China-Burma-US relations

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Title: Is Naypyidaw setting the agenda in US-China-Burma relations?
Description: "Since 1988, when Burma appeared to abandon its strictly neutral foreign policy and drew closer to China, contacts between the two countries have been watched closely. Bilateral ties have developed and matured, as has their analysis, which has begun to include consideration of the US?s interests and possible role. Questions as to how Burma?s relations with China have changed over the past 25 years, and what factors may have played a role in this process, were highlighted at a conference staged last week by the ANU?s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre..."
Creator/author: Andrew Selth
Source/publisher: "The Interpreter"
Date of publication: 2015-09-18
Date of entry/update: 2015-09-19
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 135.44 KB
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Title: China and the USA bid to win over the Myanmar junta
Description: "You’re the military dictator in Myanmar. You can have offers of friendship or condemnation; diplomatic relations or an appointment at the International Court of Justice; fighter jets or sanctions. Which are you going to choose? It’s not a difficult decision for Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, head of the Tatmadaw – Myanmar’s military. He led the February 2021 coup, which deposed the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy. Since then, a nationwide armed insurgency by several ethnic groups has grown in intensity. The military leadership has reacted with increasing ferocity, including launching repeated airstrikes on villages and continuing the persecution of the Rohingya Muslims. China offers friendship, ambassadors and fighter jets, which is why it will win the tug of war for the minds, if not the hearts, of the junta based in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw. There are about one million people of Chinese origin in Myanmar, many of whom are among the economic elite and have close ties with the military government. The Americans can’t even dream of such access. In June, Washington imposed its latest round of sanctions on Myanmar, targeting the defence ministry and two state-owned banks that it said were facilitating the junta’s weapons purchases (in this case, from Russia). The USA calls for an end to human rights abuses, a negotiated settlement of the conflict and, eventually, a democratic federal government. It holds out the carrots of diplomatic assistance in achieving these goals and investment after a return to democracy. The Americans would like to have Myanmar onside as part of its ‘pivot’ to the Indo-Pacific and to block Chinese influence. At times, the junta (in previous iterations) has shown an interest in economic partnerships with Western investors. However, it’s a tough neighbourhood with a lot going on, and there’s only so much ‘bandwidth’ in any country’s foreign ministry. Washington views Myanmar as a secondary regional issue and is reluctant to drop its insistence on a return to democracy. Conversely, Naypyidaw’s dictatorship won’t cede power and so believes it can’t rely on the democratic countries to dig it out of its economic crisis. Last year, the economy shrank by 18 per cent and the country is now suffering soaring inflation. Reluctantly, therefore, the junta looks to Beijing, which, in return, makes offers that Naypyidaw is in no position to refuse. July should see the completion of a survey assessing the environmental impact of a US$1.3 billion project to build a deep-water seaport and economic zone in the coastal city of Kyaukphu. Despite evidence that it will destroy natural habitats, fish stocks and livelihoods, the project will likely be approved. Once built (over 20 years), it will link Kyaukphu via road and rail across central Myanmar, up through mountainous Shan State and into the landlocked Chinese province of Yunnan 1,600 kilometres away. This link will give China direct access to the Indian Ocean, which will reduce both its shipping costs and its current reliance on the narrow and congested Strait of Malacca, through which most of its energy supplies pass and which it knows could be easily blockaded. Shan State, which borders Yunnan, has always been the gateway for Chinese influence in Myanmar. Its Kokang region, which used to be part of China, is hard up against the border and mostly populated by ethnic Han Chinese, of whom there are about 150,000. One of the numerous ethnic groups fighting the Tatmadaw is the MNDAA, which is based in Kokang. Interestingly, the group has been receiving Chinese-made weapons via Yunnan, which suggests that Beijing might be keeping a foot in both camps to secure its long-term interests in creating the Myanmar corridor to the Indian Ocean. Following its facilitation of the Saudi/Iranian rapprochement and offers to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, it also means President Xi can position himself as a potential peacemaker in Myanmar. Watching this with some alarm is India. It, too, won’t condemn the junta and has maintained diplomatic relations in a bid to prevent China from gaining too much influence. However, economically, it can’t match China’s firepower. Its GDP is around US$3.75 trillion, whereas China can boast above US$17 trillion. Myanmar? US$65 billion. Another easy choice for the Tatmadaw. An easy choice for China as well. It adds Myanmar to the short but growing list of countries it can count on for diplomatic support, it blocks the Americans, gets access to the Indian Ocean and further builds out its now global Belt and Road project..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Geopolitical
Date of publication: 2023-07-20
Date of entry/update: 2023-07-20
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Title: New US Diplomatic Complex in Thailand Aimed at China and Myanmar
Description: "No one doubts that the American community in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, which consists mostly of NGO workers, missionaries and retirees, needs consular services. But could that be the only reason why a massive, new United States (US) Consulate General is under construction at a cost of US$300 million? Due to be opened in 2023, the buildings of the diplomatic mission will sprawl over no less than 6.6 acres, or 26,709 square meters, of land in a business park on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. In a colorful, online brochure, the US Consul General in Chiang Mai describes the project as “a concrete sign of our long-term commitment to the people of northern Thailand and the future of our partnership” and the text goes on to state that the US Consulate General is “dedicated to serving the local American community or those wishing to travel to the United States”. While all of that may be accurate, Michael Vatikiotis, a Singapore-based British analyst, argues in an op-ed piece for Nikkei Asia on January 7 that Beijing sees the construction of a such a huge diplomatic complex only 500 kilometers from the Chinese border and even closer to Myanmar and Laos “as an attempt to reinforce existing US intelligence gathering capacity in northern Thailand”. Covert US activity of that kind would fit into the broader picture of geostrategic rivalries in the region. The rise of China as an economic and political superpower in Asia has been met by the formation of new alliances in the region. The first was the Quad, or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which was set up in 2007 and brings the US together with Japan, India and Australia. Then, on September 15 last year, the formation of AUKUS, or the Australia-United Kingdom-United States pact, was announced with the specific purpose of coordinating activities in the spheres of “cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and additional underwater capabilities.” Under the terms of the pact, the US and the UK will help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines. Both pacts are widely seen as efforts to counter China’s influence in the contested South China Sea and the Chinese navy’s increasingly frequent forays into the Indian Ocean. That was not lost on Beijing, who especially condemned the establishment of AUKUS. Only two days after the announcement of the pact, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the alliance risked “severely damaging regional peace… and intensifying the arms race.” He also criticised what he called “the obsolete Cold War… mentality” of the pact’s members and warned them that they were “hurting their own interests.” In an editorial published in the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times on September 30, the rhetoric was even blunter and more vitriolic: “The three countries, drawing lines based on ideology, have built a new military bloc that will heighten geopolitical tensions. The international community rejects the Cold War and its divisions, but the US blatantly violates its political claims of not engaging in any new Cold War and gangs up with others to create a small Anglo-Saxon ‘clique,’ putting geopolitical self-interest above international solidarity. This is a typical Cold War mentality”. The editorial also warned of the danger of an escalating arms race: “The move will spur regional countries to accelerate the development of military capabilities, and even seek to break the nuclear threshold and increase the risk of military conflict. The US, on the one hand, hands out sanctions and suppresses some countries to pressure them not to develop nuclear capabilities, while on the other hand flagrantly transferring nuclear technologies to non-nuclear states. This is a typical double standard”. The Global Times editorial did not expand on the reference to the possibility of nuclear proliferation, and Australia will certainly not become a nuclear power just because it is about to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. But the harsh rhetoric shows how concerned China’s government is, and that the battlelines in the new Cold War are becoming clearer. China is seen as the enemy of a range of countries which consider themselves guardians of democratic values. Needless to say, there are also competing economic interests between China and its adversaries. An increasingly affluent Asia is a huge market for consumer goods and the region is rich in natural and mineral resources which many countries are eager to exploit. That competition can be seen also on land and it’s no coincidence that Chiang Mai has been chosen as a strategic listening post in the region. And in that regard, it appears that old ghosts have come alive again. The Americans first set up a diplomatic mission in Chiang Mai in 1950, and it was then mainly an intelligence station that coordinated support for nationalist Chinese, Kuomintang, forces that had retreated into Shan State in eastern Myanmar after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. A string of bases was established just across the border in Shan State and, to the north, along the Chinese border. The tiny airstrip at Möng Hsat opposite Thailand’s Chiang Rai province was transformed into a formidable air base capable of receiving C-46 and C-47 transport planes, which brought in arms, ammunition, and medical supplies. This dramatic build-up was a joint venture between the Republic of China’s Kuomintang government, which still controlled the island of Taiwan, and the US security authorities to encircle and try to reconquer the Chinese mainland. But the effort failed miserably. The Shan State-based “secret Kuomintang” army attempted on no less than seven occasions in the early 1950s to invade neighboring Yunnan Province in China, but was repeatedly driven back across the border. Then came the wars in Indochina, and the US consulate in Chiang Mai oversaw the gathering of human as well as signals intelligence in the region. Local agents were sent across the border and the Americans together with the Thais had an extensive network of listening posts in northern Thailand. The main such facility was located at Ramasun, 20 kilometers south of Udon Thani in northeastern Thailand. That base was first established in 1966 but then as an outpost for the main facility in Bangkok. In 1970, it was upgraded to an AN/FLR-9 Circular Disposed Antenna Array (CDAA) station, a large, circular array of Wullenweber antennas commonly referred to by the nickname “Elephant Cage” because its