"WHEN THE Chinese embassy in Yangon posted a Xinhua article about State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s meeting with Chinese Premier Mr Li Keqiang to Facebook on April 26, the solitary comment below the post was, “How about Myitsone dam?” It summed up the singular lens through which many in Myanmar have come to view bilateral relations over the past six months, and the growing concern that the Myanmar government, under pressure from China, might agree to proceed with the US$3.6 billion megadam in Kachin State, which was suspended in September 2011. These concerns reached a crescendo on April 20 when hundreds of civil society leaders gathered at Yangon’s Novotel Hotel and announced a “one dollar campaign” aimed at collecting $1 from every citizen to raise funds to compensate China for scrapping the Myitsone Dam. They also addressed an open letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping saying that a dam on the Ayeyarwady River was unacceptable to the people of Myanmar. This civil society event was held just four days before Aung San Suu Kyi left for the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, from April 25-27. The forum brought together dozens of world leaders to discuss Xi’s signature – and controversial – foreign policy, the Belt and Road Initiative. But when Aung San Suu Kyi returned from Beijing, the tone had clearly shifted. Media coverage trumpeted the 1 billion yuan ($148 million) grant that China had promised for economic and technical assistance. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement released on April 29 said this would be for “livelihood improvement, feasibility study for major projects and humanitarian assistance for the IDPs in northern part of Myanmar”. Three memoranda of understanding were also signed, but they appeared to cover broad areas of cooperation rather than individual projects. Instead of Myitsone or the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone in Rakhine State, the state counsellor’s meeting with Xi focused on other issues of importance to the bilateral relationship, such as import quotas on rice, combating illegal border trade and human trafficking, supporting the peace process and defending Myanmar at the United Nations and other international fora. So, what happened? Ma Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee, a lead researcher at the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar in Yangon who focuses on Myanmar-China relations, said most observers had expected that detailed discussions would be held on specific projects, including Myitsone, in bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum. In response to growing criticism of BRI, China wanted to use the forum as an opportunity to “show that BRI is mutually beneficial and to be implemented at the comfort level of the receiving countries”, she said. In the context of Myanmar, that meant avoiding any rhetoric on the need to proceed with Myitsone or other major infrastructure projects. Government spokesperson U Zaw Htay has said that Myitsone was not discussed in bilateral meetings. “I think many observers in Myanmar are relieved that the agreements they reached do not seem to be binding,” Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee told Frontier. “But it is important to note that the detailed project discussions will take place with individual ministries, which can be much more low profile. Thus, we also need to keep our eyes on to the negotiation of these individual projects as well.” Another close observer of China-Myanmar relations, U Maung Maung Soe, said the documents signed at the forum did not appear particularly significant..."