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
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