shape resembled an elephant kraal. The Ramasun facility picked up radio traffic from Laos, southern China and North Vietnam and monitored Chinese military movements in the region. Most importantly, it served as a military intelligence terminal for communications between the US and its various intelligence sites in Southeast and East Asia. A similar signals intelligence facility was established near Lampang, 108 kilometers south of Chiang Mai, for the specific purpose of monitoring radio traffic in northern Myanmar and Yunnan. American Chinese language experts translated intercepted messages into English, and Burmese-speaking Shans translated messages in Burmese into Thai and English. A major target at that time was the China-supported Communist Party of Burma (CPB). There was always the possibility of a linkup between the CPB and the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT), which would open a direct route for arms flowing down from China and into Southeast Asia. China’s plan at the time was to use Myanmar as a springboard to reach not only the CPT but, at least until the 1960s, communist movements in Malaya (now Malaysia) and Indonesia. The “Elephant Cage” at Ramasun was officially dismantled in 1976, a year after the end of the Indochina wars and, in 1975, Thailand also switched recognition to the People’s Republic of China from the Republic of China (Taiwan). The Americans withdrew and the Thais took over operation of the Ramasun and Lampang facilities. Over the years, the “Elephant Cages” became obsolete and, in May 1986, the very last of them, in Alaska, was decommissioned. Today, there are more advanced and sophisticated ways of monitoring movements in cyberspace, as well as on the ground. The current US mission in Chiang Mai is located in old buildings overlooking the banks of the Ping River. Some of them were built over a hundred years ago and then called the Chedi Ngam Palace, or the Beautiful Pagoda Palace. The compound once served as the residence of the last ruler of northern Thailand, Chao Kaew Nawarat, who died in 1939. After that it became government property and, eleven years later, the Americans moved in and turned it into a consulate. But it is important to remember that it remained a consulate until 1986 and only then became a Consulate General, or a proper foreign service mission. Before 1986, it was effectively an intelligence station, although it also provided consular services. It is anybody’s guess what roles the new US Consulate General will play when it opens its doors next year. Apart from the obvious — that people will go there to get visas, for cultural events and to visit its libraries — intelligence gathering will most certainly be a top priority. Myanmar-watching will remain one of the consulate general’s main tasks, albeit in a different context as China no longer exports revolution. But Beijing’s expanding economic empire requires political protection and therefore also influence in its neighboring countries. Myanmar is right there, between Thailand and China, and the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor is China’s only direct access to the Indian Ocean. Already in 2017, China’s then Consul General in Chiang Mai, Ren Yisheng, talked about Beijing’s multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative, at the city’s university. Two years later, Ren attended a similar conference in Chiang Rai with the emphasis on development in the so-called Greater Mekong Sub-region, which includes parts of southern China, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. Even China appears to have made Chiang Mai and their Consulate General there a base for their plans for the region. Chinese boats with armed police, seen by this correspondent, are also now for the first time in history venturing down the Mekong River, almost as far as the riverine junction where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet. That may not be perceived as a major threat to the region, but it is nevertheless a new development that China’s adversaries would be keen to monitor. And while the US has strongly condemned last year’s February 1 coup in Myanmar, China is cozying up to the generals. In August, China transferred US$6 million to Myanmar to be used for projects and programs within Beijing’s Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Framework, seemingly a tiny gesture but important in the broader scheme of things. Then there are the insurgencies inside Myanmar where China maintains close links with the United Wa State Army while its rival, the Restoration Council of Shan State, receives most of its supplies from Thailand. The new Cold War may not yet be as hot as the previous one sometimes was, but it is clear that the Americans and their Quad and AUKUS allies are building a bulwark against China and that the construction of a new US Consulate General in Chiang Mai is part of that strategy. But we can only wait and see what that means for the region — and especially for troubled and vulnerable Myanmar. There’s still a long way to go before we could see a return to the open confrontations of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. But, once again, Myanmar may well find itself in the midst of a geopolitical storm..."
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Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2022-01-24
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-24
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Title: U.S. and China Reach Deal to Block Myanmar’s Junta From U.N.
Description: "The United States and China have brokered an agreement that will effectively block Myanmar’s military rulers from addressing the United Nations’ General Assembly next week, according to diplomats, dealing a blow to the junta’s quest for international legitimacy after it took power in a coup earlier this year. But the pact—which was hammered out during weeks of behind-the-scenes diplomatic negotiations—will require Myanmar’s defiant, still-serving U.N. ambassador who represented the previous government to hold his tongue during the high-level event, refraining from the tough rhetoric he deployed last year in denouncing the military’s power grab. It will also delay any effort by Myanmar’s rulers to press for U.N. membership to recognize it as the legitimate government in Myanmar, at least until November. The arrangement, which was described by multiple diplomatic sources and representatives of advocacy groups familiar with internal deliberations, has been informally endorsed by representatives of the European Union, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Russia. It comes as the U.N. General Assembly plans to announce the appointment of a nine-member panel on U.N. credentials on Tuesday, which will be charged with determining the rightful U.N. representative of Myanmar. The committee will be chaired by weden and include representatives from Bhutan, the Bahamas, Chile, China, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and the United States. If there is a credential dispute, the incumbent representative keeps his or her seat until a decision is assessed by the credentialing committee and approved by the General Assembly, according to General Assembly rules. The United States and its European allies were concerned that a country sympathetic to the military regime’s claims might appeal to the credential committees to take up the matter before its first scheduled meeting in November. They are hoping to delay any decision on Myanmar’s representation as long as possible, preserving a diplomatic stalemate that ensures Myanmar’s current ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, will maintain his right to Myanmar’s U.N. seat. “We’re interested in keeping the status quo as long as we can,” said one diplomat from a country involved in the discussions. In a brief telephone interview, Kyaw Moe Tun confirmed that international negotiations are underway to determine how to move forward on Myanmar’s U.N. seat. He said he would “most likely not” deliver an address to the U.N. General Assembly, even though the list of speakers for the assembly includes Myanmar along with other countries that face questions about their diplomatic standing, such as Afghanistan, Guinea, and North Korea. “We are still waiting for some sort of outcome from the discussions within the credentials committee,” Kyaw Moe Tun added. The deal involved an arrangement in which U.N. member states would agree to put off any discussion in the U.N. Credentials Committee of the military junta’s diplomatic status until after the U.N.’s annual diplomatic jamboree. In the meantime, Kyaw Moe Tun, who has faced death threats since publicly breaking with the military regime, has agreed not to address the assembly during the session or sit in Myanmar’s seat in the General Assembly. In the telephone interview, Kyaw Moe Tun did not confirm whether Myanmar’s seat will remain empty during the high-level debate. But he said, “now, everything is OK with regard to my security.” In August, the United States arrested and accused two Burmese citizens with conspiracy to assault and possibly kill Kyaw Moe Tun. The alleged plan—which involved tampering with the ambassador’s car—involved a Thai weapons dealer who did business with Myanmar’s military, according to court papers. This behind-the-scenes diplomacy sheds light on how the United States and its allies are seeking to maintain pressure on the ruling junta in the aftermath of the military coup that ousted the elected government in February. It also reflects how seemingly simple logistical matters—such as who gets credentials to speak at an event—can turn into tricky diplomatic battles at the United Nations. The agreement to freeze the military junta out of U.N. deliberations also provides fresh evidence that the United States and China are looking to find areas of diplomatic cooperation, even as they clash over a range of other matters, including China’s detention of millions of Uyghur Muslims in labor and reeducation camps in Xinjiang, a policy the Biden administration has characterized as genocide. Discussion on the fate of Myanmar’s diplomatic representation will be put off until at least November, when the U.N. Credentials Committee will convene to consider a request by Myanmar’s military regime to install its chosen envoy to represent Myanmar at the world body. “What we are hearing, and this seems to be increasingly solid, is that the credential committee will defer. They will say they can’t draw a firm conclusion now, and that will encourage [Kyaw Moe Tun] to stay on,” said Richard Gowan, the U.N. representative at the International Crisis Group. But Kyaw Moe Tun will not represent the country’s National Unity Government, made up of ousted Burmese leaders and anti-coup protesters. “Apparently, there has been a quiet gentleman’s agreement that the current ambassador will keep a low profile during [this] high-level week and won’t use it as an opportunity to attack the regime,” Gowan added. Myanmar’s military rulers seized power on Feb. 1, jailing senior government leaders, including then-Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, after her party won an overwhelming election victory. The military claimed it removed the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party from power in February because it ignored allegations of fraud in the country’s elections last November. International observers at the time described the elections, where the NLD soundly defeated the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, as mostly free and fair. Kyaw Moe Tun refused to recognize the new regime, denouncing it in an emotional address before the U.N. General Assembly. Flashing the three finger symbol of the Burmese resistance, Kyaw Moe Tun urged the international community to use “any means necessary” to restore democracy in Myanmar. The diplomat then ignored a late-February decision by the regime to fire him and has continued to act as Myanmar’s official representative at the United Nations. The military junta’s choice to represent it at the United Nations, Aung Thurein, has not been able to secure accreditation for the post at the United Nations. The credentialing matter emerged as one of many diplomatic proxy battles for Myanmar’s new rulers as they try to garner international legitimacy after the coup. Human rights organizations and prominent civil society activists in Myanmar have called on the international community to pressure the