China-Burma relations
Individual Documents
Description:
"The Myitsone Dam, the largest of seven hydropower projects planned on the Upper Irrawaddy, has been shrouded in controversy since it was first mooted in 2009 when Myanmar was under military junta rule.
Estimated at an initial cost of US$3.6 billion, the project was announced as a joint venture between the China Power Investment Corporation (CPIC; now State Power Investment Corporation) and Myanmar conglomerate Asia World Company. However, in a move that surprised observers, shortly after coming to power in 2011 then President U Thein Sein announced the project would be suspended for the remainder of his term. At the time Lu Qizhou, president of CPIC, told Chinese media that he was “totally astonished” by the decision.
The issue has now been pushed onto the agenda of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), which took power in 2016, but a decision has still not been made about the future of Myitsone..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2019-10-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Campaigns, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The Pyinoolwin Green Organization claims that despite their efforts to highlight the environmental damage caused by the building of the Sino-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline, officials have done little to respond.
Sai Min Latt from Pyinoolwin Green Organization said, “The gas pipeline has destroyed springs and other water sources but the local people do not understand this. We presented the destruction of the ecosystem and forest to the officials concerned but they did not take any effective measures. So we do not know what we shall do as they did not do anything in response to our presentations. So I came to this opening ceremony of a school built by the company held today to tell them this is not enough for the destruction they caused.”
Sai Min Latt expressed these concerns during the handing over ceremony of a school donated by SEAOP-SEAGP Sino-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines, held in Thone Daung village, Pyinoolwin Township on October 25.
“The local people want to see the repair of the damage of ecosystem caused by the building of this Sino-Myanmar gas and oil pipeline. Not only giving this school building. They want the company to give them other things that are needed. Pyinoolwin was once a famous hill resort but now destruction of ecosystem worsens climate change damage here,” he added..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-10-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
The impact of climate change on the environment of Burma/Myanmar, Studies of the regional environment, Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general, Climate Change - Migration Burma/Myanmar, Oil and gas - general, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"For An Xingjie, each morning is a race against time.
The 32-year-old and his employees have to sort, pack and distribute fresh crabs straight from the Indian Ocean to Chinese cities before noon.
A native of Ruili, China's southwestern border city with Myanmar, An has witnessed the fast growth of the seafood business between the two nations.
Booming China-Myanmar trade
He started his own business about seven years ago, purchasing the crustacean catches from Burmese fishermen and then selling them to restaurants across China.
“When I got into this industry, I remember I only had five employees. Now, I have more than 20 people working for me,” An told CGTN.Many of the mostly Burmese workers at the seafood market in the Chinese border town of Wanding have also seen the changes.
“I have worked here for seven years. It's obvious that the market is getting increasingly busy as more and more people are joining in the business,” said Mg Pya Toe.
Data from the Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau of Ruili shows that the seafood imported in 2017 reached 26,000 tons, a year-on-year growth of 106 percent..."
Source/publisher:
CGTN (China)
Date of publication:
2019-04-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
China’s new infrastructure corridor through Myanmar crosses war-torn regions, risking further conflict and environmental degradation
Description:
"A year ago, Myanmar and China signed an agreement to establish the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), as part of China’s Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative. Today, that corridor is mired in conflict between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups.
Stretching 1,700km, the CMEC’s network of new railways, trade zones and other major infrastructure projects is meant to mesh the comparatively impoverished economy of Myanmar with its wealthier neighbour’s landlocked southern province of Yunnan. However, ongoing armed conflict and lingering resentment against Chinese investments mean the future of the CMEC is uncertain.
Since its transition to semi-civilian rule in 2011, Myanmar has proven to be more cautious with Chinese investments than other developing countries. In August 2018, Myanmar officials negotiated an 80% cost reduction to the proposed Kyaukphyu deep-sea port, trimming the project from over US$7 billion to US$1.3 billion, Reuters reported. The Myanmar side, led by deputy finance minister Set Aung, baulked at the risk of an excessive debt burden..."
Source/publisher:
"Chinadialogue" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-10-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Chinese investment, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"As if human rights abuses, corruption charges and deadly landslides haven’t hurt the industry enough, Myanmar’s multi-billion-dollar jade and gemstone industry now has to deal with the challenges of e-commerce.
Myanmar produces 90 percent of the world’s jade and is a major player in the global gem economy, but poor regulations mean up to two-third of the country’s production is possibly not subjected to tax according to a report by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) in March.
The increasingly affluent China is the biggest market for Myanmar’s jade, and Radio Free Asia has reported how the highly valuable stone is often smuggled untaxed across porous borders to Chinese buyers – and the direct sale of jade online may now make up about 80 percent of all purchases, bypassing Myanmar’s tax collectors..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post"
Date of publication:
2019-10-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Gems - mining and trade, Gems, Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
If Japan and China focus on different rail systems in Myanmar, can their division of labor create a new pattern for cooperation?
Description:
"Myanmar Railways (MR) has been variously criticized for its low efficiency and increasing costs. Solutions are needed. Since the country’s independence, the British colonial era meter gauge rail system has not been modernized much. Antiquated semaphore signals and manual blocking systems are still broadly in service, suggesting both the limited capacity of lines, and the poor maintenance of tracks. Rolling stock operates at significantly reduced speed, only 40km/hr on average. It takes trains about 15 hours to complete the 620 km journey between Mandalay and Yangon, much slower than buses, which can make the trip in as little as 8 hours depending on the type of bus in question.
Unsurprisingly, then, MR’s share of land transport in Myanmar has been dropping in the last three decades and the company faces rising deficits. Naypyidaw is aware of the challenge, but it has the same dilemma other Southeast Asian countries face: whether to upgrade the existing meter gauge system for practicality’s sake, or to establish an entirely new standard gauge system for higher speed connection with China. Based on Myanmar’s financial capacity, upgrading the existing system is already a difficult ask, not to mention building an entirely new rail network.
However, thanks to Japanese and Chinese capital, upgrades to the existing system are ongoing, and a standard gauge system is likely to be built.
Tokyo has financially and technologically modernized the MR network, mainly the Yangon circle line and the trunk line between Yangon and Mandalay, in addition to improving five MR maintenance sites. These projects are scheduled to be finished by 2024, after which MR passenger services will reach a top speed of 100 km/hr, and more than double of the amount of service. Furthermore, more efficient freight services will contribute to Myanmar’s blooming inland dry port projects, a considerable factor for import and export costs..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2019-02-13
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with Japan, China-Burma relations, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar authorities on Tuesday arrested 17 Chinese nationals posing as policemen and carrying fake guns in the Kokang region of northern Shan state, a police official said, raising questions as to whether they were involved in illegal activities targeting Chinese tourists in the border area.
The Chinese citizens, believed to have entered Myanmar illegally, were apprehended in the Kokang capital Laukkai near the China-Myanmar border, said Zaw Khin Aung, chief of the Shan state police force.
“Five of them have been charged with impersonating police officers,” he told RFA’s Myanmar Service. “They even possessed police accessories like handcuffs.”
“We got 17 of them in total,” he added. “We will check the status of the rest of them with immigration authorities.”
Authorities found on them two uniforms, a bulletproof vest, two fake pistols made of fiber, and another fake gun that resembled an M22 pistol, Zaw Khin Aung said..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of publication:
2019-10-16
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations, Shan State
Language:
more
Description:
"China expressed in its message of felicitation sent to Win Myint, President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar on the occasion of the 71st Anniversary Independence Day of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar that China-Myanmar relations are deepening and cooperation in various fields continues to make new progress.
The State-owned newspapers carried the messages of felicitations from the Foreign Heads of State / Government that sent to Win Myint, President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar .
Myanmar, on behalf of the Chinese Government and people and in my own name, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations and best wishes to you, and through you, to the government and people of Myanmar. Over the past year, under the leadership of Your Excellency and the Myanmar government, your country has made important achievements in developing the economy, improving people’s livelihood, advancing the peace process and promoting foreign exchanges. As a friendly neighbor and Pauk-Phaw brother, China congratulates on Myanmar’s achievements. I am pleased to see that China-Myanmar relations are deepening and our cooperation in various fields continues to make new progress. I attach great importance to the development of China-Myanmar relations and wish to work with you to promote China-Myanmar Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership to a new height and bring greater benefits to the two countries and the two peoples. May the Republic of the Union of Myanmar enjoy prosperity and its people happiness. May Your Excellency enjoy good health and all the success, said Chinese President Xi Jinping in the messages of felicitation..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-01-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng on Friday met with leaders attending the 16th China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, to be held from Sept. 21 to 24 in Nanning, the capital city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The foreign leaders are Myanmar's Vice President U Myint Swe, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong, Lao Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit, and Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, special envoy of Indonesian president and Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs.
When meeting with U Myint Swe, Han, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the next year marks the 70 anniversary of the establishment of China-Myanmar diplomatic ties, and the two countries should take the opportunity to maintain the good momentum of high-level exchanges, deepen the Belt and Road cooperation, and promote bilateral relations to a new level..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-09-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
BRI, China, Conflict, EAOs, mediation, mediator, Military, Negotiations, Northern Alliance, Peace Process, Peace talks, pipeline, Resources, Tatmadaw, Weapons
Topic:
BRI, China, Conflict, EAOs, mediation, mediator, Military, Negotiations, Northern Alliance, Peace Process, Peace talks, pipeline, Resources, Tatmadaw, Weapons
Description:
"China has been vying to lead the region, if not the world, economically and politically since President Xi Jinping took power. As Xi’s power has grown, China has sought to expand its leadership role across the region and beyond through economic expansion, political influence and military modernization.
On the economic front, China has initiated the far-flung and ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which will be instrumental in expanding its investment and power projection in many countries.
Myanmar occupies a strategically important geographical position for the BRI projects, through which China seeks to build links to the Indian Ocean, then to the Middle East and Africa. Myanmar’s political instability and civil war, however, are major barriers to the BRI. Particularly, fighting in northern Shan State, where many of the BRI projects are to be implemented, is disrupting the scheme’s implementation..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-09-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Armed conflict in Shan State - ceasefires and ceasefire talks, Non-Ceasefire Groups, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"An informal trilateral meeting involving officials from China, Myanmar and Bangladesh at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York on Monday produced three points of consensus on the Rakhine issue.
The meeting was presided over by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and saw the participation of Myanmar's Minister of the State Counselor's Office U Kyaw Tint Swe, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, and the UN Secretary-General's special envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener.
Wang said that since last year, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh have held three informal foreign ministers' meetings, with each of them having made progress, and that a lot of work has been done concerning the repatriation of people fleeing the chaos in the Rakhine state of Myanmar.
The conditions for resolving this issue are accumulating and maturing, he said, adding that all parties should further strengthen communication and consultation and push for substantive progress on the repatriation issue as soon as possible.
As a friend of both Myanmar and Bangladesh, China is ready to provide assistance within its capacity, he added.
The two officials from Myanmar as Bangladesh as well as Schraner Burgener greatly appreciated and thanked China for its substantial and constructive efforts in promoting the proper settlement of the repatriation of people fleeing from chaos in the Rakhine state, and agreed to further seek effective ways to solve the issue as soon as possible through cooperation.
The meeting has reached three points of consensus. Firstly, it is the strong political will and important political consensus of the three parties to realize the repatriation as soon as possible. Both Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed that this issue cannot be postponed any longer and should be resolved at an early date..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-09-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), China-Burma relations, Bangladesh-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
China, international relations, foreign investment, conflict, Belt and Road Initiative, China Myanmar Economic Corridor, Sun Guoxiang, ethnic issues, development
Sub-title:
Recurring conflict and military stalemate in northern Myanmar have prompted China to embark on a bold experiment – one with implications that Nay Pyi Taw might not yet even comprehend.
Topic:
China, international relations, foreign investment, conflict, Belt and Road Initiative, China Myanmar Economic Corridor, Sun Guoxiang, ethnic issues, development
Description:
"WHEN VIEWING the domestic conflicts of a sovereign nation, China sees development and stability as two mutually reinforcing concepts. Instead of focusing on the fair and just distribution of political and economic rights, China prioritises making the economic pie larger so that everyone gets a bigger share.
This approach reflects China’s own experiences in strengthening political stability through economic development. Enhanced economic performance validates the legitimacy of the state and improves stability, which in turn creates conditions for further economic development.
This development-oriented approach towards conflict resolution has resulted in northern Myanmar’s conflicts becoming intrinsic components of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative,
The rationale
China has been formally involved in the mediation of ethnic conflicts in northern Myanmar since early 2013, when it established the office of Special Envoy for Asian Affairs. Six years of mediation in Myanmar – during which there has been no agreement over the mechanisms and structure of the peace process, or the distribution of political and economic power in the ethnic states – has shepherded the Chinese to a few key conclusions.
First, the complicated history and the fundamental lack of trust between the Bamar-dominated central government and ethnic minorities means it is not feasible to open negotiations on the most difficult issues, particularly power distribution. In this climate of mistrust and hostility, it is unrealistic to expect elites on both sides to make the concessions necessary for a peace deal..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-10-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
more
Description:
"Residents of central Myanmar's Mandalay region said Thursday that they are increasingly fearful of forced property confiscation lost farmland in areas slated for the construction of a high-speed railway running from Kunming in southwestern China to their city under the massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), RFA reported.
