"... The Myanmar Times Monday, 11 September 2017 | Myanmar Edition The Myanmar Times You are here Home » Business » Myanmar?s bargaining power rises along the Belt and Road Myanmar?s bargaining power rises along the Belt and Road Thompson Chau 11 Sep 2017 Daw Aung San Suu Kyi meets Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo: EPA Daw Aung San Suu Kyi meets Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo: EPA AS Hong Kong?s second Belt and Road Summit started today in the city The Myanmar Times asked two experts from The Economist Intelligence Unit and Lau China Institute at King?s College, London for their input regarding the dynamics of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and China in relation to Myanmar and ASEAN. Much of the focus on China?s grand scheme in Myanmar has surrounded the development of the proposed Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and deep-sea port in Rakhine State. However, the BRI has a much broader implication on Myanmar both economically and politically. Back in 2014, Professor Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese Studies and director of the Lau China Institute at King?s College, London, wrote that China can no longer reign supreme in many ASEAN member states, despite its economic muscle. ?Chinese investment and trade are all welcome [in Cambodia], but the days of Beijing supremacy are long over," he wrote in an article. ?A similar pattern can be seen in Vietnam, Myanmar, the Philippines and Laos. The era of stark choices between friends and enemies fostered by the Cold War has left a region with blurred allegiances and almost constantly changing loyalties,” he argued, adding that ?China can search for leverage in vain in this new context, but it knows than even endless amounts of trade, aid, and financial largesse don?t buy much any longer.” Myanmar?s trump card These days, Nay Pyi Taw has more options beyond Beijing. ?Myanmar occupies a unique position. It has travelled in the last few years from being a relatively dependent partner of China because of its diplomatic and economic isolation to one which, because of reforms and changes in the country, now has a much more diverse group of relations. ?This has allowed it more autonomy and a less severe form of China-centric links. It?s newly evolving relations with the US and the EU mean it simply has, very suddenly, more options,” he said. Still, China?s leverage over some ethnic armed groups in Myanmar can be seen as a political ?trump card” over Nay Pyi Taw. The ethnic peace process is a top priority for State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the participation of those ethnic armed groups is essential for the peace process..."