US Opens Direct Talks with Myanmar’s Military Government, Reversing Years of Isolation

Washington: The Trump administration has begun direct talks with Myanmar’s military-installed government, according to US officials and others familiar with the outreach, marking a sharp reversal of Washington’s policy of isolating the country’s generals since the 2021 coup.

Michael Vance, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, has played a leading role in the engagement. He held talks with coup leader-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing in the capital, Naypyitaw, on September 15 and 16, in what was described as the highest-level contact between Washington and Myanmar’s authorities since the military seized power. The meeting built on earlier talks between US and Myanmar officials held in Tokyo in June, also involving Vance, with officials from the Treasury Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon reportedly taking part.

The outreach initially focused on securing the release of American businessman Adam Castillo, a former head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar, who was detained at Yangon airport on June 11 on charges his supporters have described as fabricated, and who has since been freed. A central aim of the US effort is to secure Myanmar’s cooperation in shutting down scam centres that target Americans, though officials said the contacts could lead to wider engagement.

US officials have also discussed access to Myanmar’s vast deposits of heavy rare earths, which are used in electric vehicles and wind turbines, as Washington seeks to diversify critical mineral supply chains away from China. Officials acknowledged significant obstacles, as the deposits lie largely in territory controlled by ethnic armed groups fighting the military government, and Beijing, currently the main importer, could view any US involvement as a challenge.

The policy shift stands in contrast to the approach of former President Joe Biden’s administration, which froze Myanmar’s assets at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and imposed sanctions on senior military officers and military-linked businesses after the coup. The State Department said its engagement with the military government does not diminish its relationships with other groups in Myanmar, and that the United States continues to provide assistance to areas outside military control. US officials have also met in person and virtually with the democratic opposition and ethnic armed groups.

The move has drawn criticism in Washington. Representative Gregory Meeks, the senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the shift ran counter to both American values and interests, accusing Secretary of State Marco Rubio of ceding US leadership and lending the military government greater international legitimacy by engaging with Min Aung Hlaing while failing to implement congressionally mandated sanctions.

Myanmar’s government, installed after elections that rights groups have criticised as a sham, has hired lobbyists to press its case in Washington.