Two state-owned companies — Myanmar Railways and China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd. — signed a memorandum of understanding a year ago to conduct a feasibility study for the Muse-Mandalay line, a key part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) under the BRI that is expected to boost trade between the two countries.
The CMEC entails a central road and rail transport infrastructure from southwestern China’s Yunnan province through Muse and Mandalay to the town of Khaukphyu in western Myanmar's Rakhine state, where a major seaport and special economic zone are scheduled for construction..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-10-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"China’s recent crackdowns on illegal cross-border trade from Myanmar are causing hardship for Myanmar merchants who make their living selling goods to Chinese buyers.
Prior to Beijing’s closure of the black market routes, the merchants enjoyed fairly barrier-free movement of their goods into China, but now they face taxation as high as 60 percent, especially for high-traffic commodities like rice and other agricultural products.
The effect has been particularly devastating at a rice wholesale center in Muse, a town that borders China in Myanmar’s Shan state. In days past, Chinese merchants used to crowd the facility, looking for rice they could buy cheaply, then sell for a healthy markup at home.
But now the wholesale center is nearly deserted.
Ko Sithu, a rice merchant at the center, to RFA’s Myanmar Service his business is drying up because tariffs made the grain less competitive.
“When [the Chinese] raised taxes, the rice on this side wasn’t getting a good price any longer. It’s no longer [affordable] to bring it here. We are trying to sell off the rice [we have] here at their [lower offered] price, he said.
Fruit restricted
After rice, the second largest export at the Myanmar-China border is fruit. Under new import policies, some fruits, like pineapple, which had been traded freely for many years across the border, are now subject to restrictions..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of publication:
2019-10-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Illegal Economy - general, Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Residents of central Myanmar's Mandalay region said Thursday that they are increasingly fearful of forced property and farmland confiscations in areas slated for the construction of a high-speed railway running from Kunming in southwestern China to their city under the massive Belt and Road Initiative.
Two state-owned companies — Myanmar Railways and China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd. — signed a memorandum of understanding a year ago to conduct a feasibility study for a stretch of longer railway from Mandalay to Muse in Myanmar's northern Shan state. The overall project is a key part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) under the BRI, and is expected to boost trade between the two countries.
The CMEC entails a central road and rail transport infrastructure from southwestern China’s Yunnan province through Muse and Mandalay to the town of Khaukphyu in western Myanmar's Rakhine state, where a major seaport and special economic zone are slated for construction.
Area villagers who attended a public forum on an environmental assessment of railway project in Mandalay’s Patheingyi township voiced concerns over losing their homes and farmland to the rail line to be built by both China and Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of publication:
2019-10-10
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Tenure insecurity in Burma (including land grabbing), Land research including land grabbing - global and regional, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
" Enthusiastic runners will soon have the chance to run a marathon between China and Myanmar at the 2019 Ruili China and Muse Myanmar International Marathon.
Some 10,000 participants will be able to compete in different races - a marathon, half-marathon, short distance fun run and parent-child event. Myanmar runners will be presented with the special Paukphaw Friendship Award.
Located in west Yunnan's Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Ruili is a city on the China-Myanmar border. Beginning in Ruili's Jiegao Town, the marathon covers 12 kilometers in Muse, Myanmar before recrossing the border back to Ruili.
The marathon will start and finish in Ruili in China's southwest Yunnan province on December 31. Registration runs from October 8 to November 30..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-10-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Belt and Road initiative, BRI, China, China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, CMEC, debt trap, economic zone, Human Rights, Kachin State, land grabs, Myitkyina, Myitkyina Economic Development Zone, neo-colonialism, property rights, Yunnan Tengchong Heng Yong Investment Company
Topic:
Belt and Road initiative, BRI, China, China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, CMEC, debt trap, economic zone, Human Rights, Kachin State, land grabs, Myitkyina, Myitkyina Economic Development Zone, neo-colonialism, property rights, Yunnan Tengchong Heng Yong Investment Company
Description:
"The Kachin State government is planning to sign an agreement next month on the establishment of a China-backed economic zone, paving the way for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project.
Under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) agreement, which is also a part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s grand BRI vision, Kachin State signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Yunnan Tengchong Heng Yong Investment Company (YTHIC) in May 2018 for implementation of the Myitkyina Economic Development Zone.
The project, also known as the Namjim Industrial Zone, is 25 km from Myitkyina, the Kachin capital.
“We are expected to sign an agreement next month,” the Kachin State chief minister, Dr. Khet Aung, told The Irrawaddy.
“Currently, we are finalizing detailed negotiations and a full master plan from the Chinese company.”
YTHIC and the Myitkyina zone committee, formed by the Kachin State government, are expected to build the massive site on approximately 19 sq. km along the historic Ledo Road.
The road was built during World War II so the Allies could supply Chinese troops fighting the Japanese. It linked Ledo, in Indian Assam, and Kunming in China’s Yunnan Province..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-10-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Economy of Kachin State, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The plight of thousands of women from Kachin and Shan states trafficked into forced marriages in China has attracted global attention, with numerous major news outlets and human rights groups covering the crisis. But one Myanmar language publication recently gave a different take on the experiences of women in marriages across the border.
An August 13 article by the Pauk Phaw newspaper omitted the horror stories and instead highlighted a Chinese man and a Kachin woman walking a “happy and pleasant road” together. “During my five years of marriage in China, I was able to live in a new house and got a cleaning job. I felt very thankful and fulfilled,” the woman was quoted as saying.
Pauk Phaw is controlled by the Propaganda Department of the local government in Dehong, an area in China’s Yunnan province that borders Kachin and Shan states. It is one of a growing number of platforms through which China is seeking to reshape public opinion about its influence in Myanmar.
China has asserted its economic power with energy and infrastructure projects across Myanmar, fueling local opposition to the superpower’s efforts to tap the country’s resources.
One of Beijing’s most important projects inside Myanmar, the Myitsone dam in Kachin state, was suspended in 2011 because of protests by locals who say it will cause widespread environmental destruction and displacement..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-10-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"China imported about 400 million cubic feet of natural gas from Shwe natural gas project in Rakhine offshore and about 16,000 tonnes of crude oil from Made Island in Rakhine State daily, according to the Ministry of Electricity and Energy.
Myanmar is consuming about 100 million cubic feet of natural gas daily.
The Sino-Myanmar natural gas pipeline is started from Yanbye Island, Kyaukphyu Township to China through Rakhine State, Magway Region, Mandalay Region and Shan State. The oil pipeline has 771 kilometers in length and natural gas pipeline has 793 kilometers in length.
Myanmar exported 5 million tonnes of crude oil and 1.68 million tonnes of natural gas via the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline from January to June this year and the export is more compared with last year's export in the same period, according to a report from Xinhua news agency.
The import value amounted to 17.27 billion Yuan (about 2.51 billion U.S. dollars), up 9.2 percent year on year with the average import price reaching 3,443.8 Yuan per tonne, up 6.4 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, the imports of natural gas from Myanmar amounted to 1.68 million tonnes (equivalent to 2.5 billion cubic meters), down 2.3 percent from the same period of last year, with a total value of 5.89 billion Yuan (over US$800 million), up 11.7 percent from the same period of last year. The average import price was 3,499.2 Yuan per tonne, up 14.4 percent year on year..."
Source/publisher:
"The Nation" ( Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-10-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Topic:
Belt and Road
Sub-title:
Ethnic strife and national pride halt Beijing-championed infrastructure projects
Topic:
Belt and Road
Description:
"A recent decision by the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, not to extend a cease-fire aimed at ethnic armed organizations excluded from a nationwide peace agreement puts the country's Belt and Road projects in further limbo.
Multiple projects have already been halted, including the key Myitsone dam hydropower project in in Myanmar's northernmost state of Kachin. But ethnic strife is not to blame. Rather, the dam has run up against nationwide opposition and an International Finance Corp. report strongly advising against damming the upper reaches of Myanmar's major rivers.
Meanwhile, work on a feasibility study for another project has been suspended as a result of the renewed hostilities. Tatmadaw forces in late September assaulted a Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army base in Kutkai, squarely in the middle of the proposed route for the China-led Muse-Lashio-Mandalay rail project in northern Shan state.
One day after fighting recommenced, a Myanma Railways spokesman announced the suspension, blaming the instability.
The attacks signal the failure of Chinese attempts to broker peace between Myanmar's vigorously independent military and a group of armed organizations known as The Northern Alliance..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Nikkei Review" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2019-10-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Shan State - ceasefires and ceasefire talks, Non-Ceasefire Groups, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
B462bn Chinese megaproject across the border in Myanmar threatens to eclipse economic development and progress in Mae Sot
Description:
"Border towns are often labelled as remote villages without modern infrastructure or amenities.
However, recent economic policies such as the development of special economic zones and foreign investment have led to the urbanisation of these rural areas.
A clear example of this can be seen in Mae Sot district in Tak province, located opposite to the Shwe Kokko forest area in the Myawaddy region of Myanmar.
This border enclave region is controlled by a local ethnic Karen warlord, Chit Tu, who has made peace with Myanmar's military and converted his armed units into an officially recognised Border Guard Force (BGF).
Three years ago, Jilin Yatai International Holding Group, a major investor from China, invested $US15 billion (462.6 billion baht) in a project which would see the construction of a residential, commercial and industrial hub on more than 5,085 rai of land in Shwe Kokko, located by a river in Myanmar, just over 20km away from Mae Sot district..."
Source/publisher:
"Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-06-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with Thailand, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Nestled in the hills of eastern Shan State near the China-Myanmar border, Panghsang is the capital of the Wa Region, a self-administered area approved by Myanmar’s Constitution. It is home to Myanmar’s largest and best-equipped ethnic armed group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), with an estimated 30,000 troops and 10,000 auxiliary members, according to Myanmar Peace Monitor.
In April, the army celebrated the 30th anniversary of its foundation in Panghsang in grand scale, with columns of troops paraded in the city square. Founded in 1989, the UWSA signed a ceasefire with Myanmar’s then-military government—the State Law and Order Restoration Council—in the same year after splitting from the Communist Party of Burma. It also founded the United Wa State Party and the Wa State People’s Government while pressing the Union government to recognize their region as a state of Myanmar.
Despite its location on the Myanmar side of the border, on a stroll around the town you could believe you’re in China. On the streets of Panghsang, most people communicate in Mandarin. Chinese characters, along with Myanmar and Wa translations are emblazoned on shopfronts. Yuan is the currency of choice here. For a good cell phone signal, you’d better connect with a Chinese network. Street signs are written in Myanmar and Chinese. Stores are stocked with goods imported from China..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-05-20
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Shan State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Wa (cultural, political, economic), China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Villagers living near the site of a proposed deep-sea port in the town of Kyaukphyu in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state fear losses as the joint project with China gets under way, with fishermen already restricted from access to the sea, sources say.
With ship traffic increasing in the area of the proposed port, residents of 20 villages nearby may now fish only in a restricted area, and many have lost their livelihoods, one villager told RFA’s Myanmar Service.
“Now, we are allowed to work only in one small area,” the villager named Lay Myint said. “But even with this, our families are experiencing many difficulties.”
“In my village, many have lost their jobs, and we’ve become dejected,” he said.
Part of a planned Special Economic Zone (SEZ) covering over 4,200 acres, the deep-sea port in Kyaukphyu is an important part of China’s “One Belt, One Road” development strategy, giving Beijing access to the Bay of Bengal as an alternative route for oil imports..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of publication:
2019-08-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Fisheries (including aquaculture and fishing), Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The 19th China-Myanmar Paukphaw (fraternal) Friendship Carnival opened Thursday in the border city of Ruili, southwest China's Yunnan Province.
At the opening ceremony, citizens and visitors were treated to a carnival parade with the theme of celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the friendship between China and Myanmar.
During this year's carnival, there will be a series of activities including a China-Myanmar sepak takraw (kick volleyball) competition, a featured commodities fair and a food festival.
Since 2000, the China-Myanmar Paukphaw Friendship Carnival has promoted cultural and trade exchanges between the two countries..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-10-04
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Political and religious leaders in Myanmar’s Kachin state have hit back at apparent efforts by Beijing to breathe new life into a controversial China-funded dam project as the Southeast Asian nation comes under fire from the West over its treatment of the Rohingya Muslims.
In a joint statement released on Monday, three ethnic Kachin political parties said they were seeking the “permanent suspension” of the US$3.6 billion Myitsone Dam project, which has been on hold since 2011 but had been slated for completion this year.
“This is the people’s desire. We won’t change our policy on the Myitsone hydropower dam,” Gumgrawng Awng Hkam, chairman of the Kachin Democratic Party, told Myanmar’s Network Media Group..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2019-01-20
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
China, conflict, ethnic armed groups, international relations, Kokang, Sun Guoxiang, nationwide ceasefire agreement, Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee
Sub-title:
In the first of a two-part series, contributor Yun Sun examines the different approaches China has taken to mediating in Myanmar’s armed conflicts, and why it has begun to adopt a more limited – yet still important – role.
Topic:
China, conflict, ethnic armed groups, international relations, Kokang, Sun Guoxiang, nationwide ceasefire agreement, Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee
Description:
"SINCE Myanmar's current peace process began eight years ago, ethnic reconciliation has become a benchmark in evaluating progress of the Myanmar nation and state, alongside civil-military relations and economic development.
