{"id":7438,"date":"2021-01-13T02:32:23","date_gmt":"2021-01-13T02:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=149278"},"modified":"2021-01-13T02:32:23","modified_gmt":"2021-01-13T02:32:23","slug":"china-urges-progress-on-myanmar-belt-road-projects-backs-peace-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/13\/china-urges-progress-on-myanmar-belt-road-projects-backs-peace-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"China Urges Progress on Myanmar Belt & Road Projects, Backs Peace Efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

China\u2019s Foreign Minister Wang Yi voiced support for Myanmar\u2019s peace talks with ethnic armed groups and called for faster progress on major Chinese-led infrastructure projects in its Southeast Asian neighbor, statements and reports from the two countries said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Wang, the first foreign minister to visit Myanmar since Nov. 8 elections returned Aung San Suu Kyi\u2019s National League for Democracy (NLD) to office for a second five-year term, brought donations of COVID-19 medical supplies to Myanmar, his first stop on a tour that also includes Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s top diplomat met with civilian and military leaders, discussing the pace of progress and security of the Myanmar-China corridor, a key part of multi-billion-dollar Beijing\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of trade-facilitating infrastructure projects, Chinese state media said.<\/p>\n

Meeting Monday with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, Wang conveyed congratulations from the Chinese leadership for her re-election and said Beijing is ready to implement big-ticket projects under the BRI, agreed during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping a year earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cViewing the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) as the flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese foreign minister said China is also willing to speed up the construction of the western, northern, and eastern ends of the CMEC,\u201d state TV said in an account of the visit.<\/p>\n

Wang\u2019s aim is \u201cto promote an early implementation of the Kyaukpyu deep-sea port, the China-Myanmar Border Economic Cooperation Zone and the New Yangon City,\u201d state-run CGTN reported.<\/p>\n

The CMEC, which includes plans for a railway and gas and oil pipelines, bisects the northern part of the country and ends at the $1.3 billion deep-sea port at Kyaukpyu in southern Rakhine state along the coast of the Bay of Bengal.<\/p>\n

In the northern part of Rakhine state, near Myanmar\u2019s border with Bangladesh, fighting between Myanmar\u2019s military and the rebel Arakan Army (AA) has raged for two years, killing about 300 civilians, injuring more than 600 others, and displacing about 230,000 people.<\/p>\n

The two sides in the Rakhine war have maintained a ceasefire since the Nov. 8 elections and held a series of behind-the-scenes contacts.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Wang and the military commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, held an hour-long discussion mostly focusing on peace issues, a Myanmar spokesman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey discussed the current negotiations between the military and the AA to maintain the ceasefire that has been in place since the end of the election, and ways to prevent further armed combat,\u201d Major General Zaw Min Tun of the military\u2019s information committee told RFA.<\/p>\n

Peace talks role for China?<\/strong><\/p>\n

With a strong interest in stable access to the Indian Ocean from China\u2019s landlocked southwestern provinces through the corridor, Beijing historically has played a role in dealings between Myanmar’s army and ethnic armed groups based in several states along the border.<\/p>\n

Now Myanmar\u2019s second-biggest foreign investor after Singapore, China has clout that could help advance the peace process, according to Pe Than, a member of parliament and a leader of the Arakan National Party (ANP), which represents the interests of the Rakhine people.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina can have influence not only on Rakhine state but also on all of Myanmar, including the ethnic armed groups, in terms of politics, economics and military,\u201d said Pe Than.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina can fairly and reasonably pressure, mediate or facilitate the negotiations between the military and AA such that the peace process will be advanced. So we will have peace in our Rakhine state,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Analysts said that Wang\u2019s visit to Myanmar shows that getting and keeping BRI projects on track are important to Beijing.  <\/p>\n

\u201cProgress on the Kyaukpyu deep seaport project has stalled even after they updated the project contract. Lots of work is needed for BRI. It is possible that China wants to tell the Myanmar government to prioritize moving forward with these projects,\u201d Minh Zaw Oo, executive director of Myanmar\u2019s Institute of Peace and Security told RFA.<\/p>\n

Political analyst Than Soe Naing said Myanmar is of strategic importance for its BRI projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina is visiting various countries to see if there are changes in its OBOR projects in the Asia-Pacific region,\u201d Than Soe Naing said, using the acronym for former name of the Chinese initiative, \u201cOne Belt One Road.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, China is trying to push Myanmar to speed up the OBOR projects, such as the construction of the railway connecting Mandalay and Muse, the economic zone in Rakhine state, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wang arrived a day after Myanmar\u2019s Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group signed an agreement for a railway to connect the Kyaukpyu SEZ to Mandalay in a rail route that will eventually connect Myanmar to Beijing by way of Kunming. railway.<\/p>\n

\u201cMainly this project will give China a new outlet to the sea. This rail line will run parallel with an existing gas pipeline and it will be easier for authorities to ensure the security of the pipeline,\u201d political analyst Ye Tun told RFA.<\/p>\n

Friction over earlier projects<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ye Tun said the railway would connect Kyaukpyu\u2019s seaport, to economically dynamic and productive regions in China and Myanmar.<\/p>\n

\u201cMyanmar will earn revenue from the seaport and the rail line. There is also the prospect of many manufacturers from China relocating to Myanmar for easy access to the ocean. This rail line will be a great benefit to the country,\u201d Ye Tun said<\/p>\n

Chen Hai, China\u2019s ambassador to Myanmar, said in a statement released by the embassy that the rail line \u201cwill not only contribute to the development of Myanmar\u2019s economy and enhance the lives of its people, it will also strengthen the national reconciliation and peace process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some groups in Myanmar question the purported economic benefits of the projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the purposes of feasibility studies are to observe the economic benefits of the project\u2014whether there will be as much trade or expected usage of the rail line,\u201d Khine Win, director of the China-Myanmar relations-focused Sandhi Governance Institute told RFA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important to publish the findings from the studies. The initial studies will show whether they should go on with this project or not. The results should be made available to the public. This project must be beneficial both in the long and short term,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Other Myanmar-China Corridor projects were not without controversy, Tun Kyi, of the Kyaukpyu Rural Development Association, told RFA.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina built the Shwe gas pipeline project, which caused several disputes over farmland confiscation. The Chinese company and Myanmar authorities have not yet resolved these issues,\u201d Tun Kyi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst and foremost, the study should recognize that individual land ownership and overall development are very low in Rakhine state. If this rail line project goes forward, it will complicate these land issues for sure,\u201d said Tun Kyi.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the ruling NLD said the operators should consider the opinions of those living near the project as much as it considers the long-term development and diplomatic goals of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf many people disapprove of the project, their concerns\u2026 should be reported to the administrative authorities. The opinions of the people should be taken seriously,\u201d said Myo Nyunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the ruling government has the capacity to make decisions that cover all grounds.\u201d <\/p>\n

Reported by Thet Su Aung, Phyu Phyu Khine, and Nay Myo Htun for RFA\u2019s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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