Burma's economic relations with China
Individual Documents
Description:
"Amid the worsening domestic COVID-19 situation, Myanmar’s election in November 2020 brought a landslide victory for the National League for Democracy (NLD) under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi. Despite voting restrictions in parts of Rakhine and Shan states, the election was overall a step in the right direction, and the NLD increased its majority in the Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house) and Amyotha Hluttaw (upper house). The show of support at the ballot box for the NLD indicates the domestic popularity of Aung San Suu Kyi. Her defence of Myanmar’s handling of the Rohingya crisis at the International Court of Justice — and in many other international venues — was dubbed a betrayal of democracy and human rights by Western media, but it boosted her domestic aura as a defender of Myanmar.
The priorities for the NLD government are no doubt domestic. The COVID-19 pandemic ransacked Myanmar’s economy and the domestic poverty rate skyrocketed. High on the government’s agenda is creating employment for millions of Myanmar workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic.
The country still faces one of the worst humanitarian crises with the Rohingya issue which battered its international image and led to economic sanctions. Myanmar’s domestic peace process has also stalled and militarised conflicts in the north of the country have no end in sight.
To deal with these issues, China is the most indispensable country for Aung San Suu Kyi and her government. As one of the manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines and with a promise to contribute to the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries, Myanmar needs to work with China to vaccinate its population. Vaccine diplomacy was high on the agenda during a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Myanmar in early January 2021, despite Naypyidaw making the first order of 30 million doses from India.
As the largest trading partner and second largest FDI source for Myanmar, the continued economic growth and opening up of the Chinese market will also have positive reverberations. Although Myanmar society overall holds anti-Chinese sentiments, Aung San Suu Kyi’s government still sees the benefits of engaging in close economic cooperation with China. Initiatives such as the China–Myanmar Economic Corridor aim to further connect the two economies.
With the recent signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Myanmar is also set to benefit from further relaxing of trade restrictions among its major trading partners. The government is optimistic that participating in RCEP will help Myanmar gain access to a large market for its exports, and that there will also be opportunities for responsible, high-quality investment inflows.
While Myanmar faces tremendous pressure from the West on the Rohingya issue, Myanmar’s Asian neighbours are hesitant to jump on the bandwagon. Only Malaysia and Indonesia — as the two Muslim-majority countries in ASEAN — have been more vocal.
China is Myanmar’s strongest supporter on the Rohingya issue and is actively involved in facilitating negotiations between the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh. The protection China offers to Myanmar at international institutions is crucial. A quid pro quo is evident between the two countries with Myanmar offering support for China at the United Nations on Xinjiang and Hong Kong. This cooperative relationship will likely continue as both face similar pressure from the West..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"China promised to continue to support Myanmar’s peace talks with ethnic minority groups and to boost its coronavirus aid on the first stop of the foreign minister’s six-day tour of Southeast Asia.
During Monday’s meetings with President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Wang Yi also urged Myanmar to speed up construction work on the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor – a key element of the country’s Belt and Road Initiative.
“China will support the new Myanmar government in revitalising the economy, improving people’s livelihoods and accelerating the industrialisation process. We hope that both sides will work together to effectively implement the agreement on building the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor and promote connectivity at the western, northern and eastern ends of the corridor,” Wang told the president, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua.
China shares more than 2,100km (1,300 miles) of border with Myanmar’s north, an area that has long been troubled by the fighting between government and ethnic minority rebel groups, making China a crucial player in peace talks between the government armies and ethnic armed groups. Wang said Beijing would do whatever it could to support the peace negotiations, adding: “China supports Myanmar government’s commitment to national reconciliation in the country … and will continue to provide assistance within its capabilities, as well as upholding justice and safeguarding Myanmar’s legitimate rights and interests in the international arena.”
In response, Win Myint told Wang that Myanmar was keen to cooperate with China on vaccine distribution and would continue to support Beijing’s positions on Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang, according to Xinhua..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Burma's economic relations with China, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Infrastructure is high on China’s agenda in Myanmar, but it is also making headway in other important sectors.
Description:
"A year after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to Myanmar, Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to arrive in the capital Naypyidaw today for a two-day official visit. The trip to Myanmar follows an African tour that has taken Wang to Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Tanzania, and the Seychelles. The agenda of his Myanmar trip is yet to be confirmed, but the ongoing progress of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), along with COVID-19 diplomacy, is very likely to be high on the list.
First signed between China and Myanmar in 2018, the CMEC envisions the construction of a network of railways, roads, ports, and new cities running overland from China’s Yunnan province to the sea. Although numerous memorandum of agreements related to CMEC and Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have been in place for years, progress has lagged considerably. Indeed, progress on the CMEC seems to have been slowed further by Beijing’s pandemic-induced belt-tightening and the unprofitable nature of many of the infrastructure projects that fell under its aegis. This had prompted Beijing to adopt an alternative model of engagement in Myanmar: one that is more economically feasible, and that leverages its strategic assets, innovation, and technology to expand its sphere of influence, rather than focusing on infrastructure alone.
This is consistent with China’s recently announced Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), which signaled a significant shift in China’s economic and development strategy toward increased domestic consumption. This shift has been prompted by its trade tensions with the United States and the opportunities and challenges offered by a post-COVID-19-world. This re-calibration may impact Beijing’s ability to realize the CMEC as it is currently envisioned..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Steady Continued cooperation on regional integration between China and Myanmar gave a sharp contrast to India, which turned a blind eye toward such development trend and let go opportunties, a Chinese analyst said on Monday.
The comments came after China and Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Sunday to conduct feasibility study of a 650-kilometer-long railway linking Mandalay, the country's second largest city in Myanmar's central region, with Kyaukphyu, the major town in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
Zhao Gancheng, director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told the Global Times that the signing of the MoU is an important step toward a very significant project under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor and part of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.
When the concept of the corridor was first introduced in 2013, India was initially involved in the regional integration project, only to withdraw further into the process.
The continued development of the Mandalay-Kyaukphyu railway shows that regional integration is moving forward even as India, which could play a major part in the program, has chosen not to participate, Zhao said..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Times" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
India has recently stressed increasing ties with its neighbors, and stronger ties with Myanmar are key to that strategy
Description:
"On June 1, 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the Shangri-La Dialogue formally announced his country’s Indo-Pacific policy. He also said that India advocated an independent, free, and inclusive Indo-Pacific system in the region.
At the same time, major steps were taken to strengthen relations with the US, Japan and Australia through the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. It is important to note here that India had been avoiding connecting the Quad directly to the Indo-Pacific.
The Indian government also tried to end the skepticism of the Southeast Asian countries by calling for the Indo-Pacific policy to keep New Delhi’s “Act East” policy and ASEAN countries at the center. However, Indian policymakers soon realized that if the Indo-Pacific regional system was to materialize, then faster and bigger steps would have to be taken. In November 2019, during the 14th East Asia Summit in Bangkok, Modi announced the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.
Recently, this was once again glimpsed when External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Sri Lanka from January 5-7, where he insisted on promoting cooperation between India and its neighbors under the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. There is no doubt that despite the difficulties and ups and downs, India’s cooperation with every country in South Asia, except Pakistan, has increased..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with India, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma-India relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to arrive in Myanmar on Monday on a critical two-day visit. It is intended to further strengthen Chinese influence in the country, in light of the changing international dynamics in the region, amid fears that China's sway is beginning to wane.
Beijing is increasingly concerned with a plethora of issues, including recent Indian and Japanese initiatives with Myanmar, which Beijing fears may prove to be to their detriment, but also to take stock of the continued economic cooperation, strengthen its support for the peace process and to boost China's support for Myanmar's battle to control the Covid pandemic. Mr Wang's primary purpose on this visit is to show China's unswerving support for the country and its civilian leader, the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi -- and to congratulate the National League for Democracy (NLD) on its landslide electoral victory. He will be the first international diplomat to visit Nay Pyi Taw in person since the elections last November.
The visit seems to have been arranged at short notice -- and tagged onto Mr Wang's current trip to Africa. It is low-key and being handled discreetly, according to Myanmar government sources. Foreign diplomats believe this may reflect some discomfort on the part of Nay Pyi Taw at the visit, and what is seen as "vaccine diplomacy"..."
Source/publisher:
Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
A long-running war and COVID-19 muddle development in Kyaukphyu, Myanmar.
Description:
"Kyi Kyi Hnin sits beneath a fan on a bright morning in her village along the coast of Kyaukphyu, a township in Myanmar’s Rakhine State on the edge of the Indian Ocean.
“The government just signs laws, but they are committing violations,” she says. “The government should consider the communities’ desires and interests.”
Kyi Kyi Hnin is a local community organizer and her speech is quick and resolute: She knows the challenges facing Kyaukphyu and spends her days working to support local residents. Kyaukphyu is home to a cluster of busy fishing towns and villages. But in the past few years, the township has been thrown into the center of geopolitics, armed conflict and, more recently, Myanmar’s struggle against COVID-19.
For months, the country recorded relatively few cases of the virus, until a new outbreak began in August with Rakhine at the epicenter. After the state capital, Sittwe, Kyaukphyu has recorded the most cases of any township in Rakhine for much of the outbreak..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The Union government has unbundled a controversial Chinese-backed multibillion-dollar new city project across the Yangon River from Myanmar’s commercial hub and is finalizing the hiring of an international consultant to assist in the selection of a developer for the newly compartmentalized project.
Known as the New Yangon City project, it is an element of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), which is a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The CMEC will connect Yunnan province in China to Mandalay in central Myanmar, Yangon New City in the south and the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone in the west.
The Yangon regional government-backed New Yangon Development Company (NYDC) initially signed a US$1.5-billion (2.03-trillion-kyat) framework agreement in 2018 with Beijing-based China Communications Construction Company, Ltd. (CCCC) to draw up a proposal for the infrastructure project. The 20,000-acre (nearly 8,100-hectare) New Yangon City project is slated to include five resettlement areas, two bridges, an industrial estate, and commercial and residential areas as well as related infrastructure. The Yangon government’s 2019 guidebook listing the city’s projects—the Yangon Project Bank— estimates the New Yangon City project’s total cost at $8 billion.
However, the project has been a source of controversy due to its flood-prone location as well as CCCC’s involvement. The Hong Kong-listed, Chinese state-owned company has been accused of engaging in corruption and bribery relating to development deals in at least 10 countries in Africa and Asia.
Since its formation, the NYDC has said that while CCCC was the frontrunner for the project, the selection process to find the developer would follow the so-called “Swiss Challenge” model, in which other candidate firms would be invited to beat CCCC’s bid. However, the huge amount of the initial investment required has all but deterred other investors.
On Wednesday, a senior official familiar with the project told The Irrawaddy that the $1.5-billion project has been unbundled by the Union government due to the sheer scale of the mega-investment required, making it possible for other companies to join the Swiss Challenge..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
How national security concerns sealed the varying fates of Chinese investment projects in Myanmar.
Description:
"Almost nine years have passed since the Thein Sein administration unilaterally announced the suspension of construction work on the Myitsone dam in September 2011. The building of the controversial hydroelectric dam is a gargantuan Chinese investment project in Myanmar, with an estimated total cost of $3.6 billion, and with a planned reservoir area larger than the size of Singapore. The suspension followed increasingly severe public protests in Myanmar expressing opposition to the Myitsone dam project. Naypyidaw credited the suspension decision to the “people’s will, and many analysts have thus attributed the unexpected suspension to the victory of popular anti-China sentiments and anti-dam movements, following Myanmar’s domestic political transition. If the “people’s will” really brought the Myitsone dam project to a halt, might other Chinese overseas projects be at risk of a similar fate?
The dam project was not the only Chinese mega-project undergoing construction in Myanmar at that time. Two other multi-billion-dollar projects, namely, the Letpadaung copper mine project and the Sino-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines project, also encountered severe public opposition and pressure when Myanmar started its partial transition from military dictatorship to quasi-civilian semi-democracy.
Although the three projects have similarities in terms of their design, implementation, and the public backlash they faced, the setbacks they experienced varied greatly. Since the Myitsone dam project was unilaterally suspended by former President Thein Sein, the construction work remains shelved without any renegotiation. In contrast, the Letpadaung copper mine project experienced a two-year suspension, investigation, and renegotiation before it resumed, while the Sino-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines project was never suspended and has been operational since the completion of construction work in 2015.
To understand why these projects encountered varying degrees of success, it is necessary to take into account the contexts of the three consecutive Myanmar governments within which these projects were operational: the military government before the political transition in March 2011, the quasi-civilian government of Thein Sein from March 2011 to March 2016, and the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government since then. Doing so reveals that the “people’s will” was not the primary reason why Thein Sein unilaterally suspended the Myitsone dam project. Rather, national security concerns led Myanmar’s leaders to make different decisions on similar projects under different contexts.
The plans for all three projects were finalized between 2009 and 2010, when Myanmar was still ruled by the military junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Myanmar had experienced Western sanctions and isolation during the era of military dictatorship. China not only was Myanmar’s largest trading partner and foreign investor, but also became its biggest regime supporter in the international community at this time. The maintenance of a good relationship with China was one of the main priorities for Myanmar’s leadership, to ensure regime survival and national security. Thus, Myanmar satisfied China’s demands in this period because the cost of rejecting China was intolerable..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-22
[field_licence]
Type:
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
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s trade with foreign countries through border gates reached over 8.6 billion U.S. dollars as of July 10 in present fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020 which started in October, according to figures released by the Commerce Ministry on Monday.
During the period, the country's export via border gates earned over 5.8 billion U.S. dollars while its import shared over 2.7 billion U.S. dollars.
According to the ministry’s figures, this fiscal year’s border trade increased by over 281 million U.S. dollars, compared to the same period of last fiscal year 2018-2019 when it recorded over 8.3 billion U.S. dollars.
Muse topped the list of border checkpoints with the most trade value of 3.8 billion U.S. dollars, followed by Heekhee with 1.6 billion U.S. dollars, the ministry’s figures said.
The country conducts border trade with neighboring China through Muse, Lweje, Kanpikete, Chinashwehaw and kengtung with Thailand via Tachilek, Myawady, Kawthoung, Myeik, Hteekhee, Mawtuang and Maese gates, with Bangladesh via Sittwe and Maungtaw and with India through Tamu and Reed border gates, respectively.
Myanmar mainly exports agricultural products, animal products, marine products, minerals, forest products, manufacturing goods and others while capital goods, intermediate goods and consumer goods are imported to the country..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Border Trade with China, Border Trade with Thailand, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with Thailand
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The “Association of South-East Asian Nations” or “ASEAN” was formed from the ASEAN Declaration in Bangkok on 8th August 1967 (as a successor to the Association of South-East Asia, “ASA” in 1961), and is just four years younger than the EEC (now the EU). ASEAN is now a grouping of ten geographically, culturally and politically diverse countries, although initially consisted only of those countries which avoided any socialist experimentation: Singapore/Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia. Most of the Mekong countries joined later: Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.