China is undeniably a major stakeholder in this process. Many of Myanmar’s non-state armed groups hold territory along or close to the 2,000-kilometre border that it shares with China, and armed conflict along the border has the potential to undermine China’s national security. For China, this creates an impulse – even a need – to intervene in and mediate the conflict.
Previously, the political justification for intervention in Myanmar’s conflicts had been a problem, especially in the context of China’s principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs. However, that obstacle was removed long ago by citing the direct impact of the conflict on China’s core national interests. When the internal affairs of Myanmar became an interferon in China’s domestic affairs, creating social instability and border insecurity, it was seen as having become China’s business, reconciling the gap between the need to intervene and the principle of non-interference.
Despite its recent active diplomacy, China has still limited its mediation role to that of a convener and a logistical facilitator rather than an agenda-setter, a broker or an external guarantor. Its role is characterised by a limited bottom line focused on a military ceasefire, rather than a political agreement about the peace mechanism and a power distribution between the Bamar and the ethnic minorities. As such, the process and formality of dialogue is more important than a substantive outcome..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-10-03
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Senior officials from China’s Yunnan province once again pressured Kachin religious leaders to support the revival of the controversial Myitsone hydropower project at a meeting last week in the Chinese border town of Ruili, an influential Kachin religious leader told The Irrawaddy.
At the meeting between top Yunnan leaders and representatives of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) on Friday, the Chinese officials said Chinese President Xi Jinping was a strong supporter of the Myitsone Dam project.
“They said it would be better if we accept the Myitsone project, as it would bring benefits to the [local] people,” said KBC president Rev. Hkalam Samson.
Located at the confluence of the two rivers that form Myanmar’s “lifeline”, the Irrawaddy River, the US$3.6-billion (nearly 5.5 trillion kyats) project was suspended by then-president U Thein Sein in 2011 amid a widespread public outcry over the dam’s potentially serious social and environmental impacts. However, it came under the spotlight again when Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang claimed after a visit to Kachin State at the end of December that the Kachin people were not opposed to its resumption..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-03-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Myanmar’s State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday ahead of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held from April 25 to 27 in Beijing.
Noting the profound “Paukphaw” (fraternal) friendship between China and Myanmar, Xi said China is willing to carry forward the traditional friendship of the two sides, increase mutually beneficial cooperation and push forward bilateral relations constantly.
In light of the celebrations next year that will mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Myanmar diplomatic relationship, the two sides should actively conduct interactions at all levels and people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and focus their pragmatic cooperation more on areas related to people’s livelihood, so as to continuously consolidate public support for bilateral friendship, Xi said. China supports Myanmar in developing its economy and improving people’s livelihood, and appreciates the efforts of Myanmar’s government to advance domestic peace and reconciliation, Xi said..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-04-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The Sagaing regional government in northwestern Myanmar on Monday cancelled permission for a Chinese company to conduct inspections for a new copper mine project following a protest by local residents in the capital Monywa.
Hundreds of local residents staged a morning protest opposing the granting of permission for Chinese company Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Ltd. to do ground studies for a proposed project in the Wazeintaung area of Yinmabin township.
Chinese-operated copper mine projects in the resource-rich region have generated controversy among locals, especially in the town of Letpadaung where China’s Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd. and the Myanmar military-owned conglomerate, Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. (UMEHL), operate a large mine.
Letpadaung residents and farmers have accused the Chinese operators of appropriating their land without providing adequate compensation and damaging the environment.
The Sagaing government informed the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation in Naypyidaw that it did not object to the company’s conduct a ground inspection for the new mining project.
Soe Oo, Sagaing’s minister for planning and finance, told RFA’s Myanmar Service that officials held an emergency meeting on the issue amid the protest..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of publication:
2019-09-30
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"China sees a “very good solution” to the ongoing Rohingya crisis in the process of implementing the BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar) Economic Corridor stressing that its “real solution” lies in development.
“China pays very close attention to Rohingya issue. We also hope that in the process of implementing the BCIM Economic Corridor, we can come up with very good solution to the problem,” said Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Zhang Zuo at a briefing at Westin Hotel here on Wednesday evening.
Bangladesh has been “actively promoting” the BCIM Economic Corridor, a key BRI project connecting China with South Asia and the resourceful Indian Ocean.
Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun recently said Bangladesh is centrally situated along the BCIM Economic Corridor and expected to be hugely benefited from the enhanced connectivity..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-05-10
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar Railways has been variously criticised for its low efficiency and increasing costs. Solutions are needed. Since the country’s independence, the British colonial era Meter Gauge Rail System has not been modernised much.
Antiquated semaphore signals and manual blocking systems are still broadly in service, suggesting both the limited capacity of lines, and the poor maintenance of tracks. Rolling stock operates at significantly reduced speed, only 40km/hr on average. It takes trains about 15 hours to complete the 620 km journey between Naypyidaw and Yangon, much slower than buses, which make the trip in eight to ten hours.
Unsurprisingly, then, MR’s share of land transport in Myanmar has been dropping in the last three decades and the company faces rising deficits. Naypyidaw is aware of the challenge, but it has the same dilemma other Southeast Asian countries face: whether to upgrade the existing meter gauge system for practicality’s sake, or to establish an entirely new standard gauge system for higher speed connection with China. Based on Myanmar’s financial capacity, upgrading the existing system is already a difficult ask, not to mention building an entirely new rail network..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with Japan, China-Burma relations, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar Railways has been variously criticised for its low efficiency and increasing costs. Solutions are needed. Since the country’s independence, the British colonial era Meter Gauge Rail System has not been modernised much.
Antiquated semaphore signals and manual blocking systems are still broadly in service, suggesting both the limited capacity of lines, and the poor maintenance of tracks. Rolling stock operates at significantly reduced speed, only 40km/hr on average. It takes trains about 15 hours to complete the 620 km journey between Naypyidaw and Yangon, much slower than buses, which make the trip in eight to ten hours.
Unsurprisingly, then, MR’s share of land transport in Myanmar has been dropping in the last three decades and the company faces rising deficits. Naypyidaw is aware of the challenge, but it has the same dilemma other Southeast Asian countries face: whether to upgrade the existing meter gauge system for practicality’s sake, or to establish an entirely new standard gauge system for higher speed connection with China. Based on Myanmar’s financial capacity, upgrading the existing system is already a difficult ask, not to mention building an entirely new rail network..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with Japan, China-Burma relations, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar is prioritising nine sectors covering infrastructure projects under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor although more specific details as to which of the projects have been chosen remain under wraps.
These sectors, part of the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan, include electricity, road, bridge, telecommunication, basic construction, agriculture, transportation, research and technology.
Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) deputy chair U Thein Han said that the nine prioritized sectors involve partnerships between Myanmar and Chinese firms.
He was among a group of Myanmar private sector representatives who had followed government officials led by Minister for Planning and Finance U Soe Win to the second joint committee forum of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor held in Kunming, China in late February.
It has been learnt that a number of agreements “is likely” to be inked in April when the State Counselor attends a state-level conference in Beijing related to the Belt and Road Initiative.
“Many companies want to enter the market and we will connect them with the capable companies here depending on the company size. We have plans to connect companies of various sizes,” U Thein Han said..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-03-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Recently, there has been a marked escalation in the Chinese Government’s attempts at reviving the controversial Myitsone Dam Project. Since a tense meeting by the Chinese Embassy with Kachin leaders, the actions of both the Chinese and Myanmar governments have only heightened fears that the mammoth US$3.6-billion, 6,000 MW Dam will be pushed forward, risking the livelihoods of thousands of people and endangering crucial biodiversity.
The NLD government’s rhetoric over the project has been, at best, feeble. Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations U Thaung Tun stated that, while public anxiety should be respected, the project should continue as companies have already heavily invested in it.
His remark echoed a comment by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (who had been an ardent critic of the dam in 2011) in Kalay the previous week in which she called for deals made under the previous government to be respected. According to U Thaung Tun, alternative areas have been explored. So far, however, these areas have not been outlined to the public, which only serves to fuel speculation.
Respect for public anxiety: What, in practice, has that entailed so far? As of this moment, this respect has taken the form of hollow reassurances that match up little with actions on the ground. The most notable example of this was the recent dismissal of three ministers in Kachin State. The said ministers U H Hla Aung, U Mya Thein and U Thin Lwin were each responsible for key areas that would have been impacted by the Myitsone project..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-02-02
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Amid increasing pressure from China to resume the controversial Myitsone Dam project, the State Counsellor has promised that her government will make a final decision on the dam based upon political, economic and environmental considerations, and vowed to make public the details of the decision.
When asked her opinion of the Myitsone Dam project at a meeting with local residents in Pyay, Bago Region on Thursday, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said,
“I would like you to think about the project from a wider perspective.”
She said, “We should not think based on one perspective. If we think from only one perspective, we could make the wrong decision.”
The State Counsellor said the final decision would have to be politically, socially, economically and environmentally sound and sustainable.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not offer her own stance on whether the dam project should be scrapped, nor did she say when a decision would be made.
However, she said her government should not abolish projects approved by a previous government just because it did not comply with the current administration’s policies.
If government of the day were to break promises made by previous governments, the country would lose credibility, she said.
She added that her government would make decisions transparently, not only when it comes to the Myitsone project, but also on other projects..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-03-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, The impact of climate change on the environment of Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The governments of China and Myanmar are negotiating to draw up a five-year plan on economic and trade cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, a global development strategy adopted by the Chinese government involving infrastructure development and
Description:
"Negotiations to draw up the plan were held in Nay Pyi Taw on Monday, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations announced.
The idea for the plan was first put forward during the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing in April. The forum in April was attended by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar’s delegation for the negotiation was led by U Aung Naing, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Relations, while China’s team was headed by Mr Wang Shengwen, director general of China’s Department of Outward Investment and Economic Cooperation.
Some 70 representatives from relevant ministries and organisations from both countries were also present for the talks..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-09-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"MUCH HAS been said and written about the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor since it was formally proposed by China in November 2017 as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative. Despite gaining significant international attention – and generating some uneasiness within Myanmar – the actual approval and implementation of CMEC projects has been incremental, and at a speed far less impressive than the narrative. As a result of friction between China’s massive ambition and Myanmar’s moderate capability, the CMEC is unlikely to end up looking the way many people imagine.
The CMEC is the second economic corridor China has embarked on with a single state under BRI, after the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and this reflects its strategic importance in Beijing’s plans. The basic design of CMEC is an upside-down “Y” shape that connects China’s Yunnan Province with Mandalay in central Myanmar, and then stretches southeast down to Yangon and southwest to Myanmar’s Rakhine State..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-09-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s poorly regulated Jade and Gemstones production means up to two-thirds of all the country produces is possibly not subjected to tax, a new report by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) reveals. Experts believe that this, as well as chronic undervaluing of registered jade and gemstones, costs the country billions of dollars in lost tax revenue.
Myanmar produces 90 percent of the world’s jade and is a leading producer of rubies, sapphires, and other varieties of coloured gemstones. China is the largest beneficiary of this trade, with untold amounts of jade and gemstones being imported and smuggled across the border to meet the demand of its growing elite.
Myanmar, a former British colony, was under military rule from 1962 to 2011, during which time it was increasingly internationally isolated and became one of the world’s most impoverished countries. Military rule was dissolved in 2011 and since then, the country has engaged in a turbulent liberalisation process. Its GDP has grown steadily over the past several years, reaching an all-time high of $69.32 billion in 2017.
Despite significant growth, 32 percent of Myanmar’s citizens still live in poverty and the nation’s infrastructure is ranked 146th out of 148 countries in the world. This is in large part because Myanmar does not collect enough tax. A recent report by the Asia Foundation revealed that Myanmar’s tax receipts for 2016-17 were only 6 to 7 percent of its GDP, the lowest among all ASEAN nations..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-03-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Gems, Gems - mining and trade, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar and China have discussed raising the quota of rice that can exported to China from Myanmar says an official from the Myanmar Rice Federation.
400,000 tonnes of rice export to China market as legal quota, according to official.
The talks took place during the Second China Myanmar Economic Corridor Forum held in Yunnan Province, China. The Myanmar delegation to the forum was led by Planning and Finance Minister U.
The countries mainly discussed cooperation on the Kyauk Phyu Special Economic Zone, Muse-Mandalay railway project, and agricultural exports to China. Separately, Myanmar and China discussed rice raising rice exports to China to 400,000 tonnes.
In 2016, China permitted Myanmar to export 100,000 tonnes of rice and now Myanmar rice merchants are seeking to raise the quota by 300,000 tonnes.
U Nay Lin Zin, joint secretary of the Myanmar Rice Federation, said China is supportive of exports of rice and broken rice in the border areas and will take action to legalise such border trade..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-02-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Border Trade with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"China’s policy towards the Myitsone dam issue has experienced several major changes since Myanmar suspended the controversial project in September 2011. At first, Beijing overtly asked the Myanmar government to promote the implementation of big projects in Myanmar and the Myitsone dam was included. Yet, Beijing adopted a pragmatic attitude towards the Myitsone issue after Myanmar’s National League for Democracy (NLD) took office in April 2016, in which it pursued for Myanmar’s compensation for reneging on the terms of the contract rather than simply resuming the project.
