Burma's economic relations with China
Individual Documents
Description:
"Had its original construction schedule not been derailed by controversy and public condemnation, leading to its suspension in 2011, the Chinese-backed Myitsone Dam hydropower project near the source of the Irrawaddy River in Kachin State would be operational by now as scheduled.
It has been eight years since the suspension. Currently, the project site on the bank of the river is mostly deserted. When it was launched on Dec. 21, 2009, the Myanmar Investment Commission estimated total investment in Myitsone Dam would amount to US$4.3 billion (6.54 trillion kyats). The project was in the middle of construction when it was halted in September 2011. Before the suspension, resettlement at the dam site was finished, and site formation, water supply, electricity and transportation facilities had commenced, according to its Chinese developer, State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), which was known as China Power Investment (CPI) until 2015.
Despite recent pressure from China to resume the dam’s construction, anti-dam sentiment is still on the rise among the public. Recently, prominent civil society leaders, environmentalists, writers and artists announced that they would launch a one-dollar campaign to collect money from the public to compensate China in exchange for scrapping the project. The campaign clearly reflects how unpopular the project is among Myanmar people. They don’t like it because the project near the confluence of the Maykha and Malikha rivers, which gives rise to the Irrawaddy River, would destroy the country’s lifeline waterway, which runs through the country from north to south before emptying into the Andaman Sea. For Myanmar people, the river is the source of their identity because the Irrawaddy valley is the cradle of Myanmar civilization. Furthermore, they fear the dam would disrupt the flow of sediment along river, harming agricultural livelihoods. Plus, the dam site is reportedly seismically unstable; a collapse would have the potential to flood an area twice the size of Singapore.
It’s interesting to note how such a controversial mega project came into existence. The following is a brief flashback summarizing the development of the Myitsone Dam issue and identifying those involved in the project’s inception at a time when Myanmar was under military rule.
Beginnings
It all started with the Ministry of Electrical Power’s hydropower project master plan for the upstream Irrawaddy River basin in Kachin State in late 2005. The plan was initially developed with Yunnan Machinery (Equipment) Export & Import Company (YMEC) and Kunming Hydropower Institute of Design. The plan was scrapped when the ministry was reformed in May of the following year as the Ministry of Electric Power-1 (MOEP-1) for generating electrical power and the Ministry of Electric Power-2 for distribution..."
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-04-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Work on a high-speed rail line linking Yangon to China’s Yunnan province, as well as Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, is expected to start within two months, China Daily newspaper reported on November 21.
Should the plan come to fruition, the 1920-kilometre (1200 miles) Yunnan-Yangon line will be able to carry trains travelling at up to 240 kilometres an hour (km/h).
China scholars told The Hindu newspaper that the lines were part of a wider effort to deepen engagement with its Southeast Asian neighbours, officials said last week. According to Wang Mengshu, a consultant for the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said studies are also being conducted to link Yunnan’s capital – Kunming – with Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. In August, the Ministry of Railways also sent a team to Thailand to explore investing in a US$25.6-billion, 240km/h high-speed railway and rail network.
Mr Wang, who is a professor with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told The Hindu in an interview earlier this year that construction had already begun on a line connecting Kunming with Singapore. The Southeast Asian network, he said, could be completed as early as 2020. Beijing’s increased infrastructure investment in Southeast Asia, analysts say, is part of a larger effort to expand economic and strategic influence in the region. Beijing hopes the investment will also ease anxieties among its ASEAN neighbours over the impact of China’s rising economic influence.
China ratified the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) pact with the regional bloc but in the process has created a fast-widening trade imbalance in its favour, in part fuelled by the flooding of the ASEAN market with Chinese goods. This has led to strains in commercial relationships with many ASEAN countries. The trade deficit grew to $21.6 billion last year. A number of countries have also voiced concern over the pattern of Chinese investments, which have generally targeted resources such as oil and minerals..."
Kyaw Hsu Mon, agencies
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Times
Date of publication:
2010-11-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Ja Hkawn still remembers the day all the residents of a nearby village were forcibly driven across the river by the local authorities. It was in late May 2010. The villagers of Mali Zup were given just three days to pack their belongings. She saw the villagers carrying their possessions on their shoulders and rounding up their livestock. As they headed to their “new place” across the river, their footsteps were heavy. Some shed tears as they left.
In April of the following year, Ja Hkawn, who was then a resident of Tang Hpre village, faced the same fate as her Mali Zup neighbors. The whole village was forced to move to a new place—Aung Myin Tha, 8 miles to the south.
The reason for the forced relocations: to make way for a mega-dam to be built by China Power Investment Corporation (CPI), now known as State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC).
“I’ve never liked it here—I long to go back to my village,” Ja Hkawn said. She misses her old village located at the confluence of the May Kha and Mali Kha rivers; life is hard in Aung Myin Tha, as the new location is not arable, but built on rocky red soil.
Once a landowner with several acres on which she grew seasonal vegetables, the 53-year-old Kachin woman now—like many others—scratches out a living as a vendor with the support of local NGOs, selling organic soap, local snacks and T-shirts emblazoned with the slogans “No Dam” and “Long Live Irrawaddy” to tourists in Myitsone. One of Kachin State’s major landmarks, and a must-see for visitors to the area, Myitsone is the point at which the confluence of the May Kha and Mali Kha rivers gives rise to Myanmar’s lifeline, The Irrawaddy River. The confluence is recognized by the Organization for World Wildlife Conservation as a place of biodiversity and natural heritage. During a recent visit there, The Irrawaddy witnessed a busload of Chinese tourists visiting the area..."
Nan Lwin
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-03-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Construction of the China-Myanmar railway is expected to speed up as a vital segment within Myanmar saw a positive breakthrough during the just-concluded Belt and Road forum in Beijing.