ASEAN has 651 million people and a land mass of 4.5 million sq kms (50% larger than India and one-half the size of China), and a nominal GDP of US$ 3 trillion (on a PPP basis 4x higher at $13 trillion) and US$ 4,600 nominal GDP per capita. By comparison, the EU has twenty-eight countries, 513 million people, and an almost identical land area of 4.48 million sq kms, but it has a nominal GDP that is 7X higher than ASEAN at US$ 19 trillion (or $23 trillion translating to just 2X on a PPP basis), and a US$ 37,300 nominal GDP per capita. The likelihood is that ASEAN will narrow the gap between its nominal and PPP GDP over the next few years, generating substantial gains for investors.
What is common to all ASEAN countries is the agricultural economic base (except for Singapore & Brunei) and their consequently more manageable workforces, their Chinese (mostly Fujian) diaspora business culture, and their Japanese/Taiwanese/Korean led industrial investment. The Mekong countries share a common Buddhist heritage, but are a mixture quasi-democratic, and factional 1-Party States.
The oldest cultures in ASEAN, the Mekong countries are the least developed, due to their proximity to China and its socialist sphere of influence from 1950-1980. That proximity is now a positive as China embarks on its “Belt & Road” initiative and its manufacturers rush to avoid rising labour costs and US/China trade friction, diversifying production to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. Currently the former closed countries, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, “continental ASEAN” or the old Indochina, are now leading ASEAN in growth from their lower economic bases, and after a temporary lapse in 2020, are all expected to be back to 6-7% growth rates in 2021..."
Source/publisher:
"The Asia First Newsletter''
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with ASEAN, Burma's economic relations with China, ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"In the meetings, President Xi focussed on three main projects under the Belt and Initiative and part of the CMEC (China-Myanmar Economic Corridor). These were the New Yangon Project, the Kyaukpyu Deep Sea Port with the SEZ (the latter only to sweeten the deal and keep the Myanmar side interested) and the China-Myanmar Border Cooperation Zone.
China in the mean time had already completed an oil pipeline project from Kunming to Kyaukpyu and also a gas pipe line between the two ports. The Gas pipe line was started in 2013 and the Oil Pipe line started functioning fro April 2017. The projects were rushed through despite local objections.
The Gas and Oil pipe lines together with the Kyaukpyu deep sea port are ostensibly meant to develop the south western hinterland of China, but the real reasons were strategic. The Port would help China avoid the vulnerable straits of Malacca. The ongoing spat with United States and the countries in the region looking for strategic alliances like India with Australia, the need for an alternate route for safety and security of supplies to the Chinese hinterland has become critical to China.
While the Chinese side initially pushed for a large project with an investment of over 7 Billion Dollars, the Myanmar side in its negotiations reduced the project to 1.3 billion and also increased Myanmar’s stake in the project to 30 percent. Even this amount is too big a sum for Myanmar and there were always fears that Myanmar by borrowing from Chinese Banks may get into a debt trap as it happened to Sri Lanka vis a vis Hambantota.
While the deep Sea Port will only help China and not Myanmar, the deal was sweetened with a parallel project of a special economic Zone for which the stakes for the two sides are yet to be finalised.
At that point of time, Myanmar was not aware of the possible spread of the deadly Virus unleashed by China. With the rapid spread of the Virus in other countries and the possibility of its economy being very adversely affected, Myanmar launched an Economy Relief Plan on April 27, 2020. It was an effort to meet the exigencies that surfaced in Myanmar after the Covid-19 (Wuhan Virus) was officially (though delayed) declared by WHO.
The Plan consisted of 7 objectives or Goals, 10 Strategies, 30 Action Plans, and 76 Actions. Without going into full details of all actions contemplated we shall restrict ourselves to the seven goals. These included..."
Source/publisher:
"Sri Lanka Guardian" (Sri Lankan)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"FOR the Southeast Asian state of Myanmar, the decision to expand ties with China despite Western pressure was a no-brainer. Significant economic ties have been expanded and the prospect for several large-scale infrastructure projects has been firmed up.
Chinese president Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Myanmar could be considered a victory lap of sorts; the cementing of long-standing and ever-expanding ties between Myanmar and China and the final displacement of significant US and British influence in the former British colony.
An op-ed on China’s CGTN website titled, ‘Xi’s New Year visit to Myanmar: A milestone in bilateral relations,’ would help frame the significance of president Xi’s visit while comparing and contrasting Myanmar’s ties with China and the US.
The op-ed would note that president Xi’s trip to Myanmar was his first major trip abroad made during 2020. It is also the first major visit by a Chinese leader to Myanmar in nearly 20 years. Even US proxies can’t deny America’s decline
THE op-ed also noted that Myanmar’s state counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, picked China for her first major visit abroad after her National League for Democracy party came to power in 2016.
To understand the significance of this it is important to understand that Suu Kyi and her rise to power were primarily driven by support from Washington.
She and her political party along with a large army of US government-funded fronts posing as nongovernmental organisations and US-funded media networks were selected and groomed for decades by Washington to seize power and serve as a vector for US special interests both in Myanmar itself and as a point of leverage versus Beijing.
However, despite America’s expertise in political meddling, what it lacks is, as the op-ed calls it, any concrete economic pillars; something China does have on offer.
No matter how much covert or overt financial and political support any client regime in Myanmar may receive from Washington it does not address the genuine need for real development within Myanmar itself. Without such development and the financial and economic incentives it brings with it, enemies and allies of the client regime alike will turn towards those who can offer such incentives..."
Source/publisher:
"newagebd.net"
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with the USA, China-Burma-US relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar has decided to expedite India-backed infrastructure projects and widen security ties with India as it seeks to balance China's expanding presence in the country in the backdrop of Beijing's active cross-border support for rebel groups and push for early completion of BRI projects.
Myanmar’s all-powerful generals, who have controlled the country for decades, are upset with the Chinese strategy of arming rebel groups, including Islamic radicals. They are also upset with China's pressure on Myanmar to implement Belt-Road-Initiative (BRI) projects in spite of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, ET has learnt
China is planning a China-Myanmar-Economic Corridor (CMEC), on the lines of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), to get access to the Bay of Bengal and the eastern part of the Indian Ocean Region. Several other BRI related projects threaten to push Myanmar to a debt trap.
Speaking to journalists in Russia last month on the occasion of Victory Day parade, commander-in-chief of Myanmar armed forces Senior General Min Aung Hlaing called for international cooperation in the fight against terrorism, saying that terrorist groups exist because of “strong forces”
Many analysts in Myanmar say Gen Hlaing’scomment was targeted at China, which the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) suspects is continuing to provide arms to rebel groups on the Myanmar-China border and to the ArakanArmy (AA), which is now operating in northern Rakhine state as well as the radical ArakanRohingya Salvation Army. The general's comments broadly reflects the sentiment among the top military leadership of the armed forces in Naypyitaw, ET has learnt.Interestingly the comments were made in Russia -- Myanmar's old defence partner..."
Source/publisher:
"The Economic Times" (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, India-China economic relations, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with India, China-Burma-India relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Artisans in Sagyin have carved out a living from marble for generations but some fear the dust that cloaks the village.
Description:
"The fine white dust that shrouds much of his northern Myanmar village also covers sculptor Chin Win as he leans over a half-finished Buddha statue.
"We are blessed to carve Buddha," he said at his stone workshop surrounded by the seven white hills that give Sagyin village its name, which means "marble" in Burmese.
For generations, artisans in this part of Buddhist-majority Myanmar have carved out a living from the marble, fashioning mostly colossal Buddha statues to be sold in the nearby city of Mandalay or exported to neighbouring China and Thailand.
Many of the several thousand villagers here earn a modest living from the marble mines, hauling the slabs down the hill, carving them into statues, or exporting them overseas.
Burmese marble, which ranges from pure white to bluish grey, is prized for its hardness and texture. A 45-tonne slab can sell for $40,000. In Sagyin, specks of the stone are used for everything from brushing teeth to washing clothes. "We grew up breathing the dust," said Chin Win, 35, who has been carving statues since he was 11 years old. "We use it as toothpaste, for soap powder, lipstick."
The stone used to be chiselled by hand. Now, much of the work is done with machines.
"I was born in this village and for generations, this is what we have done: the men work on marble carving and the women work in the marble mines or polish the marble statues," said 25-year-old Mya Lay, in a house fashioned from dry bamboo sheets, with a floor made of marble chippings..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with Thailand, China-Burma relations, Thailand-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar has indirectly called out China for arming 'terrorists' on its soil. WION's Palki Sharma tells you how Myanmar fears that this situation could endanger Indian development projects along the Myanmar-Mizoram border..."
Source/publisher:
"WION"
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Burma's economic relations with China, “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar suspects that China was trying to use terror groups as a bargaining chip for smooth implementation of Belt and Road Initiative projects.
Description:
"Myanmar, China’s closest ally in southeast Asia, has pointed fingers at Beijing for arming insurgent groups with sophisticated weapons and sought international cooperation to suppress rebel groups. In a recent interview to Russian state-run TV channel Zvezda, Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said terrorist organisations active in Myanmar are backed by ‘strong forces’ and sought international cooperation to suppress rebel groups.
The reference to ‘strong forces’ was widely seen to be a reference to Myanmar’s neighbour in the north, China. Myanmar military spokesperson Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun later elaborated on the comment made by the Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar’s armed forces. The spokesperson said the army chief was referring to Arakan Army (AA) and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), terrorist organisations active in the Rakhine State in western Myanmar that borders China.
A ‘foreign country’ is behind the Arakan Army (AA), he said, citing China-made weapons that terror group used in mine attacks on the military in 2019. It is unusual for the Myanmar leadership to point fingers at China. But this isn’t the first time that Naypyitaw had alluded to the Chinese connection.
When the Myanmar military busted a huge cache of weapons including surface-to-air missiles - each costing between USD 70,000 and 90,000 - from the banned Ta’ang National Liberation Army in November 2019, the military had underlined the Chinese connection to the weapons. Most of the weapons seized by the force are “Chinese weapons,” military spokesperson Major General Tun Tun Nyi had declared..."
Source/publisher:
"Hindustan Times " (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burma's economic relations with China
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
It’s important to distinguish between China and oversees ethnic Chinese when discussing three controversial projects in Kayin State, despite claims they are being implemented as part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Description:
"Since 2019, the narrative about private Chinese investment in Myanmar’s illicit economy, especially casinos and online gambling in Kayin State, has become increasingly rampant, holding China responsible for the audacity of private Chinese investors.
However, a careful examination of the identity of the investors, their business background and registrations, as well as the management structure and funding sources of their operations, reveals a different reality: that these investments involve overseas ethnic Chinese through companies registered in Hong Kong with funding from outside China. Despite their efforts to paint their projects as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the investments are outside China’s jurisdiction and China should not be held accountable for their existence. Nevertheless, China should be wary of the damage that these projects pose to its national interests. It should distance itself from the projects and where possible take measures to oppose them.
Since 2019, three allegedly private Chinese investment projects in Kayin State’s Myawaddy Township have captured the attention – and imagination – of many Myanmar observers. The first and the most sensational is the Yatai New City Project at Shwe Kokko. More recently, the Saixigang Industrial Zone Project and the Huanya International City Project have emerged.
Despite their grandiose mission statements about tourism and industrial development, it is widely agreed that they are actually casino resorts and will host online gambling scam operations that primarily target Chinese users. These projects are the latest chapter of the broader spread of casinos and online gambling schemes throughout Southeast Asia, which came to Myanmar partially because of a government crackdown on such operations in Cambodia in 2019..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"Local reports say a river that forms part of the China-Myanmar border has turned red, prompting major concerns about pollution and accountability along a key trade route for China’s Belt and Road...
Sub-title:
The waters of the Shweli river in northeastern Myanmar have turned red, prompting concerns about pollution along a major corridor of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Residents and politicians blame Chinese factories upstream, raising questions about accountability for the impacts of cross-border development.
Description:
"Local reports say a river that forms part of the China-Myanmar border has turned red, prompting major concerns about pollution and accountability along a key trade route for China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure and industry plan.
The Shan Herald reported that the Shweli river, on the border between Myanmar’s Shan State and China’s Yunnan province, changed color around June 10. Local residents suspect the change is due to factories upstream in China dumping waste into the river.
“We have never seen water color changes like this before. This is the first time I have ever seen the water red. I don’t know what China has done,” said local resident Sai Aye, who lives on the bank of the river in the border town of Muse.
The Chinese portion of the Shweli river, known as the Ruili river in Chinese and Nam Mao in indigenous Shan, is lined with factories that process sugar, paper, fish for canning and meat. The Shweli is a tributary of the Irrawaddy river, the largest river in Myanmar and the source of irrigation for much of the country’s agriculture.
“I think a factory in China dumped polluted water into the river. We have already sent an opposition letter to China’s external affairs department in Shweli [Ruili] city in Yunnan province,” Sai Kyaw Thein, a Shan State parliamentarian for Muse, told the Shan Herald. “We already sent a water sample from the Shweli river to a laboratory in Mandalay.”
Though the cause of the red color hasn’t been found, the possible pollution raises major questions about environmental regulations and accountability around the BRI in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"ASEAN Today" (Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The draft bill is a step in the right direction, but falls short on screening the export of fossil fuel technologies.
Description:
"In May, China’s energy authority announced a public consultation for a draft energy law, setting the agenda for “green, low-carbon” production and a “safe and efficient” energy system. The draft law, which has been 13 years in the making, is an omnibus bill that seeks to unify China’s diverse laws governing coal, renewables and energy conservation.
Five years after the signing of the Paris Agreement, references in the bill that position it as a “response to climate change” are welcome. Unfortunately, the proposed legislation also specifies the need for further exploration of fossil fuel energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas.
This matters because under the Paris Agreement, China committed to peak carbon dioxide emissions around 2030 or earlier if possible. China is the largest public financer of fossil fuels, providing US$20.2 billion a year for oil and gas and US$4.4 billion for coal, according to a recent report on G20 financing.
China also ranks as the world’s largest producer and investor in clean energy and while coal still occupies the top spot in the country’s energy mix, its share is declining. However, the country’s effort to reduce emissions is being undermined by a relaxation of coal-power restrictions, which has led to approximately 10 gigawatts of new approvals at home and the financing of coal projects overseas..."
Source/publisher:
"Eco-Business" (Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
A Chinese company is applying to conduct feasibility studies for a high-speed railway between Mandalay-Kyaukphyu, said U Nyi Nyi Swe, general manager of Myanma Railways.
