Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (invisible) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, January 22, 2019. Ng Han Guan / Pool via REUTERS

January 7 (Reuters) – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen met with Burmese military leader Min Aung Hlaing on Friday as he criticized the first visit by a head of government since the military seized power from an elected government Last year.

Hun Sen was greeted with a guard of honor and a red carpet upon his arrival on Friday, as protests by opponents of the coup erupted in other parts of the country over fears his trip would no longer confer legitimacy to the ruling junta.

Myanmar state television then showed footage of the two leaders bumping elbows and sitting down for talks on golden chairs.

Hun Sen’s two-day visit was the first by a government leader since the military overthrew the civilian administration of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1 last year, sparking months of protests and a bloody repression.

The Cambodian leader, who has been criticized for the crackdown on his political opponents in his country, said he was on a visit to publicize a peace plan in Myanmar sponsored by the Association of South Asian Nations. East (ASEAN).

Cambodia currently chairs the 10 members of ASEAN, which in April adopted a “consensual” five-point peace plan.

Some other ASEAN countries, including Indonesia, have expressed frustration over the junta’s failure to implement the plan, including allowing an envoy to meet Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since the coup. of state.

In Myanmar, opponents of the military regime have said that Hun Sen, who seized power in Phnom Penh in a 1997 coup, is supporting the junta by making the trip.

In Depayin, about 300 km (186 miles) north of the capital, Naypyidaw, protesters burned a poster of the Cambodian prime minister and chanted “Hun Sen don’t come to Myanmar. We don’t want dictator Hun Sen”, photographs on social media showed.

Protests were also reported in Mandalay Second City and in Tanintharyi and Monywa regions.

In a speech Wednesday ahead of his trip, Hun Sen called for restraint by all parties in Myanmar and respect for the peace plan.

“Brethren of Burma, do you want your country to fall into a real civil war or do you want it resolved? ” he said.

After a phone call this week with Hun Sen, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in Twitter messages that if there was no significant progress on the peace plan, only non-political representatives of Myanmar should be allowed to ASEAN meetings.

HUMANITARIAN ACCESS

In October, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing was barred from attending an ASEAN summit for his inability to end hostilities, allow humanitarian access and initiate dialogue, as agreed with the ‘ASEAN.

But in a further sign of divisions in the 10-member bloc, Hun Sen said last month that junta officials should be allowed to attend ASEAN meetings.

Min Ko Naing, a leading activist in Myanmar, said in a social media post that Hun Sen would face massive protests against his visit, which would hurt ASEAN.

Hun Sen is one of the world’s oldest leaders and has long been condemned by Western countries and human rights groups for the crackdown on opponents, civil rights groups and the media. in Cambodia. His party now holds all seats in parliament after a court banned the main opposition party ahead of the 2018 election.

Amnesty International’s deputy regional director of research, Emerlynne Gil, said the trip risked sending mixed messages to Mynamar’s military chief and Hun Sen should instead lead ASEAN to take strong action to address the “Dramatic human rights situation” in the country.

US-funded Radio Free Asia quoted a junta spokesman as saying that Hun Sen would not meet with Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the coup and is on trial, facing nearly a dozen of cases carry a combined maximum sentence of over 100 years in prison.

Reporting by Prak Chan Thul on the staff of PHNOM PENH and Reuters; Editing by Ed Davies, Michael Perry, William Maclean

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