--- description: Find out why Min Aung Hlaing is one of the 100 most influential people of 2023. title: Min Aung Hlaing: The 100 Most Influential People of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee0cc643efb18b80/698a3bcf457a524a58d6778b/Min-Aung-Hlaing-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 13, 2023 # Min Aung Hlaing by Charlie Campbell  Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing stands in a car as he oversees a military display at a parade ground to mark the country's Independence Day in Naypyidaw on January 4, 2023\. - Myanmar's junta announced an amnesty for 7,000 prisoners to mark Independence Day on January 4 following a show of force in the capital, days after increasing democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi's jail term to 33 years. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images) Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing stands in a car as he oversees a military display at a parade ground to mark the country's Independence Day in Naypyidaw on January 4, 2023\. - Myanmar's junta announced an amnesty for 7,000 prisoners to mark Independence Day on January 4 following a show of force in the capital, days after increasing democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi's jail term to 33 years. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)STR/AFP/Getty Images During a parade to mark Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day on March 27, General [Min Aung Hlaing](https://time.com/5004822/myanmar-rohingya-min-aung-hlaing/ "undefined"), military tunic festooned with medals, inspected thousands of soldiers from an open-top jeep. The display of pomp was a signal of the 66-year-old’s viselike grip over the nation of 54 million since [his February 2021 coup d’état](https://time.com/5934896/myanmar-aung-san-suu-kyi-detained-coup/ "undefined"). From his podium, he warned that the pro-democracy rebels he is embroiled in a blood-soaked campaign against would be “tackled for good and all.” Since the putsch, villages have been terrorized by artillery and air raids, leaving tens of thousands killed and more than a million displaced. Even before he seized power, the U.N. accused him of massacring Rohingya Muslims with “genocidal intent.” Min Aung Hlaing has returned Myanmar to a pariah state and made it the world’s second most authoritarian regime, per the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2022 Democracy Index. Only Taliban-ruled Afghanistan ranked worse. _Campbell is a TIME correspondent_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269857/min-aung-hlaing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269857/min-aung-hlaing/"},"headline":"Min Aung Hlaing","datePublished":"2023-04-13T10:32:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:06.958Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269857/min-aung-hlaing/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","sponsorshipblock","TIME100 2023"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee0cc643efb18b80/698a3bcf457a524a58d6778b/Min-Aung-Hlaing-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee0cc643efb18b80/698a3bcf457a524a58d6778b/Min-Aung-Hlaing-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269857/min-aung-hlaing/","name":"Min Aung Hlaing"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 | The 100 Most Influential People of 2023","description":"See all the people on Time's 2023 Time 100 list","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/P6RIsapV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-04-13T10:30:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/P6RIsapV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269857/min-aung-hlaing/","duration":"PT1M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269857/min-aung-hlaing/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```