Suu Kyi

China's top diplomat on Saturday arrived on his first visit to Myanmar since the military seized power last year to attend a regional meeting that the government said was a recognition of its legitimacy and opponents protested as a violation of peace efforts.

Thousands of Myanmar anti-coup demonstrators hit the streets on March 7 as the junta regime continued its crackdown, amid overnight raids in parts of Yangon which targeted officials from Aung San Suu Kyi's political party.

Myanmar's military tightened their post-coup grip on power, stepping up a campaign of intimidation against the ousted civilian leadership while pushing harsher tactics as a fifth consecutive day of nationwide demonstrations began on Feb. 10.

Tens of thousands of anti-coup protesters in Myanmar poured back onto the streets on Feb. 7, as an internet blackout failed to stifle growing outrage at the military's ouster of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The fresh rally followed large protests on Feb. 6 across the country condemning the coup that brought a 10-year experiment with democracy to a crashing halt.

Myanmar saw its largest anti-coup protests yet on Feb. 6 with young demonstrators spilling on to the streets to denounce the country's new military regime, despite a nationwide internet blackout aimed at stifling a growing chorus of popular dissent.

The U.N. envoy for Myanmar urged an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Feb. 2 to ensure that "democracy is expeditiously restored" to the Southeast Asian nation, but the United Nations' most powerful body took no immediate action.

Myanmar's military has seized power after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically elected leaders.

In the early hours of Monday, the army's TV station said power had been handed over to commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing.

Suu Kyi and other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) were arrested

Myanmar military television said on Feb. 1 that the military was taking control of the country for one year, while reports said many of the country's senior politicians including Aung San Suu Kyi had been detained.

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not attend the United Nations General Assembly later this month, her spokesman said Wednesday, as the Nobel laureate faces a barrage of criticism over her failure to speak up for Rohingya Muslims fleeing Rakhine state in huge numbers.