During the opening day of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on Thursday, Li Changjin, chairman of the China Railway Group Company (CRGC), handed over a feasibility report on the Muse-Mandalay Railway project to Myanmar's Minister for Transport and Communications U Thant Sin Maung.
The railway starts from Muse, a major land port of Myanmar that borders the southwestern Chinese city of Ruili, and stretches southward to Mandalay, the second largest city of the country. The 410 kilometer-long project will connect the Chinese rail network through Ruili and serves as an important part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.
In October 2018, representatives from both countries signed a memorandum of understanding, kicking off the feasibility research on this project. Following the agreement, the China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (CREEC), a member of CRGC, conducted a geological survey and analysis in Myanmar..."
Yang Jinghao
Source/publisher:
China Global Television Network (CGTN)
Date of publication:
2019-04-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"China Railway Eryuan Engineering Corporation (CREEC) has started a partial survey for the Muse-Mandalay-Kyaukphyu railway line, part of the China –Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) and the larger Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the project, expected to be one of the largest road and railway projects in the country, last October.
The project calls for the building of a high-speed railway line from Kunming, China, to Muse on the Myanmar-China border and from there to Mandalay and terminating in Kyaukphyu in Rakhine. The survey project Muse to Mandalay the 430km line is expected to support trains travelling at up to 160kmh and will feature seven cargo stations and five passenger stations.
China is said to view the project to connect the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone and deepwater port in Myanmar as something that will benefit both countries under the larger CMEC umbrella,.
“CREEC, at their cost, has started a ground survey for the project and wants to proceed with the construction, but Myanmar hasn’t given any commitment beyond signing the MOU,” U Htaung Shan Khan, general manager of planning and administration of Myanmar Railways told The Myanmar Times.
“They want to construct the railway and run trains, but we have to consider Myanmar’s own interests and policies and the surveying for the project in Mandalay has been allowed,” he said.
However, former Thibaw MP U Ye Tun, whose township is located along the projected route of the railway, says the survey should be conducted for the entire route instead of just from Muse to Mandalay..."
Chan Mya Htwe
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Times
Date of publication:
2019-02-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Workers in southwest China’s Yunnan province recently finished laying the tracks down for a section of two major railways in southwest China. One railway will connect Yunnan to the neighbouring Tibet. The other connects Yunnan to the neighbouring country of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
South China Morning Post
Date of publication:
2018-04-04
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"WHEN THE Chinese embassy in Yangon posted a Xinhua article about State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s meeting with Chinese Premier Mr Li Keqiang to Facebook on April 26, the solitary comment below the post was, “How about Myitsone dam?”
It summed up the singular lens through which many in Myanmar have come to view bilateral relations over the past six months, and the growing concern that the Myanmar government, under pressure from China, might agree to proceed with the US$3.6 billion megadam in Kachin State, which was suspended in September 2011.
These concerns reached a crescendo on April 20 when hundreds of civil society leaders gathered at Yangon’s Novotel Hotel and announced a “one dollar campaign” aimed at collecting $1 from every citizen to raise funds to compensate China for scrapping the Myitsone Dam. They also addressed an open letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping saying that a dam on the Ayeyarwady River was unacceptable to the people of Myanmar.
This civil society event was held just four days before Aung San Suu Kyi left for the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, from April 25-27. The forum brought together dozens of world leaders to discuss Xi’s signature – and controversial – foreign policy, the Belt and Road Initiative.
But when Aung San Suu Kyi returned from Beijing, the tone had clearly shifted. Media coverage trumpeted the 1 billion yuan ($148 million) grant that China had promised for economic and technical assistance. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement released on April 29 said this would be for “livelihood improvement, feasibility study for major projects and humanitarian assistance for the IDPs in northern part of Myanmar”. Three memoranda of understanding were also signed, but they appeared to cover broad areas of cooperation rather than individual projects.
Instead of Myitsone or the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone in Rakhine State, the state counsellor’s meeting with Xi focused on other issues of importance to the bilateral relationship, such as import quotas on rice, combating illegal border trade and human trafficking, supporting the peace process and defending Myanmar at the United Nations and other international fora.
So, what happened? Ma Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee, a lead researcher at the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar in Yangon who focuses on Myanmar-China relations, said most observers had expected that detailed discussions would be held on specific projects, including Myitsone, in bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum.
In response to growing criticism of BRI, China wanted to use the forum as an opportunity to “show that BRI is mutually beneficial and to be implemented at the comfort level of the receiving countries”, she said. In the context of Myanmar, that meant avoiding any rhetoric on the need to proceed with Myitsone or other major infrastructure projects. Government spokesperson U Zaw Htay has said that Myitsone was not discussed in bilateral meetings.
“I think many observers in Myanmar are relieved that the agreements they reached do not seem to be binding,” Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee told Frontier. “But it is important to note that the detailed project discussions will take place with individual ministries, which can be much more low profile. Thus, we also need to keep our eyes on to the negotiation of these individual projects as well.”
Another close observer of China-Myanmar relations, U Maung Maung Soe, said the documents signed at the forum did not appear particularly significant..."
Thomas Kean
Source/publisher:
Frontier Myanmar
Date of publication:
2019-05-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations, Burma's economic relations with China
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) could bring opportunities to Myanmar and the region, Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi said here on Monday.
At the first meeting of the steering committee for implementation of tasks relating to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, Aung San Suu Kyi also stressed the need to work on the projects under the BRI in harmony with the country's national priorities and said that the welfare of the people will be counted while implementing the projects.
The BRI could promote cooperation in all sectors including infrastructure, the state counselor added.
Vice-President U Myint Swe called for the engagement between respective ministries and regional governments for better implementation of projects under the framework of BRI and highlighted the need to choose the right projects which can promote the development of the country and its people.
The steering committee which was formed in the end of September, 2018, is chaired by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi. Vice-President U Myint Swe serves as vice chairman and other ministers and regional chief ministers are the members..."