Description:
"The railway is part of a larger railway project connecting Muse to Mandalay. A memorandum of understanding for the railway was signed between the Myanmar government and China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co Ltd (CREEG) on October 22, 2018.
“The Muse-Mandalay MoU includes applying for permission to conduct feasibility studies to build the railway from Mandalay to Kyaukphyu. The feasibility study takes two or three years,” U Nyi Nyi Swe said.
The Chinese want to connect Kyaukphyu in Rakhine, where they will be developing an industrial zone and deepsea port, with Kunming in China via the Muse border town by building Kunming-Muse-Kyaukphyu express railroad. The route will also connect Mandalay with Yangon.
U Ba Myint, managing director of Myanma Railways, said the project is expected to bring benefits in the form of increased border trade.
He said the 431-km Muse-Mandalay high-speed railroad project, which will be built for trains to run at speeds of up to 160 km per hour, will cost around US$8.9 billion to build.
The project is not expected to interfere with residents who live along the railway route, U Win Khant, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, said during a recent press conference..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The strategically vital Mekong subregion has been gaining salience in Beijing’s strategic calculations as China faces growing pushback from the US and other countries. The global pandemic appears to be consolidating a few trends in China’s ties with the Mekong nations. In this emerging scenario, it is likely that China will keep its focus on the Mekong subregion in the post-COVID-19 period.
Cooperative partnerships with some countries have been further deepening, while China’s “mask diplomacy” has raised concern among citizens who want their governments to adopt a more cautious approach and there have been new factors that have been added to existing difficult relationships often viewed through the confrontational lens.
Apart from China-ASEAN cooperation in engaging with the Mekong subregion, Beijing has been using the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC)–––a subregional cooperation mechanism jointly established by Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam–––in engaging with the subregion in the fight against the global pandemic.
In February, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Vientiane, Laos, to participate in the fifth LMC foreign ministers’ meeting where he called for “concerted efforts” to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.
The global pandemic provided Cambodia and China to further consolidate their cooperative partnership. During Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s visit to China in early February at a time when “anti-Chinese sentiments” were rising has been interpreted as demonstrating “solidarity” and China-Cambodia relations has described as “a model” for neighbourhood diplomacy..."
Source/publisher:
"Observer Research Foundation (ORF)" (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"When Myanmar announced its seven-point economic relief plan to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19 in late April, one item immediately raised eyebrows among China analysts in the country. The initiative’s third main objective is stated as “Easing the Impacts on Laborers and Workers”, and one of the ways the government intends to achieve this is putting laid-off laborers and returning migrants to work on “Implementation of Labor-Intensive Community Infrastructure Projects” before the end of this year.
At first glance, it seems a worthy goal, as it aims to benefit workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
However, with several megaprojects in the planning stages as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), experts are concerned that the COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP)’s emphasis on reviving the economy will see Myanmar push ahead with the implementation of BRI projects without properly assessing their risks in terms of conflict sensibility, potential for incurring unsustainable debt and commercial viability, among other criteria.
Adding to their worries, shortly after the plan was unveiled, Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai and Myanmar’s Deputy Minister for Planning, Finance and Industry U Set Aung met to discuss how to move forward on the development of China’s ambitious projects in Myanmar in the context of the CERP. The New Yangon City; Kyaukphyu Deep-Sea Port and Industrial Zone; and China-Myanmar Cross-Border Economic Cooperation Zone projects—all of which were agreed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar in January—were among those discussed at the meeting..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"New Delhi: Myanmar government’s discomfort with China is on the rise. After Myanmar’s auditor general in a startling announcement cautioned government officials about continued reliance on Chinese loans, the Myanmar government has formed a tribunal to investigate irregularities surrounding a controversial China-backed city development project near the Thai border in Karen State.
The project has been criticised due to a lack of transparency, land confiscations, confusion over the scale of construction and the growing influx of Chinese money as well as suspected illicit activity and local concerns about the social impacts of casino businesses, according to a report in leading Myanmar English media The Irrawaddy.
“The planned mega resort and city expansion project is controlled by the Karen State Border Guard Force, a Myanmar military-backed armed group led by Colonel Chit Thu and formerly known as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA),” according to the media report..."
Source/publisher:
"The Economic Times" (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"The Myanmar government has formed a tribunal to investigate irregularities surrounding a controversial China-backed city development project near the Thai border in Karen State.
The planned mega...
Description:
"The Myanmar government has formed a tribunal to investigate irregularities surrounding a controversial China-backed city development project near the Thai border in Karen State.
The planned mega resort and city expansion project is controlled by the Karen State Border Guard Force, a Myanmar military-backed armed group led by Colonel Chit Thu and formerly known as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). The project is a collaboration between a Hong Kong-based company called Yatai International Holding Group (IHG) and Col. Chit Thu, officially dubbed the “Myanmar Yatai Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone.”
The project has sparked criticisms due to a lack of transparency, land confiscations, confusion over the scale of construction and the growing influx of Chinese money as well as suspected illicit activity and local concerns about the social impacts of casino businesses.
At a press conference in Naypyitaw on Monday, Union government office Deputy Minister U Tin Myint said he has been selected as chair of an investigative tribunal for the Shwe Kokko project.
U Tin Myint said that the team has yet to make a site visit due to COVID-19, but he has instructed officials from the Karen State government, the General Administration Department and the Settlement and Land Records Department to inspect conditions of the project on the ground..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Beijing also terms Huawei executive’s detention ‘serious political incident’ after release of Canadian spy agency report
Description:
"China said Monday it has resumed work on bilateral projects with Myanmar as the two nations move past the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“China and Myanmar have launched a fast lane to facilitate essential travel and resume work and production,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lijian Zhao, addressing a news conference in Beijing.
China had closed its borders with Myanmar in April amid the coronavirus pandemic. The closure was scheduled to last for two months until June 24.
“Personnel at critical posts at oil and gas, electricity and infrastructure projects have already traveled both ways and resumed work,” Lijian said.
The coronavirus was first detected in China’s Wuhan city last December, from where it spread to at least 188 countries and regions and has affected more than 7.96 million people worldwide.
Over 3.8 million people have recovered so far, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.
The pandemic has so far claimed more than 434,000 lives. The US, Brazil, Russia and India are currently the worst-hit countries.
Meanwhile, slamming the case against Chinese telecom giant Huawei’s chief financial officer as a “serious political incident,” Zhao urged Canada “to release Meng Wanzhou at once.”
Referring to a two-page report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Lijian said: “It fully reveals the political intention of the US to deliberately oppress Chinese high-tech companies like Huawei, and Canada is acting as an accomplice.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s Ministry of Construction has unveiled four projects to be implemented under China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), including expressways, a bridge and a tunnel, which will form crucial links in trade routes with China.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw, Deputy Construction Minister U Kyaw Lin said the government had agreed with China to implement the four “early-harvest projects” as part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), which is a key component of the BRI.
The four projects were not among those announced when the two countries drew up their initial agreements on implementing BRI projects.
During the 2nd BRI Forum in Beijing last year, which was attended by Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar and China signed a document referring to nine early-harvest infrastructure projects under the CMEC. However, the only details released by the government at that time concerned three economic cooperation zones in Kachin and Shan states and the Muse-Mandalay railway project.
Myanmar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China establishing the CMEC in 2018. The 1,700-kilometer-long corridor will connect Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan province, with Myanmar’s major economic hubs, linking first to Mandalay in central Myanmar before branching east to Yangon and west to the Kyaukphyu SEZ in Rakhine State.
The ministry said it plans to construct an expressway connecting Muse in Shan State with Mandalay via Tigyaing in eastern Sagaing Region. Muse, which sits across the border from Yunnan province, is the largest trade portal between the two nations. Mandalay is central Myanmar’s commercial center and the country’s second-largest city. The expressway is envisioned as another lifeline for China-Myanmar border trade.
China earlier announced plans to implement the 431-km-long Muse-Mandalay Railway, which would connect with China’s rail network in Ruili, Yunnan province across the border from Muse. The railway is also expected to be a key part of the economic corridor..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"China and Myanmar have opened a "fast-track lane" for essential personnel exchanges, a foreign ministry spokesperson said here on Monday.
Zhao Lijian said at a press briefing that a number of necessary personnel in oil and gas, power, and infrastructure projects will be exchanged between the countries in a two-way, return-to-work initiative known as a "fast-track lane".
This is in line with the aim of building a China-Myanmar community with a shared future and conducive to promoting construction of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor and economic and social development of the two countries, he said.
China and Myanmar share a common border of more than 2,200 kilometers. Zhao said that since the COVID-19 outbreak, the two sides have strictly implemented epidemic prevention and controls, and cooperated closely in fighting the epidemic. This followed the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries in mapping out the characteristics of bilateral relations.
"The two sides have established joint prevention and control mechanisms between border provinces and up until now, the two-way zero exchange of the epidemic has been maintained," Zhao said..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The Myanmar government says it is receiving help from a Swiss company to scrutinize a China-backed study on Beijing’s ambitious railway project to connect Mandalay with Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province in southwestern China.
At a press conference in Naypyitaw on Wednesday, Myanma Railways Managing Director U Ba Myint said the Swiss company has already stepped in as a third party to review the feasibility study for the Muse-Mandalay Electric Railway, submitted by China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (CREEG).
The managing director did not disclose the name of the Swiss company, but said the company will cover all their own expenses for the review.
The US$8.9 billion Muse-Mandalay Railway project is part of the backbone of the China Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), which is itself part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Beijing’s grand Asia-Pacific infrastructure plan. The Muse-Mandalay Railway is expected to be a key part of the economic corridor and connect with the Chinese rail network at the Chinese border town of Ruili in Yunnan Province.
The railway an initial part of the strategic China-Myanmar High Speed Railway, which aims to connect Kyaukphyu in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State with Kunming via Muse, in Shan State.
In 2011, Beijing and Naypyitaw first signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to build a railway from Ruili to Kyaukphyu via Muse. The entire rail line was to run 810 km. However, the government of then-president U Thein Sein suspended the project due to strong local objections and concerns about unfair terms, including interest rates and revenue sharing as well as security. The agreement expired in 2014..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s auditor general in a startling announcement has cautioned government officials about continued reliance on Chinese loans both pre-BRI and BRI loans that come with high rates of interest.
Myanmar's current national debt stands at about $10 billion, of which $ 4 billion is owed to China, Auditor General Maw Than told a news conference in Naypyidaw on Monday. This can push Myanmar to debt trap like Sri Lanka and some African states.
"The truth is the loans from China come at higher interest rates compared to loans from financial institutions like the World Bank or the IMF [International Monetary Fund]," he said. "So, I would like to remind the government ministries to be more restrained in using Chinese loans."
The country has to repay as much as $500 million annually to China in both principal and interest. Analysts have pointed out that Myanmar’s involvement in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) meant that it continued to take new debts to finance its huge infrastructure projects..."
Source/publisher:
"The Economic Times" (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Export through Lweje and Kampaiti borders to restart, having previously been confined to Muse border
Description:
"Trade restrictions between Myanmar and China are gradually being lifted, with Global New Light of Myanmar reporting the Lweje and Kampaiti borders have been reopened for export, after they were temporarily closed to avoid the risk of spreading Covid-19.
In the midst of the restrictions, the Muse border remained open for the export of watermelon, muskmelon, mango and plum, however it was inundated with growers wanting to gain access, which reportedly caused lengthy delays, reducing fruit quality and resulting in higher costs overall.
China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine has provided clearance for the export of mangosteen, rambutan and lychee to commence, in addition to existing exports.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation has also sent information on tissue-culture bananas, limes, pineapples, avocados, and pomelos to China for trade access.
Asiafruit is now available to read on your phone or tablet via our new app. Download it today via the App Store or Google Play and receive a two-week free trial along with access to previous editions..."
Source/publisher:
"Fruitnet"
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"When Myanmar’s military regime began opening up the country politically and economically in 2010, one motive was to alleviate the country’s overreliance on China. Ten years down the road, in the context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the threat of new Western sanctions triggered by human rights violations against the Muslim Rohingya minority, China’s influence appears hardly diminished. When the quasi-civilian government under former president Thein Sein took over from the military junta in 2011, it launched a plethora of reforms to liberalise Myanmar’s economy and its political system. Driven partly by the desire of rapprochement with the West, the new administration introduced free elections, restored civic and political rights and released political prisoners. In response, Western nations started to re-engage with Myanmar — lifting sanctions, writing off debt and disbursing development aid again.
On the economic front, signature reforms included the Foreign Investment Law of 2012, which facilitated the flow of foreign capital into Myanmar. The state’s monopoly in the telecom sector was ended and licenses issued to three foreign providers. In 2014, the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Law was introduced to spearhead business environment improvements. The government also liberalised international trade by lifting state controls, easing licensing requirements and opening previously closed sectors to private sector trading.
The economic reform momentum slowed down when a new government led by the former opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), took over in 2016. Under the leadership of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, its initial focus was on peace, national reconciliation and cementing the democratic transition. In October 2016, the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State pushed economic policy-making further to the back seat, disenchanting the business community..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
With the economy taking a battering, Myanmar will have less room to negotiate over big infrastructure projects
Description:
"The economic blow dealt by the coronavirus pandemic may put Myanmar in a weaker position as it negotiates with China over a series of large infrastructure projects, analysts have said.
Myanmar plays a key role in China’s global Belt and Road project, a strategy to deepen trade and economic ties with over 60 countries by building railways, ports, bridges, roads and other infrastructure.
Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with President Win Myint by phone this week about pushing ahead with the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, which will link China’s landlocked Yunnan province to the Bay of Bengal via a deep sea port in Rakhine state.
Some observers believe the call signals that China intends to exploit the coming economic slowdown to push ahead with projects on its own terms.
“Myanmar was very cautious about dealing with these projects before,” said Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee, a China analyst at the Yangon-based Institute for Strategy and Policy.
“But Covid-19 has compromised that and the projects are going to get momentum here because there aren’t a lot of options,” she added.
Myanmar’s GDP is likely to drop by 2-3% as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the poor set to be hardest hit, the World Bank warned..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Suu Kyi is now close to old adversary China while long-ruling military is skeptical of Beijing's intent ahead of pivotal polls
Description:
"Elections are scheduled for November in Myanmar, and there is no indication so far that the polls will be postponed due to the Covid-19 crisis. Neither is there much doubt about the outcome.
Most political observers believe that State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) will win again, though not in the same landslide fashion as in 2015 as recent by-elections show she and her party have lost significant support in ethnic areas.
But the bigger electoral question is how her party’s delicate relationship with the autonomous military will play out and in that context how her government’s ties to its powerful northern neighbor China will be portrayed and potentially politicized on the campaign trail.
