China-backed election raises fears of 'negative peace' in Myanmar

FILE - A census counter places a sticker at the entrance of a house after collecting information there, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Oct. 1, 2024. The country is holding a national census to compile voter lists for a general election to be held in 2025. FILE - Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun listens during the ASEAN-China defense ministers' meeting in Vientiane, Laos, on Nov. 20, 2024. FILE - Members of an ethnic armed forces group known as the Three Brotherhood Alliance check an army armored vehicle the group allegedly seized from Myanmar's army outpost on a hill in Hsenwi township in Shan state on Nov. 24, 2023.

As Myanmar’s military government prepares for elections in 2025, attention turns to neighboring China, which, critics say, is pressuring Southeast Asian nations to treat the vote as a solution to Myanmar’s ongoing political crisis.