Source/publisher:
Asia & Pacific
Date of publication:
2019-02-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
China’s influence in Myanmar manifests on three different levels. At the bilateral level, the government and the military establishment of Myanmar receives diplomatic dividends for maintaining good ties with China. At the domestic political level, China’s relations with the country’s ethnic organizations makes it an important stakeholder in the ongoing reconciliation process. Finally, at the economic level, a lack of alternatives makes Naypyidaw reliant on Chinese investments, thereby ensuring favorable policies towards China over the longer term, notwithstanding regime changes.
Despite Myanmar’s increasing outreach to the outside world, Chinese engagement with the military and political elites in the country is still strong. Although Aung San Suu Kyi’s relationship with China has been complicated given her stature as a pro-democracy leader, in her more recent political career as State Counsellor she has a pragmatic route with regard to foreign policy. Her official visits to China have been viewed as largely fruitful, resulting in a greater understanding between the two countries, and helping shield Myanmar from international ostracism.
Source/publisher:
The Diplomat
Date of publication:
2019-05-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-25
[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), Other Special Economic Zones
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"PRECIOUS little information has emerged about the agreements that Myanmar signed late last month at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.
Myanmar signed a handful of agreements at the forum, including two memorandums of understanding, an economic and technical cooperation agreement, and an “early harvest” project list. Neither government has released detailed information on the contents of these agreements, including whether they are binding in any way.
The bigger story from the Belt and Road Forum, which fell April 25-27, appears to have been what Myanmar didn’t sign.
Sources within and close to the government, as well as in the diplomatic and business communities, have told Frontier that China had been pressuring Myanmar before the forum to sign a number of project-specific agreements, including for some “controversial” projects.
The Myanmar government refused to sign the agreements at the Belt and Road Forum, citing the need to conduct further assessments on the proposed projects, and instead committed only to more general MOUs.
The sources were unable to confirm the number, indicating it could have been four to six additional agreements.
China responded to this rejection by “dipping into its pocket”, as one government source put it, and instead proposing the economic and technical cooperation agreement with the grant.
Before the forum “all sorts of hand grenades were being thrown around, on Myitsone for example”, said Mr Sean Turnell, an economic adviser to State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. “Maybe it is just part of the usual thing you do before a big meeting – get all the ambit claims out there. But in the meetings themselves [in Beijing], the atmospherics were good.”
Turnell described it as a “fantastic” outcome for Myanmar. “The Chinese essentially agreed with the position here – that a lot of these projects are good but it’s up to the governments to negotiate them project by project,” he said..."
Thomas Kean
Source/publisher:
Frontier Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"If the strategically important Kyaukpyu deep sea port in Rakhine State is developed systematically, it will help the country’s trade sector grow, said Mr Hong Liang, the Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar.
Myanmar is implementing three special economic zones, including the Kyaukpyu Deep Sea Port and the Kyaukpyu SEZ.
“The deep sea port will play a pivotal role in the development of the country. Imported goods are flowing into Myanmar through Singapore, resulting in additional cost. There is still no deep sea port in Myanmar. By doing so, the implementation of the Kyaukpyu Deep Sea Port will promote trade as well as foreign investment. It will also contribute to the peace and stability of Rakhine State,” said the Chinese ambassador.
He made the remarks at the 1st China-Myanmar tea party with media agencies.
The Kyaukpyu SEZ aims to build an economic corridor between China, India, and the ASEAN countries. The initiative began in December, 2015. A Chinese corporation is developing the deep sea port and the SEZ.
The deep sea port will have the capacity to handle 7.8 million tons of goods and 4.9 million containers yearly. The Kyaukpyu SEZ will be established over 1,000 hectares of land.
The government is inviting investors to invest in building fundamental infrastructure, such as electricity, telecommunication, water facility, and road upgrade. The deep sea port is expected to reach a developed stage in 20 years..."
Myint Maung Soe
Source/publisher:
Global New Light of Myanmar
Date of publication:
2019-05-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, Other Special Economic Zones
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The country is likely to see an economic rise due to abundant low-cost labour compared to other countries in the region. Myanmar has suffered from international sanctions for years, as well as severe import restrictions imposed by the former junta. Many economists say there is likely to be huge economic growth in Myanmar after joining China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The Belt and Road initiative or the New Silk Road is a modern initiative put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, which aims to expand China’s transport and communication network and connect China with many of the world’s economies under the umbrella of “joint profit”. This initiative is cross-border and not limited to the Asian region, reaching many geographically distant countries. Of course, neighbours have the largest share of the projects raised by this initiative. It is logical that the nearest countries are the first beneficiaries of such a huge project.
When dealing with the special relationship between the Chinese and Myanmar and the political and economic relations that bring them together, more emphasis should be placed on the economy. Chinese investor plays a key role in supporting Myanmar’s economy.
Today, many Chinese companies in Myanmar are investing in natural resources and introducing advanced technology to the country. For its part, the Chinese government attaches great importance to the promotion of investment in Myanmar because of the great benefit to China, based on the economic studies that push the Chinese government to move towards this neighbouring country.
China is an important political and economic player in Myanmar, through China’s projects to build bridges, roads, ports and many other vital projects, which serve the Belt and Road Initiative. But the truth is, if China had not been this huge economic giant, the relationship between the two countries would not have been so remarkable.
Today, China, through projects in Myanmar such as the Belt and Road Initiative, creates many job opportunities for the people of Myanmar and makes the government of Myanmar welcome China in its territory..."
MOHAMAD ZREIK
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Times
Date of publication:
2019-05-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"ON OCTOBER 30, 2018, Mottama Holdings invited journalists to a high-profile “topping-out” ceremony for its M Tower project, a 26-storey office building near Hledan junction in Yangon that used prefabricated steel structure from the company’s factory in the city.