junta to withdraw from its power grab and reinstate the former government. “The military junta has no democratic legitimacy: It is unable to establish government functions, it does not have effective control over the territory of Myanmar, and it is a persistent perpetrator of international crimes,” wrote more than 350 Myanmar and international civil society groups in a letter to the U.N. Credentials Committee last week. But there is growing fear that aftershocks from the coup could trigger a civil war. Earlier this week, the National Unity Government aligned with deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, calling for support in a “people’s defensive war” to challenge the junta’s rule. A new spate of violence in recent days between the military and opposing militias killed at least 20 people, Reuters reported. Despite the fighting, the United Nations has yet to table a resolution on Myanmar’s situation, with China and Russia still keeping ties with the regime in Naypyidaw. Some in Washington see the effort to keep the junta away from the U.N. gathering as a key step to denying it further international legitimacy. “It would be useful to ensure that the Tatmadaw [military] does not have representatives at the U.N., as you know, because I think that gives them automatic credibility,” said one congressional committee aide, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It’s something we don’t want to see.” The former government was widely condemned by the international community for not preventing the country’s military from orchestrating a widespread ethnic cleansing campaign against its Muslim minority population, prompting hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. Even so, protests swept through the country following the coup, and the military unleashed a massive campaign to crack down on demonstrators, which left an estimated 1,000 people dead and thousands more detained..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Foreign Policy" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-09-13
Date of entry/update: 2021-09-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: The case for a US missile strike on Myanmar
Sub-title: US could not unilaterally invoke 'R2P' to intervene in Myanmar's crisis but that doesn't mean the military option is off the table
Description: "Nearly 80 days and 800 deaths after the military coup of February 1, two divergent trendlines have emerged to define the future contours of Myanmar’s crisis: brutal reassertion of control by the military junta over a political and economic wasteland; or descent into civil war pitting the junta against a nascent coalition of forces fighting for federal democracy. Less noted and earlier in the crisis dismissed as quixotic, there is also however a third wild-card scenario involving action aimed at deflecting both of those two disastrous trajectories: foreign intervention to engage Myanmar’s generals in the only language they have ever understood or respected – military power. Impelled by the looming prospect of state collapse and humanitarian catastrophe as an inflexible Tatmadaw ratchets up its repression, the logic of external intervention in the form of US missile strikes against military targets is assuming a compelling momentum. As one well-placed Singapore-based analyst conceded: “We’re in such dire territory now that almost nothing is off-limits.” In the weeks following the putsch through February and into March many, including this writer, saw reassertion of control by the junta, known as the State Administration Council (SAC), as the most probable outcome. The argument was based on an assessment of four salient facets of the Tatmadaw as a military organization: its ample resources, institutional cohesion, proven ruthlessness and unblinking sense of mission. All of these characteristics had been amply demonstrated in earlier periods of popular protest. Where the assessment fell down was in underestimating the extraordinary courage and resilience of ordinary citizens. Led by a youthful vanguard armed with modern communications technology, hundreds of thousands who saw their future being torn away by the same military that between 1962 and 2011 had reduced their country to an economic basket case took to the streets in peaceful protest. This sustained outpouring of anger forced the military to move from relative restraint in the first weeks after the coup to a more characteristic resort to battlefield violence involving first targeted killings using rifles and finally open massacres with machine guns, grenades and rocket launchers..."
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Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication: 2021-04-21
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: US loses Myanmar to China
Description: "FOR the Southeast Asian state of Myanmar, the decision to expand ties with China despite Western pressure was a no-brainer. Significant economic ties have been expanded and the prospect for several large-scale infrastructure projects has been firmed up. Chinese president Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Myanmar could be considered a victory lap of sorts; the cementing of long-standing and ever-expanding ties between Myanmar and China and the final displacement of significant US and British influence in the former British colony. An op-ed on China’s CGTN website titled, ‘Xi’s New Year visit to Myanmar: A milestone in bilateral relations,’ would help frame the significance of president Xi’s visit while comparing and contrasting Myanmar’s ties with China and the US. The op-ed would note that president Xi’s trip to Myanmar was his first major trip abroad made during 2020. It is also the first major visit by a Chinese leader to Myanmar in nearly 20 years. Even US proxies can’t deny America’s decline THE op-ed also noted that Myanmar’s state counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, picked China for her first major visit abroad after her National League for Democracy party came to power in 2016. To understand the significance of this it is important to understand that Suu Kyi and her rise to power were primarily driven by support from Washington. She and her political party along with a large army of US government-funded fronts posing as nongovernmental organisations and US-funded media networks were selected and groomed for decades by Washington to seize power and serve as a vector for US special interests both in Myanmar itself and as a point of leverage versus Beijing. However, despite America’s expertise in political meddling, what it lacks is, as the op-ed calls it, any concrete economic pillars; something China does have on offer. No matter how much covert or overt financial and political support any client regime in Myanmar may receive from Washington it does not address the genuine need for real development within Myanmar itself. Without such development and the financial and economic incentives it brings with it, enemies and allies of the client regime alike will turn towards those who can offer such incentives..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "newagebd.net"
Date of publication: 2020-07-02
Date of entry/update: 2020-07-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Under the Shadow of China-US Competition: Myanmar and Thailand’s Alignment Choices
Description: "...These comparisons of three of Thailand and Myanmar’s respective alignment choices since the end of WWII demonstrate the crucial intermix between domestic politics and international structural factors. Owing to their unique political histories and domestic power contests, the two countries pursued different foreign policy choices during the initial years of the Cold War. Thailand relied on a close alliance with the United States, while Myanmar, then Burma, stayed neutral. Such initial choices certainly had a lingering effect on later government. We have seen that after 1962 the Ne Win government carried the neutralist policy further still to one of self-isolation. As to Thailand’s case, the alliance relationship certainly empowered the country’s military, leading to a succession of military governments during the Cold War that further entrenched Thailand’s foreign policy orientation towards Washington. Domestic political crises in Myanmar, however, eventually pushed the military government first to seek a closer engagement with China, so as to fend off Western pressure on its government, and then, two decades later, to seek re-engagement with the United States in efforts to balance China’s preponderance. After its alliance with the United States, Thailand stayed close to the American side through to the Sino–US rapprochement. But since the end of Cold War, and the divergence of Thailand and the US’s interests in the region, Thailand has pursued an increasingly independent foreign policy..."
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Date of publication: 2018-02-08
Date of entry/update: 2020-04-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Counter to BRI? Why India-US’ thrust on Blue Dot Network will make China see red
Sub-title: Indian and foreign media may have missed it but the US-India joint statement will most certainly be scrutinised closely by Beijing for anti-China content.
Description: "Both the Indian and foreign media coverage of US President Donald Trump’s India visit went on and on about his mention of Delhi riots and Pakistan – but almost entirely overlooked the reference to the Blue Dot Network, which has given rise to growing unease in Beijing. The mellifluous language of the joint statement centres on a ‘Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership’ tick boxing the expected military, space, and energy cooperation, as well as concern about the high debt situation in developing countries and the need for “responsible, transparent and sustainable financing practises”. That’s diplomatic language to refer to the dire situation faced by countries like Sri Lanka and the Maldives due to heavy debts to China.The next few lines refer to the Blue Dot Network as a “a multi-stakeholder initiative that will bring governments, the private sector, and civil society together to promote high-quality trusted standards for global infrastructure development”. That might seem rather tame, but here’s the carrot. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) expects that infrastructure development needs in the Indo-Pacific alone could be worth about $1.7 trillion per year through 2030. That’s what the Chinese are after. And now it seems, everyone else wants a slice of the pie, and the influence that goes with it..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Print" (India)
Date of publication: 2020-02-28
Date of entry/update: 2020-03-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Will India join U.S. counter to China’s BRI?
Sub-title: China’s overseas projects funded by debt from its own infrastructure banks are now viewed with trepidation, by both recipient countries for the potential debt trap.
Description: "Global business and strategy analysts will be watching with keen interest any attempts US President Donald Trump makes to convince India to join its ambitious plan to counter China’s ‘Silk Route’ programme of port and highway constructions. Last November, the US, Japan and Australia unveiled the ‘Blue Dot’ infrastructure network, ostensibly to certify and promote infrastructure development, but in reality, it was to take on China’s BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) that is currently building a chain of roads and ports connecting most of the world to Beijing. The Western alternative has been in the making for some time as nations have voiced alarm at the cheque-book diplomacy of China through its BRI projects and their security ramifications. Soon after Blue Dot’s launch, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross lost no time in pointing out that American direct investment into Asia had topped $1.6 trillion and that “our numbers will only get bigger”. It was quickly noted by China’s Global Times, which said, “Although China was not mentioned by name, it’s widely suspected that Washington’s new plan is directed against the China proposed BRI.” China’s pique is natural as analysts say Blue Dot could be backed with funding by Japan’s JICA and America’s newly founded International Development Finance Corporation and Ausaid, not to mention a host of global development finance windows backed by the West..."