An entirely new paradigm has emerged in Myanmar, one where Suu Kyi is now seen as a trusted ally of Beijing and the military as a nationalistic bulwark against China’s strong advances. That’s a significant reversal, one that could have implications for stability in the lead-up to polls.
When Suu Kyi was under house arrest during military rule or active in non-parliamentary politics, China viewed the long-time pro-democracy icon with suspicion. That was at least in part because her late British husband, a Tibetologist, maintained ties with many Tibetans in exile..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The Myanmar and Chinese authorities say traders are incurring losses due to restrictions at border gates and that field visits will be used to attempt to resolve the issues.
Myanmar Trade Department Director General (DG) Min Min said, “Their Yunnan Province Commerce Department DG met with our Consul General in Kunming. They said that they would investigate this case through field visits. And also our ambassador to China said that they agreed to resolve this case through negotiations as soon as possible by meeting with the government departments concerned.”
Minister of Economy and Commerce Dr. Than Myint met Chinese ambassador Mr Chan Hia on May 21 through a video conference call to resolve the issue of great losses suffered by Myanmar traders due to traffic jams at border trade posts. Similarly Myanmar consul general in Kunming, China reportedly met Yunnan Province Economy and Commerce Department DG in an attempt to resolve this issue. Currently three border trade posts are open for trade operations on Sino-Myanmar border but the Chinese side does not allow Myanmar drivers to enter their country so that the Chinese drivers have to replace them in driving into their country which caused delays in trade activities and difficulties in goods flow into China..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed hope that Myanmar will speed up cooperation with China to implement its ambitious infrastructure projects in the country during a recent call with Myanmar President U Win Myint.
In the phone conversation on Wednesday, Xi said that he is expecting the two sides will cooperate closely and speed up the implementation of projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that were agreed to during his visit to Myanmar earlier this year.
During Xi’s visit to Myanmar, both sides agreed to speed up the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) backbone projects including the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in western Rakhine State, New Yangon City in Myanmar’s commercial capital and Cross-Border Economic Cooperation Zones in Shan and Kachin states.
He branded all three projects as crucial pillars of the CMEC that are needed to deepen “result-oriented BRI cooperation” and move from “the conceptual stage to concrete planning and implementation” of building the CMEC.
In January, the two sides inked a concession agreement and shareholders’ agreement for Kyaukphyu SEZ, a letter of intent on the development of Yangon City and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to accelerate negotiations around the Ruili-Muse Cross-Border Economic Cooperation Zone.
Among the backbone projects, the Kyaukphyu SEZ is crucial for China, as it is expected to boost development in China’s landlocked Yunnan Province and provide China with direct access to the Indian Ocean, allowing its oil imports to bypass the Strait of Malacca.
The two sides signed an agreement on CMEC in 2018 and the corridor is part of the BRI, Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy project. Unveiled in 2013, the international plan 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 and fostering trade and investment..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
At present, fears that China is using the pandemic to exert excessive pressure and push through BRI projects in Myanmar are exaggerated.
Description:
"With the COVID-19 pandemic past its peak in China, attention has turned to the Chinese government’s deployment of “COVID diplomacy.” This term frames how China’s government is sending medical supplies and personnel across the world — including to Myanmar — to build goodwill and show global leadership in fighting the pandemic. Some Southeast Asian observers say it is an overt propaganda campaign, with others going further and warning of the region’s acceptance of Chinese government soft power.
For Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partners, some view China’s government are using such soft power to push through projects that may not be in the recipient’s best interests. In Myanmar, some saw Chinese Ambassador Chen Hai’s May 6 meeting with Deputy Minister for Planning, Finance and Industry U Set Aung regarding the implementation of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) project — which falls under the BRI — as an attempt to push such projects through.
The discussions took place soon after Myanmar released its COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP), which was published on April 27. The CERP details the country’s short- and medium-term plan to deal with the economic impact of the pandemic and includes stipulations to expedite the solicitation of strategic infrastructure projects, as well as approve and disclose large investments by reputable international firms that are experiencing delays.
For the time being in Myanmar, however, fears that China’s government is using the pandemic to exert excessive pressure and push through BRI projects are exaggerated. The suspicion surrounding Chen Hai’s meeting is questionable given that discussions were on projects for which MoUs had been signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar in January this year, the first such visit by a Chinese leader in 19 years.
Indeed, the acceleration of the BRI in Myanmar was already underway before the global ramifications of the COVID-19 outbreak were known. Ahead of his arrival in Myanmar in January, Xi called for the “deepening of results-oriented Belt and Road cooperation and [to move projects] from a conceptual stage to concrete planning and implementation in building the CMEC.”
During Xi’s visit, the Kyaukphyu SEZ and deep-sea port, Myanmar-China border economic zones, and New Yangon City developments were described as the “three pillars” of the CMEC. These were the three projects reportedly discussed during Chen Hai’s May 6 meeting. Certainly, the Chinese government will be hoping to improve its image to ease BRI project implementation. Projects may be accelerated to mitigate the expected economic downturn in Myanmar. Yet, there has been no major shift in BRI project implementation because of the pandemic. Given the scale of BRI projects and importance to Myanmar’s economy, it would have been astonishing if such a meeting had not taken place soon after the CERP was released..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Although no new deals were struck during People’s Republic of China (PRC) President Xi Jinping’s trip to Myanmar on January 17 and 18, the visit was significant for several reasons. The visit was the first by a PRC president to Myanmar in 19 years, and the first by Xi to this country in his role as president. The visit was widely touted as marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of relations between the PRC and Myanmar. However, Xi’s first trip abroad this year was aimed at expediting implementation of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), a key component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) (CGTN, January 17). During the visit, the two governments signed 33 agreements, memorandums of understanding, protocols and letters of exchange relating to railways, industrial and power projects, and trade. Several of these agreements firm up Myanmar’s commitment to the CMEC’s three central components: the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which includes a deep-sea port, an industrial park and other projects; the China-Myanmar Border Economic Cooperation Zone; and an urban development plan for Yangon (The Irrawaddy, January 18).
However, just weeks after Xi’s visit saw the two sides take steps to expedite CMEC projects, Beijing’s plans have run into new problems. CMEC projects are running late, and in an op-ed piece published on the eve of his Myanmar visit, Xi stressed the need for CMEC projects to be moved from “the conceptual stage to concrete planning and implementation” (New Light of Myanmar, January 16). The coronavirus pandemic has emerged as the latest challenge in the long list of obstacles that have slowed CMEC projects over the years. According to Khriezo Yhome, a New Delhi-based analyst of developments in Myanmar, it “may be too early to assess the impact of the coronavirus crisis on CMEC projects,” given that the pandemic is still only at an “initial phase” in Myanmar; however, there is “no doubt” that it “will slow down the implementation of CMEC projects in the short-term..."
Source/publisher:
"The Jamestown Foundation" (United States)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"China and Myanmar inked dozens of deals on Saturday to speed up infrastructure projects in the Southeast Asian nation, as Beijing seeks to cement its hold over a neighbor increasingly isolated by the West. But no major new projects were agreed during the two-day visit by President Xi Jinping, the first of any Chinese leader in 19 years. Analysts said Myanmar was generally cautious of investments by Beijing and was also being careful ahead of elections later this year.
Still, Xi and Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi signed 33 agreements shoring up key projects that are part of the flagship Belt and Road Initiative, China’s vision of new trade routes described as a “21st century silk road”.
They agreed to hasten implementation of the China Myanmar Economic Corridor, a giant infrastructure scheme worth billions of dollars, with agreements on railways linking southwestern China to the Indian Ocean, a deep sea-port in conflict-riven Rakhine state, a special economic zone on the border, and a new city project in the commercial capital of Yangon. They did not address a controversial $3.6 billion Beijing-backed mega dam, where work has been stalled since 2011, reflecting the contentiousness of Chinese investment in Myanmar, where many are uncomfortable with the sway Beijing has over its smaller neighbor..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
“...China in Burma,” both discursively and materially, is a complicated dynamic affair. The diplomatic,
political and economic relations between the two countries have been continually refitted as the two countries have gone through their own separate and shared events. In particular, Burma’s postindependence ethnic armed movements, underground communist insurgency, and the Burmese military’s counterinsurgency strategies against them along China’s shared border continue to provide historical weight to Burma’s regional and national-scale political economies. Since the mid-1960s ethnic strongmen have dominated the political and economic sphere in northern Burma, in this case mostly with the illegal drugs economy, which was, and still is, woven into cross-border business networks with Yunnan Province and beyond...."
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Major online locations of books, reports and articles on Burma
Language:
Format :
PDF
Size:
249.73 KB
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
A global research agency believed increasing pressure from the west on Myanmar’s alleged rights violations would push the country’s political and economic allegiance towards China, even if Myanmar seeks diversification of trade relations.
Description:
"Fitch Solutions, a unit of the UK Fitch Group, said China looks likely to be the dominant foreign influence over the coming years with its already entrenched interests over Myanmar coupled with the possibility of news sanctions from the West due to human rights abuses.
“The government’s inaction and repeated equivocation of the alleged abuses risks Myanmar becoming even more isolated on the international stage and also sanctions being expanded to include civilians and the economy,” said Fitch Solutions in its latest Outlook for Myanmar report released last week.
The atrocities committed against the northern Rakhine Muslims has once again caught the international attention recently as the International Court of Justice in January imposed emergency “provisional measures” on Myanmar, ordering the country to preserve evidence of crimes and report to the court on measures taken to prevent genocide. The case derived from the military crackdown that resulted in more than 740,000 northern Rakhine Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh.
The EU Commission’s decision in early February to partially withdraw Cambodia’s trade preference under the Everything But Arms (EBA) trade preferences initiative renewed worries about the EU removing Myanmar’s privileged status..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping likes to travel big. His visit to Myanmar in January — the first for a Chinese leader in almost two decades — was no exception, capped off with no less than 33 bilateral agreements. However, the number alone overstates things. Some of the "agreements" merely saw Xi's entourage hand over feasibility studies for proposed projects. Many are not new. The number does, however, underscore the ever-tighter orbit Myanmar has been tracing around its giant neighbor since a detente with the West hit reverse over a massacre of the country's Muslim Rohingya minority in 2017.
Crucially, a few of the deals advance China's plans to turn Myanmar into a secure new route to the Indian Ocean, valuable to Beijing for strategic and economic reasons.
Whether China's coming spending splurge spells boom or bust for threadbare Myanmar — and peace or more war for its restive fringes — remains a worry.
A pair of Chinese-built oil and gas pipelines already bisect Myanmar, from Kyaukphyu on the country's Bay of Bengal coastline to its border with China's landlocked Yunnan province. As part of Xi's signature Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor would add a rail link to the route, an industrial park along their shared border and — most critically, and controversially — a deep sea port at Kyaukphyu to anchor it all..."
Source/publisher:
"VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Most of deals meant to speed ambitious Chinese plan to connect Asia with Africa, Europe via land and maritime networks
Description:
"Myanmar and China on Saturday signed scores of deals, most of them set to spur China’s landmark Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious project to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks to boost trade and stimulate economic growth.
On his first visit to China’s Southeast Asian neighbor, President Xi Jinping met Myanmar President Win Myint, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, and military chief Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing.
Xi and Suu Kyi witnessed the signing of 33 agreements, protocols, and memoranda of understanding of infrastructure projects.
The pacts include a concessional agreement for a deep sea port project in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, giving Beijing strategic access to the Indian Ocean and cutting its reliance on maritime trade on the narrow and congested Strait of Malacca between Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.
China also handed Myanmar a feasibility study for a high-speed railroad line connecting Kumin, China to the Rakhine port.
The agreements also include developing a special economic zone along the two countries’ shared border and a new city next to Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city.
Most of the deals are to strengthen the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, a plan to connect China's Yunnan Province with Myanmar's second-largest city Mandalay, leading to Yangon and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. It is widely seen as a strategic economic corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Xi’s recent voyage to Myanmar spotlighted the broader question about whether some key regional states are getting more cautious in responding to Beijing’s initiative.
Description:
"One of the storylines that ran throughout Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first visit to Myanmar in his current capacity was the inroads Beijing was hoping to make with respect to its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). While the focus itself was not surprising, it nonetheless raised a broader question at play in the wider region: are key states getting more cautious in how they engage the BRI?
Since China’s BRI first took off, there has been a near endless focus on the mix of opportunities and challenges it presents for various countries as well as how other major powers are responding to it But as I’ve argued before, a key part of that conversation, beyond what China wants or what the United States thinks and does, is how key regional states themselves are responding to the BRI.
Getting a sense of regional reactions is challenging given the diversify of responses we have seen, the evolution of the BRI itself, which remains quite amorphous in some senses amid the periodic reports we see, and the relative availability of alternatives offered by other countries such as Japan. Indeed, regional engagement with the BRI is best seen not as a linear process, but a more dynamic one in response to changes in these variables and more..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The Belt and Road Initiative, hailed for promoting development, is coming under fire as debt burdens grow, reflecting a growing wariness of Beijing’s posturing as a global leader-in-waiting on an international stage that seeks to promote debate rather than censor it
Description:
"A good way to measure China’s appeal for the rest of the world is to gauge the success of its Belt and Road Initiative.
As of last September, Beijing had signed more than 190 cooperation documents with more than 160 countries and international organisations in support of the trade initiative to link economies into a China-centred trading network. Its cumulative investment has exceeded US$100 billion, with construction projects valued at a staggering US$720 billion. Yet the initiative had begun slowing by 2018. This was due, in part, to a decline in Chinese funds available for investment. Chinese state banks had become more cautious about lending as the trade war with the United States commenced.
Chinese state-owned enterprises were still moving car and steel capacity overseas, and building highways and cement plants in developing economies, but on a much smaller scale compared to their 2016 investment peak. Some countries (such as Myanmar, Sierra Leone and Tanzania) had become hesitant about continuing to borrowing large sums for fear of a debt trap..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Indian and foreign media may have missed it but the US-India joint statement will most certainly be scrutinised closely by Beijing for anti-China content.
Description:
"Both the Indian and foreign media coverage of US President Donald Trump’s India visit went on and on about his mention of Delhi riots and Pakistan – but almost entirely overlooked the reference to the Blue Dot Network, which has given rise to growing unease in Beijing.
The mellifluous language of the joint statement centres on a ‘Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership’ tick boxing the expected military, space, and energy cooperation, as well as concern about the high debt situation in developing countries and the need for “responsible, transparent and sustainable financing practises”. That’s diplomatic language to refer to the dire situation faced by countries like Sri Lanka and the Maldives due to heavy debts to China.The next few lines refer to the Blue Dot Network as a “a multi-stakeholder initiative that will bring governments, the private sector, and civil society together to promote high-quality trusted standards for global infrastructure development”. That might seem rather tame, but here’s the carrot. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) expects that infrastructure development needs in the Indo-Pacific alone could be worth about $1.7 trillion per year through 2030. That’s what the Chinese are after. And now it seems, everyone else wants a slice of the pie, and the influence that goes with it..."