The main reasons for China’s softened position on the Myitsone issue are the following: first, Yunnan, the main buyer of the electricity from Myitsone dam, now has an oversupply of electricity and needs to export its growing electricity holding to ease the excess hydropower capacity. Second, China fully realizes that there would be strong national resistance against the Myanmar government’s decision to revive the Myitsone project. Third, China is anxious about Myanmar’s swing to the US due to their disputes over the Myitsone issue. Fourth, China wants to implement other projects at the expense of cooling down the Myitsone dam. Fifth, China is waiting for an opportunity to resolve the Myitsone issue.
Yet, China seems to has renewed hope that the Myitsone dam would be restarted as the bilateral ties with Myanmar has been on the upswing since the Rohingya refugee crisis in the mid-2017. During a visit to Kachin in December 2018, China’s ambassador to Myanmar Hong Liang said the Myitsone dam was crucial for both Beijing and Naypyidaw, and that any further delays could hamper bilateral relations. Then, in January 2019, a statement published by the Chinese Embassy in Yangon said “If this issue fails to be resolved... it will seriously hurt the confidence of Chinese entrepreneurs to invest in Myanmar... the two sides should find an acceptable solution as soon as possible”. It also claimed that Kachin political leaders and social organizations have a “positive attitude” toward the dam, leading to a widespread speculation that China wants to revive the controversial project.
Why China is so keen to revive the Myitsone dam now? Four reasons could explain China’s significant change in the Myitsone issue. First and foremost, China tries to move forward the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by resuming the Myitsone project. As Joe Kumbun, who is a local analyst based in Kachin, said China attempts to provide full electricity to the Economic Cooperation Zone along the Myanmar-China border and the industrial zones in northern Kachin, the key elements of CMEC and BRI, through restarting the Myitsone dam. Second, China tries to revive the Myitsone dam and push forward with others projects by using it as support for Myanmar in the face of mounting international pressures over the Rohingya crisis. Third, China is getting upset because the Myanmar government has hung up the Myitsone dam for seven years and dragged its heels on the resolution to the Myitsone issue. Fourth, China is increasingly concerned about the serious consequences of the Myitsone project in the general election in Myanmar in 2020. In other words, the Myitsone dam might be a focus in the coming elections and be manipulated by the West to undermine the warm relations between China and Myanmar. Given the factors discussed above, China wants to address the Myitsone issue as soon as possible, thus removing the main barrier in their bilateral ties and promoting the economic cooperation between the two countries..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Rivers Network" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-04-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Representatives from Myanmar, Bangladesh and China called this week for enhanced cooperation in repatriating Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh back to their homes in Myanmar, saying political will is needed to move the issue forward, media reports said.
Meeting informally on Monday on the sidelines of U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, Bangladesh foreign minister A.K. Abdul Momen, and Myanmar Minister of the State Counselor’s Office Kyaw Tint Swe also called for the creation of a trilateral working group “mechanism” to oversee repatriation efforts.
Strong political will and improvements in the economic conditions of Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state to promote regional stability are needed for real progress to be made, said parties to the meeting, which was presided over by China’s foreign minister, with Christine Schraner Burgener – the U.N. Secretary-General’s special envoy on Myanmar – also attending.
Speaking later to Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews, Hou Do Suan – Myanmar’s permanent representative to the U.N. – downplayed China’s proposed new role in the working group, saying a bilateral group already exists in promoting joint efforts by Myanmar and Bangladesh, and that only “sincere will” is needed to bring the Rohingya refugees back.
“I want to clarify that the forming of this working group is not a [new] mechanism,” Hou Do Suan said, adding, “We already have a joint working group.
“China is just helping us in facilitating the implementation of the agreements we already have,” he said.
“Speaking frankly, if we can implement the bilateral agreement for repatriating these people with the real intention to get it done, we will succeed,” he said..."
Source/publisher:
"BenarNews"
Date of publication:
2019-09-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, China-Burma relations, Bangladesh-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s former military junta inked the $3.6 billion deal for the hydropower project located on the Irrawaddy River in 2009, according to Reuters, with Myanmar’s military linked Asia World Co. and China’s State Owned utility company China Power Investment Corp. tasked with its construction.
Work on the dam was suspended in September 2011 by then Myanmar’s President Thein Sein after public protests. At the time, Aung San Suu Kyi, before she became the leader of the current quasi-civilian Government in Myanmar, was one of the voices of opposition. Suu Kyi once said the dam would threaten the flow of the Irrawaddy River, and force the relocation of more than 10,000 people from 63 nearby villages, according to Reuters.
But after Suu Kyi became head of the ruling National League for Democracy party and the effective prime minister of the country, Beijing began to exact pressure to resume the dam’s construction.
In June 2016, a delegation headed by China’s Ambassador to Myanmar travelled to Kachin to lobby for restarting the dam project, according to news magazine Frontier Myanmar.
Most recently, in November 2018, the magazine reported that the Chinese regime wanted the project to be packaged as part of its One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, and conveyed the message that other OBOR projects in Myanmar’s wouldn’t proceed unless the dam is restarted..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-04-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Bangladeshi traders have started importing 200 tonnes of onions a day from Myanmar through borders in order to arrest the skyrocketing price of the key cooking ingredient in the domestic market.
The importers of the pungent vegetable shared the information at a meeting with Commerce Secretary Md Jafar Uddin at the secretariat in Dhaka yesterday.
The government gave go ahead to the import of the Burmese variety of onion after India increased the minimum export price and a section of unscrupulous traders raised the prices in the local market.
Each kg of onion was found selling at between Tk 60 and Tk 80 yesterday at various kitchen markets in Dhaka.
Bangladeshi businesses are also importing onion from other countries, including Turkey, the commerce secretary said in a statement.
State-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh has started open market sales but the quantity is too small to cool down the domestic prices.
The secretary criticised the traders who are trying to make quick bucks by creating an artificial crisis. He urged the businessmen to do business maintaining integrity.
The supply of onion will also receive a boost soon once importers start releasing the goods-laden trucks through various land ports along with India, he said..."
Source/publisher:
"The Daily Star" (Bangladesh)
Date of publication:
2019-09-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Border Trade with Bangladesh, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior military leaders met with Myanmar’s commander-in-chief this week, as Senior General Min Aung Hlaing paid an official visit to Beijing. It was the fifth time Min Aung Hlaing has visited China since assuming his current post as the top leader of Myanmar’s military forces, the Tatmadaw. In Myanmar, where the military retains a constitutionally-mandated grip on political power despite holding elections in 2015, that makes Min Aung Hlaing a top political leader as well, and the topics of conversation during his China trip reflected that.
Min Aung Hlaing’s official host was Chief of the Joint Staff Department General Li Zuocheng, but he met with a variety of Chinese military officials, including Central Military Commission Vice Chair Xu Qiliang and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Min Aung Hlaing also met with Xi on Wednesday. At each of these meetings, both sides took care to praise the longstanding – “eternal” even – friendship between their countries and expressed hope for deepening cooperation still further in the future. “Myanmar regards China as an eternal friend and a strategic partner country,” Min Aung Hlaing said, according to a press release from the Tatmadaw..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2019-04-12
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Burma experienced a loss of revenue of US $480m from exports to China during last fiscal year.
Trade on the Sinoburma border have dropped this last fiscal year after China clamped down on what it considered illegal imports from Burma while imports from China to Burma have remained unaffected, say border officials.
U Tin Ye Win, director general of the 105-mile trading zone in Muse, told NMG that Burma has experienced a loss of revenue of US $480m from exports to China from April 2018 to February 2019.
China has implemented a policy restricting products exported from Burma since last October, he explained.
“They have blocked all illegal products…As a result, trading has declined.”
Sao San Mueng, CEC of Muse-Namkham Border Trading Association, said much of the trade to China that is being obstructed is not illegal goods.
“We’re exporting legal products but they don’t recognize it,” he said.
Much of the goods exported from Burma are agriculture, aquaculture and timber.
Sai Tun Ko Ko, joint secretary of Muse-Namkham Border Trading Association, said China is blocking cattle, rice, corn and sugar exports.
“We are in negotiations for legally exporting cattle (to China).”
Manufactured products like cloth, electrical, industrial and machinery and parts are China’s top imports to Burma, Sai Tun Ko Ko said..."
Source/publisher:
BNI Multimedia Group (Myanmar) via "Network Media Group"
Date of publication:
2019-05-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar is exported 88,500 out of 100,000 tons of rice to China in line with an agreement with the COFCO and the rest will be exported in coming December, according to Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF).
The MRF had an agreement with China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) from China to export 100,000 tons of rice to China in 2019 and they will try to sign a new MoU with the COFCO to export more tons of rice to China for next FY, according to the MR.
Myanmar earned over US$650 million from more than 2.16 million tons of rice and broken rice in 11 months in this FY and it is less than over 780,000 tons of rice and broken rice exported in the same period in last year. Myanmar earned US$1.003 billion in the same period in last FY, said an official from Ministry of Commerce.
Myanmar is exporting rice through maritime trade to EU and Africa markets and to China via Muse border trade route.
Myanmar found new markets for its rice export in 2017-18 FY and about 3.6 million tons of rice are exported which broke the record in 50 years time..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-09-18
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar has officially permitted the use of the Chinese and Japanese currencies in cross-border payments, as the Asian giants vie for dominance in one of the region’s last frontier markets.
The directive means that the yuan and yen join the euro, the US Dollar and the Singaporean dollar as designated currencies for settling international trade in Myanmar, where the central bank is desperate for foreign investment after years of economic sanctions and financial mismanagement.
China, which shares a 2,200km (1,360-mile) border with Myanmar, has been keen to draw its southern neighbour into the “Belt and Road Initiative”, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s grand infrastructure plan for Eurasia.
China is Myanmar’s biggest trading partner, with bilateral trade topping US$700 million last year, according to Myanmar’s Ministry of Commerce.
Japan is also a big trade and investment partner, with Japanese companies maintaining a steady presence in the country since the end of British colonial rule in the 1940s, right through its economic isolation due to Western sanctions from 2003..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2019-01-31
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with Japan, Border Trade - general, China-Burma relations, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The construction of a new road and bridge near the existing Goke Hteik Railway viaduct in western Shan State will begin this year, the Ministry of Construction has announced.
The major infrastructure project along the Mandalay-Muse road, a significant border-trade route, is expected to significantly boost the transportation of goods between China and Myanmar once it is completed.
The Gote Twin section of the road between Nawngcho and Goke Hteik, along the Mandalay-Muse road, was built during colonial times and the rail bridge on the route is now over 100 years old.
The road is also narrow and has many curves and turns. Currently, trucks can take up to three hours to travel the Goke Twin stretch. During the rainy season, trucks can skid and cause traffic jams, said U Sai Kyaw, general secretary of Rice Merchants Association of Mandalay, adding that the stretch is one of the areas that see the highest number of accidents in western Shan State.
“Whenever an accident happens along the Gote Twin stretch, traffic congestion as long as six to 10 hours can occur, seriously delaying the flow of goods,” U Sai Kyaw said..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-01-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"An Ambitious China-backed railway project connecting two economic centers in Myanmar with Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in southwestern China, will cost almost US$9 billion and final decisions on the specific details of the construction are expected to be made by the end of this year.
As a part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), which is itself part of Beijing’s grand infrastructure plan, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a feasibility study for the Muse-Mandalay standard-gauge railway has been carried out.
Last October, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by two state-owned companies, the China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (CREEG) (formerly the China Railway Group Ltd.) and Myanmar Railways.
During the second Belt and Road Forum held in Beijing in late April, China handed over a feasibility report on the Muse-Mandalay Railway project to Myanmar’s Minister for Transport and Communications U Thant Sin Maung.
Myanmar Railways experts are currently scrutinising the Muse-Mandalay feasibility report and making serious decisions regarding routes, bridges, tunnels and the exact locations of stations.
The Managing Director of Myanmar Railways U Ba Myint said in a press conference in Naypyitaw on Monday that the construction of the railway will cost $8.9 billion according to the study..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-05-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with India, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"China will Provide a grant of 1 billion yuan (225.39 billion kyats, or approximately US$148 million) for socioeconomic development projects under an economic and technical cooperation agreement signed in Beijing last week.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release on Monday that the 1 billion yuan would be used to support socio-economic development, particularly projects to improve people’s livelihoods, feasibility studies for major projects and humanitarian assistance for IDPs in northern Myanmar.
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi recently completed a six-day visit to China to attend the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is Xi’s signature foreign policy project. Unveiled in 2013, it is also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.
The project aims to build a network of roads, railroads and shipping lanes linking at least 70 countries from China to Europe passing through Central Asia, the Middle East and Russia, fostering trade and investment..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-05-02
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar held its first ever international investment summit late last month in Naypyitaw. The two-day event showcased 120 projects worth US$3 billion (about 4.5 trillion kyats) in 10 states and regions.
On the second day of the event, Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Minister U Thaung Tun hosted a dialogue for international guests, offering them reasons why they should invest in Southeast Asia’s “Final Best Frontier.” The government is looking for ways to revive the economy, which has been sluggish for more than two years.
“Myanmar is now open for businesses. We are making the necessary changes,” U Thaung Tun said.