After putting in place the final steel beam – complete with gold-coloured bolts – more than 100 metres above Pyay Road, company chair U Yang Ho hailed a “new era” for Myanmar’s construction industry, one in which steel would replace reinforced concrete as the building material of choice for high-rise projects. M Tower, he added, “will become a prominent landmark in Yangon”.
Behind the scenes, though, there was less rosy news. Twelve days earlier, one of Mottama’s key partners, Chinese firm Sino Great Wall, had received notice from regulators in China that it was under investigation for suspected violations of information disclosure rules.
Sino Great Wall won the US$80 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for M Tower in January 2016, shortly before its share price peaked at 14.4 yuan, giving it a market capitalisation of 23 billion yuan ($3.4 billion). At the time, Sino Great Wall was winning billions of dollars of foreign EPC contracts and billing itself as a “leading private enterprise along the Belt and Road” – a reference to President Xi Jinping’s signature trade and investment initiative launched in 2013.
Today Sino Great Wall’s share price is just 2.29 yuan. The company’s debt-to-net-asset ratio is more than 120 percent, and it is facing litigation from nearly a dozen creditors due to 2.7 billion yuan of overdue loans. Rather than a poster-child for BRI, Sino Great Wall has become a cautionary tale of debt-fuelled overexpansion.
Since the company’s financial problems came to light in the second half of 2018, Sino Great Wall has been forced to scale back its international ambitions considerably. It is unclear whether this has affected M Tower, which is due for completion in 2020. A crane atop the building’s steel frame sat idle earlier this month and there were few workers at the site, but Mottama did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Sino Great Wall’s Yangon office – just 100 metres from M Tower – was locked when Frontier visited, but nearby residents said the office was more of a dormitory, and staff were still living there and working at the M Tower site. The company also did not respond to emailed questions.
However, the Chinese firm’s problems appear to have affected several other projects in Myanmar, including Min Residences, a high-end condominium development in Yangon’s Mayangone Township comprising more than 600 apartments.
Sino Great Wall corporate filings show that it won a $120 million EPC contract from Mottama and Singapore-listed Oxley Holdings to build the project’s three towers in January 2016, at the same time as the M Tower contract. Despite assurances from Mottama and Oxley that work would begin in September 2017, little progress appears to have been made.
Sino Great Wall has also won three contracts from Oxley totalling nearly $500 million for property projects in Cambodia.
But the three firms had even bigger plans in Myanmar..."
Thomas Kean
Source/publisher:
Frontier Myanmar
Date of publication:
2019-05-14
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations, Burma's economic relations with China
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Controversy continues over a suspended mega-dam project, backed by China, on the Irrawaddy River in Kachin State. The social and environmental consequences of the proposed project cast a shadow not only over the local Kachin population but over all the nationalities of Myanmar. Public awareness is growing why protecting the Irrawaddy is of national importance.
I am from Myitkyina, a Kachin, born and bred in the town just 27 miles downstream from where the Mali and N’Mai Rivers merge to form the great Irrawaddy, the life blood of our nation. Myitsone, the confluence site, also has added significance for us Kachins: it is the heartland of our cultural identity. So it would not be a stretch to say that the Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwady) is part of my life, just as it is for all who call Myanmar their home.
To have the Irrawaddy flow freely for all time is a cause very dear to my heart. And putting my money where my mouth is, I used the US$ 50,000 I received from the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation as seed money to establish the non-profit organisation Airavati with a few like-minded friends in 2014. Airavati's major work entails preserving the environment, culture and way of life of the diverse communities that flourish along the Irrawaddy's path – from its watersheds in the upper reaches of Kachin State to the delta region in Myanmar’s south.
The Irrawaddy is a precious national heritage. From time immemorial, the Bamar and other ethnic nationalities have lived and thrived along its riverbanks. Not only is it an amazing natural ecosystem, it is also an icon of our cultural and national identity. If we do not safeguard this treasure, we will suffer from its devastating loss, just as our neighbors to our immediate east did when the Chinese dammed the Mekong River within their borders. The impact on downstream countries like Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam has been disastrous and irreversible.
Protecting the Irrawaddy, therefore, is of national importance as the whole country's fate and existence depend upon it. Building a dam near the confluence site, or the Myitsone Dam Project as it is called, poses irreparable cultural, ecological and economic damage to the nation. Furthermore, the existential threat posed by the Myitsone Dam on communities within the reservoir inundation areas and those downstream is enormous, given that they are in an earthquake-prone zone.
In the meantime, communities in the confluence area have been forced to relocate, living in limbo in places where they cannot engage in their traditional livelihoods. Moreover, the lack of transparency and consultation with communities whose lives would be directly impacted have given rise to passionate opposition against the project, not just by the Kachin people but by all Myanmar nationals who love and cherish the Irrawaddy for practical as well as sentimental reasons.
We the peoples of Myanmar, with roots in different parts of the country, may differ in ethnicity, language and faith systems, but when it comes to saving the Irrawaddy, we are of one mind. This unity of purpose will empower us as we harness it in taking steps to put a stop to a project that will do irreparable harm to our beloved Irrawaddy. If we, each and every one of us Myanmar citizens, dig deep into our pockets and collectively make one-time or multiple-time one dollar donations, we will surely reach the goal of repaying the debt incurred when the previous government signed on to an ill-conceived, Chinese-funded mega project that will bring no benefit to Myanmar nationals..."
Lahpai Seng Raw
Source/publisher:
Transnational Institute (TNI)
Date of publication:
2019-05-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The Myanmar government recently agreed to begin work on key projects under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) agreement which is part of Chinese’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. Experts, including voices from the World Bank, have pointed out that Myanmar’s growth will largely depend on major BRI infrastructure projects that get underway this year.