Source/publisher:
"The Print" (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma-India relations, China-Burma-US relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"More than 1,000 Burmese workers in China have contacted the Myanmar embassy for help returning home, an official at the Myanmar embassy in Beijing told Myanmar Now.
Factory closures in response to the coronavirus outbreak have left large numbers of Myanmar migrants out of work, with some sleeping rough besides highways and in bushes, according to one charity.
The Moe Ma Kha Foundation, which is helping the stranded Myanmar migrants, has urged the embassy to prioritise over 200 factory workers who are sleeping rough in forests in Shandong and Guangdong provinces.
They include pregnant women and children, and the workers there are running low on food because they have so little money, the foundation said.
But the embassy said no one would be prioritised, and that the order of returns would be based on addresses and other credentials..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar is exported over 45,000 tons of rice and broken rice in second week of February and it is less than 3,000 tons in compared with last week export, according to Ministry of Commerce.
It exported US$1.071 million worth of about 3,900 tons of rice and US$0.298 million worth of about 1,250 tons of broken rice from border trade centers along Myanmar-China border from February 8 to 14.
Myanmar exported 2,700 tons of rice and 1,200 tons of broken rice from Muse 105-mile border trade center, about 620 tons of rice and 0.05 ton of broken rice from Chinshwehaw border trade center and about 520 tons of rice and 50 tons of broken rice from Lweje border trade center in that period.
It exported US$8.231 million worth of over 25,000 tons of rice and US$0.401 million worth of over 15,000 tons of broken rice from maritime trade in that period.
Myanmar exported about 15,000 tons of rice and over 1,000 tons of broken rice to Asia, 5,800 tons of rice and about 4,800 tons of broken rice to Africa and about 4,900 tons of rice and about 10,000 tons of broken rice to EU in that period..."
Source/publisher:
Eleven Media Group (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"More than 130 Myanmar citizens working at a brick making site in China’s province of Yunnan have returned home as they fear the coronavirus, according to a statement released by anti-human trafficking police on February 24.
Those Myanmar workers are 50 men and 88 women including those from Myakaing village, Kyauktan Township, Yangon Region. As the workers no longer wanted to work in China for fear of the coronavirus, they contacted the consul general’s office for help. Then, the office contacted the Yunnan Province government for further action. The authorities then sent the Myanmar workers to Chinshwehaw, a border checkpoint between Myanmar and China.
The statement said that arrangements were made to send them home after they had received medical checkups at Hopan People’s Hospital..."
Source/publisher:
Eleven Media Group (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Tuberculosis and other lung/respiratory tract diseases, Public Health, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
A Chinese-owned bag factory in Yangon abruptly announced its shutdown on Monday due to a lack of raw materials caused by the COVID-19 epidemic in China.
Description:
"The Lucky Sky Bags factory in Mya Sein Yaung industrial zone in Hlaing Tharyar township gave no notice to its workers, some of whom were on strike, before shutting down on Monday.
U Myo Zaw Htay, one of the leaders of the strike, called for the factory’s licence to be revoked and its 20 Chinese employees deported.
"They got a seven-year tax exemption for investing in Mya Sein Yaung industrial zone,” he said, “but it operated for just 11 months.”
The factory, which has 642 workers, makes leather bags for export to Europe.
The workers went on strike from January 31 to February 11 to protest against unfair labour practices, which made it difficult for the factory to meet export deadlines and resulted in a decline in orders, according to the workers.
After reaching an agreement with the factory on February 11 the workers returned to work.
But 10 days later, the labour union's secretary was fired for no reason, so the workers protested and the factory shut down, U Myo Zaw Htay said. The factory management vowed to pay the workers compensation.
Lucky Sky Bags was the third Chinese-owned company to shut down in the past three weeks due to the COVID-19 outbreak that has infected over 79,000 people globally..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Tuberculosis and other lung/respiratory tract diseases, Public Health, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Bilateral border trade between Myanmar and China declined by US$209 million from Jan. 23 to Feb. 18 compared to the same period last year due to the spread of coronavirus, according to U Khin Maung Lwin, assistant permanent secretary for the Ministry of Commerce.
The value of border trade through the Muse, Chinshwehaw, Lweje and Kanpiketi border trade zones totaled over $270 million—a decline from $479 million in the same period last year. “It was mainly because of the COVID-19 outbreak and Chinese New Year holidays. The holidays started on January 23 and normally end in early February,” U Khin Maung Lwin told The Irrawaddy.
Before the coronavirus outbreak, the value of daily trade through the border trade zones was between $10 million and $14 million. Since the outbreak, it has dropped to between $1 and $2 million per day, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
“Border trade has recovered slightly since trade resumed after February 13, but travel restrictions are still in force and watermelons are therefore not selling,” said U Khin Maung Lwin. “Around 40 trucks of honeydew melon have been exported to China as some Chinese supermarkets have bought them online. Also, only limited volumes of marine products are being exported as airlines have not yet resumed flights in the area.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Tuberculosis and other lung/respiratory tract diseases, Public Health, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
" Myanmar's Yangon Region Investment Committee (YRIC) recently approved 16 foreign investment businesses for the region, according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) late Saturday.
A total of 28.507 million U.S. dollars of foreign investments from China, Seychelles and Estonia as well as 3 billion Kyats (2 million U.S. dollars) from one local enterprise engaged the region's manufacturing sector and other services, creating over 8,900 job opportunities for local citizens.
Yangon region absorbs 60 percent of country's investment from both home and abroad, followed by Mandalay region with 30 percent and the rest flows into other regions and states.
Myanmar attracted over 20.8 billion U.S. dollars' foreign investments as of Jan 31, the first four months of the current fiscal year 2019-2020, according to the DICA's figures.
The new Myanmar Companies Law which started to enforce on Aug. 1, 2018 allows foreign investors to take up 35 percent in local companies.
Under the new companies law, investment with capital not exceeding 5 million U.S. dollars can be permitted by regional and states authorities of the DICA..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Exports of watermelon and marine products on Myanmar-China border have declined by 209 million US dollars due to the spreading of coronoavirus (COVID-19), said Union Commerce Minister Dr. Than Myint, on 22 February.
“Till 14 February of 2018-2019 fiscal year, the total trade value reached 14.595 billion US dollars, up 2.147 billion US dollars compared with the same period this year. The export value increased by 1.053 billion US dollars. The border trade sees a decline due to the Chinese New Year holidays and the spreading of coronavirus,” he said.
“During the holidays from 23 January to 18 February, Myanmar-China border trade declined by 209 million US dollars—exports of 152 million US dollars and imports of 57 million US dollars, compared with the same period last year. It has an impact on water melon, sweet melon, perishable goods and marine products,” Dr. Than Myint continued.
As a measure to solve this problem, Yangon Region Government helps merchants to get the places for the sale of water melon and sweet melon in Yangon market, in cooperation with Yangon City Development Committee..."
Source/publisher:
Eleven Media Group (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Border Trade with China, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA) says it fears that half the garment factories in the country may have to shut down temporarily as soon as March, due to a shortage of raw materials from China.
Description:
"The association announced this during a press conference at the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industries (UMFCCI) headquarters in Yangon last Friday.
According to the association, garment manufacturers in the country may be forced to take such action due to a shortage of raw materials from China. Some 90 percent of the raw materials such as fabrics, textiles, and zips used by garment factories in Myanmar come from China, and supplies have been curtailed due to the coronavirus outbreak in China. Much of China had been shut down for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday at the end of January, but the government extended it into early February as part of efforts to curb the spread of the outbreak. Even though the extended holiday is now over, factories in China only just started up operations last week. However, with many workers quarantined and travel restrictions in place, production is only restarting slowly.
Garment factories in Myanmar are already feeling the heat and have been coping since the start of the outbreak by reducing their operations and work hours, said Some factories have already started feeling the heat with reduction in operations and running hours, MGMA members said..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Font:
Unicode
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
China looks to Irrawaddy River as alternative trade route as high-speed rail plan stalls on security concerns
Description:
"Ethnic wars, security concerns and official foot-dragging have all conspired to stall China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) plan to build a high-speed railroad from its southwest down through Myanmar’s volatile northern regions to the Indian Ocean.
But Beijing has an emerging alternate plan: Develop a safer trade route via Myanmar’s Irrawaddy River – a 2,200-kilometer waterway which flows north to south through the length of a nation known for its lack of modern roads and rail links.
The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), a BRI-driven plan to link China and Myanmar via trains, roads and ports, aims to give Beijing an alternative route for fuel and other shipments through the congested Malacca Strait and the contested South China Sea, both potential conflict areas with the United States.
That has made Myanmar a crucial cog in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature BRI, a US$1-trillion global infrastructure-building scheme that aims ultimately to put China at the center of a new global trade and security order..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Louise was living from hand to mouth while helping her aunt sell noodle soup in the Laos capital of Vientiane, which sits on a curve of the Mekong River. Their lives were mostly untouched by the increasing Chinese investment in their country that in recent years has built billion-dollar dams, bridges and railways.
Louise* was in her early 20s and had few professional prospects when she was approached by a woman who told her there were great opportunities in China, the country’s northern neighbour seen as a land of technological breakthroughs and booming cities. The woman said her relatives had been successful in China and she offered to take Louise there, too. Louise did not know then that this was her first step to being trapped in an abusive marriage with a Chinese man who felt he owned her.
“I wanted to support my parents … I am poor and I was very curious to see China. I thought it would bring me a better life,” Louise recalls. Soon she was in a van with nine other Laotian women, travelling from Vientiane to the border with Thailand, and from there to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, where they boarded a flight to Guangzhou in southern China. Louise is among thousands of young girls and women, mostly from Asian countries, who have been trafficked into marriages with Chinese men. She has since been rescued, but many others have not been so lucky...'
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"When President Xi Jinping made his first state visit this year to Myanmar and signed new infrastructure contracts, there was no indication of the obstacle about to trip up China’s plan for railways, ports and highways around the world: the coronavirus. Travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the disease, which has now killed more than 1,800 people, have idled much of the world’s second-largest economy and choked key elements of Xi’s signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Chinese workers cannot get to overseas projects, and factories are cut off from the Chinese imports they need to keep running, according to more than a dozen company executives and officials.
“Many factories in China remain closed; those that are open cannot reach full capacity,” said Boyang Xue, a China analyst at Ducker Frontier. “Since many BRI projects tend to source equipment and machinery from manufacturers based in China, the disruptions in industrial production and supply chain will cause further delays.” One giant project, China Railway International Group’s $6 billion high-speed railway in Indonesia, is on a war footing..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
A state-owned Chinese firm has expressed interest to invest in the planned Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Tanintharyi Region, U Myint San, vice chair of Dawei SEZ Management Committee, told The Myanmar Times.
Description:
"The Myanmar government has yet to respond to the Chinese, given that talks to develop the SEZ with Italian-Thai Development Company Ltd (ITD) as well as the Thai and Japanese governments are at advanced stages. However, analysts aren’t ruling out the possibility.
“Dawei SEZ has taken a long time to take shape and isn’t going as planned. As we don’t have the funds to implement it, if the current investors cannot develop the project effectively, then Chinese companies are our only options,” said U Zaw Win Pe, a local analyst and former economic adviser to parliament.
“We’ll complete negotiations with the ITD first. If we cannot agree to the terms of the project, we can cancel the contract when it expires. I think the Chinese have the capacity to develop this project, but we’ll have to wait and see if ITD would be able to do it within the specified period,” U Zaw Win Pe added. The Chinese are expected to reap strategic benefits if they win Dawei SEZ. “China is already developing the Kyauk Phyu SEZ in Rakhine State. China is building a bullet train route from Kunming, China to Bangkok in Thailand. If they can connect that route to Dawei SEZ, it will be a great achievement for China. If China wins [Dawei SEZ], they will connect this route,” U Myint San said..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dawei (Tavoy) Special Economic Zone, Chinese investment, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Farm labourers and crab catchers are among the thousands of Myanmar facing hard times because of the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Description:
"THE IMPACT on Myanmar of the coronavirus outbreak that began in neighbouring China late last year has hit border trade and tourism hard, and there were reports last week that the garment sector was also being affected by supply-chain disruptions.
As of February 17, Myanmar was monitoring eight people for symptoms of the Coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, the Ministry of Health and Sport said. Earlier suspected cases of this novel type of coronavirus, including some in which patients were held in quarantine, have been confirmed as negative. COVID-19, which is a relative of the SARS and MERS coronaviruses, currently lacks a specific medical treatment and a vaccine is still being developed.
China’s decision to close four border crossings at the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year to help contain the spread of the disease has sparked a sharp downturn in trade, with the agriculture, aquaculture and seafood sectors the worst affected.
The number of Chinese tourists has also slumped, partly because visa rules have been tightened while the outbreak remains uncontrolled and also because of airlines cancelling services..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The planned multi-billion dollar Kyaukphyu Deep Seaport project will be developed with the contribution of 70 per cent by the China International Trust and Investment Corporation Consortium (CITIC) and 30 per cent by Myanmar, said Deputy Commerce Minister U Aung Htoo on Feb 16.
According to the notification issued by Myanmar Economic Zones Central Committee dated 29 February, 2015, the project has a total area of 4289.32 acres—607.88 acres for the deep seaport project, 2446.07 acres for the industrial zone project and 1235.37 acres for the advanced housing project.
A framework agreement was signed by Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone Management Committee and the CITIC Consortium from China in Nay Pyi Taw on 8 November, 2018. The agreements pertaining to Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone Project and Deep Sea Port Project were signed. On 18 January, 2020, both sides exchanged the MoUs.
Both projects will be developed by the CITIC Consortium and Myanmar-Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone Holdings Groups of Company composed of 42 local private companies from Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"The Star Online" (Selangor)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"At the second Belt and Road forum in April last year, Xi Jinping stated that the infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) would be financially and environmentally sustainable and deliver high quality infrastructure. The re-calibration of the initiative sought to dam the surge of criticism that had been miring the Chinese flagship foreign policy initiative the past two years. Myanmar was among the countries that had become wary over the infamous debt trap narrative, unflattering reports of poor standards in infrastructure and opaque and wasteful procurement practices disproportionately favoring Chinese companies. Back on track?
