[최수문특파원의 차이나페이지] Myanmar military support saying “I will break through the US blockade”… China Becomes’Assistant’ of Coup Massacre

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On the 22nd, the 50th day after the military coup in Myanmar, 14-year-old Toon Tun Aung died in front of his home in Mandalay. According to local media, about 300 heavily armed soldiers appeared in the village of Myananda, where the boy lived. The soldiers who were clearing the street barricades with two bulldozers in front of them suddenly fired indiscriminately and many citizens fell. At this time, the boy was also shot in the chest. There was a story on social media that the boy was locking the door of his house. This means that you are not a participant in the protest. During that day alone, at least eight people were found to have died in Mandalay as a result of military and police shooting.

According to the Myanmar Human Rights Organization Political Offender Support Association (AAPP), as of the 22nd of this month since the coup on February 1st, at least 261 deaths have been confirmed. This included 14-year-old Toon Toon Aung and 19-year-old’Taekwon Girl’ Chial Shin. Rather, the coup forces left the blame on the civilian protesters. Brigadier General Jo Min Thun, a spokesman for the military, said at a press conference broadcasted on TV on the 23rd that “164 people died in the process of suppressing the protests by the military and police,” and insisting that “the protesters destroyed and fanned the props”.

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It has been 50 days since the democratic government collapsed in a military coup in Myanmar, and the chaos broke out, but the situation has not shown any signs of resolution. In Myanmar, protests have led to ruthless bloody suppression, leading to the worst. The international community, including the United Nations, has pulled out sanctions cards, but has been blocked by opposition from China, which is also a permanent member of the UN Security Council. China is the manipulator behind the coup, or at least the helper.

Those who point to China as a “backup” of the Myanmar coup forces emphasize that, even if it was not an active induction, China provided weapons or funds and virtually tolerated it. Of course, the Chinese authorities are jumping, saying,’We should neither intervene in the internal affairs of Myanmar nor should we do it. It is a fact that both at home and abroad are recognized that China is the country that has the greatest influence on the current political situation in Myanmar.

Looking at the Southeast Asia map, the question arises is the nature of China’s influence on Myanmar. As you can see from the map, Myanmar’s biggest neighbor is India. Myanmar is bordered not only by India and land, but also through the sea of ​​the Bay of Bengal. Historically, Myanmar was also recognized as the eastern tip of India and the border between Southeast Asia and India. In the past imperialist era, Britain, which ruled India, ruled Myanmar (at the time,’Burma’).

It is a general interpretation that the invasion of China’s influence on Myanmar stems from China’s struggle for global supremacy rather than the cause of Myanmar itself. It is said that Myanmar became an important route in the process of China breaking through the blockade with China and advancing overseas.

It was during the Sino-Japanese War, about 80 years ago that the Chinese first recognized the value of Myanmar. China (at the time,’Republic of China’) had both the eastern and southern coastal areas stolen by Japanese forces, and it was the Burma Road that was pierced for external support. At this time, a 1,000-kilometer mountain road from Lashio in northern Myanmar to Kunming, Yunnan Province in China was created at this time.

At that time, the Republic of China sent a total of 280,000 troops directly to the Myanmar front to protect this merit and to stop the Japanese army. Only 80,000 casualties in the battle were reached. The Myanmar Expeditionary Force was the first overseas expeditionary force dispatched by China in the 20th century, and was the second largest after the Chinese Army (Chinese People’s Support Army) of the Korean War (the’anti-American aid’ war in Chinese terms).

In any case, the Chinese expeditionary forces played a part in driving the Japanese out. The irony of history is that the allies at that time were the United States and Britain. For Myanmar, it only defeated a new adversary, but was reverted to the former’master’ (UK), but it is a reason to thank China because he avoided being dominated by Japan, which is much more vicious.

The end of World War II did not mean that China-Myanmar relations suddenly disappeared. This time, the Chinese military (the Republic of China Army), which had been defeated in the civil war in 1949, was engaged in a guerrilla war with the new Chinese’owner’ (People’s Republic of China) on the border of Myanmar. The Myanmar government was also dissatisfied with the new communist China’s support of the Myanmar Communist Party.