Source/publisher: "The New Indian Express" (India)
Date of publication: 2020-02-25
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-25
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Title: Can Xi Jinping’s visit help China cash in on Myanmar’s image crisis?
Sub-title: Chinese president’s two-day trip comes as nations mark 70 years of diplomatic ties...US sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders over alleged ‘serious human rights abuses’ described as a blow to Southeast Asian nation’s dignity.
Description: "Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar this week is special in several ways. It is Xi’s first overseas trip of the year and the first visit to the Southeast Asian country by a Chinese president since 2001. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of formal diplomatic ties between the two countries. A recent Xinhua commentary said that “a good neighbour is better than a far dwelling relative”, referring to China’s ties with Myanmar. Some observers view geopolitics concerning Myanmar in black-and-white terms: a National League for Democracy (NLD) government would lead to closer ties with the West and less so with China. The Rakhine issue effectively put paid to such earlier prognosis. If anything, there has yet to be any respite to the general downturn in relations between Myanmar and the West. In fact, the situation has worsened. Following a round of sanctions by Western powers in 2018, the US treasury department last month imposed new sanctions against Myanmar’s top military leaders over alleged “serious human rights abuses”, a move that Myanmar’s military (the Tatmadaw) criticised as “targeted political pressure” which “hurt the dignity” of the military. A month earlier, the Tatmadaw was accused by the US of possessing chemical weapons..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication: 2020-01-19
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Six BRI Projects in Myanmar to Monitor During Chinese President Xi’s Trip
Topic: agreements, Belt and Road initiative, BRI, China, China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, CMEC, infrastructure projects, Investment, President Xi Jinping, visit
Topic: agreements, Belt and Road initiative, BRI, China, China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, CMEC, infrastructure projects, Investment, President Xi Jinping, visit
Description: "Chinese President Xi Jinping will land in Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar, on Friday looking to secure more agreements on key strategic projects under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), a part of China’s ambitious infrastructure plan for the region. Xi will be the first Chinese president to visit China’s southern neighbor in nearly two decades. During his trip on Jan. 17-18, the two countries are expected to sign dozens of agreements, paving the way for the implementation of the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a key strategic component of the CMEC, and border economic cooperation zones, road upgrade projects, promotion of trade relations, and social and economic development assistance. The 1,700-kilometer-long CMEC will start in Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan Province, go through Myanmar’s major economic cities—Mandalay in central Myanmar and the commercial capital of Yangon—and reach the coast at the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rakhine State. Here, The Irrawaddy looks at six projects slated for implementation this year and which require careful monitoring due to ethnic conflicts, local disagreements, and social and environmental impacts—including the controversial Myitsone Dam project, on which a final decision could be made during Xi’s trip..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2020-01-13
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: U.S. Government Will Limit Exports of Artificial Intelligence
Description: "The U.S. government will take steps next week to limit the export of artificial intelligence (AI) software. The decision by the Trump administration comes at a time when powerful rival nations, such as China, are becoming increasingly dominant in the field. The move is meant to keep certain sensitive technologies from falling into the hands of those nations. The new rule goes into effect on January 6, 2020, and it will be aimed at certain companies that export geospatial imagery software from the United States. Those companies will be required to apply for a license to export it. The only exception is that a license will not be required to export to Canada. The new measure was the first of its kind to be finalized by the Commerce Department under a mandate from a 2018 law passed by Congress. That law updated arms controls to include emerging technology. The new rules will likely have an effect on a growing part of the tech industry. These algorithms are currently being used in order to analyze satellite images of crops, trade patterns and other changes within the economy and environment. Chinese companies are responsible for having exported artificial intelligence surveillance technology to over 60 countries. Some of those countries have dismal human rights records and include Iran, Myanmar, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Unite.ai"
Date of publication: 2020-01-05
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Chinese money, US human rights: in Myanmar’s Kachin State, a delicate balance
Sub-title: Far from the front lines of the US-China trade war, the resource-rich Kachin is the scene of a familiar struggle for influence between the two superpowers...China has invested heavily, but for some locals development has come at a cost
Description: "While the US-China trade war plays to the audience on the global stage, behind the scenes the two superpowers are engaged in a unique tug of war for influence in one of the world’s more remote corners. Myitkyina, the capital of Myanmar’s Kachin State about 1,200km north of Yangon, rarely features on tourist bucket lists. Despite its verdant scenery and dynamic culture and traditions, it suffers from high rates of poverty and drug addiction, and has been the scene of a conflict between the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar military which has displaced an estimated 100,000 people since a 17-year ceasefire collapsed in 2011. Yet recently not one, but two high-profile visitors arrived in the space of just days. US Ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel and a delegation from the US Embassy held a Myitkyina Road Show in November that included a jobs and opportunities fair, a workshop with the agricultural sector, and a meeting with veterans who fought alongside US troops in World War II. Marciel said the embassy wanted to work with the Kachin people “in support of freedom, democracy, human rights and economic progress”, and that the US was “committed to implementing development programmes in an open, transparent manner … to listen and learn”..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication: 2020-01-12
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Global Political Calendar: Xi Jinping's visit to Myanmar, final Democratic debate
Description: "Chinese President Xi Jinping pays a state visit to Myanmar; the United States holds final Democratic debate. Xi's Myanmar visit: At the invitation of Myanmar's President U Win Myint, Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a two-day state visit to Myanmar on January 17 and 18, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Friday. It is the first visit by a Chinese president to Myanmar in 19 years. During his visit, Xi is expected to meet Myanmar's President U Win Myint, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and officials from Myanmar's Assembly of the Union and the military, vice foreign minister Luo Zhaohui said at a media briefing on Friday..."
Source/publisher: "China Global Television Network (CGTN)" (China)
Date of publication: 2020-01-12
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: China's Challenge to America’s Political and Economic Liberal Order
Sub-title: American apathy in world affairs may be the silver bullet that hands-off systemic leadership to the Chinese. With growing structural capacities, China is able to propagate a new means of conducting world politics, one of a distinctly authoritarian variant.
Description: "China’s successful economic and geopolitical rise has positioned Beijing to push an agenda that is antithetical to America’s political and economic liberal order. China is no longer a rising power, but rather a peer competitor with the United States fighting to maximize security and global clout. Meanwhile, the United States remains distracted by domestic political polarization and protracted foreign wars. What does this lack of American engagement and increasing Chinese ambition mean for the global order? This is not another piece on America’s “lost hegemony.” Instead, it is representative of aggressive Chinese ambition and coercive economic diplomacy. Perhaps a more relevant scenario to explore would be: if China rolled tanks into Hong Kong tomorrow to quell the persisting pro-democracy demonstrations, how would the international community react? Would the United States be able to draw a red line for China?..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The National Interest" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-01-06
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar tycoon open to foreign investment in wake of Ayala deal
Description: "Myanmar tycoon Win Aung is open to foreign investment in the listed industrial-estate provider he oversees, following Ayala Corp's tie-up with a firm traded on the nation's fledgling stock exchange. In an interview in Yangon, Win Aung said a stake sale is an option as he plans to expand Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings, which operates a manufacturing zone where 109 firms have opened factories or plan to do so. "We'll need more capital and technology," Win Aung, the firm's chairman, said on Thursday (Nov 28). "Detailed plans will be revealed later after the authorities officially allow foreigner participation on the Yangon Stock Exchange." Myanmar is trying to expand a stunted bourse that currently has just five stocks by allowing overseas purchases of domestic equities from 2020. The Philippines' oldest conglomerate Ayala is investing in one of those five - First Myanmar Investment - via an US$82.5 million convertible loan that will become a 20 per cent shareholding when rules permit. The four-year-old Thilawa special economic zone is viewed by some as the largest in Myanmar. Japanese, Thai and Malaysian firms account for the bulk of the factories located there, according to Win Aung..."
Source/publisher: "The Straits Times" (Singapore)
Date of publication: 2019-11-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Trade War Incentive Schemes in ASEAN
Topic: The US-China trade war.
Topic: The US-China trade war.
Description: "ASEAN members have issued a variety of incentives to attract investors affected by the US-China trade war. These incentives come in the form of tax breaks as well as initiatives to improve the investment climate. Investors should seek the help of registered advisors to better understand which incentives are beneficial for their business. Governments across ASEAN have been unveiling an array of incentive packages to entice businesses affected by the US-China trade war. Countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia have introduced tax breaks and initiatives to improve the ease of doing business whereas Vietnam, Singapore, and Cambodia have accelerated business reforms, such as executing free trade agreements (FTAs), and double taxation agreements (DTAs). We consolidate and briefly discusses the development of each country’s incentives over the past year. The developments showcase how ASEAN members are distinguishing themselves from the fellow competition and what opportunities are available for investors looking elsewhere in Asia..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "ASEAN Briefing"
Date of publication: 2019-11-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Australia-US Relations: Focussed on Balancing China?