A weakening currency, high inflation, armed conflict, unstable policies and the slow pace of reform have chipped away at growth under the current administration, which had hoped the economy would take wing after more than five decades of isolation under military rule.
Under the government’s “Look East” policy, officials have toured Asia beating the drum for the country’s economy. The summit was part of this attempt to raise investment from East Asian countries. More than 1,600 local and foreign delegates from 17 countries attended the summit and 40 companies exhibited. The top countries were China, Japan, Singapore and Thailand..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-02-02
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Ethnic Kachin leaders from three political parties in Myanmar’s northernmost state have met with China’s ambassador to the country to discuss the faltering peace process in which the Myanmar government is trying to get its military and nearly a dozen ethnic armies to agree to a permanent cease-fire, a party representative said Monday.
They also discussed China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a controversial Chinese-backed mega-dam project, and Chinese laborers working illegally in Kachin state, said G. Aung Khan, chairman of the Kachin Democratic Party (KDP), who participated in the meeting.
Ambassador Hong Liang met with the party heads on Dec. 29 in Kachin capital Myitkyina after the same Kachin leaders met with Dan Chugg, the UK’s ambassador to Myanmar, and Scot Marciel, the U.S. ambassador to Myanmar, he said.
“Hong Liang had said it is a good time to work on the peace process,” he said. “It seems China can handle Myanmar’s peace process, but we want other countries to be involved.”
G. Aung Khan also said that China’s involvement in Myanmar’s peace process, a key project of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian-led government, is based on its own self-interest in mega-projects tied to its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese President Xi Jinping’s U.S. $1 trillion global infrastructure-spending program..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Kachin State, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"When Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi heads to Beijing at the end of April to attend China’s Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, she will be caught between Chinese leaders’ strong desire to complete a controversial dam project and growing public opposition to the dam amid wider suspicion about other Chinese initiatives, Myanmar political analysts said Monday.
The fate of the Myitsone Dam, a U.S. $3.6 billion Chinese-backed hydropower project on the Irrawaddy River in Kachin state that was put on hold in 2011 amid heavy public opposition, is at the top of the list of issues to be discussed between Myanmar and Chinese leaders at the second forum, they said.
“We see that Myitsone Dam project is now under the Belt and Road Initiative [BRI],” said Myanmar economist Zeyya Thu, referring to the massive infrastructure initiative that China’s President Xi Jinping has made the center-piece of his foreign policy..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-04-03
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"In 2018, the clock kept ticking for economic reforms as businesses in Myanmar started to lose their cool.
Foreign law firms pulled the plug, the liberalisation of insurance was delayed, restrictions for foreign investment lingered and business confidence plummeted. Above all, the ongoing Rakhine crisis, in the words of a business group, is “certainly one issue that hangs over Myanmar like a sword of Damocles.” Europeans complained that trade promotion abroad for the country had become “mission impossible”. These all painted a grim picture for the economy in the year.
Yet, it would be wrong to say Myanmar saw no progress in 2018. Two landmark pieces of legislation – the Companies Law and Investment Law – were in force, spelling significant changes for the private sector. Meanwhile, the government scaled up anti-corruption efforts, empowering the anti-graft body, and changed its top economic team, creating a new ministry and appointing a new finance minister..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
The political, economic, social and cultural situation in regions bordering Burma, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, Urban development
Language:
more
Description:
"Every Morning, a pack of Burmese vendors gather their wares and approach the fence separating Muse, a border town in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State, from China’s Yunnan Province.
Sheltered by Palm Trees, they slip snacks, herbal medicine and boxes of cigarettes through small holes in the fence not much larger than milk cartons as Chinese border guards lazily observe the fracas.
If an item is too large, they wait patiently until nobody’s watching and toss it over the border.
Footsteps away, packed jade markets bustle as travelling buyers scrupulously examine the wares with magnifying glasses and consult with partners on WeChat video calls before breaking out into rapid-fire rounds of negotiation.
Trade is the beating heart of Ruili, the notorious final frontier of Yunnan as it meets Myanmar.
Once famous for sex, drugs, and gambling, the city is hard at work burying its seedier side under a meteoric spree of development.
While illicit KTVs and “massage parlours” still line the border fence, and shadier cross-border entrepreneurs deal in illegal timber and human trafficking, the two countries are preparing to make the area into a hub for China’s Belt & Road Initiative..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-09-12
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Muse-Lashio-Mandalay Railway Project is a major exit of China and it is also the project linking with Myanmar. Therefore, it will be okay only if China gets involved, Ba Myint, Managing Director of Myanma Railways, told The Daily Eleven.
Muse-Lashio-Mandalay is the second longest railroad section after Yangon-Mandalay in Myanmar. The new railroad of Muse-Lashio-Mandalay will be 267 miles long with 60 tunnels. Electric trains will be used on this railroad section and they runs at a speed of 100 miles per hour, the report of the MR said.
The new railroad of Muse-Lashio-Mandalay links a major exit of China with Myanmar. Commodity flow will be secure and smooth only if China gets involved. Therefore, the involvement of China is of great importance. For this project, Myanmar and China are major players, Ba Myint told The Daily Eleven.
The feasibility study includes GPS, total station, samples of water and soil and soil tests. The feasibility study has been already carried out. EIA and SIA reports are being made known to the public.
The MR made the CREC of Muse-Lashio-Mandalay known to the public in Mandalay, Naungcho, Kyaukme, Lashio, Hsenwi, Muse and Pyin Oo Lwin starting from June 25 to early September.
The official of Myanma Railways of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Union of Myanmar and the official of China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group signed Memorandum of Understanding on Feasibility Study for Muse-Mandalay Railway Project..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-09-20
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Chinese companies are pushing to resume destructive dam projects, ignoring a key assessment
Description:
"Much media attention in Myanmar is focussed on China’s apparent efforts to revive the stalled Myitsone dam, its role in advising the Myanmar government on developing a new hydropower strategy white paper, and the implications of these developments for the adoption of the World Bank-led strategic environmental assessment of Myanmar’s hydropower sector, which was released in late 2018.
The debate appears to revolve around the assumption that the country must choose between a strategy for large hydropower development supported by western donors and the World Bank or one supported by China. While its contents are unknown, there is concern that the white paper may push forward highly environmentally and socially destructive projects such as the Myitsone dam and the series of mega dams proposed for the Salween River main stem (also known as Thanlwin), each involving Chinese companies and financiers. But is this assumption right?
The long-awaited environmental assessment recommended not building dams on the main stem of five major river basins, including the Ayeyarwady and Salween. This would remove the controversial Myitsone and the Salween main stem dams from Myanmar’s energy development plans, which have been fiercely opposed by civil society groups. Government adoption of this recommendation would reflect sound science on the adverse ecological impacts of large hydropower dams on mainstream river systems and provide critical recognition of the multiple values – ecological, social, economic and cultural – delivered by these rivers..."
Source/publisher:
"thethirdpole.net"
Date of publication:
2019-03-13
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Biodiversity - Burma/Myanmar-related, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"After heavily investing in the Myitsone Dam, China re-engages discussions about resuming construction of the project stalled for many years.
The Chinese ambassador for Burma pressed to restart a contentious hydro-power dam project during a recent meeting with important Kachin political leaders in northern Myanmar.
“The Chinese ambassador said China wants to resume construction of the Myitsone hydropower dam construction, since it’s already heavily invested in the project,” said U Kwam Gowng Awng Kham, chairman for Kachin Democratic Party.
Planned near Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, the dam project has been a massive undertaking by the Chinese government, U Kwam Gowng Awng Kham said. With its suspension, China is going to keep trying to reboot the project.
The previous Thein Sein government suspended it in 2011 after the project received widespread opposition. If it’s completed it would generate 6,000 megawatts, making it the fifteenth largest dam in the world. Most of the dam’s output would be sent to China. It would cause extensive flooding, and because it’s planned on a fault line, there are legitimate fears an earthquake could damage it causing flooding that would inundate neighboring Kachin State capital, Myitkyina.
Since the NLD government came to power, China has been pushing for State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to restart the project.
The objective of the Myitsone hydropower dam is for regional development, said U Kwam Gowng Awng Kham, but the negative impact a mega project of this kind will have on the environment would be huge. This is why Kachin and so many others across the country have been against it from the start..."
Source/publisher:
"BNI Multimedia Group" via Network Media Group (Canada)
Date of publication:
2019-01-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Hydropower projects, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Belt and Road Initiative, China, Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, Special Economic Zone
Topic:
Belt and Road Initiative, China, Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, Special Economic Zone
Description:
"Ever since the National League for Democracy (NLD) was elected to government at the end of 2015, Myanmar’s economy has been opening up and quietly growing steadily.
In an effort to open up its economy, the government in Myanmar has taken various steps in making the country more attractive to investors. Last year, Myanmar enacted an investment law that simplifies the investment process and allows the government to use incentives to bring in investors to various sectors of the economy.
For Myanmar, foreign direct investments (FDI) play a major role in developing the economy. In 2016 to early 2017, Myanmar received about US$6 billion in FDIs. However, foreign investment for the past couple of years has dipped.
To help boost FDI in the country, Myanmar enacted the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) law to pave the way for SEZs to be established in the country. The three SEZs which are currently under development are Thilawa, Dawei and Kyaukphyu.
The Thilawa SEZ, located 25 kilometres south of Yangon, is Myanmar’s first modern industrial park. To date, only the Thilawa SEZ is open, with the rest still under development. The opening of Thilawa has been a success with total FDI in Zone A of the SEZ reaching up to US$1 billion with 95 percent occupancy. 79 firms have also decided to open up their factories or logistics hubs in this SEZ..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post"
Date of publication:
2018-08-20
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Dawei (Tavoy) Special Economic Zone, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
China and Myanmar have agreed to resume joint inspections of their common border for the first time in 24 years, a senior Myanmar official said.
Description:
"U Kyaw Tin, minister for International Cooperation, said both sides agreed to resume the inspections, which were supposed to have been done every five years.
“The joint inspections of the border between the two countries has not been carried out for 24 years,” he told the Amyotha Hluttaw (Upper House) on Monday. “Now we have agreed to resume them.”
U Kyaw Tin said the foreign ministers of both countries discussed the matter. “The agreement calls for aerial photos, a field study, amending border posts, drawing maps, and signing a protocol,” he said.
He said the government is negotiating similar agreements to resolve border issues with Thailand, India and Laos.
“The government is speeding up negotiations with neighbouring countries to demarcate borders,” U Kyaw Tin said..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of publication:
2019-09-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The monthly magazine China Today is under fire over its cover photo for a story on China-Myanmar relations.
The cover of the June issue featuring the old palace walls in Mandalay with a reflection of a Chinese palace wall in Mandalay’s moat has gone viral this week.
Social media commenters said the picture undermines the sovereignty of Myanmar. One Facebook comment said the Mandalay Palace is a symbol of the country’s sovereignty and putting a Chinese palace as a reflection suggested China had great influence over Mandalay, as well as the wider country.
“We need to urge the government to take note of this magazine. The old palace of Mandalay is a symbol of our power and cultural heritage. Using a reflection of a Chinese palace is an insult and challenges our sovereignty. It could create more bad feeling for China, as many already dislike the Chinese influence,” posted Facebook user Ko Nay Min.
Mandalay, Myanmar’s last royal capital, is seen as a cultural and business hub that acts as a gateway to China..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2019-09-16
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The monthly magazine China Today is under fire over its cover photo for a story on China-Myanmar relations.
The cover of the June issue featuring the old palace walls in Mandalay with a reflection of a Chinese palace wall in Mandalay’s moat has gone viral this week.
Social media commenters said the picture undermines the sovereignty of Myanmar. One Facebook comment said the Mandalay Palace is a symbol of the country’s sovereignty and putting a Chinese palace as a reflection suggested China had great influence over Mandalay, as well as the wider country.
“We need to urge the government to take note of this magazine. The old palace of Mandalay is a symbol of our power and cultural heritage. Using a reflection of a Chinese palace is an insult and challenges our sovereignty. It could create more bad feeling for China, as many already dislike the Chinese influence,” posted Facebook user Ko Nay Min.
Mandalay, Myanmar’s last royal capital, is seen as a cultural and business hub that acts as a gateway to China..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2019-09-16
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar is set to cooperate with Hong Kong in addition to other countries along China’s Belt and Road Initiative, announced Minister of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations U Thaung Tun during the Fourth Belt and Road Summit 2019 in Hong Kong on Sept
Description:
"The summit was organised by the government of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to promote business collaboration through the Belt and Road platform. More than 5800 representatives from 69countries attended the event.
“Hong Kong and Myanmar are strategically located along the Belt and Road project. Hong Kong is a major economic entrance to China, a central area for logistics and is also a centre for financial services. On the other hand, Myanmar is a fast-growing country and so will cooperate with Hong Kong and other countries along the Belt and Road project,” U Thaung Tun said.
He said Myanmar’s Sustainable Development Plan will work to include such sectors as investment, finance, logistics, and industry in implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, a global development strategy adopted by the Chinese government involving infrastructure development and investments in 152 countries and international organisations in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas.