The 1,700-kilometer-long CMEC will start in China’s Yunnan Province, go through Myanmar’s major economic cities—Mandalay in central Myanmar, the commercial capital of Yangon—and reach the coast at Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rakhine State. The proposal includes upgrades to three major roads through Mandalay and Muse on the Myanmar side of the border with China, and some other roads in Shan State.
An estimated $2 billion will be spent in the initial stages of the project which is expected to be made up of 24 projects in total.
Among the 24 proposed CMEC projects, Myanmar has agreed to speed up the process of nine major projects, which include the Kyaukphyu SEZ in the west, the New Yangon City Development in Yangon and the border economic cooperation zones in Kachin and Shan states..."
Nan Lwin
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, arrived in Beijing on Wednesday (April 24) ahead of the second Belt and Road Forum. Suu Kyi is expected to sign agreements on numerous belt and road projects during his trip.
While Suu Kyi tries to maintain good relations with China by attending the summit and calling on the public to uphold foreign investment projects signed by previous administrations, domestic backlash against the China-backed Myitsone Dam Project has grown stronger.
Thousands of protesters rallied in northern Myanmar on Monday (April 22) against revival of the suspended project, citing potential environmental damages and human displacement, according to Radio Free Asia.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said on Sunday (April 21) that China should respect human rights and commit to transparency when pushing and implementing its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), citing some BRI projects’ failures to complete adequate environmental and social impact assessments.
Suu Kyi has faced strong criticism after she defended the imprisonment of two Reuters journalists Wa Long and Kyaw Soe Oo, who investigated the Myanmar military’s massive execution of the Rohingya community, a Muslim minority group living in the country’s Rakhine state.
Myanmar’s Supreme Court rejected the journalists’ final appeal on Tuesday (April 23) and sentenced Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo to seven years in prison. Their in-depth reporting of Rohingya crisis won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting..."
Source/publisher:
Taiwan News
Date of publication:
2019-04-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Inadequate land laws have opened rural Myanmar to rampant land grabbing by unscrupulous, well-connected businessmen who anticipate a boom in agricultural and property investment. If unchecked, the gathering trend has the potential to undermine the country’s broad reform process and impede long-term economic progress.
Under the former military regime, land grabbing became a common and largely uncontested practice. Government bodies, particularly military units, were able to seize large tracts of farmland, usually without compensation. While some of the land was used for the expansion of military bases, new government offices or infrastructure projects, much of it was used either by military units for their own commercial purposes or sold to private companies.
The threat of military force meant there was little grass roots opposition to these land seizures and few avenues to secure adequate compensation. That’s changed under the new democratic order as local communities band together to fight back against seizure of their lands. Many of the current land disputes date to the period before the 2010 general elections that ushered in President Thein Sein’s reformist quasi-civilian government.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation’s Department of Agricultural Planning reported in January 2010 that 216 companies had received a total of 1.75 million acres (708,200 hectares) of farmland in the form of state concessions. Many of the disputes now being contested are related to land taken in the mid- to late-1990s. A significant proportion of the land grabbing during this period took place in ethnic-majority states in the country’s peripheral regions.
This was especially the case in areas along the border with China in Kachin and Shan States and along the border with Thailand in the Karen and Mon States. The army has maintained a strong presence in these areas to battle ethnic insurgencies and uphold tenuous ceasefires with other insurgent organizations. Much of the land was taken for military camps and military access roads, but also for commercial projects either run by the military or companies with ties to the military. Significant land grabbing also took place in the Sagaing and Irrawaddy Divisions.
The confiscation of land has been repeatedly documented since the 1990s by human-rights groups such as the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF), the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), and Earth Rights International (ERI), as well as numerous smaller grassroots organizations.
With new hope for an economic revival and rising property prices sparked by Thein Sein’s reformist government, land grabbing has continued in many of these areas and has also increased in central Myanmar and in Rakhine State in the west of the country. Current land grabbing is forcing farmers off their land for commercial agri-business ventures, infrastructure projects, tourism development, industrial facilities and gas pipelines.
Political and economic reforms, together with relaxed sanctions and a better relationship with the West, have raised expectations of a foreign investment-led economic boom. The government has actively encouraged more investment in agriculture, one of the country’s more laggard economic sectors, by promoting the country’s former role as the « rice bowl of Asia » and highlighting its potential for commercial agriculture..."
Brian McCartan
Source/publisher:
SOUTHERN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS NEWSWIRE
Date of publication:
2013-03-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Tenure insecurity in Burma (including land grabbing), Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Since January, residents of Namjim Village northwest of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina have witnessed a number of Chinese workers bustling around the area.
Around 10 kilometers from the village, just across the Namkoi River, Chinese workers have been conducting a ground survey for a project site.
The road connecting Namjim Village to the project site is very rocky and at some points extremely narrow. The location of this project is not near the China-Myanmar border where Chinese investors usually prefer to carry out their investment projects.
Now, however, a Chinese company has announced grand plans to build the massive Myitkyina Economic Development Zone (MEDZ) on approximately 4,700 acres of land along the historic Ledo Road. The Ledo Road was built during World War II to enable the Western allies to deliver supplies to China and thus aid the war effort against Japanese forces. It was an overland connection between Ledo in India’s Assam and Kunming in China’s Yunnan Province. Experts say China has chosen the area strategically, with an ultimate aim to link it with India as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.
The Yunnan Tengchong Heng Yong Investment Company (YTHIC) and the Myitkyina Economic Development Zone Committee (MEDZC), formed by Kachin State government, are expected to invest a combined total of more than US$400 million in the MEDZ which is to include nearly 500 factories and 5,000 buildings at the project site located 25 kilometers from Myitkyina.