Nonetheless, on 18 January 2020, BRI projects in Myanmar appeared to be back on track as Xi Jinping, on his first visit to Myanmar, and Aung San Suu Kyi announced their countries renewed commitment to cooperate. Myanmar’s eagerness for re-engagement with China, however, is driven largely by its international isolation due to the reported atrocities against Rohingyas. But has China also heeded to the criticism about BRI? It would appear that China’s new tune on BRI is not only a response to criticism but also about increased competition to its connectivity project.
Competition
Japan remains the largest infrastructure developer in Asia and in September 2019 announced a partnership to develop connectivity in Asia with the European Union (EU). This committed the partners to pursuing projects in a transparent and sustainable manner – a clear contrast to the BRI. Likewise, the EU’s connectivity strategy for Asia from September 2018 and it’s follow up a year later placed full emphasis on sustainability, good governance and transparency. The United States, South Korea, and a number of other OECD countries have also started infrastructure initiatives that seek similarly to differentiate from the BRI..."
Source/publisher:
"Eurasia Review"
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"As China goes all out to contain the novel coronavirus epidemic and some countries had evacuated their citizens, suspended flights and exaggerated the crisis, a launch ceremony for the China-Myanmar 2020 joint scientific survey of Myanmar's waters was held on Thursday, at Myanmar's Thilawa port in Yangon. This is the first major bilateral cooperation project launched by the two sides since President Xi Jinping's successful visit to Myanmar in January. It is a true reflection of the solid progress of the China-Myanmar community with a shared future.
During Xi's visit to Myanmar, the two countries agreed to jointly build a China-Myanmar community with a shared future, which received a positive response from all walks of life in Myanmar. Today, the epidemic fight has solidified the friendship between China and Myanmar. After the novel coronavirus epidemic broke out in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, YTV, one of the television channels in Myanmar, produced a seven-minute video to cheer for and support Wuhan and China, which touched the hearts of millions of the Chinese people.
During China's fight against the epidemic, the world has seen this scenario: Chinese builders worked day and night at "Chinese speed" to set up, in just over 10 days, two large-scale high-level specialist hospitals which were designated to treating novel coronavirus patients in critical conditions. The world knows it was a feat only China could accomplish.
The Chinese government has mobilized tens of thousands of medical workers to respond to the emergency. They headed into the eye of the storm without regard for their personal safety, validating the spirit of unity and mutual assistance of the Chinese nation during times of crisis.
The quarantine of Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic which has a population of more than 10 million, has been accomplished with the understanding cooperation of the city's people. While the city has been locked down, its order has been maintained and basic supplies largely ensured..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Times" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
A Chinese-owned garment factory in Hlaing Tharyar township in Yangon Region has temporarily shut down and laid off hundreds of workers due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Description:
"The Hunter Myanmar Garment Factory shut down on Saturday, allegedly due to financial difficulties caused by cancelled orders and lack of raw materials. Ma Thandar Win, leader of the labour union at the plant, said the Chinese owner told Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein she could not access money because the banks are closed due to the virus outbreak.
“U Phyo Min Thein said he did not know when the epidemic will end and the banks will reopen,” she said. “It is cold there and is the flu season. When spring comes in April, the problems might end, but there is no guarantee.” Ma Thandar Win said the union and management will meet on Monday at the Labour Department office in Hlaing Tharyar to discuss compensation for the nearly 1000 workers.
The workers want a guarantee that they will be reinstated when the factory reopens.
“The factory is just 13 months old and has had problems,” she said. Under the law, workers must be employed for at least six months before they are entitled to 15 days’ compensation. Many workers are not eligible yet.”
She said some workers only need a few days before they reach one year of employment, which would qualify them for one-month’s compensation. “They could lose around K130,000,” she added..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
China’s coronavirus epidemic is hitting Myanmar’s important manufacturing and tourism industries as well as disrupting border trade, but in the longer term the crisis could encourage more supply chain factories to relocate from its giant neighbour.
Description:
"The outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the central Chinese city of Wuhan came at the worst possible time for Myanmar’s tourism industry, with the peak season lasting from October to March.
The epidemic has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization and is having an economic impact well beyond China where economic growth is forecast by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) to fall to 5.4 percent from 5.9pc in 2020. Fitch Solutions Macro Research this month lowered its forecast for Myanmar’s real GDP growth for the financial year 2019-20 to 6.3pc from 6.5pc, down from an actual 6.8pc in 2018-19. It expects the slowdown in tourism activity to account for most of the impact as Chinese nationals accounted for nearly a third of over two million foreign tourists last year.
But the impact of the virus outbreak goes beyond a drop in Chinese travellers.
Crude oil prices have lost around US$10 per barrel since mid-January on coronavirus-related fears. China is the biggest oil importer and if economic activity slows further then analysts say benchmark oil prices could dip by another US$3-5 per barrel.
Oil and gas exports account for roughly half of Myanmar’s total export revenues and a drop in price will affect the government’s efforts to attract foreign investment in the upcoming bidding round. The energy ministry is expected to release 15 offshore and 18 onshore blocks to international bidders later this year.
The EIU’s global trade lead Nick Marro expects much of the economic shock to hit China in the first quarter, which he says will have consequences for ASEAN over that same period..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations, Tuberculosis and other lung/respiratory tract diseases
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Crew members work on the Chinese research vessel Xiangyanghong 06 at Thilawa port in Yangon, Myanmar, Feb. 13, 2019. Chinese research vessel Xiangyanghong 06 arrived at Myanmar's Thilawa port in Yangon on Thursday to conduct a joint research in Myanmar's waters..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"This article argues that the origins and theoretical underpinnings of Xi
Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative can actually be traced back to the mid1980s, that is, almost three decades before the ofcial media unveiled
the Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI). It examines the changing role of
Myanmar in China’s grand strategy in general and in MSRI in particular by
undertaking an investigation of trade and investment relations. This analysis
of the geo-economic and geo-strategic implications of MSRI is undertaken in
order to ofer a prognosis of benefts and costs for Myanmar. Both the extent
and the limits of MSRI are illustrated in Myanmar. It ends with a discussion
of possible roadblocks, detours, cracks and fault lines along the Maritime
Silk Road.....Myanmar/Burma is the second-largest country in Southeast Asia and is located at the juncture of
Southeast and South Asia. Given its resources, natural endowments and strategic location bordering
China and India, Myanmar fnds itself at the center of political wrangling between major powers. While
India’s culture and religion have infuenced the Burmese way of life over the centuries, China has traditionally exerted geopolitical and strategic pressure on Myanmar. As Tin Maung Maung Than notes:
‘Geopolitical ramifcations for modern Burma have been overwhelmingly determined by bilateral relations with China’, which date back to the early Pyu kingdoms of the ninth century AD.1 Myanmar sufers
from centrifugal tendencies. Since independence in 1948, successive governments have battled around
the country’s periphery with ethnic separatist movements and communist insurgencies, some of which
received direct support from Beijing. Post-independence, Myanmar has ‘accommodated China as its
“senior” in a paukphaw (kinsmen) relationship’, and avoided taking actions inimical to China’s interests..."
Source/publisher:
"Journal of Contemporary China"
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
490.96 KB (18 pages)
more
Description:
"The “New Silk Road”, also known as the “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) initiative or Belt and
Road Initiative (BRI), is a development strategy proposed by China, which aims to foster the
economic cooperation and connectivity mostly between Eurasian countries.
1 The initiative is
named after the “Silk Road”, an ancient route of 6,437 kilometer in length, that dates back to
the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and used to connect regions of East Asia with
the Middle East and Europe, prospering numerous Eurasian civilizations for centuries.2
Therefore, with the implementation of the “New Silk Road” strategy, China aims to revive the
2.000-year-old network by investing on some serious infrastructure projects throughout the
whole route, that largely resembles the legendary “Silk Road”. The promotion of regional
economic development, the economic benefits for the countries involved and the tightening of
the cultural ties of the participants, are the main goals of the OBOR initiative, in other words,
OBOR is based on a win-win development strategy for the countries that are located throughout
the path of the “New Silk Road”.3 The first signs of OBOR were brought to the surface during the Olympics of 2008. However,
China’s ambitious plan was first stated on 2013, by the Chinese President Xi Jinping, the 5th
president of China. The OBOR project consist of two different “routes”, one land route and a
maritime one, that both begin and end in China’s territory. The first route (Silk Road Economic
Belt) begins from Xi’an in Central China and leads to Northern Europe up to Rotterdam (busiest
port in Europe), coming all the way from Central Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and
Russia and the center of Europe. On the other hand, the maritime route (the 21st Century
Maritime Silk Road) connects the Mediterranean Sea with the South China Sea, in a long route
that comes through the Suez Canal, the Indian Ocean, the Malacca strait, etc. It is estimated
that approximately 65-70 countries and a total of 4,4 billion people (as much as the 60% of
global population) will benefit from the participation in the OBOR project that will require at
least 30-35 years to be completed..."
Source/publisher:
KEDISA via Academia.edu (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, China-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
904.15 KB
more
Description:
"This article explores the function of a transnational road in China-Myanmar relations
from a perspective that reflects on Myanmar’s experience. It makes two key points. Firstly,
Myanmar’s dependent relationship with China is illuminated if one applies a New Economic
Geography perspective to economic processes. Secondly, these processes did not lead to a
permanent dependency structure through which China assumed the dominant position; the
structure is changeable, subject to action by Myanmar. The latter point indicates that China’s
influence is greatly contested by the smaller country, and that the interaction of economic and
political factors impact on the Myanmar-China relationship, particularly at local sites. This
article focuses on economic activities at the city level, in order to assess advantages and
disadvantages of the relationship. The cities that were chosen as the units of analysis are Ruili
and Mandalay. As the cities are situated on the main road connecting Myanmar to China, the
relationship is quite intense. This article explores the key characteristics of this economic
relation via the road, focusing on the connectivity of Mandalay and Ruili. This article will
focus on the processes of industrial relocation in Ruili and Mandalay to assess benefits
Myanmar gains from the bilateral relationship. Using a New Economic Geography approach
associated with the work of Krugman1
, a core-periphery pattern was applied as the
theoretical framework to explain industrial relocation and agglomeration. Consequently, the
analysis focuses on spatial relations and factors that form the relational structure. In addition,
this article also highlights the political and economic transitions in Myanmar since 2010 that
led to change in the relational structure. It also draws on fieldwork, which is used to illustrate
how connectivity has impacted Mandalay and northern Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
570.92 KB (19 pages)
more
Description:
"The rhetoric of “standing up” to China, showing Pakistan “its place,” and protecting “every inch” of
national territory are powerful, and intertwined, drivers of modern India’s foreign policy.2 The 2017
Sino–Indian military standoff in Doklam at the Bhutan tri-junction reified some of these narratives
as the crisis re-focused attention on (a) the risk of active conflict between the two powers over an
unsettled border dispute and (b) India’s management of relations with smaller neighbors in light of
strategic rivalry with China.3 Indeed, China’s expanding economic footprint in South Asia as part of
the Belt-and-Roads Initiative (BRI) has increased stress on India to compete with Beijing for
maintaining strategic influence over its smaller neighbors.4 Throughout the Doklam crisis, which
occurred in the backdrop of India’s refusal to join the BRI, New Delhi sought to secure its “special
relationship” with Bhutan and not lose territory to China.5 What went largely unnoticed was New
Delhi’s troop build-up at the tri-junction with Myanmar.6 Given the situation in Doklam, this was
a logical military precaution from an Indian standpoint. The difference remains that unlike Bhutan,
India does not have special relations with Myanmar. If anything, Myanmar is heavily dependent on
China, and India has failed to become a credible counterbalance, despite reinvigorating its “Act East”
policy, which emphasizes economic connectivity to Southeast Asia via Myanmar.7 Regardless of
these contextual differences, it is conventional wisdom that strategic rivalry with China drives India’s
“Act East” policy, and territorial sensitivities inform its tactical response to crises such as Doklam.
Especially vis-à-vis Myanmar, existing literature emphasizes competition with China as decisive in
shaping India’s foreign policy.8 Though the role of domestic and bureaucratic politics is appreciated,
these drivers are not considered critical..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Security
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma-India relations, Burma's economic relations with India, Burma's economic relations with China
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
370.99 KB (18 pages)
more
Description:
"Myanmar is caught between a rock and a hard place. As the government seeks to pick up the pace of development, electrical power is needed and hydropower is touted as an “environmentally-friendly” solution in order to switch on the lights.
But there are a number of problems with how this process is being handled and the negative effects that big dams typically could have on the country’s rivers and water supply.
DAM BUILDERS VS DAM BUSTERS
Dam builders face dam busters when it comes to the pros and cons of dams as a way to harness the power of Mother Nature.
Hydropower and dams are touted by people in the industry as an answer to power and also a way to control rivers that tend to flood.
Yet the standoff over the Chinese-run $3.6 billion Myitsone Dam project in Kachin State alerts us to the public opposition to the building of dams – and in this particular case, the questions over who was going to get most of the power, given the original plan to send most of the electricity to China, while Myanmar is thirsty for electricity.
Interestingly, the Myitsone Dam was not mentioned publicly during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent state visit to Myanmar. A raft of close to three dozen development projects mostly linked to Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative were signed. But the Myitsone Dam was noticeable by its absence from the list, despite Xi being the main Chinese official, in his role as Vice President, to push for the signing of the deal back in 2009..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Government looking to drum up trade with Singapore and Laos as exports to China dry up
Description:
"Myanmar is losing the equivalent of $16 million a day in border trade with China because of the coronavirus outbreak, a senior official from the commerce ministry has said.
Exports to China dropped by $160m between January 27 and February 5 at border trade areas in Shan and Kachin states, commerce secretary Khin Maung Lwin told Myanmar Now.
Trade has dried up because buyers inside China are unable to reach the border due to travel restrictions aimed at curbing the virus, said Dr Thet Lwin Oo, Director of the Myanmar International Trade Center.
Meanwhile Myanmar traders are having their Chinese visas denied, said Sein Win Hlaing, chairman of the Myanmar Rice Producers Association.
Trade at the border is worth over $500 million a month, government figures show.
Between October and January, China imported $1.4 billion worth of goods from Myanmar and exported $680 million worth.
Khin Maung Lwin said that as there were now no buyers on the Chinese side, the ministry is looking for new export markets..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Border Trade with China, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, Tuberculosis and other lung/respiratory tract diseases, Public Health
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"Thousands of workers from crab wholesale centres from the Labutta township are now out of their jobs after China suspended its crab imports from Myanmar due to the spread of novel coronavirus in...
Description:
"Thousands of workers from crab wholesale centres from the Labutta township are now out of their jobs after China suspended its crab imports from Myanmar due to the spread of novel coronavirus in China.
The suspension of crab exports to China has huge impacts on workers and the crab industry in the township. Crab is one of the major exports of Labutta Township, and it may have an impact on those involved in the whole industry.