“Hong Kong is a strategic location with a lot of potential and will participate in the BRI through cooperation on policies and projects for the BRI by sharing extensive knowledge about the main prospects of Hong Kong, and promotion of Hong Kong’s service industry,” said Chief Executive of Hong Kong Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of publication:
2019-09-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar has endured a lot in recent history. A brutal military dictatorship, which transformed its robust postcolonial economy into one of Asia’s weakest and set in motion the ongoing persecution of the Rohingya Muslims; the “8888 uprising”, a pro-democracy movement that catapulted the National League for Democracy (NLD), the political party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, into the spotlight but ultimately ended in a bloody coup, restoring isolationist military rule; and a subsequent transition towards civil authority – or something resembling democracy – with the government led by the NLD, although 25 per cent of seats in parliament are still held by a military that was found guilty of genocide in a United Nations report last year. Now the nation faces another challenge; one involving its fledgling tourism industry.
In the early 2010s, the Southeast Asian nation was a picture of wide-eyed optimism as travel writers evangelised about the “land that time forgot” and kyat-rich arrivals streamed in to experience it, bringing hopes that tourism might help boost a weak economy. For the first half of the decade, everything seemed to be going according to plan, as international visitor numbers surged from 792,000 in 2010 to 4.7 million in 2015, according to CEIC Data. Tourism revenue followed the same trajectory..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post"
Date of publication:
2019-08-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Tourism in Burma - articles and studies, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"China’s long-term strategic interests of seeing Myanmar as a “land bridge” to reach the Indian Ocean will continue to drive Beijing’s strategy. This interdependency defining the relationship is unlikely to change in the near future. Myanmar’s diplomatic balancing is under stress in the face of the West distancing from Naypyidaw over the country’s handling of the Rohingya crisis. As in the past, Naypyidaw is tilting towards its northern neighbour for both political and economic support and Beijing is fully leveraging the situation to its advantage, but it will be a bumpy road.
After years of close strategic relations during Myanmar’s military rule, China-Myanmar relations plunged into a phase of uncertainty when Myanmar military regime decided to take the path of democratisation in 2010. In the following years, Myanmar’s suspension of two China-funded projects — the Myitsone hydropower project in 2011 and the Letpedaung coppermine in 2013 — marked the beginning of a troubled relationship.
Beijing recalibrated its policy towards Myanmar to suit the changing times with the aim to arrest growing anti-Chinese sentiments in the Southeast Asian nation and to safeguard its core strategic interests including limiting strategic ties between Naypyidaw and Washington.
When the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD) government took office in 2016, contrary to popular perceptions, it adopted a balanced policy towards China and the West. Beijing’s Myanmar policy revision may have paid off, but it was Naypyidaw’s conscious strategic balancing that allowed the diplomatic equilibrium to evolve..."
Source/publisher:
"Observer Research Foundation (ORF)"
Date of publication:
2018-07-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"China and Myanmar are contemplating carrying out a feasibility study of a railway line between Muse on the Myanmar side of China-Myanmar border and Mandalay in Myanmar, according to recent media reports. The reports also suggest that China is also in the process of building a railway line connecting Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province of China, with Ruili, a town on the China-Myanmar border. Media reports are not clear if these two railway lines would be connected or would operate separately. Nevertheless, once operational, the two railway lines are expected to provide a major boost to economic activities between China and Myanmar and further cement the existing bilateral trade between the two countries.
During a visit to the border town of Ruili in China on the China-Myanmar border in 2017, this author got a first-hand exposure to the thriving border trade between Ruili and Muse. The step to conduct a feasibility study for railway network is in continuation with China’s long list of existing infrastructure projects in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Observer Research Foundation (ORF)"
Date of publication:
2018-12-20
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and Myanmar are expected to further enhance their relations and explore more areas for cooperation, HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Thursday during a meeting with a visiting official from Myanmar.
At a meeting with Myanmar's Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations and Chairman of the Myanmar Investment Commission U Thaung Tun at the Chief Executive's Office on Thursday morning, Lam highlighted the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement under negotiation, as well as the extension of a visa-free arrangement between the two places.
Hong Kong and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including Myanmar, lie along the Belt and Road, Lam said, adding that Myanmar enterprises may leverage Hong Kong's advantages as an international financial, transportation and trade center to explore the Belt and Road as well as global markets.
Hong Kong is actively assisting other regions in capacity building, and is very willing to share its experience in management and training of talent with Myanmar, she added.
The parts relating to Hong Kong and some ASEAN member states including Myanmar under the Hong Kong-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement have taken effect in June, and Hong Kong is actively negotiating an Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with Myanmar, Lam said..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Times" via Xinhua
Date of publication:
2019-09-12
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Myitsone Dam, hydropower, China, foreign investment, protests, Anti-Adhamma Committee
Topic:
Myitsone Dam, hydropower, China, foreign investment, protests, Anti-Adhamma Committee
Description:
"Politicians, activists and civil society representatives will gather in Yangon on April 1 to expand their campaign against the Chinese-backed Myitsone Dam, leaders of the movement said at a small protest in Yangon on Monday.
U Aung Soe Myint, a leader of the movement, told Frontier the group had invited NGOs, political parties and environmental experts from every state and region to come together in opposition to the multi-billion dollar project.
“We have also invited National League for Democracy officials and NLD members of parliament, but I am not sure whether or not they will attend,” Aung Soe Myint, who is also the vice chair of the People’s Party in Mandalay, said at the 50-person demonstration in downtown Yangon on Monday afternoon.
The group will form an executive committee at the meeting, he said, and will devise strategies for campaigning against the dam.
U Myat Kyaw, a leader of the Anti-Adhamma Committee, a liberal Buddhist group that opposes ultra-nationalists, said at the protest that the people of Myanmar should not stay silent over the future of the mega-project, which was suspended in 2011 by President U Thein Sein in response to a growing national opposition movement.
Public concerns include large-scale displacement and loss of livelihoods, the destruction of cultural heritage and environmental degradation.
Myat Kyaw said it was time to unite against the damming of the Ayeyarwady River. Amid increasing pressure from China to restart the project, he said Myitsone would only be cancelled if Myanmar presented a united front, and suggested that the government needed the support of the people to stand up to China..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar"
Date of publication:
2019-03-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Agriculture, Arakan Army, China, Economics, Ethnic Armed Groups, Finance, Muse, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Shan State, Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Trade
Topic:
Agriculture, Arakan Army, China, Economics, Ethnic Armed Groups, Finance, Muse, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Shan State, Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Trade
Description:
"Although the security situation in northern Shan State has stabilized, businesses say they are still on the alert about their safety and transport costs, which are rising due to a shortage of trucks.
The attacks by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Arakan Army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army on military and civilian targets on Aug. 15 destroyed the Goke Twin bridge on the Muse-Mandalay highway, a major trade route with China.
“It took about five days to repair the bridge and it was reopened on Aug. 20. But there were roadblocks [due to several other bridges being destroyed] between Kutkai and Muse, so we could only fully use the road again after Sept. 5. The bridge can only carry trucks weighing up to 48 tons, so everyone wants to hire those trucks to transport their goods. Therefore, the price went up,” said U Win Aung Khant, the chairman of the Muse Highway Freight Forwarders Association..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2019-09-12
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Shan State - general articles, Non-Ceasefire Groups, Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein welcomed the establishment of the Myanmar-Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MHKCCI) and urged more Hong Kong manufacturers to set up shop in the commercial capital.
Description:
"The MHKCCI was launched on September 3 to promote responsible investment in Myanmar and attract market entrants into the country. The event attracted more than 300 guests, including investment and foreign economic relations ministry permanent secretary U Aung Naing Oo, Yangon Mayor U Maung Maung Soe and Yangon region Kayin ethnic affairs minister Daw Naw Pann Thinzar Myo.
“Last November, I personally received a group of investors from Hong Kong and I am pleased to learn that a few of them are already considering to expand their manufacturing in Yangon, near the New Yangon City,” the chief minister said during the launch.
“Luen Thai Garment from Hong Kong is already employing some 8000 workers in Yangon, and new members of the Hong Kong manufacturing sector are most welcome,” he added.
The new chamber was eager to highlight its all-female secretariat headed by executive director Clara Tang, which reflects its emphasis on gender equality and female empowerment.
“This approach represents our commitment to diversity and is in line with the common practice of Hong Kong businesses’ in empowering women and local expertise,” said MHKCCI vice chair Adrian Short, who heads the Myanmar operations of Jardine Cycle and Carriage..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of publication:
2019-09-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Political, social and economic dimensions of investment in Burma, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Three ethnic Kachin political parties said on Monday they sought the “permanent suspension” of the multi-billion dollar Myitsone Dam, discrediting a Chinese embassy statement that implied support for the divisive project among the state’s political leaders.
Manam Tu Ja, chair of the Kachin State Democracy Party, told Frontier that the statement, which was signed by the KSDP, the Kachin Democratic Party and the Unity and Democracy Party, is a clarification of their position aimed at the Kachin people. It could also help the Chinese embassy to understand the wishes and policies of the three parties, he said.
“We have no plan yet to respond directly to the Chinese embassy because some [other] parties in Kachin could have said that they support the project,” he said.
The embassy’s statement on January 13 concerned a December visit by Chinese ambassador Mr Hong Liang to Myitkyina, the Kachin State capital, where he held discussions with political leaders and social organisations on the peace process and IDP resettlement, the anti-drug campaign in northern Myanmar, and investment.
Kachin political leaders and social organisations had a “positive attitude” towards the 6000-megawatt Myitsone Dam, the statement said. It said they assured Hong Liang that “local people of Kachin State do not oppose the Myitsone hydropower project; It is some individuals and social organizations from outside that oppose the project”.
But Reverend Hkalam Samson, chair of the Kachin Baptist Convention, who met Hong Liang during the visit, told Frontier that the statement was untrue..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar"
Date of publication:
2019-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Kachin State, Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Kachin (economic, social, cultural, political), Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Myitsone Dam, Kachin State, hydropower, China, SPIC, foreign investment, Belt and Road Initiative, Ayeyarwady River, protests
Topic:
Myitsone Dam, Kachin State, hydropower, China, SPIC, foreign investment, Belt and Road Initiative, Ayeyarwady River, protests
Description:
" Thousands of people in northern Myanmar took to the streets on Monday to protest against the proposed reinstatement of a Chinese-backed mega-dam they say will cause huge environmental damage and bring little benefit to the country.
The protest came just days ahead of a trip by civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to Beijing for a summit on China's Belt and Road Initiative.
Myanmar's former military junta signed a 2009 deal with Beijing to construct the Myitsone dam in Kachin State.
But public anger rose to the surface as the country started to transition towards democracy and the US$3.6 billion project was mothballed two years later.
If the 6,000 megawatt dam were built on the country's famed Ayeyarwady River, it would flood an area the size of Singapore, displacing tens of thousands.
Now China is increasing pressure on its southern neighbour to revive the controversial project.
On Monday protesters marched through the Kachin town of Waingmaw, some 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the proposed site of the dam, brandishing banners reading "No Myitsone Dam" and calling for the river to "flow freely forever".
"Myitsone is our inheritance from our ancestors and we cannot lose it," protester Tang Gun told AFP by phone.
He said more than 4,000 people took part in the march while several thousand more had signed a petition pledging their support for the protest..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" via AFP
Date of publication:
2019-04-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Chinese investment in projects for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is changing the homes, economies, and environments of people across Myanmar, often in conflict zones. In some cases, those affected by the projects are calling for the government to stop or alter Chinese-backed projects due to concerns about social and environmental costs. At a minimum, local residents have questions about whether they’ll see the benefits of the developments.
The Chinese and Myanmar governments, for the most part, haven’t directly addressed these concerns.
In the case of the proposed Myitsone dam in Kachin State, the Chinese government has pushed local communities to accept the project, despite the fact that most of the benefits will go to China. Late last month, a team of Chinese experts spoke in the state’s parliament in an attempt to convince Kachin lawmakers to come out in favour of the dam. The government in Myanmar has encouraged those opposed to the project to reconsider their position.
Local communities in Rakhine State have also struggled to voice their concerns over the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ). China is pushing the Myanmar government to advance this crucial piece of the BRI but unlike in Kachin, Beijing isn’t facilitating any sort of peace process around the conflicts in the area. Instead, China is shielding Myanmar from international accountability and working to prevent Kyaukphyu from becoming “another Myitsone” by minimising public opposition..."
Source/publisher:
"ASEAN Today"
Date of publication:
2019-07-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Beijing's attempt to kick-start Rohingya repatriation reveals lack of oversight
Description:
"The stand-off between Myanmar and Bangladesh over the planned repatriation of tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees continues. But things have just got a bit more complicated with China's intervention. Beijing -- with all good intentions -- is now trying to soothe the troubled waters, in part, a result of their earlier misjudged involvement, having proposed a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers in New York in the coming weeks -- sponsored by the UN secretary-general -- to try to find a way out of the growing impasse.
But it will only succeed if China takes a realistic approach to solving the problems and if the two countries directly involved are really prepared to compromise and not just pay lip service to cooperation. Of course, it can only move the process forward if the legitimate concerns and interests of the refugees are at the heart of any future repatriation plans.
The latest episode in this saga was last month's rushed attempt to start the repatriation process -- at China's persistent insistence -- which quickly turned into a fiasco when not a single refugee got in the buses that had pulled up in the camps to transport the returning refugees back to Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Bangkok Post"
Date of publication:
2019-09-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Dam Kachin Myanmar Myitsone Dam
Sub-title:
The government of Myanmar is working to restart the controversial Myitsone dam project in Kachin State. It doesn’t bode well for the ongoing peace process.