Description: "At the annual Australia-US Ministerial meeting (AUSMIN) 2019, US Secretary of Defence, Mike Esper and US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, presented a proposal to use Australia as part of the US’ Asia-Pacific regional defence network against Chinese expansionism. Mike Esper stated that ‘the US would like to place either long-range or cruise missiles’ in Australia. Despite ruling out this notion, Australia’s defence minister, Linda Reynolds, did not completely preclude the deployment of US military hardware, adding, ’The presence of the US and its military forces in this region has been a force for stability for decades, and Australia has consistently welcomed that force and presence.’ Although China remains Australia’s biggest trading partner, the South China Sea issue, along with Beijing’s push for aggressive economic development and acquisition of strategic maritime assets in Southeast Asian countries, have raised concerns about its intentions. Furthermore, the Darwin port acquisition by Chinese SOE, Landbridge Group, back in 2015, fuelled further concerns for the security of both Australian and US naval assets. The US request to use Australian territory as part of its defence network is a response to Beijing’s use of economic development as a weapon to undermine US influence in both South-East Asia (SEA) and the Pacific. In recent years, China has increased its diplomatic efforts in the Pacific Island states by using foreign direct investment (FDI) as a means of winning favours from their governments. Building opulent Chinese-owned casinos in the Northern Marianas is an example of this strategy. China favours the use of casinos to attract Chinese tourists to the islands as a means of boosting the domestic economy. In practice, this often backfires on the island economy and, instead, damages local businesses, which increases dependence on Beijing..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Future Directions International"
Date of publication: 2019-08-07
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: China-made cancer drug approved for US market
Description: "A Chinese pharmaceutical firm has won market approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration for a self-developed lymphoma drug, marking the first entry of an innovative cancer drug from a Chinese company into the US and giving a boost to domestic drugmakers’ ambitions to create new treatments for patients around the world. The drug, known as Brukinsa, is a product from Beijing-based BeiGene. It received the FDA’s approval on Friday and will probably become available to US patients by the end of the year, Wu Xiaobin, BeiGene president, said at a news conference on Friday. The application was accepted by the FDA in August, and approval came sooner than originally expected. In January, the drug was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation, an official status that speeds up review processes for drugs that may demonstrate substantial advantages over existing therapies, according to the FDA. It was also the first time that such a beneficial policy was granted to a Chinese company, according to BeiGene..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-11-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: US official tells Asean claimant countries: assert rights vs China
Description: "US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has urged all South China Sea claimant countries, including the Philippines, to take a “very public posture” and assert their sovereign rights against China’s aggressive moves in the disputed waters. Esper also said the United States was open to revisiting and strengthening its Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the Philippines “based on changes in the environment and world situation.” Ambiguities At a press conference with Esper on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he initially introduced the idea of revisiting the MDT which was signed by the two countries in 1951. Lorenzana cited the ambiguities in the treaty, including a provision that indicates that an attack on “Metropolitan Philippines” would automatically trigger a military response from the United States. Esper meanwhile reiterated the US commitment to the MDT which covers the entire Pacific region, including the South China Sea..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-11-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: China’s anniversary not cause for all to celebrate
Sub-title: US, EU and Japan are all mounting economic, financial and strategic counters to China’s peaceful rise narrative
Description: "Days before China started to celebrate the 70th anniversary of its people’s republic, communist leaders issued a policy declaration entitled “China and the World in the New Era” which hailed “a development path with Chinese characteristics.” Reporting on the document’s release on September 27, the state-run Global Times newspaper opined that “China has grown into a giant” that has taken aim at “Western logic – that a country is destined to seek hegemony after becoming strong.” That, according to the Global Times, “does not apply to China” and its strictly peaceful, not confrontational, rise. China is only interested in global development and “win-win cooperation”, the paper asserted. While no one would dispute that China’s people’s republic has emerged into an economic and political superpower on its 70th anniversary, the paper’s other conclusions are not generally shared by rival powers..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication: 2019-10-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar hopes to be the next Asian winner of US-China trade war as Vietnam nears capacity
Description: "Myanmar expects to attract more investment as manufacturers seeking to relocate production from China to skirt US tariffs encounter capacity constraints in Vietnam. The Southeast Asian nation aims to woo a total of US$5.8 billion in foreign direct investment this year and cut back the red tape that deters some companies, according to a senior government official. “When it comes to relocation, Vietnam might be preferable but it’s already congested,” said Aung Naing Oo, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations. “So, investors are now eyeing Indonesia and Myanmar.”..."
Source/publisher: "South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication: 2019-11-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar expects factory investment to jump on US-China tension
Topic: myanmar, factory, investment, trade war
Topic: myanmar, factory, investment, trade war
Description: "Myanmar expects to attract more investment as manufacturers seeking to relocate production from China to skirt US tariffs encounter capacity constraints in Vietnam. The Southeast Asian nation, whose goal is to woo a total of $5.8 billion in foreign-direct investment this year, is trying to cut back the red tape that deters some companies, according to a senior government official. “When it comes to relocation, Vietnam might be preferable, but it’s already congested,” said Aung Naing Oo, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations. “So, investors are now eyeing Indonesia and Myanmar.” One advantage for Myanmar -- where about a third of the population lives in poverty -- is that Europe and the US offer preferential export terms to boost growth, according to Aung Naing Oo. At the same time, the $71 billion economy continues to face traditional obstacles such as insufficient supplies of electricity and industrial land..."
Source/publisher: "Bloomberg News" (New York) via "Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-11-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar displays diplomatic finesse on China, Russia and US
Sub-title: Myanmar has made substantial shifts in its relations with major powers China, Russia and the United States. They are key regional players in Southeast Asia that will directly impact peace and stability as well as economic development in Myanmar.
Description: "In the first half of the year, China has made impressive diplomatic inroads throughout Southeast Asia, taking advantage of the lack of policy clarity coming from US President Donald Trump's administration. So far, Washington has flexed its muscles over the conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan and displayed a more reconciliatory tone on Europe. That much was clear. It was only on Thursday that Vice President Mike Pence disclosed that Trump would attend the Asia Pacific Economic Leaders Meeting in Vietnam, and the ASEAN-US Summit and East Asia Summit in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Beijing has been able to sharpen its long-standing policy and make the necessary adjustments to ensure strong friendships and cooperation with countries in the region. Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw’s recent visit to China demonstrated the new dynamics of their bilateral ties, which have encountered several challenges over the years. Obviously, China has placed the highest value on U Htin Kyaw’s week-long trip, knowing that, amid growing anxieties over US policy toward the region, this would be the most pivotal time to further strengthen their 67-year-old bilateral ties. The joint press communiqué issued after his visit was extensive and forward-looking, as China recognised the so-called Myanmar way of doing things..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2017-04-24
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar and major powers: shifts in ties with China, Russia and the US
Description: "Myanmar has made substantial shifts in its relations with major powers comprising China, Russia and the United States. They are key regional players in South-east Asia which will impact directly on peace and stability as well as economic development in Myanmar. In the first half of this year, China has made impressive diplomatic inroads throughout South-east Asia, taking advantage of the lack of policy clarity coming from the new US administration of President Donald Trump. So far, Washington has flexed its muscle over the conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan and displayed a more reconciliatory tone towards Europe. That much was clear. It was only on Thursday that US Vice-President Mike Pence said that Mr Trump would attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Leaders' Meeting in Vietnam, the Asean-US Summit and the East Asia Summit. Meanwhile, Beijing has been able to sharpen its long-standing policy and make the necessary adjustments to ensure strong friendships and cooperation with countries in the region. Myanmar President Htin Kyaw's recent visit to China demonstrated the new dynamics of their bilateral ties, which have encountered different challenges over the years..."
Source/publisher: "The Straits Times" (Singapore)
Date of publication: 2017-04-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar becoming an important catalyst in US-UN, China-Russia tensions?
Description: "Much has been reported on the recent release of the two Reuters journalists in Myanmar. Whilst the focus has been on issues of press freedom, many commentators have not evaluated the international response to the release. In my view, the response by the likes of Europe, USA, China and Russia, is an indicator of the growing geo-political tensions within the Asian region. More importantly, it highlights the potential that Myanmar has to unify China and Russia’s stance against what they view as the USA’s geo-political and ideological threat. This Sino-Russia unification is being facilitated by developments along the China Belt Road Initiative (BRI), in which the China Myanmar Economic Corridor is playing an increasing role. As mentioned in earlier articles, Myanmar and the port of Kyauk Phyu, provides China with a solution for energy and trade security by allowing China to bypass the Malacca Straits. It also shifts the previous relations between China, Russia and Myanmar from being military in design to that built around trade. This is in direct contrast to the US and UN pushing for more sanctions against Myanmar over what they see as human rights violations. Exacerbating this divide, is that the call for increased sanctions comes at a time when Myanmar is further opening its economy through regulatory change..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-05-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Brace for trade war impact on Myanmar, finance minister warns
Sub-title: Myanmar’s finance minister has warned the country to “brace for any future unexpected shocks” resulting from the US-China trade war.
