HANOI: Myanmar's coup leader turned civilian president Min Aung Hlaing touched down in Vietnam on Friday (Sept 4) for the latest stop on a regional diplomatic tour shaking off his post-putsch pariah status.
He and his wife Kyu Kyu Hla landed to a red carpet welcome in Hanoi, Myanmar government images showed, at the start of a three-day visit aimed at boosting political and business ties with the one-party state.
Min Aung Hlaing is due to meet Vietnam's President To Lam, attend a business forum and visit "digital and electronic technology industries", the Myanmar presidency said.
Myanmar's junta leaders were shunned in many quarters after the 2021 coup, but Vietnam sustained its investments.
Major Myanmar telecoms operator Mytel is jointly owned by a firm backed by Vietnam's defence ministry and a Myanmar military conglomerate.
Activist organisation Justice for Myanmar accused Vietnam of "corporate complicity with the junta".
"The Myanmar military's ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity are supported by revenue, technology and surveillance support from Vietnam through Mytel," said spokesman Yadanar Maung in a statement.
Min Aung Hlaing is considered by rights groups an architect of a military crackdown on the Rohingya minority starting in 2017, which is being weighed by the International Court of Justice as potential genocide.
His pariah status deepened after he led the coup five years ago that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected government and plunged the country into civil war.
But highly restricted elections completed in early 2026 shifted the dynamic, with Min Aung Hlaing installed as civilian president.
Many monitors dismissed the vote as a charade -- excluding Suu Kyi's party as well as voters in huge areas of rebel-held territory, and punishing dissent with prison time.
But regional neighbours including China, Thailand, India and Laos have already openly welcomed Min Aung Hlaing on visits since he took over as civilian leader.
Defending the decision to host the Myanmar leader in Bangkok last month, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow told reporters: "It's not about legitimacy, it's about reality." - AFP
