In the early hours of February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military staged a sudden coup d'état, and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested. And in her long life of more than 70 years, it is not the first time that such a "arrest-release-arrest" has happened.
Therefore, she did not feel too stunned and surprised by the seizure.
Aung San Suu Kyi's trial has been lengthy due to charges of "election fraud and abuse of power" and other crimes. By the end of 2022, there have been more than a dozen court sessions, large and small, and all the verdicts have reached the conclusion of "guilty".
In the end, Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to seven years in prison, a staggering total of 33 years.
For Aung San Suu Kyi, who is already in her last years and is 78 years old, it is unknown whether she will live until the end of her sentence, and she can only accept the fact that the democratic regime she advocated was overthrown by the military at one time.
Slightly different from 30 years ago, the military leader this time has been replaced by Min Aung Hlaing, a new generation of Myanmar warlord leaders known as the "spiritual Ming Dynasty", and a "coup tat hero" with a presidential dream.
And it is worth noting that he was the one who cooperated with Aung San Suu Kyi back then, and he was the one who turned his face in the end.
So, what kind of person is Min Aung Hlaing?
How did he become the most powerful person in Myanmar?
"Mysterious" Min Aung Hlaing
To the outside world, Min Aung Hlaing is a "mysterious" person.
In the eyes of Min Aung Hlaing's former classmates, he was a small, weak-looking boy, and in the eyes of the media in Myanmar, he had great ambitions since he was a child, and although he was born in a civilian family, he had always cherished a fanatical "presidential dream";
In the Western media, Min Aung Hlaing is undoubtedly a "devil", full of evil.
There are many theories about the truth or falsity of these conclusions.
However, it is certain that in the eyes of his old boss Than Shwe, Min Aung Hlaing is definitely a trustworthy successor, and in the eyes of the head of the big family in northern Myanmar, Min Aung Hlaing is an absolute backer and a good partner to work with.
In 1972, at the age of 16, Min Aung Hlaing entered Yangon University to study law, and when his classmates indulged in a class boycott, he surprisingly submitted a transfer application, targeting a military academy.
In 1974, Min Aung Hlaing, who had taken the exam three times, finally entered the Military and National Defense Academy of the Union of Myanmar as he wished, becoming the 19th batch of cadets.
This is a school specifically responsible for training senior commanders of the Burmese army, and the reason why Min Aung Hlaing, who has mediocre qualifications, desperately wants to enter, is inseparable from the transcendent status of the Burmese soldiers.
In Myanmar, whether you are walking the rivers and lakes or being the president, you need to pay attention to two types of people: monks and "Qiu Ba".
The former is because Buddhism is the state religion of Myanmar, and the status of monks in the country is above the whole society.
The power of the latter Myanmar military is even more terrifying, not only can they monopolize the economic lifeline of the entire country, influence political decision-making, and even the warlord leaders may flip the table and replace the government with a new group of people.
Myanmar's military preferential treatment laws are written in the constitution, for example, when the parliamentarians are elected, both houses will set aside 25% of the seats for the military by default, and these people can automatically get seats without running.
Clearly, Min Aung Hlaing has taken a fancy to this.
After graduating, Min Aung Hlaing joined the Myanmar Army, where he was valued by the leader of the Burmese Army, General Than Shwe, for his active performance in the army. Since being promoted to commander of the 44th Mobile Division in 2001, Min Aung Hlaing has completed three consecutive jumps in just ten years.
In 2001, he was promoted to brigadier general, three years later he was promoted to major general and transferred to the commander of the Western Military Region, and in 2008, he was promoted to lieutenant general and became the director of the Second Special Operations Bureau of the Burmese Army.
Min Aung Hlaing also became a veritable "Emperor of the Soil" in the eastern, eastern, central and northeastern parts of Myanmar.
Min Aung Hlaing, who took over the defense of Myanmar's border areas in 2009, has reversed the previous confrontational relationship between the Myanmar military junta and local organizations and has taken the initiative to reassure the local clans and give them enough space to survive.
Of course, there are conditions for this, that is, no matter what the other side relies on to make money, the Myanmar military will have a piece of the pie.
An exchange of rights and interests was reached.
On August 8, 2009, Min Aung Hlaing caused the "88 Incident" in Myanmar's Kokang region. Through private means, Min Aung Hlaing split the Kokang Allied Forces from within, causing the Kokang Allied Forces Commander Peng Jiasheng to flee.
The troops of Bai Socheng, the original deputy commander of the Allied Army, were incorporated into the Burmese Army and were awarded the number 1006th Frontier Battalion. At this point, Bai Socheng replaced Peng Jiasheng to take over Kokang and became the actual controller of the local area. Since then, the Kokang region has become a criminal place for harboring a series of illegal gambling, drug dealing, illegal organ trafficking, and a series of illegal crimes.
