China has a responsibility for the “tragic” situation in Myanmar because it is the “foremost supporter” of the military regime, the head of the British foreign intelligence service MI6 has said.
“It is appalling to see what is happening in that wonderful country,” Sir Richard Moore told Sky News during a briefing with journalists in the Czech capital, Prague.
He was responding to a question on whether he was worried China was propping up the military junta.
The spy chief said he had visited the country a few years ago and called the situation “deeply, deeply tragic”.
“I am afraid China does have a responsibility because they are the foremost supporter of that regime,” he said.
“It is hard to see that it would be able to operate in the way that it currently does if it didn’t receive that support.”
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China justifies ‘bankrolling’ Myanmar junta
In May, China’s foreign minister Qin Gang paid a visit to Myanmar and was filmed meeting with the junta’s leader Min Aung Hlaing.
Another clear sign of the ongoing support Myanmar is receiving from its powerful neighbour is a new railway line.
Though it opened in 2021, the huge terminal at Lincang, complete with large freight yard and cargo cranes, was built to transport trade from China to Myanmar and beyond.
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China’s growing influence in Myanmar
Sky’s chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay and his team have witnessed the deadly realities of the civil war, which Myanmar’s leaders claim isn’t happening.
Sky News crews spent a month undercover deep in the jungle with resistance fighters, medics and volunteers – not far from where the fighting is taking place.
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I felt at risk every hour of every day – but it was a risk worth taking
More ‘death and destruction’ to come in Myanmar
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Inside Myanmar: The hidden war
They witnessed a 17-year-old boy receiving treatment in a hidden frontline hospital. He was asleep in a monastery when the Myanmar army attacked and was injured by a mortar round that peppered his body with shrapnel.
Few Western journalists get into the southeast Asian country, previously known as Burma, where at least 1.7 million people have been displaced due to the fighting, according to the United Nations.
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The scars of the war litter the roads – burnt-out Myanmar army trucks, and houses, schools, churches, medical clinics and hospitals all destroyed – communities driven away from desperately dangerous places.
Some residents have built temporary villages. One told Ramsay: “We don’t know the reasons we are being attacked, but we have never faced something like this before.”
