US and Myanmar's Military-Backed Government Held Second Round of Talks in a Month, Sources Say

The United States and Myanmar's military-backed government met in Tokyo last week, people familiar with the talks told Reuters. It was the second round in a month between Washington and the generals it shunned after their 2021 coup.

Three people with knowledge of the engagement disclosed the Tokyo meeting to Reuters, including one US official. All requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the meeting. What the two sides discussed in Tokyo is not clear.

Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research Michael Vance led the US side again, according to one of the people. That person said more than a dozen US officials took part. Reuters could not establish who represented Myanmar.

From Naypyitaw to Tokyo

Vance joined talks with Min Aung Hlaing, the coup leader who is now the country's president, in the capital Naypyitaw on Sept. 15-16, according to Reuters reporting based on seven current and former officials and others familiar with the policy shift. Four of them said the meeting was aimed at securing the release of American businessman Adam Castillo and also provided an opening for further engagement.

Reuters described that meeting as the highest-level contact since the coup. Vance was confirmed as the State Department's top intelligence official in August. The Naypyitaw visit also built on a June meeting between US and Myanmar officials in Tokyo that involved Vance, four people said.

Japan's Foreign Ministry said in an emailed statement it had been "communicating as necessary" with both sides. It declined to comment on specific diplomatic exchanges. It is unclear whether Japan has any stake in the talks beyond playing host.

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment on the Tokyo talks. It says it engages with all groups in Myanmar on issues affecting US interests. Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement: "You don't solve problems by ignoring them. You solve problems by addressing them." A spokesperson for Myanmar's government did not respond to a request for comment.

Scam centers and rare earths

The people familiar with the talks said a major US focus is getting Myanmar's help to shut down scam hubs that run romance and other fraud schemes. Those operations have swindled Americans out of billions of dollars.

Researchers say many of the scam operations sit in areas controlled by army-backed militia, with some proceeds flowing to the military. That raises doubts about whether Myanmar's leaders are serious about enforcement. Myanmar's government says it is participating in a multinational effort to curb the centers.

US officials have also discussed access to Myanmar's large deposits of heavy rare earths, which are used in products ranging from electric vehicles to wind turbines. No agreement on minerals has been confirmed.

US officials acknowledge significant obstacles. The deposits are largely located in territory controlled by ethnic armed groups fighting the military, and China, the main buyer of Myanmar's rare earths, could balk at any US role.

Hunter Marston, Southeast Asia director at the Lowy Institute, said the Tokyo engagement shows the Trump administration views Myanmar through a "purely transactionalist lens." He added: "The critical minerals and rare earths that Myanmar holds are viewed as probably the chief strategic asset that Washington is interested in within Myanmar."

Sanctions and the human rights record

Last week the US lifted sanctions on the daughter of a Myanmar businessman accused of supporting the military, saying the move was part of a new approach to the country.

Min Aung Hlaing himself remains under US sanctions for human rights abuses, including his role in the coup and the crushing of the popular uprising that followed, and the 2016-2017 mass killings and expulsions of Rohingya Muslims that Washington declared a genocide. The United Nations says the armed forces have killed thousands of people in airstrikes since the coup sparked widespread civil war.

Less than two weeks after Vance's Naypyitaw visit, Myanmar's military carried out an airstrike on a crowded marketplace in Rakhine state, killing over 50 people and injuring scores more, according to United Nations human rights officials.

The State Department says it raises the need to cease violence and release political prisoners in its engagement.

Min Aung Hlaing, who has cited electoral fraud to justify the coup and labelled his opponents as terrorists, is seeking international legitimacy for his nominally civilian government, Reuters reported.

A spy chief running policy

Reuters reported that current and former officials say Vance has met players from all sides of Myanmar's conflict and helped shape the administration's policy. Intelligence chiefs do not typically steer policy because of concerns about compromising analytic independence.

Richard Betts, an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who has consulted for US intelligence agencies, put the objection this way: "If you let policy dictate to intelligence, you can't be sure you're getting a real honest assessment of the facts."

Pigott declined to address Vance's role but said the administration "operates as a team with the president as the lead."

Reuters said the outreach underscores a broader Trump-administration foreign policy tilt away from democracy promotion towards transactional engagement. Rare earths, scam networks and a detained American are concrete interests. The deposits lie largely in territory held by rebel groups, China is the main buyer, and the government at the negotiating table does not control that ground. Whether any minerals arrangement can survive that combination is the open question.