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Trade and diplomatic ties between Myanmar and China are normalizing in the face of intense domestic opposition and the international condemnation of the military junta that took power in February.
Beijing has strengthened relations with Myanmar’s military leaders despite a series of violent attacks on Chinese business interests in the country following the overthrow of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government.
Yun Sun, an expert on Myanmar-China relations with the Stimson Center, an American think tank, said Beijing had already made a “fundamental assessment” that Myanmar was moving to another extended period of military rule.
“I think the Chinese can see that this military coup is successful and it is here to stay,” he added.
The resumption of state-level commitments and economic activity indicates that Myanmar is returning to its situation traditional economic dependence about China. The country has used its biggest neighbor as a buffer against international sanctions and divestment by foreign investors, who have announced plans to leave the country or archived projects.
Since the coup, 875 people have been killed by the junta and 6,242 detained, according to the Association of Political Prisoners Assistance (Burma), a human rights group. The country’s economy and public services were severely altered by mass protests during the three months following the coup and have only partially recovered.
The resumption of bilateral trade will fuel widespread suspicion among resistance groups against the coup that China was prepared to support the new military regime.
The cumulative value of Chinese imports from Myanmar during the first five months of the year was $ 3.38 million, compared to 2.43 million in 2020 and 2.56 million in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, according to official Chinese customs data.
However, exports to Myanmar during the same period have not recovered to the same extent. By the end of May, $ 4.282 billion worth of goods had been shipped to Myanmar, compared to $ 4.56 million and $ 4.79 million in the previous two years.
In a further sign of strengthening diplomatic relations, Chen Hai, China’s ambassador to Myanmar, met in June with coup leader and military commander Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw, the capital. In a later statement, Chen referred to Min Aung Hlaing as the leader of Myanmar.
China was one of the countries that abstained in a UN general assembly vote last week, in which the international community was asked to do so. stop the flow of weapons in Myanmar and release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political detainees.
Beijing maintained good relations with the government of the ousted leader, who is under arrest facing multiple criminal charges. However, he has refrained from criticizing the military, avoiding anger among the mass protest movement that emerged after the coup.
Beyond being Myanmar’s largest trading partner, China has it too investments in strategic infrastructures in the country, including the energy pipelines that give Beijing a critical link to the Indian Ocean.
James Char, a Myanmar expert at Singapore’s Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said many people in Myanmar still blamed the Chinese government and business interests for complicity in supporting decades of military rule before from the transition to democracy.
“The Chinese themselves are very clear [public sentiment in Myanmar]”Char said.
Attacks on companies linked to China following the coup, it culminated in an explosion at a Chinese-backed textile factory west of Yangon on June 11, according to local media reports from Myanmar, as well as board-controlled intelligence services and Chinese state media.
Beijing’s caution in igniting Myanmar protesters would likely slow down Chinese direct investment and the resumption of large-scale planned developments that were part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, analysts said.
Additional reports of Sherry Fei Ju in Beijing
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