Description: "“Consequences of rising global economic and trade tensions on the financial sector are quicker and more severe as a result of faster global capital flows creating unpredictable currency volatility across the world,” U Soe Win told the Myanmar Global Investment Forum 2019 in Nay Pyi Taw this week. “Continuous trade tension and possible currency conflict between two large economies; abrupt changes in policy of one major economy taking a hawkish stance one day and then a dovish stance another day ... have been haunting many economies and leaving them with no other choice but to brace for any future unexpected shocks,” he said. Myanmar, therefore, has to “strengthen our macroeconomic environment to withstand these inevitable global contagion effects.” The minister told an audience of investors and executives that the government’s efforts have resulted in growth above 6 percent while inflation has been tamed at around 6-7pc. He admitted the country’s transition “may not have been on a bed of roses due to the presence of existing internal and external pressures”. But the administration has ”managed to stabilise our financial sector to some extent by making our monetary and fiscal policy transmissions effective as much as possible with limited financial instruments we have at hand.” The government previously admitted that it had underestimated the economic impact of the crisis in northern Rakhine..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times"
Date of publication: 2019-09-13
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Engaging with China on Belt and Road
Description: "This week, 37 heads of state and government, as well as 5000 participants from over 150 countries, converged on Beijing for the second Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Forum for International Cooperation. The mammoth gathering of dignitaries and policymakers is crucial for the five-year-old BRI to gain wider recognition and power to move onto the next cycle with new lessons learned and adjustments made. For President Xi Jinping, it will be a moment of truth for his leadership and China’s dream. All ASEAN leaders, comprising one-quarter of top global leaders, were to attend the forum, which is a testimony to each member’s support and commitment to the global scheme and ongoing projects in their own countries. Since Thailand is also an early BRI backer and one of its recipients, increased attention has begun to focus on its marathon negotiations with China over the US$12 billion (K18.2 trillion) high-speed railway project, which began with much fanfare at the end of 2015. China watchers are eager to know what challenges and prospects both sides faced over the past four years with their unsettling deal and ever-changing criteria. Are there lessons to be drawn from the Sino-Thai negotiations? From the beginning, repeated criticism has been heaped on China’s continent-wide BRI. Among key allegations was the toxic “debt trap” for recipient countries and Beijing’s desire to expand its geopolitical influence to challenge the West. Examples from Africa and South Asia were highlighted as the BRI’s dark side..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times"
Date of publication: 2019-04-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar dam project shouldn’t be politicized
Description: "Non-governmental organizations, political parties, and environmental experts from every state and region in Myanmar have been invited to come together in opposition to the China-financed Myitsone Hydropower Dam project, Frontier Myanmar magazine reported. So far, only 44 percent of households in Myanmar have access to electricity. Addressing a nationwide power shortage, Myanmar's government has set a target to increase the figure to 50 percent by the end of 2019 and 75 percent by the end of 2025. According to rough estimates, the design installed capacity of the dam was 6,000 megawatts, with the annual generation capacity tripling the annual power consumption of Myanmar in 2011. That means initially Myanmar's domestic market could not consume the total generation capacity of the dam. But as the domestic demand for power consumption rises in Myanmar, it is likely the Myitsone Hydropower Dam project would supply 100 percent of its electricity to the Myanmar market. Relevant research shows that the building of the Myitsone Hydropower Dam will improve the traditional way of living of locals who rely on agriculture and hunting and contribute to ecological protection. The protest against the Myitsone Hydropower Dam is not conducive to reaching these goals. Some politicians and environmental experts who have participated in the campaign enjoy priority use of electricity, but their protests against the dam leave many others to live in the dark..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Burma Rivers Network" via Global Times
Date of publication: 2019-04-03
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar’s Fragile Democracy Needs the US, Not China
Sub-title: The US and its allies must engage more directly with Myanmar, lest China’s influence derail its democratic potential.
Description: "Kachin and Shan states are home to two of the country’s longstanding ethnic conflicts. Fighting between Myanmar’s military and the ethnic militias creates security concerns for Beijing as the conflict sends a rising tide of refugees into China and negatively affects China-Myanmar trade through the border states. In 2011, renewed fighting between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army drove thousands of Kachin to flee to China, seeking refuge in Yunnan province. These refugee flows across the border draws unwanted international attention to China. Such publicity puts spotlights on China’s own human rights abuses, whether it be against ethnic minorities like the Uyghurs or the forced repatriation of North Korean escapees. China also sees Myanmar’s geographic location and rich natural resources as strategic economic opportunities. As part of President Xi Jinping’s ambitious infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative, to connect China with Asia, Europe, and Africa, the Chinese are injecting billions of dollars into Myanmar, developing a deep-water port, high-speed railways, natural gas pipelines, and Chinese-style special economic zones. Beyond these security concerns and economic interests, China is trying to increase its political and social influence in Myanmar as well. China has supported Myanmar at the United Nations Security Council throughout the Rohingya crisis, which has forced more than 700,000 Rohingyas — a Muslim ethnic minority group — to flee to neighboring Bangladesh to escape military atrocities. By supporting Myanmar’s government on the Rohingya crisis, Beijing increases its popularity among the Burmese, most of whom refer to the Rohingyas as “Bengalis,” illegal immigrants that do not belong in their country. While China has given the government a pass for its scorched earth policies, the United States and other democracies have condemned Myanmar for its wide-scale human rights violations and systematic legal and social discrimination against the Rohingya people..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Diplomat"
Date of publication: 2019-05-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: What Myanmar stands to gain – and Thailand lose – from a President Clinton
Sub-title: As Bangkok cosies up to Beijing, Naypidaw is drawing away – giving the US an opportunity for a new strategic partnership in the region
Description: "With the presidential election in the United States getting nearer, there is one country where the outcome could have far-reaching consequences: Myanmar. Donald Trump has not said anything noteworthy about Southeast Asia, but Hillary Clinton, who is leading in the polls, is a close friend of Myanmar’s State Counsellor and de facto head of government, Aung San Suu Kyi. There is not doubt that Clinton would feel more comfortable dealing with her than the generals who now rule America’s traditional ally in the region, Thailand.Myanmar’s drift away from its previously close economic, political and military relationship with China – and the Thai government’s increasingly close ties with Beijing – opens the possibility of a new strategic partner for the US in the region..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Week In Asia"
Date of publication: 2016-10-23
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: A Chinese Special Economic Zone is deepening conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine State
Sub-title: The Chinese-backed Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone is shaping Myanmar’s conflict with the Arakan Army. Rakhine communities will benefit little from the project while bearing many of the costs, and it ignores their calls for control over the area’s natural
Description: "Resource-rich Ramree Island, on the coast of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, has remained on the sidelines of recent violence as fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) continues to intensify. But the Myanmar government’s relations with the AA are now increasingly shaped by pressure from Beijing to advance the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a US$1.3 billion Chinese-backed development project based on Ramree. The Myanmar government and Chinese state-owned CITIC Group are pushing the Kyaukphyu SEZ ahead despite public opposition. There has been limited transparency and inadequate public consultation with communities affected by the project. The movement for Rakhine autonomy and federalism calls for local control of natural resources as a key tenet. If the National League for Democracy (NLD) government moves ahead with the Kyaukphyu projects without addressing these issues, it risks prolonging the conflict with the AA, making repatriation for the Rohingya increasingly risky and unlikely. “The communities hope to have their own laws, their own management, their own regulation of natural resources and government – that’s why the Rakhine people support the AA, because they want their rights,” Tun Kyi, a spokesperson for the community-based organisation the Kyaukphyu Rural Development Association, told ASEAN Today..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "ASEAN Today"
Date of publication: 2019-05-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at One Belt One Road Summit
Description: "နိုင်ငံတော်အတိုင်ပင်ခံပုဂ္ဂိုလ် ဒေါ်အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည်ဟာ တရုတ်နိုင်ငံမှာ ဒီကနေ့ ဒုတိယနေ့အဖြစ် ကျင်းပနေတဲ့ ခေတ်သစ်ပိုးလမ်းမစီမံကိန်းဆိုင်ရာ ထိပ်သီးညီလာခံကိုတက်ရောက်နေပါတယ်။ ဒီနေ့ ညီလာခံနဲ့ စီမံကိန်းအကြောင်း RFA ဝိုင်းတော်သား ကိုကျော်မင်းထွန်းက စုစည်းတင်ပြထားပါတယ်။..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: RFA Burmese လွတ်လပ်တဲ့အာရှအသံ
Date of publication: 2017-05-15
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: The China-Myanmar oil pipeline and the Belt and Road Initiativ
Description: "Lowy Institute East Asia Research Fellow Aaron L Connelly speaks to the BBC's Sharanjit Leyl about the purpose and implications of a new China-Myanmar oil pipeline..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: BBC World News
Date of publication: 2017-04-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Ex-Blackwater boss moves into Myanmar security
Sub-title: Frontier Services Group (FSG), founded by former US military contractor Erik Prince, says it is moving into Myanmar to provide security services to Chinese and other foreign investors.