Topic:
Dam Kachin Myanmar Myitsone Dam
Description:
"Following Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s attendance at China’s Belt and Road Initiative forum on April 25, the government is working with Beijing to revive the Myitsone hydropower project. Myitsone is a Chinese-backed dam proposed for the Irrawaddy River that was suspended in September 2011 due to popular opposition.
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi originally opposed the US$3.6 billion dam. She supported a community campaign to stop the project due to its environmental and social impact. This opposition eventually caused then-president Thein Sein to suspend the 6,000 MW project.
Recently, Suu Kyi changed her rhetoric, encouraging local Kachin communities who would be impacted by the dam “to think [about the project] from a wider perspective.”
Local Kachin communities still oppose Myitsone – demonstrations against the dam drew thousands of supporters in February and again in April. However, China has continued its efforts to revive the project, claiming late last year that the Kachin population was supportive.
The Myanmar government is indicating that it may be willing to prioritize the dam, a key piece of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), over lasting peace and equitable development in Kachin.
Suu Kyi has shifted her stance on the economic, social and environmental disaster that is Myitsone..."
Source/publisher:
"ASEAN Today"
Date of publication:
2019-04-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
more
Description:
"China and Myanmar have developed fruitful cooperation in the infrastructure construction of China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) under the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI).
China has been supporting Myanmar in advancing the transportation infrastructure construction including railways, roads, airports, ports, electricity and telecommunication, to inject strong impetus for Myanmar’s economic development.
Chinese businesses are very interested in making investment in Myanmar. Myanmar also started issuing visa-on-arrival for Chinese visitors. Myanmar enjoyed 37 per cent growth in Chinese tourists arrivals.
However, Tourism officials in Myanmar are bemoaning what they consider the bad behaviour of the skyrocketing number of Chinese visitors to the Southeast Asia Nation after they began offering the Chinese visas on arrival in 2018.
Though the officials acknowledge that the growing number of Chinese visitors has given a much needed boost to the slumping economy, they have voiced concern that their actions are endangering the country’s cultural heritage sites and that their spending primarily benefits Chinese run businesses..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" via Current Affairs Correspondent East Asia
Date of publication:
2019-08-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Tourism in Burma - articles and studies, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Barter Deal, Belt And Road Forum, Mandalay Rice Development Company, Myanmar Rice Exports, Rice Farmers
Sub-title:
Rice merchants in Myanmar are struggling to adapt to a new barter trade deal with China. The barter deal aims to stabilise border trade but risks depriving Myanmar’s rice industry of much-needed income.
Topic:
Barter Deal, Belt And Road Forum, Mandalay Rice Development Company, Myanmar Rice Exports, Rice Farmers
Description:
"Myanmar recently signed a trade deal with China to increase rice exports across its northern border fourfold to 400,000 tonnes per year. But under the new trade agreement, Chinese traders will pay for a quarter of the sum with bartered goods.
The barter deal offers a boost to farmers and traders in Myanmar by regulating trade and reducing costly border closures and unpredictable tariffs on the Chinese side. But the terms of the deal also impose a burden for everyone along Myanmar’s supply chains.
Myanmar and China signed the agreement on agricultural trade at the Belt and Road Forum in April. Mandalay Rice Development Company (MRDC) agreed to export 100,000 tonnes of rice to Kunming Green Color Trade Co in exchange for construction materials, appliances, fertilizers and agricultural machinery. But many merchants in Myanmar find they’re unable to sell the bartered goods.
U Htay Lwin, chair of the Rice Millers Association in Mandalay, has advocated for a barter system, saying that it would help reduce the power imbalance between the trading partners. But the current agreement may fall short of this goal..."
Source/publisher:
"ASEAN Today"
Date of publication:
2019-08-13
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agricultural Economics, Border Trade with China, Smallholder farming and farmers in Burma/Myanmar, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
China, Myanmar, Rohingya
Sub-title:
Renewed violence between ethnic armed groups and the Myanmar military in Shan State has thrown joint China-Myanmar development plans into question. Relying on China to broker peace seems an increasingly risky gamble.
Topic:
China, Myanmar, Rohingya
Description:
"Since mid-August, violent clashes between ethnic armed groups and the Myanmar military have increased in Myanmar’s Shan State.
On August 15, members of the Northern Alliance of ethnic armed groups attacked the Myanmar military’s Defence Services Technological Academy in the northern Shan State town of Pyin Oo Lwin, as well as a police outpost, a narcotics checkpoint and a key bridge on the highway to China.
“We haven’t seen anything like this in decades of civil war in Myanmar,” said David Mathieson, an independent analyst in Yangon.
At least 15 people were killed in the violence and over 7,000 people have fled their homes as fighting continues.
“We have to flee quite frequently, but this time has been the worst,” said Maung Kyan, a local resident of a village near the town of Kutkai.
Northern Alliance groups have targeted trade routes linking China’s Yunnan province to Mandalay and the rest of Myanmar, prompting the closure of two key border points at Muse and Chinshwehaw. Chinese officials have met with both sides in an attempt to stop the fighting.
Northern Alliance leaders met with government representatives for peace talks in Keng Tung on August 31 but there’s been no news of progress towards a resolution.
The conflict area in Northern Shan is central to the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Both the Chinese and Myanmese governments have pushed forward with development plans for the area without securing lasting peace with the ethnic armed groups in Shan State..."
Source/publisher:
"ASEAN Today"
Date of publication:
2019-09-05
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Shan State - ceasefires and ceasefire talks, Non-Ceasefire Groups, Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s largest airport was forced to close temporarily after a military plane skidded off the runway, forcing inbound international flights to be diverted, an official at the civil aviation department said on Thursday.
A Chinese-made Y-8-200F transport plane slid off the runway at Yangon International Airport in the morning after one of its engines failed, according to a government statement.
There were no injuries reported, but outbound flights were delayed and inbound flights suspended.
“We are in a situation that the airport has temporarily shut down,” said Ye Htut Aung, Deputy Director-General of Myanmar’s Department of Civil Aviation. International flights would not resume until the aircraft could be removed, he added.
“My husband is now stuck at the airport in Dhaka, and can’t come home as he planned,” said Yu Lwin Soe, who was waiting at the airport with her toddler son..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" via Reuters
Date of publication:
2019-09-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Ethnic armed group has leveraged ties to China to avoid conflict and build a prosperous nationalist state
Description:
"The Wa, an autonomous ethnic minority living in the rugged hills of northeastern Myanmar, are open and clear that they have no intention to break away from the national union.
The Wa Self-Administered Division, as their territory is officially known, is a self-governing buffer state between Myanmar and China with its own courts, schools, hospitals and even a modern TV news station.
Besides the native Wa language, many speak Chinese while only a few are fluent in the country’s main Bamar language. The Chinese yuan, not the Myanmar kyat, is the currency of choice in shops and marketplaces. Mobile phones and the internet are linked to Chinese, not Myanmar, networks.The Wa state’s main city, Panghsang, also known as Pangkham, is a showcase of prosperity in the middle of a region stuck in conflict-ridden underdevelopment and poverty. And it is here that the fate of Myanmar’s hamstrung yet crucial peace process will most likely be decided.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the area was controlled by the insurgent Communist Party of Burma (CPB). But, in 1989, the mostly Wa hill-tribe rank-and-file of its army mutinied and drove their orthodox Maoist Myanmar leaders into exile in China. Communism was purged and local Wa nationalism took its place..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times"
Date of publication:
2019-09-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Burma: drug production and trafficking, Burma: opium and heroin, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed Myanmar's active participation in jointly building the Belt and Road during his meeting with Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday.
Myanmar formed a steering committee for implementation of tasks relating to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative chaired by Suu Kyi. The committee is tasked to implement works relating to the establishment of China-Myanmar economic corridor (CMEC) and China-Myanmar border economic cooperation zone under the Belt and Road Initiative.
During the meeting, Xi expressed China's support for the domestic peace process and economic development in Myanmar and expected the two countries will further promote Belt and Road cooperation and the establishment of the CMEC in order to benefit two peoples.
Xi also hailed Myanmar's efforts in maintaining border stability, saying that China is willing to work with Myanmar in maintaining border security and stability..."
Source/publisher:
"CGTN"
Date of publication:
2019-04-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Amid rapidly changing Asian dynamics and news reports on claimed civilization clashes, China hosted the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) last week. How should we refute such a claim as the "clash of civilizations?" Global Times (GT) reporter Wang Wenwen talked to Ko Ko Hlaing (Hlaing), co-founder of Myanmar's Center for Strategic and International Studies, who served under Thein Sein as the chief political adviser to the President's Office, on the sidelines of the conference. Hlaing also shed light on the recent trajectory of China-Myanmar relations. Hlaing: A clash of civilizations occurs when civilizations have little understanding of or misunderstandings with each other, and their interests clash. So, if we would like to reduce those threats, we need to develop a mutual understanding and construct the right approach for common interests on a common platform.
That's why this conference is being held. It can contribute to clearing up misunderstandings or misconceptions. And it can foster closer cooperation for the region's common future..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Times"
Date of publication:
2019-05-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
more
Description:
"The offshore fixed pilot station which was constructed by a Chinese engineering company opened in Myanmar's Yangon on Saturday.
Managed by the Myanmar Port Authority under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Yangon Offshore Fixed Pilot Station project which is the second of its kind in the world, following the one built in Thailand, started in March 2017 and construction of the station by China Harbour Engineering Co., Ltd. completed in February this year.
At the project opening and handover ceremony, Union Minister U Thant Sin M for Transport and Communications praised the successful completion of the project in line with the international quality standard, saying that the station plays an important supportive role to the country's economic development.
Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang assured that the project could support the better transportation through Yangon port, the main trading hub of the country.
The pilot station is located at 20 nautical miles away from the mouth of the Yangon River..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Times" via Xinhua
Date of publication:
2019-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"It was completely dark outside at night when this Global Times reporter visited Kyaukpyu county, Myanmar eight years ago. Now, the city has witnessed tremendous changes thanks to the China-Myanmar crude oil and gas pipeline, a pioneer project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, local citizens told the Global Times.
The pipeline project serves as the fourth energy import channel after the China-Central Asia pipelines, China-Russia oil pipeline, and the Middle East. As a result, the project has a strategic significance for China's energy diversification and security, said Zhang Qiang, manager of the project of Sino-Pipeline International Company. He noted Myanmar also benefits a great deal from the project.
An oil tanker stops at a western Myanmar port in Kyaukpyu county. Three oil delivery pipes are lowered down to unload oil into its 100,000-ton oil storage tank.
That oil will go through the 771-kilometer-long China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline and head to China from Namhkam, Shan State in eastern Myanmar.
In the same way, the natural gas gathered from southwestern Myanmar will go through the China-Myanmar gas pipeline.
"The China-Myanmar crude oil and gas pipeline allows crude oil from the Middle East to bypass the Malacca Straits and go ashore on Made Island, which faces the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean. The oil will eventually arrive in China's southwestern region," Zhang told the Global Times.
He noted that Myanmar requires less than 2 million tons of crude oil and 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to promote local economic development and raise people's standard of living.
Every day, about 602,700 cubic meters of natural gas are supplied from the starting station in Kyaukpyu county and transferred to the local power station..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Times"
Date of publication:
2019-04-16
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Since Myanmar embarked on its political transition, political elites in the country have championed that peace is the premise for economic and social development. In the first two years of the government led by National League for Democracy (NLD), Nay Pyi Taw devoted a lot of efforts to promoting national reconciliation with the hope of making a major breakthrough and consolidating public support. Regrettably, results are not satisfactory. The NLD government is currently locked in a stalemate over national reconciliation.
It has also performed poorly in boosting the economy and improving people's lives. Main economic indicators suggest that since the NLD government assumed power, Living standards haven't substantially improved, and more economic problems have surfaced to plague the country. One of the main reasons why the NLD lost seats in the 2018 elections is the government's lackluster economic performance. If the economy doesn't improve, it will inevitably affect the NLD's potential for victory in the 2020 election.
Therefore, the NLD government is now attaching increasing importance to economic and livelihood issues. It has issued a string of policies to attract foreign investment. Take the new Myanmar Companies Act. Under the law, foreigners are permitted to take up to a 35 percent stake in local companies and businesses with foreign stakes of more than 35 percent will be classified as a foreign company, which facilitates cooperation between foreign investors and local businessmen and will help attract more foreign investment..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Times"
Date of publication:
2019-02-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar ethnic group wants greater role for China
Description:
"As the political reconciliation is underway in Myanmar, Shan State Army-South (SSAS) chair, Lieutenant General Yawd Serk, hopes China will play a greater role in the process of achieving peace in the country.
The general, who is also Chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), told the Global Times that he has had talks with China's Asia affairs special envoy. "I hope China can participate in Myanmar peace process at a greater width. China and Myanmar have a long border and China's boundary with Shan State is also very long."
Despite the Myanmar government's optimism that peace will prevail across the country, Yawd Serk said that he had almost "lost confidence."
"The cease-fire agreement has not brought any changes, the whole situation has worsened," he told the Global Times.
