PHNOM PENH — Myanmar’s military-backed leader, Min Aung Hlaing, is visiting Cambodia on 11 and 12 September in his latest effort to rebuild relations with Southeast Asian governments. Cambodia’s state news agency said the visit would include meetings with Hun Sen and Prime Minister Hun Manet, as well as discussions on bilateral cooperation and regional affairs.

The Associated Press described the trip as part of a campaign to restore Myanmar’s standing inside the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Min Aung Hlaing took power in the 2021 military takeover and was later kept out of top-level ASEAN meetings after failing to comply with the bloc’s peace plan, which called for an end to violence, dialogue, humanitarian assistance and access for an ASEAN envoy.

Cambodia is a significant venue because it has previously tried to use its relationships with Myanmar’s military leadership to revive talks. AP reported that Hun Sen visited Naypyitaw in 2022 when Cambodia held ASEAN’s rotating chairmanship. The visit produced diplomatic attention, but Myanmar’s conflict continued and opposition groups have warned against treating access to the generals as equivalent to progress toward peace.

The current trip also follows Min Aung Hlaing’s swearing-in as president after an election criticised by opponents as a mechanism for entrenching military power. Those criticisms are attributed assessments, not a settled description accepted by all parties. The military-backed government presents the outreach as normal international engagement and says it wants stronger relations with ASEAN members.

For ASEAN, the tension is institutional as much as personal. Engagement can create channels for aid and dialogue; ceremonial normalisation can also weaken the leverage of the bloc’s five-point plan. Cambodia’s meetings will be watched for whether they produce a concrete humanitarian or political step, or simply make a contested government look less isolated.

*Reporting note: this article is based on the source record listed above and is current as of 11 September 2026. Figures and operational claims remain attributed where official or first-day reports can change.*