The price of crab declined to around Ks5,000 (RM14) per kilo from around Ks15,000 (RM43)per kilo after China stopped importing crabs from Myanmar.
U Win Naing, Chair of the Labutta Crab Entrepreneurs Association said: “Due to the closure of border gates, we cannot ship crabs to China. We mainly export crabs to China. There are 130 crab wholesale centres in Labutta.”
Labutta township exports more than ten tonnes of crabs to China every day. Most people in the rural areas rely only on crab fishing. - Eleven Media Group/Asia News Network..."
Source/publisher:
"The Star Online" (Selangor)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Tuberculosis and other lung/respiratory tract diseases, Public Health, Border Trade with China, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Lethal coronavirus outbreak highlights unforeseen risk of greater connectivity with China
Description:
"In mid-January, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a historic visit to Myanmar with a pocket full of promises.
Xi vowed to build and finance big new infrastructure projects to connect the two neighbors in unprecedented trade-promoting ways in a so-called China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, which if realized as envisioned would serve as a poster child for his wider Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia.
Fast forward three weeks to the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed at least 25 and infected over 24,000 in China, has spread contagion panic worldwide – and has suddenly put those grand Myanmar plans into certain doubt, as Beijing looks inward to contain the epidemic and Naypyidaw weighs new downsides of greater bilateral connectivity. Like other nations Myanmar has suspended visas on arrival for Chinese tourists, while the national hotels and tourism ministry has asked travel agencies to stop providing services to all Chinese nationals.
Those measures could deal a hard blow to Myanmar’s nascent but crucial tourism industry. Chinese nationals accounted for over 17% of Myanmar’s documented 4.36 million visitors in 2019, a figure that is sure to fall drastically with the new visa ban..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Tuberculosis and other lung/respiratory tract diseases, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The coronavirus outbreak in China has caused trade between Myanmar and its neighbor to slow to a trickle, trade officials say.
Description:
"The clearest example of this is the plunge in the volume of watermelons from Myanmar that are crossing the border to the east. “About 600 truckloads of Myanmar’s watermelons used to cross the border a day in the Muse border trade area in Shan State. Since the outbreak earlier this year, the number of loads has plunged to about 30, a reduction of 95 percent,” said U Naing Win, chair of the Myanmar Melon Producers and Exporters Association.
China is one of Myanmar’s largest trade partners, with goods flowing between both countries across land routes and by sea. The Chinese government’s restrictions on travel between provinces in the country that are part of efforts to curb the spread of the virus is causing severe problems at border trade areas, U Naing Win added. “As long as this health emergency continues, losses will continue. It is important to combat this disease so markets can return to normal as soon as possible. If not, the damage will be huge. A continued reduction in business volume of 95pc is just unsustainable,” he said.
“The slowing of watermelon sales, one of main export commodities in the Muse area, started on January 13. In the past, there was more demand during Chinese New Year period and a truckload of watermelons was worth from K8 million to K13 million, but prices have now dropped by between 50pc to 70pc ” said U Sai Khin Maung, vice chair of the Muse Fruit Commodity Brokers House.
Traders in Muse say that the Chinese government’s travel restrictions are impeding the flow of goods.
This is being compounded by new restrictions on oversea trade routes as well, said Ministry of Commerce Assistant Secretary U Khin Maung Lwin.
“Import and export licence applications for oversea trade with China were stopped this week, so trade seems to be slowing to a crawl,” U Khin Maung Lwin said..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Migrant workers returning to Myanmar from China’s Yunnan province because of coronavirus fears are walking away from their jobs without receiving the pay owed to them, as their Chinese employers try to discourage them from leaving, sources say.
Nearly 1,000 have crossed the border at Myanmar’s Chinshwehaw town since Jan. 28, with around 350 crossing each day at Laukkaing, both in Myanmar’s Kokang Self-Administered Zone, sources say, adding that most had been employed in chili and eggplant plantations in remote areas of Yunnan.
Some are leaving without receiving their salary or money they have saved, because their bosses do not want them to leave, a resident of Yesagyo, a town in Myanmar’s Magway Division near the border, told RFA’s Myanmar Service in an interview.
Others are meanwhile unable to leave, Ma San New Htay said.
“The bosses do not give them their full wages, or control their passports, IDs, or other documents. That’s why some workers cannot return home, even though they want to leave,” she said.
Also speaking to RFA, one returned worker said that many are now leaving China despite employers’ attempts to hold them back..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Tuberculosis and other lung/respiratory tract diseases, Public Health, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Beijing is toning down its rhetoric for the grand plan and rethinking its massive international infrastructure programme, Raffaello Pantucci writes...Signs of a more modest approach from Xi Jinping’s trip to Myanmar when there was little official mention of an economic corridor involving the two countries.
Description:
"Absent from almost all of the official coverage around Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Myanmar was any mention of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC).
A belt and road route before the Belt and Road Initiative existed, the corridor was a concept first mooted in the late 1990s but has largely gone nowhere. The bigger question this poses is whether this is a harbinger of China shedding its grander overambitious belt and road visions over the next decade for a more focused and logical set of bilateral engagements. Certainly there has been a toning down of rhetoric around the belt and road, an infrastructure vision to link economies into a China-centred trading network. While it remains a hot topic in Beijing and a sure-fire way for leaders of other countries to be seen to be aligning themselves with China, its scattered record of success has meant there has been rethinking about how this grand concept will continue to fit into Beijing’s foreign policy repertoire. It continues to be a convenient tag for Chinese diplomats to use given its broad and positive conceptual basis but, it is not clear that China wants to continue to talk in the expansive corridor terms that it used to..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Continued mistrust of China – including from the Tatmadaw – ensured that there was little significant progress during President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Myanmar.
Description:
"On January 17, Xi Jinping became the first Chinese president to travel to Myanmar in 19 years when he paid a two-day state visit. Although Xi visited Myanmar in 2009, it was the first time he had travelled here as president.
The importance of the visit was heightened by the fact that the two countries are marking the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year – newly independent Burma was the first non-communist country to recognise the People’s Republic of China.
During his visit Xi met top Myanmar officials including President U Win Myint, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and attended signing ceremonies for a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding.
But did China gain what it expected from the visit? And what does it mean for China-Myanmar relations?
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
It doesn’t have many friendly nations to help it balance ties with Beijing
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Myanmar last week is a vivid indicator of the region’s changing geopolitics, reflecting adversely on the West and its allies. Its real significance transcends the 33 agreements signed, although it is an impressive number in itself for a short sojourn of a day and a half.
President Xi took his own time in coming to the southern neighbour which had to be content with largely one-way VVIP traffic, as Myanmar’s top leaders travelled to Beijing with noticeable regularity. As the Vice-President, he had visited Myanmar in 2009. The last visit by a Chinese President took place in 2001. The 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations was judged to be the ideal occasion to launch a major renewal and strengthen the process of the bilateral relationship.
U. Nu, the first prime minister of Burma (Myanmar’s previous name), famously depicted his country’s position in the region as “hemmed in like a tender gourd amongst the cacti.” Then, it chose the policy of independence and non-alignment. Does the red-carpet treatment extended to the President of China show that today’s Myanmar, jointly led by Aung San Suu Kyi and the military, has taken sides?..."
Source/publisher:
"The Hindu" (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar wants to expand its exports to other markets to hedge against a potential dip in demand from China, where a new respiratory virus has infected more than 14,000 people and killed more than 300, mostly from Hubei province, where illnesses from the new type of coronavirus were first detected in the city of Wuhan in December.
Description:
"China is now Myanmar’s largest export market. Already, trading of melons has come to a standstill and prices have halved, said U Naing Win, chair of the Myanmar Watermelon and Muskmelon Producers and Exporters Association. As such, preparations are being made for Myanmar to send more goods to other markets to avoid any volatility in demand from China.
“As the market has just reopened after the Chinese New Year break, we can’t tell the exact extent of the impact the Wuhan virus has on the export market yet. But we are working on seeking new border markets to export our goods in the event that the spread of the virus continues,” U Aung Htoo, Deputy Minister for Commerce, said in a press briefing on the drafting of the National Export Strategy 2020-2025 on January 31. Plans have also been made to export more goods via air and maritime routes to offset slower trade at the border.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, China has stopped importing melons from Myanmar and stockpiles of fruit are being held in Yunnan province. Around 80 percent of total border trade takes place at the Muse trade gate on the Myanmar-China border..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Tuberculosis and other lung/respiratory tract diseases, Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Trade volume between Myanmar and China is reached to US$1.337 billion within two months of this fiscal year and Myanmar had a trade surplus as it imported US$551 million worth of products from China, according to Ministry of Commerce.
Myanmar exported over US$785 million worth of products to China in that period.
Both countries are opened business centers and implemented to boost border trade and investments, according to the ministry.
The ministry will sign MoUs with the China to establish border economic cooperation zones and will invite tender for Expression of Interest (EOI) for local businessmen to participate to work in the zones, said Dr Than Myint, Union Minister for Commerce.
“We will call for EOI to develop border economic cooperation zones in Muse, Nantkhan, Kanpiketie, Laukkai and Chinshwehaw,” said the minister..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Shan fruit wholesalers in Muse on the Shan State-China border have been asked to temporarily stop exports to Myanmar’s northern neighbour as the coronavirus spreads, according to Shan News.
Sai Khin Maung, chairperson of the local Wholesalers’ Association, said that it is difficult to send vehicles across the border with goods to sell, the news agency said.
“Chinese officials have strictly tightened security at the border entrance gates. Transportation is really difficult at this moment,” he told Shan News. China closed hotels and casinos in Ruili town, which is opposite Muse in Yunnan Province, on January 26 with the aim of containing the coronavirus..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
""Paukphaw”, which literally means born together, implying not only a shared destiny but racial kinship, was reinforced through strong political and economic bonds between Myanmar and China last week. Xi Jinping became the first Chinese leader to visit Nay Pyi Taw on a hugely significant state visit ( January 17-18) since Jiang Zemin back in 2001. The event received not more than a modicum of interest here, but it could have a serious geopolitical impact on India.
If India is concerned about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, it now has more reason to worry about CMEC (China-Myanmar Economic Corridor) that just moved from being a concept to reality. The CMEC is less about oil and gas — there are pipelines running through Myanmar already — and more about reducing dependence on the Malacca Straits and access to the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean.
The CMEC includes the Kyaukphyu deep-sea port in the troubled Rakhine state along with a special economic zone (SEZ), the China-Myanmar border economic zone (the two countries share a 2,200 km-long border) and the newly announced Yangon urban development project (which is still at MoU stage)..."
Source/publisher:
"The Economic Times" (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with India, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, China-Burma-India relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Irrespective of India’s Look East, US sanctions or UK sanctions in Myanmar, China has been out there in Myanmar, parked with a consistent policy and focus—and backed by economic muscle. When the mighty fall, they fall hard! What greater irony than witness the beacon of democracy, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, defend the country’s military against genocide (of the Rohingya people, a Muslim minority) at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and inch towards China’s orbit? Over the last decade, Myanmar has been open to the West, to India and the larger neighbourhood. Pragmatically speaking, because of the Rohingya issue, the ensuing sanctions and the clampdown by the West, Myanmar sees an economic lifeline in China. But China aside, Myanmar will continue to hedge its bets with other countries. The talk of Myanmar gravitating towards China’s orbit has emerged following President Xi Jinping’s two-day trip to Myanmar, a ‘historical moment’, as Xi called it. The trip, the first in 19 years by a Chinese leader, visibly shored up China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Myanmar, with 33 China-Myanmar deals inked through memorandums of understanding (MoU) and agreements. Xi also met military chief General Min Aung Hlaing, singled out for sanctions by the US for the abuses against the Rohingyas..."
Source/publisher:
"The Financial Express" (Uttar Pradesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The trip produced a mixed outlook for New Delhi’s perceptions of Beijing’s inroads in the wider Indo-Pacific.
Description:
"Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded a two-day visit to Myanmar, the first for Xi in his current capacity and his first overseas visit of 2020. Viewed from the perspective of growing Chinese inroads in the Indian Ocean, Xi’s trip spotlighted Beijing’s continued efforts to make geopolitical gains in line with its broader regional interests, which will be of concern to India.
While there may have been some surprise about Xi’s choice of Myanmar for his trip, it is in fact in line with China’s continued interest in making inroads with respect to the Indian Ocean. With the Myanmar visit, Xi has effectively completed his key neighborhood trips, having traveled through the Maldives and Sri Lanka in 2014, Pakistan in 2015, Bangladesh in 2016, and Nepal in 2019.
From India’s perspective, New Delhi can be none too pleased with China’s constant forays into the wider Indian Ocean region. But at least for now, India appears to be letting Myanmar’s natural caution limit China’s influence.
The significance of Xi’s trip ought not to be understated. It has been nearly two decades since a Chinese leader has traveled to Myanmar. While consolidating political and strategic ties are important for China, like in Nepal, there has been skepticism in Myanmar about partnering with China on the Belt and Road projects. But at the same time, given the difficult times that Myanmar is faced with internationally, clearly Myanmar is looking for support from China, which comes at a price.
Consolidation and implementation of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor was an important item in Xi’s Myanmar agenda and China has been quite successful on that front as the joint statement clearly outlined. China has other security interests as well, seeing Myanmar as a potential gateway to the Indian Ocean..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan) via "Observer Research Foundation (ORF)" (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
China’s banks supporting BRI projects should apply environmental risk-management policies and oversight, says Divya Narain
Description:
"China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is intended to catalyse the economies of countries around the globe.
Yet BRI projects overlap some of the most ecologically fragile places on earth. The multi-trillion-dollar initiative – to build transcontinental networks of roads, railways and ports, studded with dams, mines, power plants, and solar and wind farms – has its environmental impacts. These include air and water pollution, soil contamination and erosion, habitat and wildlife loss.
For project developers and funders, failure to address these impacts can translate into regulatory and reputational risks. So they need to take mitigation seriously.
Risks confronting developers can include penalties, legal action and backlash from communities causing project delays and even closures. According to a 2018 study, 14% of BRI projects in 66 countries have faced some kind of local pushback..."
Source/publisher:
"Chinadialogue" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Nation’s most volatile and fast shifting armed conflict complicates China’s Belt and Road ambitions
Description:
"Historically ethnic conflict in modern Myanmar has been a glacially slow-moving disaster, debilitating the nation’s politics while shifting only incrementally from one decade to the next.
In 2019, the eruption, spread and intensification of nationalist revolt in Rakhine state abruptly upended that familiar landscape with sobering implications for an already fragmented and floundering peace process and domestic security more broadly.