Min Aung Hlaing's "military household" policy
The "successful transformation" of the local armed forces in the Kokang area has made Min Aung Hlaing's position in Than Shwe's heart a little heavier. In his view, Min Aung Hlaing's approach to governing ethnic minority areas also provides a precedent for future local governance.
Because of this, Min Aung Hlaing became the chief of the general staff of Myanmar's three armed forces in June 2010, basically the first person under Than Shwe.
On the other hand, there was growing dissatisfaction with Than Shwe's rule in Myanmar at that time, and this sentiment continued to ferment, triggering the "Saffron Revolution". The revolution led directly to the re-revision of Myanmar's constitution, and the military had to agree to the reopening of parliament and presidential elections.
Than Shwe, who had ruled Myanmar for decades, had no choice but to hand over power obediently, despite his reluctance.
However, based on this result alone, it is still naïve to assume that the Myanmar military has conceded defeat. Because before Than Shwe stepped down, Min Aung Hlaing, who was most trusted, had been put in the position of commander-in-chief of the Defence Forces.
So far, Min Aung Hlaing has climbed to the pinnacle of Myanmar's military power.
And Min Aung Hlaing's reform of the army has also begun to bear fruit.
In view of the ongoing conflicts in various parts of Myanmar, it is difficult to keep up with the efficiency of recruiting soldiers, so Min Aung Hlaing has turned up a "new" army garrison system from the pile of old papers, but it does not look like the structure of a modern army.
In November 2023, a civilian militia in Myanmar's Kokang region launched a raid on a key Burmese military stronghold on the outskirts of Lao Cai. The special operation, which began on October 27, took only one month to defeat the Burmese regular army.
This time the battle was also one-sided, with the Kokang Allies taking Gongzhang in just five days. Later, after an inventory of the captured personnel, it was found that among the 16th Field Brigade, which was originally numbered of several hundred people, there were only a few dozen real Burmese soldiers.
In addition to these soldiers who can participate in the battle, the largest number of people in the field brigade is actually family members, and even the number of family members is several times that of soldiers.
And such an army constitutes a system similar to the "guard" system of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the so-called "military household" system passed down from generation to generation. Although this can save a lot of military expenses in the imperial court, its combat effectiveness must be unknown regardless of whether it is on the front line during wartime.
However, this is also a choice that cannot be made, after all, in places where corruption and empty salaries are rampant, it is difficult to ensure the size of the army by adopting a conscription system. But then again, how can such an army and such a corrupt military junta give Myanmar a bright future?
Min Aung Hlaing's transition from military to political affairs
Since becoming Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief of National Defense in 2011, Min Aung Hlaing has spared no effort in his speeches on various occasions to emphasize the legitimacy of the military's special status and provide a detailed theoretical basis for the military's struggle for the right to speak.
As Myanmar's new constitution stipulates the need for a democratic government, Min Aung Hlaing chose to join forces with the Union Union's Solidarity and Development Party (PSP) to compete for electoral seats and eventual rein.
In the process, Min Aung Hlaing has also gradually transitioned from a single military power figure to the most important behind-the-scenes manipulator in Myanmar's political circles.
In Min Aung Hlaing's hands, the military has been a weapon to ensure its participation in Burma's policy-making and eradicate dissent, and on the other hand, it has also become a tool for him to amass vast wealth in Myanmar.
Most of the grey industries that are operating in the border areas are actually nothing more than puppets of Min Aung Hlaing. The premise of their existence is not only to be able to make money for Min Aung Hlaing, but more importantly, to be loyal to Min Aung Hlaing.
And once there is a possibility of getting out of control, it will be purged.
For the grassroots army, Min Aung Hlaing is also accustomed to using religious forces to stir up emotions. In today's Burmese army, if the battle is lost, Min Aung Hlaing will think that the soldiers are not pious enough and need to gather together to recite Buddhist scriptures to eliminate karma.
Under the undisguised single policy of ethnicity and religion, Min Aung Hlaing is doomed to be unable to win broad support at home. This, in turn, strengthened his determination to take military power as the core, radiate political changes, and slop politics behind his back.
However, with the coup d'état in Min Aung Hlaing in 2021, opposition has continued to emerge from some within the military.
brief summary
In the ranking of the top 10 "poorest" countries in Asia, Myanmar is impressively on the list, and it ranks first.
Decades of regime change and the corrupt rule of the military junta have left this once rich and developed country deeply wounded, making it synonymous with "poverty" and "chaos" in the eyes of the world.
It is foreseeable that in the future, the situation in Myanmar will still be in a state of confrontation and struggle for power between the traditional military forces represented by Min Aung Hlaing and the democratic forces in Myanmar represented by Aung San Suu Kyi.
In October 2023, a large-scale military conflict broke out between the Myanmar government army and the Kokang Allied Army, and a new round of Myanmar's civil war officially began. And in the turbulent situation of Myanmar, the future of Myanmar remains a mystery.