This is the best summary I could come up with:

Myanmar’s junta announced on Sunday it had begun a pilot census in 20 townships across the divided country, a move critics say will be used to increase surveillance of opponents.

“We will conduct [a census] from October 1 to 15, 2023, in 20 townships selected in Naypyidaw and other states and regions,” the statement said, referring to the military-built capital but without specifying which areas would be involved.

Critics say the junta will use the census to step up monitoring of opponents of its coup, including thousands of civil servants, doctors and teachers who have not returned to work in protest.

The military has justified its 2021 coup with unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud in 2020 elections won resoundingly by civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).

Ministers asked China — a major ally, arms supplier and operator of a sprawling internal surveillance network — for help last month in implementing the program

The South-East Asian country remains deeply divided by conflict, with civilians caught up in near-daily bomb blasts and fighting.

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