China’s Xi arrives in Myanmar
NAYPYIDAW: Chinese President Xi Jinping touched down in Myanmar’s capital on a state visit aimed at buttressing the embattled government of Aung San Suu Kyi and driving through multi-billion-dollar infrastructure deals.
The wide highways and manicured lawns of Naypyidaw, purposebuilt by generals under Myanmar’s junta, were dotted with red banners bearing Xi’s face and greetings in Burmese and Mandarin.
Xi will sign a series of mammoth infrastructure deals as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative – a global trade plan that promises to change the face of Myanmar.
The centrepiece of the so-called China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) is a US$1.3bil (RM5.2bil) deep-sea port at Kyaukphyu in central Rakhine state, giving Beijing a gateway to the Indian Ocean.
A high-speed rail link is on the cards to connect the port and nearby planned industrial zone with the countries’ shared border.
China is an economic lifeline for Myanmar, a country where wariness lingers over the increasing influence of its giant neighbour.
Bilateral trade was worth US$16.8bil (RM68.2bil) last year and Beijing holds the largest share – around US$4bil (RM16.2bil) or 40% – of Myanmar’s foreign debt.
Billions of cubic metres of gas and millions of barrels of oil from offshore rigs are pumped each year across the country into China.
“The next one, two, three decades will be defined by Myanmar’s relationship with China,” said Yangonbased analyst Richard Horsey.
Economic interests aside, Myanmar’s relationship with the superpower has other benefits.
In an op-ed in Myanmar’s staterun media this week, Xi said China supports Myanmar in “safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests and national dignity”.
China shields Myanmar at the United Nations, where pressure is mounting for accountability over the Rohingya crisis.
Suu Kyi personally defended her nation against accusations of genocide at the UN’s top court last month after a 2017 military crackdown forced 740,000 people over the border into Bangladesh.