"The plight of thousands of women from Kachin and Shan states trafficked into forced marriages in China has attracted global attention, with numerous major news outlets and human rights groups covering the crisis. But one Myanmar language publication recently gave a different take on the experiences of women in marriages across the border. An August 13 article by the Pauk Phaw newspaper omitted the horror stories and instead highlighted a Chinese man and a Kachin woman walking a “happy and pleasant road” together. “During my five years of marriage in China, I was able to live in a new house and got a cleaning job. I felt very thankful and fulfilled,” the woman was quoted as saying. Pauk Phaw is controlled by the Propaganda Department of the local government in Dehong, an area in China’s Yunnan province that borders Kachin and Shan states. It is one of a growing number of platforms through which China is seeking to reshape public opinion about its influence in Myanmar. China has asserted its economic power with energy and infrastructure projects across Myanmar, fueling local opposition to the superpower’s efforts to tap the country’s resources. One of Beijing’s most important projects inside Myanmar, the Myitsone dam in Kachin state, was suspended in 2011 because of protests by locals who say it will cause widespread environmental destruction and displacement..."