior for people seeking freedom over their assets

16 January 2022

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, left, with Myanmar State Administration Council Chairman Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw on Jan. 7. His visit has provoked an angry backlash among critics, who say he is legitimizing the army's seizure of power. (An Khoun SamAun/National Television of Cambodia via AP)

Myanmar Crisis

Malaysia says Hun Sen's Myanmar visit did no good

Cambodian leader should have consulted ASEAN leaders: foreign minister

14 January 2022

Hun Sen waves from a plane before heading to Myanmar at Phnom Penh International Airport on Jan. 7: when it comes to Hun Sen's ASEAN leadership, it rhymes.

Opinion

Hun Sen readies ASEAN to do more of China's bidding

Cowboy diplomacy will further weaken the 10-member bloc's key principles

12 January 2022

Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in 2018.

Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar's Suu Kyi sentenced to 4 years in prison over walkie-talkies

Ousted leader is on trial in nearly a dozen cases; She denies all charges

10 January 2022

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing pose for photos in Naypyidaw on Jan. 7.

Myanmar Crisis

Cambodian PM becomes 1st leader to meet Myanmar military chief

At odds with ASEAN approach, Hun Sen's trip sparks furious response from critics

8 January 2022

Ta'ang National Liberation army officers, pictured in Mar Wong in January 2015: fighting in northern Shan State over who controls lucrative narcotics trade routes close to the Chinese border has intensified.

Opinion

Myanmar the new front as U.S.-China tensions simmer on land

Struggle for primacy in Asia carries shades of Cold War

7 January 2022

Telenor's sale of its stake in Wave Money will be the largest fintech deal in Myanmar since Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing took power on Feb. 1, 2021. (Source photo by AP and Reuters)

Telecommunication

Telenor to divest Wave Money, exit Myanmar mobile banking

Military surveillance a major concern in biggest fintech deal since takeover

3 January 2022

Linklusion stocks about 300 products at warehouses in rural villages surrounding Yangon. (Photo by Yuichi Nitta)

Myanmar Crisis

'We won't give up': Japan entrepreneurs bet on Myanmar's future

Troubled country poses problems, but some business owners tough it out

2 January 2022

Protesters march during a flash mob rally, making a three finger salute in Yangon on Dec. 1.

Myanmar Crisis

In pictures: A photographer's decision to quit Myanmar

Burmese photojournalist records his last three months on an iPhone

31 December 2021

"Pig-butchering" swindles, long run in the Chinese language, are targeted increasingly at Anglophone residents of nations in Asia and beyond, including in Europe, the U.S. and Australia. (Source photo by AP and screenshot from victim's WhatsApp message)

Society

Victims in Asia, Europe and U.S. fight back against online romance scams

Volunteer group says criminal networks originally from China target people abroad

31 December 2021

Protesters march in support of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon on Dec. 6 in this still image obtained from a social media video.

Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar ends 'year in the darkness' bloodier and poorer

Violence continues and economy shrinks since February political upheaval

30 December 2021

As the pandemic continued in 2021, Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing seized power, the U.S. and U.K. agreed to share nuclear submarine tech with Australia, Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai made an explosive revelation and BTS ruled the airwaves.

Asia Insight

From Myanmar to AUKUS to BTS: Newsmakers that shaped Asia in 2021

As COVID raged, the security landscape shifted and superstars made their mark

28 December 2021

Thai military personnel secure an evacuation area for Myanmar villagers who fled across the border following clashes between troops and an ethnic Karen rebel group on Dec. 17 in Mae Tao, in northern Thailand's Tak Province.

Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar clashes fuel Thai border tensions, trading of artillery fire

Thousands cross frontier after security forces battle anti-regime Karen group

17 December 2021

Interview

Kirin CEO: top priority is to continue brewing in Myanmar

Japanese company believes remaining will actually help human rights

15 December 2021

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, is hosted by Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah on Dec. 15. (Photo courtesy of Malaysia's Foreign Ministry)

International relations

U.S. weighing more action on Myanmar, 'genocide' label: Blinken

In Malaysia, top diplomat lays groundwork for special Biden summit with ASEAN

15 December 2021

Interview

Myanmar to end Kirin row based on law: investment minister

Military regime says economic shrinkage to be smaller than outsiders predict

10 December 2021

Myanmar's military is working hard to remove former leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the political stage before any new elections are held.

The Nikkei View

Myanmar's scripted 'guilty' ruling on Suu Kyi is unacceptable

Ousted leader may face over 100 years in prison under rigged system

8 December 2021

The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941 is a date that has gone down in history. Less remembered is that Japanese forces had begun invading Southeast Asia hours earlier.

International relations

80 years since Pearl Harbor: How the attack reshaped Asia

Japan's near simultaneous invasion of Thailand spelled end of British Empire

7 December 2021