If you follow money to find true sources of power, you discover China and Russia behind the brutal regime that has for four years presided over Myanmar’s collapse into civil war.

The two countries have sold weapons to the junta that seized control in February 2021, so it was natural for them to answer the call when Senior General Min Aung Hlaing asked for international help after the devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar on Friday.

A Buddhist monk walks near a collapsed pagoda in Mandalay after the Friday’s earthquake.Credit: AP

China and Russia got boots, medical kits and sniffer dogs on the ground, along with India, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. Meanwhile, the United States was struggling to get its boots on.

The world’s richest country was the largest provider of foreign aid until the return of Donald Trump to the White House. But thanks to the sudden dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Trump has left a void on the world stage.

China is already showing itself willing........

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