Description: "Blackwater, a now-defunct private military contractor founded by Mr Prince, was condemned internationally after its employees allegedly opened fire on a Baghdad street in 2007, killing at least 14 civilians. Mr Prince later sold Blackwater, which then changed its name. While FSG focuses on logistics and security instead of paramilitary operations, the HK-listed firm sparked controversy earlier this year when it released and then deleted a statement on plans to build a training camp in west China’s Xinjiang region. “As a Hong Kong-listed company, FSG has established a joint-venture security company in Myanmar and obtained a security licence to provide international-standard security services to international investors in Myanmar, including those from China, Japan and Thailand,” a FSG spokesperson told The Myanmar Times. He declined to comment on the specifics of the operations in the country. FSG (Myanmar) Security Services Co Ltd is registered as a foreign services company, according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA). Last month it advertised for 30 security personnel in Myanmar. DICA’s company profile of the joint venture lists Daw Sandar Win (Myanmar), Shi Yi (China), Zhang Huagang (China), Tan Qing (China) and U Si Thu (Myanmar) as directors. Daw Sandar Win is believed to be the sister of U Kyaw Win, who owns Shwe Than Lwin Media, the parent company of SkyNet. FSG’s 2017 annual report also stated that the Myanmar venture is “overseen by Shi Yi, John”, while the 2018 interim report added that the Myanmar subsidiary provides logistics and security services..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times"
Date of publication: 2019-03-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Legal questions arise over Kyaukphyu port’s ESIA process
Sub-title: The environmental and social impact assessment process for the China-backed port project in central Rakhine has started but questions arise whether developers are using the right legal framework.
Description: "State-owned enterprise CITIC, in charge of the proposed US$1.3 billion Kyaukphyu port, kick-started the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) and preliminary geological survey this month. The company said Canadian firm Hatch was hired as project manager to supervise the process and recruit the ESIA project consultants and contractors. On July 2, CITIC held the first stakeholder meetings at the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Management Committee office in Yangon, and made site visits to the Madae Island. It said it would “develop participation mechanisms for all stakeholders of the project in order to take extensive and adequate consultation” as part of the ESIA process. The preparation work will be carried out “in a rigorous, open and transparent manner.” The idea of building a port and an industrial park in Kyaukphyu was mooted by the U Thein Sein government in 2015, which greenlighted the consortium led by CITIC to come up with a plan to establish a $7.5 billion SEZ in central Rakhine. A corporate promotional video suggests the scheme will create an investment and logistics hub akin to Hong Kong and Singapore. The government last November signed a “framework agreement” with CITIC. Myanmar will own 30 percent of the stake and the project will cost $1.3 billion. European and Japanese investors are unlikely to set up shop in the port or the industrial park, Yangon-based sources said. However, confusion arises over the legal framework currently adopted by the developers. Myanmar’s environmental law demands a site-wide environmental impact assessment for a project of this size and scope, which should include an assessment of both environmental and social impacts. CITIC’s latest press statement suggests that its current ESIA process is specifically for the port and not an SEZ. If there’s to be an SEZ, that must be incorporated in the site-wise assessment, according to ICJ legal adviser Sean Bain. If the SEZ plan is scrapped and only a port project is planned, then it’s likely CITIC is operating under the wrong legal framework because the Investment Law would apply instead of the SEZ Law..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Myanmar Times
Date of publication: 2019-07-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: China Showers Myanmar With Attention, as Trump Looks Elsewhere
Description: "When Myanmar?s leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, wanted to hold a peace conference to end her country?s long-burning insurgencies, a senior Chinese diplomat went to work. The official assembled scores of rebel leaders, many with longstanding connections to China, briefed them on the peace gathering and flew them on a chartered plane to Myanmar?s capital. There, after being introduced to a beaming Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, they were wined and dined, and sang rowdy karaoke late into the night. A cease-fire may still be a long way off, but the gesture neatly illustrates how Myanmar, a former military dictatorship that the United States worked hard to press toward democracy, is now depending on China to help solve its problems. The pieces all fell into place for China: It wanted peace in Myanmar to protect its new energy investments, it had the leverage to press the rebels and it found an opening to do a favor for Myanmar to deliver peace. China is now able to play its natural role in Myanmar in a more forceful way than ever before as the United States under the Trump administration steps back from more than six years of heavy engagement in Myanmar, including some tentative contacts with some of the rebels. The vacuum left by the United States makes China?s return all the easier..."
Creator/author: Jane Perlez
Source/publisher: "New York Times"
Date of publication: 2017-07-19
Date of entry/update: 2017-12-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Chinese (Alternate Url)
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Title: Of pragmatism and politics
Description: "China?s rise means the US will turn a blind eye to Burma?s limited democracy, writes Gareth Robinson... The recent upholding of constitutional rules preventing Aung San Suu Kyi from running in Burma?s 2015 presidential elections has prompted some strong criticism from Western governments. However, it is unlikely to damage America?s resolve to continue engaging with the country for one reason in particular; China?s rising power in the region. In a recent article for The Irrawaddy, journalist and long-time Burma hand Bertil Lintner argued that Western governments may be more interested in re-establishing defence ties with Burma?s military, the Tatmadaw, than with pursuing political and human rights issues. It is an argument supported by the State Department?s muted response to Aung San Suu Kyi?s continued barring from presidential elections. Although the department did issue a statement calling for constitutional reforms to be adopted, there was no threat of introducing new sanctions or of downgrading diplomatic ties. The US?s continuing support for the Burmese hybrid civilian-military government is a clear sign that Washington?s concern over China?s growing regional presence is of greater importance than democratic reform. In the past China has exerted a great deal of influence over Burma. After much of the world abandoned the country due to the annulment of democratic elections in 1990, China continued to provide significant economic and military aid to keep Burma afloat. This wasn?t resisted by the US because it did not perceive strong strategic interests in the country after the end of the Cold War. Since the opening of Burma to external economic and political input after the 2010 national elections, China has lost its exclusive access to the country. Now, Burma may become a rook in America?s attempts to mediate Chinese expansion...Given the time and attention, Burma could become one of America?s middle power partners in Asia. But this may cost the US its commitment to seeing the country become a fully functional and effective democracy..."
Creator/author: Gareth Robinson
Source/publisher: "Asia Times Online"
Date of publication: 2014-08-14
Date of entry/update: 2014-08-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Myanmar, North Korea stay brothers in arms
Description: "If a press statement from the US Department of Defense is to be believed, President Barack Obama is quite pleased with the reform process underway in Myanmar, especially recent progress ??that?s been made on human rights??. The message was conveyed by US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in late August when he met with his counterparts from the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Brunei, including Lieutenant-General Wai Lwin, the current defense minister of Myanmar, a former pariah state turned darling of the West. But there was an important caveat in Hagel?s statement that indicated Washington?s main concern in Myanmar is not democracy and human rights. Rather, he stressed ??it?s important that Myanmar sever ties with North Korea??. Evidently Myanmar has not rolled back relations with Pyongyang despite persistent pressure from Washington, including during then secretary of state Hillary Clinton?s historic visit to Myanmar in December 2011, and believed behind-the-scenes prodding from Japan and South Korea..."
Creator/author: Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher: "Asia Times Online"
Date of publication: 2013-09-05
Date of entry/update: 2014-05-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: China, the United States and the Kachin Conflict
Description: KEY FINDINGS: 1. The prolonged Kachin conflict is a major obstacle to Myanmar?s national reconciliation and a challenging test for the democratization process. 2. The KIO and the Myanmar government differ on the priority between the cease-fire and the political dialogue. Without addressing this difference, the nationwide peace accord proposed by the government will most likely lack the KIO?s participation. 3. The disagreements on terms have hindered a formal cease-fire. In addition, the existing economic interest groups profiting from the armed conflict have further undermined the prospect for progress. 4. China intervened in the Kachin negotiations in 2013 to protect its national interests. A crucial motivation was a concern about the ?internationalization” of the Kachin issue and the potential US role along the Chinese border. 5. Despite domestic and external pressure, the US has refrained from playing a formal and active role in the Kachin conflict. The need to balance the impact on domestic politics in Myanmar and US-China relations are factors in US policy. 6.A The US has attempted to discuss various options of cooperation with China on the Kachin issue. So far, such attempts have not been accepted by China.