The new war in Rakhine state, pitting the military against the local Arakan Army (AA), a widely popular force led by a young and ideologically committed leadership, is also increasingly impacting Myanmar’s regional standing at a range of levels. China’s push for economic connectivity to the Bay of Bengal, stage-center during President Xi Jinping’s recent state visit to Myanmar, will now need to navigate the hostilities already lapping close to the projected deep-sea port and special economic zone at Kyaukphyu, a crucial component of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Poor prospects for any repatriation of the Muslim Rohingya refugee population camped in neighboring Bangladesh, estimated as high as one million, are now further receding, while additional migrant flows out of the state towards Southeast Asia are slowly gathering pace..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"China’s growing strategic ties with Myanmar, evident from Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping’s recent sojourn to the administrative capital of Naypyidaw, are causing consternation in New Delhi.
Not only is Beijing’s outreach to Myanmar challenging India’s Neighborhood First policy, which seeks vigorous engagement with Myanmar and other South Asian neighbors, it is also an attempt to gain a back door to the Indian Ocean, foreign policy analysts say, describing it as ominous for geopolitical landscape of the Indian Ocean, apart from the ramifications for the US-led Indo-Pacific strategy, which seeks to keep China’s regional ambitions in check.
The US administration of President Donald Trump has simply ignored the country along with much of the rest of Asia after overtures by Barack Obama, who initiated diplomatic relations, suspended economic sanctions and laid on high-level visits in the wake of then-President Thein Sein’s attempt to build on the 2010 constitution with reforms and open the country to global investment. With Myanmar facing international sanctions over its near genocide against minority Rohingya Muslims and other countries backing away, China has stepped into the vacuum.
Although Xi’s trip to Myanmar was described as a “goodwill visit” to mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, pretty much like all things Chinese, there was a considerable agenda..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Sentinel"
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma-India relations, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with India, “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The guns of civil conflict fell silent during the visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping – a pause in fighting that not even State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi can achieve.
Description:
"WEEKS before the visit by President Xi Jinping, local media outlets were focusing on the relationship between China and Myanmar.
I especially enjoyed two cartoons drawn by Myanmar cartoonists before Xi arrived.
One showed a fat Chinese man dressed in red talking to three men sitting on the floor. “When we visit, we don’t want to hear any noises,” he’s saying. The three men, who are wearing uniforms and have rifles beside them, reply, “Yes”.
The other cartoon is in two blocks, one above the other. The top one shows rats running in circles and antagonising each other. The bottom image shows the rats all smiles with arms around each other’s shoulders as a big red cat clad in the flag of the People’s Republic of China enters the room with a stern expression.
Support more independent journalism like this. Sign up to be a Frontier member.
The cartoons were caustic comments on the recent quiescence of ethnic armed groups. In the days ahead of Xi’s arrival, the guns of war were indeed silent..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has vowed to “solve” persistent gunrunning to Myanmar insurgents
Description:
"When Chinese President Xi Jinping met Myanmar’s military commander-in-chief Senior General Ming Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw earlier this month, it was not clear which of the two raised the issue first. But side-stepping the 800 pound gorilla in the room — new Chinese weaponry fueling Myanmar’s civil wars — was never going to be an option.
Over the past year, those Chinese weapons have cost the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, hundreds of lives. And as the fighting season gathers pace in western Rakhine state, the likelihood of another high death toll in 2020 will cast a long shadow in army circles over the triumphant hailing of a “new era” in Sino-Myanmar amity and cooperation that attended Xi’s historic state visit. Almost certainly not by coincidence, the day before the January 18 meeting – the sixth meeting between Xi and Min Aung Hlaing — the Tatmadaw’s public relations wing ensured that the “discovery” of a rebel cache of Chinese munitions made on January 15 in Hsenwi township in northern Shan state received wide media publicity..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
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), Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Transparency must be improved and deep concerns addressed, says former presidential adviser Aung Tun Thet...A raft of infrastructure deals have just been signed, including for a strategically important deep-sea port project.
Description:
"Chinese companies need to improve transparency when they invest in Myanmar, a former presidential adviser in the Southeast Asian nation said, after the two sides signed a slew of infrastructure deals.
Deep public concerns in Myanmar, especially over Beijing’s intentions in the country, must also be addressed, Aung Tun Thet told the South China Morning Post.
“It’s very important that people understand, because what has happened in the past is people do not know what went on, and because they don’t know, then they get worried,” said the prominent economist in Myanmar and adviser to former president Thein Sein. “They get worried not because they object to anything, they get worried because they don’t know what is going on,” he said. “I think a lot of work needs to be done to convince the general population … that it is for the good of the country and it’s good for the people.”..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Four priority BRI projects in Myanmar promise to make China a balance-of-power tilting Indian Ocean force
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping’s historic visit to Myanmar this month did not attract much regional media buzz, with most reports portraying the trip as more well-worn official promotion of his signature US$1 trillion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
But if the four most important of 33 agreements Xi signed with his Myanmar hosts during his tour are actually implemented – a big if considering BRI’s spotty follow through on ballyhooed projects – they would have far-reaching economic, political and strategic implications for South and Southeast Asia.
The first of those big four are ambitious plans to build a high-speed railroad from Myanmar’s northern border with southern China down to the central city of Mandalay and eventually to Myanmar’s southern coast. The second aims to push forward the stalled Kyaukphyu port project situated on the Bay of Bengal, an initiative that would give China de facto access to the Indian Ocean and shift that region’s strategic calculus, particularly vis-à-vis India.
The third is a proposed mega-project to build a “new city” opposite Myanmar’s former capital Yangon, a scheme that would effectively give China a unique hold on the nation’s commercial hub and underscore Beijing’s tightening grip on the country’s broad economy..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
International Court of Justice ordered emergency steps to protect Rohingya, threatening Myanmar’s European trade privileges...China accounts for a quarter of all foreign direct investment into Myanmar, second only to Singapore, government data shows.
Description:
"Myanmar signalled that closer ties with China offer an economic buffer if human-rights concerns cause Western nations to curb trade privileges or investment.
The persecution of the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority has sparked global condemnation, and led to an International Court of Justice order last week for emergency steps to protect Rohingya from genocide. The controversy imperils Myanmar’s European trade privileges and is spurring calls for sanctions.
“The more sanctions Western countries impose on us, the more likely that is to boost our ties with our Asian alliances,” Commerce Minister Than Myint said in an interview in the capital, Naypyidaw. “We’ve opened the door to everyone.” During President Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar earlier in January – the first state visit by a Chinese leader in almost two decades – the two countries agreed to expedite several projects as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Yet a tightening embrace of China risks leaving Myanmar overreliant on its giant neighbour, a concern that has long vexed some officials.
“When it comes to mega projects, we always want to see more options,” Than Myint said in the January 21 interview. “So we usually encourage Western companies not to be worried about doing business here. If they decide not to come, then we will have no choice but to cooperate with Asian partners.”
In records going back to 1988, China accounts for a quarter of all foreign direct investment into Myanmar, second only to Singapore, government data shows..."
Source/publisher:
"Bloomberg News" (New York) via "South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has been a recurrent hostage to downturns in India-Pakistan relations, which has often led New Delhi to turn to subregional initiatives, as has been witnessed by the current prime minister’s invitation to the member countries of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) to his swearing-in ceremony last year. BIMSTEC comprises five countries in South Asia – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka – and two in Southeast Asia, Myanmar and Thailand.
Going by the past records, India’s approach to subregional initiatives has been marred by a lack of leadership, resources and institutionalization. For instance, it took 17 years for BIMSTEC to establish a permanent secretariat in Dhaka, in 2014. Similarly, the Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM) remained a Track II initiative for India until 2013 despite the rhetoric as to the perceived importance of subregional groupings. However, India is poised to focus more on subregional initiatives considering that the possibility of a resurrection of SAARC seems remote. New Delhi’s endeavor in this direction, nonetheless, has met a powerful tide from the reverse direction in the shape of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with India, China-Burma-India relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
For Delhi, the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor derails efforts to discredit the Belt and Road Initiative
Description:
"The state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Myanmar on January 17-18, the first of its kind in 19 years, was a transformative event in regional politics from the perspective of China-Myanmar bilateral relations as well as regional security, something that should be of major concern for India.
A “comprehensive strategic partnership” is moving toward building a “Myanmar-China community with a shared future based on the aims of mutual benefits, equality and win-win cooperation,” as the joint statement issued after Xi’s visit frames it.
Xi said in his banquet speech in the capital Naypyidaw that the reason the “Paukphaw (fraternal) friendship between the two countries can last thousands of years” is that they have “stood together through thick and thin, and adhered to mutual respect and mutual benefit.” He urged the two countries to be “good neighbors like passengers on the same boat” and create a more favorable environment for their economic and social development..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma-India relations, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with India
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Myanmar on January 17-18 marks the return of China to a position of dominance in a country which has traditionally been wary of its powerful northern neighbour. From 1990 to 2010, China had taken full advantage of the international isolation of Myanmar and its interethnic conflicts to emerge as the most important influence in the country.
Since overturning the results of the elections which were won by the National League for Democracy (NLD) and its charismatic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the military junta which captured power, which it is still loathe to give up, had used China as its political shield. China, which had kept governments in Yangon off-balance by providing weapons and sanctuaries to ethnic groups inhabiting the border regions, provided relief by promoting ceasefire or arms for peace agreements with the military junta, in exchange for local autonomy.
For a now fast-growing China in need of resources, raw material and markets, political influence translated quickly into preferential trade access and opportunities for the exploitation of Myanmar’s virtually untapped resources. These included minerals, timber and agricultural products. China was also the main supplier of weapons to the military. Chinese penetration into Myanmar was secured through the building of major highways linking southern China with Myanmar. Border trade was promoted through several border trade points. In ethnic areas adjacent to China, regional autonomy was leveraged to establish close trade and economic relations over which the central government had tenuous control. Chinese investment in these ethnic areas led to their being more integrated with southern China than with the rest of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"The Economic Times" (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma-India relations, Burma's economic relations with India, Burma's economic relations with China
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The flags of China and Myanmar waved side by side along the roads of Myanmar’s capital city over the weekend, as Chinese Paramount Leader Xi Jinping visited the Buddhist-majority nation to draw it more tightly into China’s orbit.
“Let us work hand in hand to build an even closer China-Myanmar community with a shared future and write a new chapter for our millennia-old ‘pauk-phaw’ friendship,” Xi wrote in Myanmar’s Myanma Alinn Daily on the eve of his trip, using a phrase meaning “fraternal” in the Burmese language. Xi’s “hand in hand” work with Myanmar’s leadership over the following two days resulted in the signing of 33 agreements that will accelerate construction of infrastructure projects related to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. This is the project China brands as a 21st-century version of the ancient Silk Road, to facilitate trade across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The most notable Myanmar-based bri projects are a railway running from China to Kyaukpyu on Myanmar’s west coast, and a full-scale operational deep-sea port there..."
Source/publisher:
"The Trumpet" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Some of Myanmar’s ethnic political parties on Wednesday expressed concern over potential negative impacts of China’s planned multibillion-dollar mega-projects in their regions, days after the two countries’ leaders signed more than 30 memorandums of understanding regarding the deals.
Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed 33 MoUs for Chinese-backed projects in the Southeast Asia country, many of which fall under the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), on Jan. 18, the second day of the Xi’s two-day state visit to Myanmar.
Among the deals signed was a concession and shareholders agreement on the U.S. $1.3 billion-dollar Kyaukphyu deep-sea port and economic zone in Rakhine state, a letter of intent for a new urban development in the commercial hub Yangon, an MoU on local cooperation under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) between southwest China and Myanmar’s Mandalay region, and feasibility studies for high-speed rail links and expressways, according to the official Global New Light of Myanmar.
A signature policy of Xi’s, the multitrillion-dollar BRI infrastructure investment and lending program that will link China with Asia, Africa, and Europe entails the building of border economic cooperation zones in Myanmar’s war-torn Shan and Kachin states..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"A high-speed rail line to the east, a deep-sea port to the west, and a makeover for commercial heart Yangon -- Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrives in Myanmar on Friday laden with investment pledges...
Description:
"A high-speed rail line to the east, a deep-sea port to the west, and a makeover for commercial heart Yangon -- Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrives in Myanmar on Friday laden with investment pledges worth billions which could reshape the country. Here are five of the main projects -- and some of the issues plaguing them:
The crown jewel of Xi's two-day visit will be a $1.3 billion deep-sea port off Myanmar's troubled western Rakhine state.
The Kyaukphyu port will serve as Beijing's gateway to the Indian Ocean. Myanmar has successfully hammered down the price from $7.2 billion to swerve fears of a Chinese debt-trap, but will still pick up 30 percent of the bill.
Alongside the port, swathes of paddy fields and teak forests are poised to be transformed into a vast industrial zone of garment and food processing factories.
Officials insist ethnic Rakhine will be the first in line for some of the 400,000 jobs the zone is slated to bring -- but many suspect the benefits will mainly be siphoned off outside the state.
The port is the centre piece of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) project -- a key thread in China's global Belt and Road vision..."
Source/publisher:
"The Economic Times" (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping ended a two-day state visit to Myanmar on Saturday after attending the signing of a raft of agreements buttressing bilateral relations and advancing Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, in which his host country is a key player.
The two sides exchanged memoranda of understanding, letters and protocols covering 33 projects in the fields of information, industry, agriculture, security and the resettlement of internally displaced people in Myanmar’s war-torn Kachin State, which borders China.
The agreements were signed after a morning meeting between Xi and Myanmar’s leader, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi.
READ MORE: To call China’s Belt and Road Initiative a ‘debt trap’ is prejudiced, says ex-ambassador to U.S.
The most significant pact appeared to be a concession and shareholder’s agreement for the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone on the Bay of Bengal. With a deep-water port, it is the terminus of the 1,700-kilometre- (1,055-mile-) long China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, a major link in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative whose other end is in China’s Yunnan province..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press" (USA) via "Global News" (Toronto)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"China and Myanmar exchanged a number of cooperation documents covering such areas as politics, trade, investment and people-to-people communications amid President Xi Jinping's state visit on Saturday.
The exchange ceremony was attended by Xi and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. The two countries issued a joint statement the same day.
In his talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, Xi said the two countries should speed up connecting development strategies and jointly push the building of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.
Hailing the corridor as a flagship project for Belt and Road cooperation between the two countries, Xi said the two sides have initiated construction and the project should bring benefits to the people as soon as possible.
The two countries should focus on the building of major projects and promote connectivity, Xi said, adding the two sides should integrate the building of roads, railways and electricity projects to formulate a network of connectivity.
Xi pointed out China welcomes Myanmar to expand exports to China, and Chinese companies are encouraged to increase investment in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"China Daily" (Beijing)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more