A string of setbacks for the junta in Myanmar presents an opportunity
Outside powers must not waste it
ON MARCH 17TH General Min Aung Hlaing, the leader of the junta that overthrew Myanmar’s democratically elected government in a coup more than three years ago, stopped at Bago, not far from the commercial capital, Yangon, to reconsecrate an ancient Buddhist pagoda. He struck the pagoda bell nine times, following an old superstition that this might avert disaster. It did him no good: that same day his forces lost yet one more town, Rathedaung, to rebel forces, this time in Rakhine state in the west.
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Losing hearts, minds and ports”
From the March 23rd 2024 edition
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