Creator/author: Yun Sun
Source/publisher: Stimson Center (Great Powers and the Changing Myanmar - Issue Brief No. 2)
Date of publication: 2014-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2014-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: China counter-pivots on Myanmar
Description: "A quiet, modulated dance is being played out in Myanmar. It is not a waltz, with its rhythmical, proper movements, and only on the surface are events in Myanmar equally decorous. If China and the United States are the dancers, then Myanmar is the master of ceremonies. Underlying this proper facade rivalries are apparent. When and how the music will stop is unclear. The US explicitly has ??pivoted?? toward Asia, and more specifically Southeast Asia. It has in a sense returned after years of inattention. This policy has several elements: some enhanced naval capacity in the region, a couple of thousand marines in China counter-pivots on Myanmar By David I Steinberg WASHINGTON - A quiet, modulated dance is being played out in Myanmar. It is not a waltz, with its rhythmical, proper movements, and only on the surface are events in Myanmar equally decorous. If China and the United States are the dancers, then Myanmar is the master of ceremonies. Underlying this proper facade rivalries are apparent. When and how the music will stop is unclear. The US explicitly has ??pivoted?? toward Asia, and more specifically Southeast Asia. It has in a sense returned after years of inattention. This policy has several elements: some enhanced naval capacity in the region, a couple of thousand marines in Australia, increased positive involvement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and allies in the Philippines and Thailand as well as near-ally Singapore, and concerns over Chinese claims of sovereignty of the South China Sea. But in this equation, China regards with suspicion the US?s changed, positive policy toward Myanmar, also known as Burma. Chinese concerns are evident. This, they claim, is the second US containment policy of China. The first was during the Cold War, but this second is in some sense more urgent. China during the Cold War was struck by the internally destructive forces of the Cultural Revolution. It tried to project Maoist thought through its embassies overseas, but this was internal political rhetoric, not external reality..."
Creator/author: David I Steinberg
Source/publisher: "Asia Times Online"
Date of publication: 2013-03-18
Date of entry/update: 2013-05-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Myanmar: Now a Site for Sino–US Geopolitical Competition?
Description: CONCLUSION: "As the Obama administration is keen to support Thein Sein?s dual project of political reconciliation and economic reforms, with China?s rise clearly in mind, the geopolitical competition over Myanmar between Washington and Beijing is set to intensify. The present US role in Myanmar?s political and economic reforms will in all likelihood lead in the future to a greatly expanded presence in the country. By comparison, China?s often much exaggerated political hold over Naypyidaw has taken a knock with US-Myanmar rapprochement. Its significant economic presence in Myanmar will continue, however. Significantly, far from pulling back, the Chinese leadership also seems eager to continue to boost the bilateral relationship with Naypyidaw, which will probably prompt more rounds of competition for greater influence between Beijing and Washington concerning Myanmar. By normalising relations with Washington, Naypyidaw will have gone some way to restoring the balance historically favoured in Myanmar?s external relations. To progress with its domestic reform agenda, the Thein Sein government seems committed both to warmer relations with Washington as well as pursuing the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership it agreed with China. However, evidence suggests that the Thein Sein government knows it will need to carefully manage the attention and interest from both Beijing and Washington. Finally, one should not assume that developments in Myanmar over the next three years will necessarily amount to an entirely smooth political transition. So far the NLD has been the major beneficiary in party political terms from the present process of reconciliation long urged by Washington. With the political future of representatives and officials of the previous regime possibly in doubt, there is at least the question over how much internal pressure the President will yet face and be able to resist regarding a possible recalibration of the current political course and concessions in the name of national reconciliation. In turn, the resulting decisions of this process are likely to affect Nypyidaw?s relationship with Washington and Beijing."
Creator/author: Jürgen Haacke
Source/publisher: London School of Economics (LSE)
Date of publication: 2012-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2013-05-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: China?s new leaders on a tightrope
Description: "...America bids to remove Myanmar from China?s sphere of influence and intervenes in the Spratly Islands dispute. Whilst not totally out of the blue, the visit to Myanmar by Hillary Clinton, the United States Secretary of State, in November 2011, came as a surprise to many Chinese leaders. Notwithstanding the quasi-democratic election of Myanmar?s new president, Thein Sein, supported by the military junta, the country had in fact failed to make much headway on humanitarian issues. The dissident Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was still under house arrest and a true democratic system, which for 20 years had been the official reason for American hostility towards Myanmar, had not yet been implemented. So why did the United States rush to support a junta which for decades it had heavily berated? In 1972, with Richard Nixon?s Beijing visit, the Chinese had had first-hand experience of such political gyrations. In that period, the Americans had rehabilitated China in order to isolate Vietnam and at the same time strike a formidable blow against the Soviet Union, which would find itself with one more declared adversary on its southern border, and, what is more, an adversary supported by the United States. Just as in the 1970s when the United States used China to isolate the USSR, now they were going to play the Myanmar card in order to complete the encirclement of China. This was the logical conclusion that the Chinese leaders came to in light of their past political experience. In reality, this paradigm change was not totally unexpected. At the beginning of his presidency, in 2009, in his dealings with the Chinese, Barack Obama had gone out on a limb, quietly downplaying human rights issues and even offering to sell them sensitive technology..."
Creator/author: Francesco Sisci
Source/publisher: "Asia Times Online"
Date of publication: 2012-09-12
Date of entry/update: 2013-05-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Myanmar morphs to US-China battlefield
Description: "...A new reality is emerging amid all the hype about Myanmar?s democratization process and moves to liberalize its political landscape. Myanmar?s drift away from a tight relationship with China towards closer links with the West is signaling the emergence of a new focal point of confrontation in Asia, one where the interests of Washington and Beijing are beginning to collide. Rather than being on a path to democracy, Myanmar may find itself instead in the middle of a dangerous and potentially volatile superpower rivalry. That means the traditionally powerful military may not be in the mood to give up its dominant role in politics and society any time soon. According to sources in Washington, US President Barack Obama?s administration has made Myanmar one of its top foreign policy priorities. Trade and other exchanges are being encouraged, and, on April 25, acting US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Joseph Yun told Congress the administration is even "looking at ways to support nascent military engagement" with Myanmar as a way of encouraging "further political reforms"..."
Creator/author: Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher: "Asia Times Online"
Date of publication: 2013-05-02
Date of entry/update: 2013-05-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: LOOKING AT THE NEXT 30 YEARS OF THE U.S.-CHINA RELATIONSHIP
Description: "...As evidenced by Chinese policies toward pariah states like Sudan, Zimbabwe, Burma and Iran, China is still willing to put its need for markets and raw materials above the need to promote internationally accepted norms of behavior. However, the possible secession of southern Sudan (where much of the country?s oil is found) from the repressive Khartoum-based Bashir regime, the erratic treatment of foreign economic interests in Zimbabwe by Robert Mugabe, the dangers to regional safety and stability posed by Burma?s dysfunctional military junta,
Source/publisher: US Embassy, Beijing, via Wikileaks
Date of publication: 2009-01-06
Date of entry/update: 2010-12-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: DAS JOHN DISCUSSES BURMA, SOUTHEAST ASIA WITH AFM CUI TIANKAI AND DG HU ZHENGYUE
Description: Summary: "If the United States wants to make a difference on Burma, it should engage directly with General Than Shwe, Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai told EAP DAS Eric John on March 5. In a separate meeting, MFA Director General for Asian Affairs Hu Zhengyue stressed that State Councilor Tang "really worked on" the Burmese during his recent visit to Burma, delivering the message that Burma needs to respond to the concerns of the international community. DAS John underlined that the United States is worried that Burma is headed at high speed in the wrong direction. If it adopts a constitution excluding certain parties from the political process, the United States and China could be locked into a cycle of confrontation over Burma at the United Nations. DAS John and AFM Cui also discussed the United States? and China?s overlapping interests in Southeast Asia. With DG Hu, DAS John emphasized the importance of Indonesia and discussed instability in East Timor, positive progress in the Philippines and the situation in post-coup Thailand. EAP DAS Thomas Christensen joined DAS John at the meetings." End Summary.
Source/publisher: US Embassy, Beijing, via Wikileaks
Date of publication: 2007-03-05
Date of entry/update: 2010-12-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Burma, China and the U.S.A
Description: First page only, full-text access may be available if you are affiliated with a participating library or publisher.
Source/publisher: JSTOR
Date of entry/update: 2010-10-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: China keeps wary eye on U.S.-Burma relations
Description: China is concerned over the possibility of betterment of relations between the U.S. and Burma, local sources say. The Chinese government?s security agents on the Sino-Burma, say that China feels betterment of relations between the U.S. and Burma will threaten the national security of communist China.
Source/publisher: Burma News International
Date of publication: 2009-11-04
Date of entry/update: 2010-10-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Playing with Superpowers
Description: Burma?s generals have a history of juggling relations with Washington and Beijing... "If ever the Burmese regime made it clear it preferred ?Made in America? to ?Made in China,? it would be no surprise to see relations between China and Burma suffer a severe hiccup. China is now keenly observing Washington?s new policy toward the Burmese regime and Burma?s opposition movement. At the same time, Beijing is observing the unpredictable Naypyidaw regime?s paukphaw (kinship) commitment to China. Burma?s former dictator, Ne Win, (left) met then US President Lyndon Johnson in 1966. Burmese military officers used Western weapons to counter Chinese-backed insurgents in the past. They have long memories of Chinese chauvinism and Beijing?s efforts to export communism to Burma and install a government sympathetic to Mao Zedong?s communist ideology. Those days are long gone. China became Burma?s staunchest ally after the regime brutally crushed the pro-democracy uprising in 1988. For the past 21 years, China has adopted its paukphaw policy toward Burma and played an influential role there..."
Creator/author: Aung Zaw
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 8
Date of publication: 2009-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-02-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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