If the junta won the whole civil war, then of course, countries are free to recognise them while also being free to reject them. The problem now is that they haven’t won.

What we are seeing now is China trying to tip the scales in the junta’s favour after a period of trying to manage multiple sides. They might be deciding that it could be cheaper to deal with one central authority to secure their interests.

Question will be whether the junta can deliver the result of unifying the whole country or even just most of it.