"Thailand rejects Chinese request to ban Myanmar mining documentary", 17 Jul 2026

The Thai government rejected a direct request from the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok to block the screening of a documentary detailing severe human rights abuses linked to a Chinese-backed copper mine in Myanmar, press freedom advocates and prominent journalists confirmed this week.

The documentary, produced by DVB in collaboration with the investigative group Myanmar Witness, uses open-source intelligence (OSINT) to detail how Myanmar military forces have violently cleared villages in Sagaing Region to expand the Letpadaung Copper Mine.

The Letpadaung mining complex, located in Sagaing’s Salingyi Township, is a highly controversial joint venture between the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings (UMEHL)—a military conglomerate—and Wanbao Mining, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned defense corporation Norinco.

Jude Foster, the director of Blood Copper, stated that Beijing’s push to silence the film exposes a deep sensitivity regarding the complicity of its state-owned enterprises in the regime’s atrocities.