Strategic importance
Currently, Kachin State is home to a number of China-backed investments ranging from hydropower to mining to agriculture. But the MEDZ was one of the lesser-known China-backed projects to be planned for the state—that was until Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Hong Liang’s visit to the site area in late December 2018. The Chinese ambassador said the economic zone will be a crucial part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which is being implemented under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor agreement. The initiative is President Xi’s grand vision to create a network of trade routes from China to Europe passing through Central Asia, the Middle East and Russia. Unveiled in 2013, the BRI aims to ultimately encompass nearly 70 countries and two-thirds of the world’s population.
As well as the MEDZ, both Myanmar and China have planned to construct another $5-million “economic cooperation zone” as part of the BRI plan in Kanpiketi, a town in Kachin State’s Special Region 1, which is under the control of a militia group called the New Democratic Army-Kachin.
The MEDZ investors signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in May 2018. The Chinese company, YTHYIC, is owned by the Yunnan Baoshan Hengyi Group and Tengchong Border Economic Cooperation Zone, a company based in Baoshan, Yunnan. The former’s company chairperson met several ministers in Naypyitaw last year to discuss the construction of the economic development zone in detail.
According to the MoU viewed by the Irrawaddy, both sides will collaborate to draw up a master plan, to calculate the estimate cost, rules and regulations, the share ratio and other framework details based on the project investment procedures. Moreover, YTHIC and the state government have agreed to establish a joint venture company to implement the zone —a collaboration between YTHIC and the government-affiliated company. Both sides also agreed that YTHIC would cover expenses such as feasibility studies and the environmental impact assessment (EIA). Later, the joint venture company must pay back all expenses to the YTHIC...."
Nan Lwin
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-04-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"For Myanmar, the stakes couldn’t be higher. This will be one of the most important weeks for the National League for Democracy since it took office in March 2016. The decisions that it makes will have implications for the economy, domestic politics and international relations for years to come.
The Belt and Road Forum is primarily about improving the image of the Belt and Road Initiative. Asked about criticism of the BRI at a press conference on April 19, Chinese Foreign Minister Mr Wang Yi said the strong attendance list was a “vote of confidence” in the BRI.
The Chinese government under President Xi Jinping wants to be able to show the world that the BRI is moving forward. Accordingly, Myanmar has in recent months come under intense pressure from China to give the green light to a range of BRI-related projects, including the stalled Myitsone Dam in Kachin State.
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will travel to Beijing for the forum, where she is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with Chinese leaders. It is likely that the two sides will announce agreements on several projects. The agreements may not necessarily cover the finer details, but they will be taken as a crucial signal of Myanmar’s willingness to move forward with these projects.
In Myanmar, all eyes will be on whether there is an announcement regarding Myitsone. Suspended in September 2011, the project epitomises the unhappy legacy of bilateral economic cooperation under Myanmar’s military junta, when deals were cut in secret with the generals and the wishes of the people of Myanmar were ignored.
Myanmar is increasingly dependent on China for political protection as a result of the Tatmadaw’s actions in Rakhine State, and also for its ability to influence the peace process. This would appear to give China the upper hand in any negotiations.
But it would be a mistake for China to railroad the Myanmar government into resuming the Myitsone project. Yes, there are signed agreements that need to be taken into consideration. But the success of the BRI in Myanmar will depend on China’s ability to tailor its approach to fit the Myanmar context, where there remains widespread mistrust of Chinese actors and their intentions..."
Source/publisher:
Frontier Myanmar
Date of publication:
2019-04-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The controversial Myitsone Dam project in Myanmar's Kachin state has been suspended for over two years now and stop-work costs, amounting to millions of US dollars, are mounting. But no resolution seems to be in sight for this China-contracted project. The company, China Power Investment, may be facing losses, but local Myanmar citizens want the government to scrap the development entirely. In this exclusive report, Channel NewsAsia's May Wong, had the rare opportunity to visit the project site and speak with those involved..."
Source/publisher:
Channel News Asia (CNA)
Date of publication:
2013-08-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Water security (global, regional), Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The BRI is colossal infrastructure and connectivity initiative of the Chinese government, loosely based on two main routes: the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. In Chinese language the initiative is called “yidai yiliu”, translated as “one belt one road”. The English name has switched from the previous One Belt One Road or OBOR to the now widely accepted BRI.
The name is not the only moving piece. The BRI is fluid – a constantly evolving concept that has changed considerably since its first announcement in 2013. While large investment projects characterised the initial phase, it now focuses on high-quality development, mirroring China"s growth path from "high-speed" to "high-quality".
The very nature of BRI has also evolved as well. It started as a China-driven plan to connect the Eurasian region, but the Chinese government now aims to make this a "platform", open for all countries to take part, and for all interested investors to collaborate.
One challenge that many non-Chinese observers, especially in Europe and in the US, struggle with is the "vagueness" of the BRI concept. The BRI brand is broad enough to encompass many projects and ideas. While this makes the BRI flexible to evolve, it also makes it difficult to pinpoint its exact scope. What makes an infrastructure project a BRI project? And does it matter to be able to define it? To avoid potential misuse of the term, the Chinese government is moving toward developing a BRI project database..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Times
Date of publication:
2019-04-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-05-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"On January 12th, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Myanmar issued a statement warning Myanmar that if it failed to resolve the dispute over the stalled Myitsone Hydropower Dam project in Myanmar’s northern state of Kachin, “confidence of Chinese entrepreneurs in investing in Myanmar” would be “seriously hurt” (Global Times, February 21). A fortnight prior to this statement, the PRC Ambassador to Myanmar, Hong Liang, visited the Kachin capital of Myitkyina, where he met local Kachin groups and religious leaders to win their support for revival of the controversial Chinese-backed dam project. Hong reportedly warned them against opposing Chinese projects, including the Myitsone project, in the Kachin state (The Irrawaddy, January 9). PRC officials have reportedly been visiting the homes of Kachin villagers to canvass support for the project (The Irrawaddy, September 13, 2018).
