Pressure builds on SEA’s outcast - If the junta collapses, Myanmar needs to know who to lean on – China or Asean

This handout photo taken and released on January 10, 2024 by the Myanmar Military Information Team shows Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing (right) meeting with Alounkeo Kittikhoun (left), special envoy of the Asean chair on Myanmar, in Naypyidaw. - AFP

THE nation ushered in the new year with several developments in its ongoing civil war.

A coalition of militias based in northern Shan state made significant gains in the north-eastern part of the country.