YANGON: China’s special envoy met Myanmar’s junta chief for talks on “peace and stability” along their shared border, Myanmar state media reported Friday, days after ethnic rebels seized a regional military command.
Myanmar’s northern Shan state has been the site of repeated clashes since late June after ethnic rebel groups renewed an offensive against the military along a vital trade highway to China.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing discussed “internal peace processes in Myanmar, peace and stability measures in the border region” with China’s Deng Xijun in the capital Naypyidaw on Thursday, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar.
The senior general “explained the implementation of objectives and a five-point roadmap in order to ensure peace, stability,” the state-run newspaper said.
AFP has contacted China’s embassy in Yangon for comment.
China is a major ally and arms supplier to the junta, but analysts say it also maintains ties with armed ethnic groups in Myanmar that hold territory near its border.
Last week, an alliance of ethnic rebel groups captured the military’s northeastern command in the town of Lashio, home to about 150,000 people.
The capture of the regional command — the first by opponents of the junta since the military’s 2021 coup — has sparked rare public criticism of the top generals by its supporters.
On Monday, Min Aung Hlaing said the alliance was receiving weapons, including drones and short-range missiles, from “foreign” sources that he did not identify.
Dozens of civilians have been killed or wounded in the recent fighting, according to the junta and local rescue groups.
Myanmar’s borderlands are home to myriad ethnic armed groups who have battled the military since independence from Britain in 1948 for autonomy and control of lucrative resources.
Some have given shelter and training to newer “People’s Defense Forces” that have sprung up to battle the military after its ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in a 2021 coup.
China envoy, Myanmar junta chief meet on border clashes
https://arab.news/nw8d8
China envoy, Myanmar junta chief meet on border clashes
- Myanmar’s northern Shan state has been the site of repeated clashes since late June
- Ethnic rebel groups renewed an offensive against the military along a vital trade highway to China
UPDATE 1-Trump expected to address potential easing of marijuana regulations on Thursday
- Trump considers executive order to reclassify marijuana
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump is expected to address the potential loosening of federal regulations on marijuana on Thursday, according to a White House official, setting up a decision that could sharply reverse decades of US drug policy. Trump said on Monday that he was considering an executive order to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug — a decision that could reshape the cannabis industry, ease criminal penalties and unlock billions in research funding. Such a shift would represent one of the most significant federal changes to marijuana policy in decades, reducing oversight to the level of common prescription drugs and potentially opening doors long closed to banks and investors.
The precise contents of Trump’s potential order were not immediately clear. While Trump “is currently expected to address marijuana rescheduling tomorrow, any details of this potential action until officially announced by the White House are speculation,” said the Trump administration official, who declined to be named. Under the US Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is listed as a Schedule I substance like heroin, ecstasy and peyote. That classification indicates it has a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use. Local authorities often impose more lax regulations over weed, allowing medical or recreational use. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that he was looking at pushing for weed to be reclassified under Schedule III, alongside Tylenol mixed with codeine, ketamine and testosterone. “We are looking at that very strongly,” he said at the time.
Initial reports that Trump might loosen restrictions on the psychoactive drug sent stocks of cannabis-related companies higher. They stand to benefit by making more cannabis products. “Rescheduling it would really open the floodgates to more and more smart conversation about the proper way to regulate and tax cannabis, would show that the federal government is real about getting to coming up with a solution so that these businesses can operate like every other business,” said Steve Levine, partner and co-leader of the law firm Husch Blackwell’s national cannabis practice. Funding remains one of the biggest challenges for cannabis producers, as federal restrictions keep most banks and institutional investors out of the sector, forcing pot producers to turn to costly loans or alternative lenders. The Biden administration previously asked the Department of Health and Human Services to review marijuana’s classification, and the agency recommended moving it to Schedule III classification. The Drug Enforcement Administration has to review the recommendation and will decide on the reclassification. “A potential reclassification in the US would be an important step toward normalizing cannabis policy, improving research, supporting patient care, and expanding access to regulated and safe channels for both consumers and patients,” said a spokesperson for Canopy Growth, a Canada-based cannabis firm.