The $3.6 billion Myitsone dam project is a Sino-Myanmar joint venture: Myanmar’s Ministry of Electric Power and a domestic conglomerate, Asia World, as well as the PRC’s state-run China Power Investment Corporation, signed a memorandum of understanding in 2006; work on the project began subsequently in December 2009. In September 2011, amid protests over the Myitsone Dam’s social and environmental costs, Myanmar’s then-President Thein Sein announced the suspension of the project, citing the “will of the people” (Mizzima, September 30, 2011). Since coming to power in January 2016, Myanmar’s ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) has avoided making a decision on the project’s future. But with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi due to meet Chinese leaders on the sidelines of the upcoming Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, where the Myitsone project is bound to come up for discussion, the NLD government will need to decide the fate of the project before Suu Kyi leaves for Beijing (The Irrawaddy, April 5). This will not be an easy decision, as the government is caught between mounting pressure from the PRC and calls from the people of Myanmar to cancel the project..."
Sudha Ramachandran
Source/publisher:
The Jamestown Foundation
Date of publication:
2019-04-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-04-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.59 MB
Local URL:
more
Description:
''A mid increased pressure from China to resume construction of the controversial Myitsone hydropower dam in the far north of Myanmar, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has said the public should think about the project “from a wider perspective,” Myanmar website The Irrawaddy reported on March 14.
The project, a joint venture with Chinese interests, was suspended in 2011 by then president Thein Sein amid widespread concern over the dam’s social and environmental impacts. Anti-Chinese demonstrations were also held in many towns in Myanmar.
Suu Kyi did not say whether the project should be scrapped or continued and the uncertainty has led to renewed protests...''
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-02-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-04-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''The New Silk Road is China's grand trillion-dollar strategy to link up 65 countries and 4.4 billion people.
In this episode, we look at a massive Chinese petrochemical hub which has been built in Kyaukphyu, Myanmar, close to where the Rohingya crisis is still unfolding. How will this project shape Myanmar's economy?...''
Pearl Forss
Source/publisher:
CNA
Date of publication:
2018-09-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-04-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
English, (Burmese with English Sub-title)
Local URL:
more
Description:
''In this story, we take a look at what China's Belt and Road bring to Myanmar society...''
Source/publisher:
New China TV
Date of publication:
2018-12-10
Date of entry/update:
2019-04-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Once stalled plans to build a high-speed railroad connecting China’s southern city of Kunming and Myanmar’s Kyaukphyu port on the Bay of Bengal are firmly back on track.
If completed, the 1,400-kilometer railroad will be a crucial link in a strategic economic corridor through which China’s imports and exports would bypass the congested Malacca Strait and contested South China Sea, both potential chokepoints in any conflict scenario.
There are already gas and oil pipelines in place running from Myanmar’s western coast and China’s southern Yunnan province which strategically bypass maritime bottlenecks and potential trouble spots...''
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-02-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Against the backdrop of intensifying diplomatic and economic pressures from the West mainly due to the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State, Nay Pyi Taw’s engagement with Beijing improved significantly in the year 2018, reaching dramatic milestones that have not been achieved since Myanmar’s democratic transition began in 2010: an MoU on the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) was signed as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI); three ‘economic cooperation zones’ in Muse, Chinshwehaw and Kanpiketi were agreed to, with implementation of the Muse zone already in progress; an agreement on a feasibility study of the Muse–Mandalay Railway Project was signed; a framework agreement for the development of Kyauk Phyu Special Economic Zone was signed; the tender for the New Yangon City Project led by the Yangon Regional Government and the China Communication Construction Company will be open for invitation soon; and the State Counsellor formed and leads the One Belt One Road Implementation Committee.
Under the label of BRI Projects, 2018 saw China-Myanmar engagement becoming closer, deeper and wider. This piece is a summary of China-Myanmar relations in 2018, distilled into political aspects (including bilateral visits and issues that dominated the meetings), economic cooperation, China’s public diplomacy and development assistance. The data and information are based on the news covered by the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar, as well as other major news sources published in Myanmar and English languages...''
Myat Myat Mon
Source/publisher:
Teacircleoxford
Date of publication:
2019-01-31
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Industrial zones - general studies
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar lawmakers have sounded alarm over the country’s high and rising debts owed to China, urging the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government to pay back the loans as fast as possible to avoid a sovereignty-eroding debt trap.
With foreign exchange reserves at a meager US$6.35 billion in 2018 and the national debt estimated at US$10 billion, of which $4 billion is now owed to China, parliamentarian Than Soe recently suggested sending rice instead of dollars to China.
Whether China would accept such a deal remains to be seen. The interest rate on most Chinese loans is a whopping 4.5%, believed to be the highest rate among all the foreign government and financial institutions that Myanmar now owes.
Most of Myanmar’s foreign debt was accumulated between 1988 and 2011, a period when the country was subjected to Western sanctions imposed against the previous military regime’s poor rights record.
At the time, China was the only major foreign donor willing to lend generously to the ostracized regime. Myanmar’s over two decades of international isolation left it heavily indebted to Chinese monetary institutions...''
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-31
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''The Myanmar government recently agreed to begin work on key projects under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) agreement which is part of Chinese’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. Experts, including voices from the World Bank, have pointed out that Myanmar’s growth will largely depend on major BRI infrastructure projects that get underway this year.
The 1,700-kilometer-long CMEC will start in China’s Yunnan Province, go through Myanmar’s major economic cities—Mandalay in central Myanmar, the commercial capital of Yangon—and reach the coast at Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rakhine State. The proposal includes upgrades to three major roads through Mandalay and Muse on the Myanmar side of the border with China, and some other roads in Shan State.
An estimated $2 billion will be spent in the initial stages of the project which is expected to be made up of 24 projects in total...''
Nan Lwin
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''China and Myanmar have pledged to jointly push forward the building of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.
The pledge came as Ning Jizhe, deputy head of China's National Development and Reform Commission visited Myanmar from November 24 to 27.
