The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar has learnt with regret of an official news release issued on 14 January 2026 by the Office of the President of Timor-Leste, titled “President Mr José Ramos-Horta receives Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) to discuss regional justice and accountability”.
Myanmar recalls that Timor-Leste
invited Zin Mar Aung and members of the “NUG”, which Myanmar has designated as
a terrorist group, to attend the official inauguration ceremony of its new
government held on 1 July 2023 in Dili and President Mr José
Ramos-Horta received them during the ceremony.
Such engagement by a sovereign
state with a terrorist organization opposed to the legitimate Government of
another state constitutes a breach of established international norms. In
response, Myanmar summoned the Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of
Timor-Leste on 5 July 2023 and conveyed him its protest. Subsequently, the
Chargé d’Affaires ad interim was ordered
to leave Myanmar by 1 September 2023. Furthermore, Myanmar sent a letter to all
ASEAN Foreign Ministers informing its objection to Timor-Leste’s application
for ASEAN membership due to Timor-Leste’s failure to adhere to the fundamental
principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter.
In that connection, the Minister
for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Timor-Leste met with Director-General Mr
Kyaw Nyun Oo, head of the Myanmar delegation on 8 July 2025, on the sidelines
of the 58th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and provided
assurances of Timor-Leste’s commitment not to interfere in the internal affairs
of the other ASEAN Member States and to fully respect the fundamental
principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter. The Minister also reaffirmed these
assurances in his letter dated 10 July 2025 addressed to the Deputy Prime
Minister and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs of Myanmar as well as during
the meeting between the two Foreign Ministers on 18 September 2025,
respectively. Due to these commitments of Timor-Leste, Myanmar informed the
Foreign Minister of Malaysia, the then ASEAN Chair, on 9 October 2025, that
Myanmar would no longer object to Timor-Leste’s application for ASEAN
membership and could go along with the ASEAN consensus.
Despite these repeated commitments
not to interfere in the internal affairs of other ASEAN Member States in line
with the fundamental principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter, the recent
engagement of the President of Timor-Leste with the CHRO which submitted a
criminal complaint against the Government of Myanmar to the Public Prosecutor’s
Office in Timor-Leste constitutes blatant interference in Myanmar’s internal
affairs.
The Government of Myanmar,
therefore, registers its condemnation and formal protest against the content,
nature, and implication of the said engagement. The official engagement by the
Government of Timor-Leste with anti-Myanmar Government groups, which spread
misinformation, seek to incite instability, and deliberately undermine peace
and stability in Myanmar, blatantly violates the fundamental principles of the
ASEAN Charter, which obliges Member States to respect sovereignty and to
refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of other ASEAN Member States.
In this regard, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs summoned the Chargés d’Affaires ad interim of the
Embassy of Timor-Leste to Nay Pyi Taw on 16 January 2026, handed over an Aide-Mémoire,
conveying its condemnation and protest against Timor-Leste’s interference in
internal affairs of Myanmar and violation of the fundamental principles of the
ASEAN Charter and asked for a formal clarification from the Government of
Timor-Leste.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nay Pyi Taw
18 January 2026
#TheGlobalNewLightOfMyanmar
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