Since October 2015, Myanmar's government has signed the landmark Nationwide Cease-fire Accord (NCA) with 10 ethnic armed groups including SSAS, which was viewed as an important step in resolving the country's conflicts.
On February 12, Myanmar President U Win Myint said the government is currently in negotiations with ethnic armed organizations which have not yet signed the NCA in an effort to realize a final peace deal, Xinhua reported.
It's been reported that military conflicts in Myanmar occur to 200 to 300 times a year..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Times"
Date of publication:
2019-02-22
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Shan State - general articles, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
A Border Guard Force and a Chinese company have teamed up to build a hi-tech city on the border north of Myawaddy, with seemingly little regard for Myanmar law and the livelihoods of the local Karen.
Description:
"THE ROAD north from the busy trading town of Myawaddy, on the border with Thailand, passes through bucolic Karen villages. The road is flanked by fields of maize and rubber plantations, with trees stretching as far as the eye can see. The area is severely under-developed; villages lack electricity and the road is in such poor condition the 16-kilometre drive north to Shwe Kokko can take about two hours.
Shwe Kokko was once a village like the others in this area: sleepy, peaceful, inviting. It is now a massive construction site home to thousands of workers. Chinese investors are partnering with a local warlord to pump billions of dollars into the project, which is already reshaping this once quiet corner of the Thai-Myanmar frontier.
When it comes to the Shwe Kokko project – a self-described “special economic zone” that has already been dubbed the “Chinatown of Kayin State” on social media in Myanmar – sorting fact from fiction can be difficult. But one thing is certain: the developers have big plans.
But who is behind this project, and why would they choose this corner of Myanmar to develop a megacity from scratch?
Shwe Kokko is being developed on a sweeping bend of the Moei River controlled by the Kayin State Border Guard Force. Formerly known as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, the group was rebranded as a BGF in 2010, when it came under Tatmadaw control. In exchange for its loyalty, the BGF has been allowed to develop significant economic interests, including a mix of licit and illicit businesses. Shwe Kokko would be the largest of the lot..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar"
Date of publication:
2019-09-05
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"China is the largest investor in Myanmar’s Financial Hub, Yangon Region, in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA). China is already the second largest investor in the country.
The director of DICA’s Yangon Region Office, U Myo Khaing Oo, said on Wednesday that as of July 24, Yangon Region had given the green light to a total of 113 foreign investment projects in the current 2018-19 fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. Of those, 65 are by Chinese companies.
“Chinese account for the biggest share,” said U Myo Khaing Oo, who is also secretary of the Yangon Region Investment Committee (YRIC). However, he did not reveal which sector received the most investment from China.
In addition to the Chinese projects, the regional government approved 17 projects from Hong Kong; six each from India and Taiwan; four from Japan; three each from Singapore and the British Virgin Islands; and nine from other countries. The foreign projects were worth a total of US$201.022 million (303.83 billion kyats), according to the YRIC..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" via Business Reporting Desk
Date of publication:
2019-07-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Chinese investment, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The Route has been finalised for the Muse-Mandalay high-speed railway line to be built by Myanmar and China, according to Myanmar Railways.
The project is part of Myanmar’s cooperation in the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC). The railway will begin near Myitnge in Amarapura township in Mandalay, and will pass through 11 townships, said U Htay Hlaing Deputy General Manager of Myanmar Railways.
“The route is nearly confirmed, but the environmental assessment is still under way, and we will survey residents’ opinions along the line. It will pass through Patheingyi, Pyin Oo Lwin, Nawngcho, and Thibaw. There will be a station in Nam Ohm, and it will pass through Lashio, Theinni, Kutkai and Nam Hpet Kar before reaching Muse,” he said.
Myanmar is participating in China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
Myanmar Railways, under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, and China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding in October 2018 to conduct a feasibility study for the Muse-Mandalay high-speed railway project as part of the CMEC. Now the railway’s route has been decided, said U Myo Win, general manager of Myanmar Railways for upper Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" via Business Reporting Desk
Date of publication:
2019-08-22
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Title: 1980s Thailand/Burma border as described in Burmese Looking Glass (posted September 27, 2018)
Description:
"After 1 year of monthly History Threads on Myanmar Rakhine St., Kachin St. issues, this History Thread is something different: 1980s Burma/Thailand border as described in my 1993 first book “Burmese Looking Glass” with photos I took back then. This is me at Salween River 1987. I first crossed Thai/Burma border to the Shan United Revolutionary Army, led by Mo Heing in 1982. That was a good introduction to the political complexities of Shan State: legitimate grievances, multiple factions and looming narcotics corruption.Then I went to Karen National Union's furthest outpost, Mergui-Tavoy District in still thickly-forested Tenasserim. I met survivors of Tatmadaw (Burma army) human rights abuse (woman on rt. had been a “human shield.”) Observed KNU’s revolutionary society, utopian inclinations..."
Source/publisher:
"Project Maje"
Date of publication:
2018-09-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Though Myanmar officials have expressed their appreciation for the benefits of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese analysts noted that more practical outcomes should be delivered apart from optimistic plans, as some BRI projects still face uncertainty in the Southeast Asian country. A positive momentum to further promote the implementation of the China-proposed initiative in Myanmar has been seen recently, analysts said.
During a visit to the China-Myanmar border in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province from Saturday to Monday, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed that the stability of border areas is directly related to joint efforts to promote cooperation under the initiative.
Also on Monday, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said BRI could bring opportunities to Myanmar and the region, at the first meeting of the steering committee for the implementation of tasks relating to the initiative, the Xinhua News Agency reported..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News"
Date of publication:
2019-02-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The Myanmar Government is ready to sign a framework agreement with China on the establishment of cross-border economic cooperation zones, paving the way for the implementation of Beijing’s grand infrastructure plans in the country as part of its Belt & Road Initiative (BRI).
The assistant permanent secretary and spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, U Khin Maung Lwin, told The Irrawaddy, “The related Government Ministries have already reviewed a framework agreement proposal submitted by China.”
“We received comments from the related Ministries. We also reviewed the proposal with experts. We will send the proposal back to China. Our side is preparing to sign [a framework agreement] very soon,” he said.
According to U Khin Maung Lwin, the framework will cover a number of major agreements, particularly on the formation of a bilateral joint committee for the implementation of the cross-border economic cooperation zones; the assignment of management roles for the zones; and types of incentives for investors..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News"
Date of publication:
2019-08-16
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
" Myanmar and Chinese authorities signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a friendship forest project in Myanmar’s capital Nay Pyi Taw on Thursday morning.
Under the four-year project, a total of 3,353 saplings will be planted, covering the area of 7.53 hectares in Zabuthiri township.
“We are pleased that residents and visitors in Nay Pyi Taw could enjoy a breath of fresh air produced by the forest when preparations to turn the city into a smart city are being carried out at the moment,” said Nay Pyi Taw Council Chairman Myo Aung.
The saplings include those of teak, gum-kino (Padauk), Mahogany wood, Thin Win (Burmese wood), gold mohur tree and Burmese star flower..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua"
Date of publication:
2019-08-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"In a significant new development, China has proposed initiating an economic corridor with Myanmar to advance bilateral trade links, creating a central intersection for the Belt and Road Initiative between Southeast Asia and China.
Addressing the media while on a recent visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh, Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced, “China and Myanmar have great potential for cooperation as they are highly complementary in economy. To further enhance China-Myanmar comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, China has proposed building the China-Myanmar economic corridor.”
Starting from Yunnan in southwestern China, the corridor would proceed south to Mandalay in Myanmar, eastward to Yangon and then westward to the Kyaukpyu special economic zone. This would boost connectivity and facilitate development throughout Myanmar.
Three branches of this network would operate along with a proposed $1.5 billion oil pipeline through the Bay of Bengal. Deepening economic cooperation with these new projects under the BRI, China has also backed a $7.3 billion deepwater port in Rakhine state..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News"
Date of publication:
2019-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"India, being a peninsular country, considers oceans as a global common. So how can it neutralise China’s over lordship and policing of waters given the latter’s growing military presence?
President Ram Nath Kovind may have sought to deepen our civilisational links and hoped to build on a shared anti-colonial narrative with Myanmar during his visit to that country but semantics cannot paper over the fact that our neighbour has signed the Kyaukpyu deep sea project with China in November and that could pose a security threat to India.
This is particularly worrying considering the Chinese are attempting to ring the Indian Ocean with its “string of pearls diplomacy” and hem India in, already acquiring strategic depth with the Pakistani port of Gwadar and the Sri Lankan one at Hambantota.
Yes, the President did emphasise on strengthening bilateral cooperation through increased connectivity, capacity-building and growing commercial and cultural exchanges. And it is true that Myanmar is also unhappy about China’s economic imperialism by creating debt traps for smaller states in the region as part of its Belt and Road Initiative..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News"
Date of publication:
2019-01-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The Second Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation in April was followed by Myanmar and China inking three bilateral agreements: an agreement on economic and technical cooperation, an MoU on a five year economic and trade development cooperation plan, and an MoU on the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) Plan spanning 2019 to 2030.
However, caution has gradually emerged over the BRI, as shown by Myanmar’s recent approval of only nine of China’s 38 proposed “early harvest” projects.
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s comment at the forum that projects need to “not only be economically feasible but also socially and environmentally responsible” and be fully supported by local communities, is an example of Myanmar’s growing wariness in dealing with China. Significantly, the MoU for the CMEC included provisions to allow Myanmar to seek financing from international financial institutions when implementing projects, invite international tenders for investment, and choose projects to maximise mutual benefit..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" via Current Correspondent East Asia
Date of publication:
2019-08-03
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
China also plans to restrict exports
Description:
"China is likely to trim imports of rare earths from Myanmar starting next month, which an analyst said will help relieve oversupply in China. The country will also tighten its exports in the future because of the increasingly high environmental costs.
China imported 26,000 tons of rare earths carbonate from Myanmar in 2018, accounting for 25 percent of total domestic demand, financial news site jrj.com.cn reported Wednesday, citing an industry study.
Among the imports, heavy rare earths from Myanmar accounted for about one-third of China's consumption in 2018, the report said.
Amid a crackdown on illegal mining, China strengthened efforts to reduce illegal rare-earth capacity and halted approval for new mines after the end of 2016. Due to a relative domestic shortage of heavy rare earths, China increased imports from Myanmar and became a net importer of rare earths for the first time in 2018, according to the report.
China is the largest producer and exporter of rare earths in the world, but because of its relative shortage of heavy rare earths, it increased imports from its neighbor, said Lin Boqiang, dean of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University.
An industry insider who preferred to be anonymous told the Global Times Wednesday that the price advantage was another factor driving China to import rare earths from the ASEAN country. It's possible that a cut in imports may be driven by concerns that illegally mined material was smuggled into Myanmar and then returned to China as imports from Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Times"
Date of publication:
2019-04-10
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"China’s Kunming Steel has entered into an initial agreement to build a 4mn t/yr steel plant in Myanmar (Burma), which, if completed, will be the country’s first integrated mill.
Yunnan-based Kunming Steel plans to build the blast furnace-based plant in two phases of 2mn t/yr each, along with sintering, coking and power generation facilities. The product profile of the mill will include hot-rolled coil, rebar and wire rod.
The plant will aim to supply steel into the import-dominated Myanmar market and export any surplus to neighbouring countries. Steel imports into Myanmar have been around 2mn-3mn t/yr since 2014. The project is part of China’s Belt and Road initiative in southeast Asia and part of efforts to expand links between Yunnan and southeast Asia.
Myanmar’s steel demand is forecast to be around 3mn t in 2020 and 5mn t in 2025, driven by construction sector demand, according to the South East Asia Iron and Steel Institute. The bulk of the country’s steel demand is for rebar..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" via Business Reporting Desk
Date of publication:
2019-06-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with U Kyaw Tint Swe, Myanmar's minister of the office of the State Counselor, here on Tuesday, and expected that Myanmar would make efforts to maintain peace and stability in the two countries' border area.
Wang said that China firmly supports Myanmar in its efforts to advance domestic peace process, and expected that relevant parties would sustain the ceasefire situation in northern Myanmar through consultations and maintain peace and stability in the two countries' border area.
The Chinese side pays close attention to the situation in the Rakhine State, and opposes multilateralization and politicization of this issue, Wang said.
He expressed China's appreciation of Myanmar's positive stance and pragmatic measures on repatriation of displaced persons from Rakhine State..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua"
Date of publication:
2019-08-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
more
Description:
"Blessed with a strategic location between India and China in the centre of Southeast Asia, as well as direct access to the Indian Ocean, Myanmar is a source of envy for neighbouring countries.
It should come as no surprise that the region’s most powerful players like China and Japan are competing with each other to establish three major South and Southeast Asian economic corridors in the country from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean, while
India is pushing for a cross-border transport system and sea route project with Myanmar. Make no mistake: None of those corridors would be complete without Myanmar due to its geographical importance.
In the meantime, from the country’s west in Rakhine, to the south in Yangon and Tanintharyi, north in Kachin, central region in Mandalay and areas on the Chinese border in Shan State, 10 mega-infrastructure projects worth billions of dollars that are related to these corridors and India’s cross-border project are on their way for Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News"
Date of publication:
2019-08-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Dawei (Tavoy) Special Economic Zone, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
more