Ning's visit was aimed at further implementing the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries at the end of 2017 on jointly promoting the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.
During his visit, Ning called on Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, held working meetings with Myanmar Minister of Planning and Finance U Soe Win as well as officials from 11 other Myanmar ministries and departments including the Ministry of Commerce, and also met with the chief minister and the parliament speaker of the Yangon Region...''
Source/publisher:
Fudan Institute of Belt and Road & Global Governance
Date of publication:
2018-11-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Ning Jizhe, vice chair of China’s top planning agency National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), visited Myanmar from November 24 to 27. The visit is built on the consensus reached by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and China’s leader Xi Jinping at the end of 2017, with regards to the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC).
Mr. Ning visited the sites of CITIC Group, China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), China Railway Group Limited (CRG) and Yunnan Provincial Energy Investment Group Co., Ltd. (YEIG).
CITIC leads a consortium which was chosen by the government as the developer of a proposed deep-sea port in Kyaukphyu, central Rakhine. CCCC, a China state-owned company and was sanctioned by the World Bank for its fraud and corruption practices from January 2009 until January 2017, signed an agreement with a regional body to prepare a detailed infrastructure proposal for an ambitious new Yangon city project...''
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Times
Date of publication:
2018-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Industrial estates and other zones (excluding SEZs), “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Ning Jizhe, vice chair of China’s top planning agency National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), visited Myanmar from November 24 to 27. The visit is built on the consensus reached by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and China’s leader Xi Jinping at the end of 2017, with regards to the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC).
Mr. Ning visited the sites of CITIC Group, China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), China Railway Group Limited (CRG) and Yunnan Provincial Energy Investment Group Co., Ltd. (YEIG).
CITIC leads a consortium which was chosen by the government as the developer of a proposed deep-sea port in Kyaukphyu, central Rakhine. CCCC, a China state-owned company and was sanctioned by the World Bank for its fraud and corruption practices from January 2009 until January 2017, signed an agreement with a regional body to prepare a detailed infrastructure proposal for an ambitious new Yangon city project...''
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Times
Date of publication:
2018-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Industrial estates and other zones (excluding SEZs), “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi was appointed the chairperson of a panel to oversee Belt and Road initiative (BRI) projects on December 7. The steering committee with Vice President U Myint Swe, ministers, and regional chief ministers as members aims to implement the joint establishment of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) under BRI.
The committee not only signals the importance Myanmar attaches to BRI, but also demonstrates that the CMEC is an important part of the comprehensive strategic cooperation between China and Myanmar.
Such cooperation includes better control over the northern Myanmar situation and maintenance of peace and stability on the border between Myanmar and China through which the CMEC will pass. Construction of the corridor will help regional stability and could also be a key to breaking the logjam in the peace process...''
Ge Hongliang
Source/publisher:
College of ASEAN Studies via "Global Times"
Date of publication:
2018-12-20
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''After meetings that took place in late November, between China’s National Development and Reform Commission deputy head Ning Jizhe and Myanmar’s State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar has decided to proceed with developing the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC). This includes the development of all Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects such as the Kyaukpyu deep-water port, the Kyaukpyu-Kunming highspeed railway, special economic zones and natural gas pipelines.
A CMEC implementation committee will now look to establish fast progress on all potential CMEC projects throughout the country. To aid this progression Beijing initiated peace talks with the Myanmar government and the Northern Alliance – groups that did not sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement. Since the talks took place earlier this month the Northern Alliance has agreed to cooperate in government peace efforts. This is significant as it is this political and security instability that has put the CMEC projects at risk in the China-Myanmar border region...''
Charles Williams
Source/publisher:
Global Risk Insights
Date of publication:
2019-01-04
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''In late November, Ning Jizhe, deputy head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), visited Myanmar and met with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and the minister of planning and finance along with other ministers. A week later, on December 6, the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) implementation steering committee, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, met. Years after the launch of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Myanmar is finally moving rapidly to embrace President Xi Jinping’s project.
CMEC is a bold step. It will bring China and Myanmar into the closet proximity ever in the history of their relationship, going far beyond trade and infrastructure development itself. This could the ace in the hole for Naypyidaw to overcome deadlocks in the country’s peace process and stimulate foreign investments...''
Source/publisher:
The Diplomat
Date of publication:
2018-12-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''A Memorandum of Understanding to establish the China Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) was signed by the governments of Myanmar and China in September 2018. The CMEC forms part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a 21st century reimagining of the ancient Silk Road, the network of land and sea trade routes that once linked Imperial China with markets in the west. The Chinese posit BRI as "a bid to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future", but there are many who perceive it as nothing more than a form of neocolonialism, a thinly-veiled attempt at gaining dominance on the world stage. The very act of rebranding the initiative Belt and Road, taking the word "One" out of its original name [“One Belt, One Road”], is seen as an attempt to address this negative impression...''
Lahpai Seng Raw
Source/publisher:
Transnational Institute (TNI)
Date of publication:
2019-01-10
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
TNI-BCN Project on Ethnic Conflict in Burma, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Law and policy on land in Burma/Myanmar, Burma's economic relations with China
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"China-Myanmar border trade fell by US$562 million in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar, a state media outlet.
The paper’s commentator attributed the decline to tighter Chinese controls on border trade, including the suspension of some agricultural product imports from Myanmar, and the closure of a key cross-border trading post near Muse in Myanmar’s northern Shan State..."
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"As China surges forward again in Myanmar, new pressure to restart a controversial dam project could represent a watershed moment for bilateral relations.
The Beijing-backed US$3.6 billion Myitsone dam project, which if built as previously designed would flood 600 square kilometers of forestland in northern Kachin state and export 90 % of the power produced to China, was suspended by Myanmar’s previous military-dominated government in September 2011."
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-16
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
English
Local URL:
more