Protest in South Korea against China’s support for regime
A Seoul-based pro-democracy group called the Myanmar Federal Democratic Mission Coalition (MFDMC) staged a protest in front of China’s embassy in the South Korean capital on Sunday. Lin Eain, a member of MFDMC, told DVB that protesters delivered a letter urging Beijing to halt its support for the regime, which took power in Naypyidaw after the 2021 military coup.
“We would like to tell China that the people do not agree with the Chinese government, which stands with a regime that commits violence against [its own people],” said Lin Eain. The letter also urged Beijing to stop sending weapons to Naypyidaw and to respect the country’s democratic aspirations. A protest in the U.S. capital on Sept. 26 called on China to engage with anti-coup resistance groups, including the National Unity Government (NUG).
In September, Beijing issued a letter to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the three members of the Brotherhood Alliance, to cease its offensive against the military. This came after China’s People’s Liberation Army conducted military exercises along the border in August. It restricted trade through gates adjacent to areas under the control of the Brotherhood Alliance and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin and Shan states last month.
Three people arrested for allegedly notarizing medical certificates
The regime announced on Friday that it had arrested three people who had allegedly notarized medical certificates issued by the NUG-run Mandalay Medical University, which is an online school not affiliated with the University of Medicine, Mandalay. It added that the NUG-issued certificates were forged.
“Those who notarized the degrees were arrested by the regime,” Zaw Wai Soe, the NUG Minister of Education, told Mandalay Free Press. He added that the families of two students, who had received medical degrees from the Mandalay Medical University and had applied for admission to Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University, were now in hiding fearing arrest.
Regime media reported that the two were discovered when Chulalongkorn University officials questioned the validity of the NUG-issued medical certificates. Khin Maung Lwin, the chair of the NUG Federal Health Professional Council, posted on social media that he issued the degrees himself and that they were in fact valid. Naypyidaw vowed to take legal action against anyone involved in this case.
Cambodia to send observers to monitor planned election
The Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) will send a delegation to observe regime elections tentatively scheduled for November 2025 at the invitation of the military-proxy Union and Solidarity Development Party (USDP), the Khmer Times reported. The USDP chair Khin Yi met with Cambodia’s former Prime Minister and President of the Senate, Hun Sen, in Phnom Penh on Nov. 22.
Hun Sen is also the CPP president and agreed to strengthen ties between his party and the USDP. Khin Yi reportedly claimed that Cambodia’s election process was “free, just, fair, transparent, and extremely well-organized.” The CPP won 120 out of 125 seats in Cambodia’s 2023 general election after it barred the country’s largest opposition party from participating.
As the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2022, Cambodia’s then-Prime Minister Hun Sen visited Naypyidaw to meet with regime leader Min Aung Hlaing. Last year, Hun Sen’s son Hun Manet succeeded his father as prime minister of Cambodia. Regime media reported that China and Thailand are planning to assist the regime with its election plan.
News by Region
ARAKAN—A civilian was killed and three others were injured by airstrikes conducted by the Burma Air Force on Thandwe Township, which is located 239 miles (385 km) northwest of Yangon, on Sunday. The southern Arakan State township came under the control of the Arakan Army (AA) on July 16.
“There was no fighting but a fighter jet dropped bombs on a village, killing a 16-year-old boy instantly. Three others were seriously injured,” a Thandwe resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. An unknown number of homes were also destroyed by the airstrikes.
AYEYARWADY—Five Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Arakan State were arrested in Pathein Township, located 120 miles west of Yangon, on Saturday. The five are young men who fled fighting between the AA and the military in Gwa Township, which is 110 miles (177 km) south of Pathein.
Pathein residents claimed that regime troops in Chaungtha, Ngwesaung and Shwethaungyan towns have arrested an unknown number of IDPs from Arakan State since September. The regime has accused the People’s Defense Force (PDF) and the AA of trying to infiltrate Ayeyarwady Region by disguising themselves as civilians fleeing fighting in Arakan.
MON—The family home of Htet Myat Thu, a freelance journalist killed alongside DVB Citizen Journalist (CJ) Win Htut Oo during a raid carried out by the military on Aug. 21, was sealed by regime officials in Kyaikto Township on Friday. Kyaikto is located 82 miles (132 km) north of the Mon State capital Mawlamyine.
“The family received a phone call from the police station one day before [it was sealed]. The next day, a group came and took pictures of the home before sealing it off,” a source close to the family told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The mother and grandmother of Htet Myat Thu were evicted from the home shortly after the raid that killed him.
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