With the end of the Mao Zedong era in China and Deng Xiaoping’s so-called “reform and opening”, the relationship between Myanmar and China regained stability. Deng Xiaoping cut off support for anti-government forces in Myanmar, and the Myanmar government also started exchanges with China.

It was after the so-called ’88 Uprising’ that broke out in Myanmar on August 8, 1988, when the relationship between China and Myanmar became decisive. Even at that time, the Myanmar military forces suppressed the protests of the rebels in Yangon and other places, but when international sanctions began, they had no choice but to approach China.

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According to experts, the focus of China in relations with Myanmar is ▲ securing resources in Myanmar ▲ building energy transport routes ▲ stability and development in southwestern China. In China, stability in the southwest, including Yunnan Province, has been a concern from an early age. On the border between China and Myanmar, there were many ethnic groups different from the main Han Chinese and Myanmar tribes. Particularly in Myanmar, afflicted with political instability, ethnic minorities fought guerrilla wars with the Myanmar government forces, and the battles often spread across the Chinese border. Again, it was a troublesome problem for Yunnan Province, where many ethnic groups live.

The repression of ethnic minorities in the country has become a fundamental element of bilateral relations leading to the recent slaughter of the Rohingya in Myanmar. China tolerated and sometimes supported the suppression of ethnic minorities by the Myanmar army. Currently, China is also suffering from headaches due to non-Han ethnic minorities.

What became important in the process of reform and opening up was the securing of Myanmar’s resources. China was originally a country rich in underground resources such as coal, and was able to self-sufficiency of energy until the 1980s. However, after reform and opening up, energy consumption surged due to rapid economic development, and in 1993, it eventually turned to a net importer of oil. As China, which is striving to secure energy resources for economic development, naturally took interest in Myanmar’s resources. Myanmar is the world’s top 10 natural gas producers. In addition, there are abundant underground resources such as copper, tungsten, and rare earth, as well as jade and rubies that the Chinese like. Western economic sanctions over 30 years shifted the market of Myanmar resources to China.

The most important thing in recent years is the transport route. China installed an oil pipeline from Myanmar to Yunnan Province in 2017. For China, the Myanmar route is urgently needed to secure stable resources while the US is controlling the sea routes in Southeast Asia. Oil imported from the Middle East and Africa is unloaded at ports in Myanmar and transported to Yunnan Province, China through an oil pipeline. There is no need to pass through Southeast Asia where the American fleet is struggling. China secured resources stably, and Myanmar collected tolls.

It goes without saying that Myanmar has been regarded as an important country in China’s one-on-one (land and offshore silk road) projects that China has been promoting since 2013. According to UN trade statistics, China accounted for 31.7% and 34.7% of Myanmar’s exports and imports as of 2019, ranking first in all countries. Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that China accounted for 38% of Myanmar’s foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, ranking second after Singapore. In addition, China is the largest exporter of weapons absolutely necessary for the Myanmar military.

Earlier in Myanmar during the military rule, China maintained better relations. Similarly, for the CCP, which is a one-party dictatorship, it is more convenient for a dictatorship to trade than a democratic state. It seems that there was nothing bad for the military of Myanmar. This is because, unlike the West, such as the United States, which criticizes the military dictatorship, China did not talk to their regime.

This relationship showed some signs of change after 2016, when the successful transfer of power to the civilian government led by Suu Kyi Aung San. Western countries expected democratic Myanmar to escape China’s minions. Of course, history didn’t actually go that way. Even the shame that it is a symbol of’democratization of Myanmar’ could not reject China Money.

For China, the Myanmar military seems to have been better. This is because the autocratic military was more suited to China’s taste than Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the protagonist of democracy, who sees the West.

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For China, whether it is the military or democratic camp, a great deal of effort has been put into Myanmar. Just before the outbreak of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19), Myanmar was the only foreign countermeasure by Chinese President Xi Jinping last year. According to the Ministry of Commerce of China, despite Corona 19, the total trade volume between China and Myanmar in 2020 was $1.89 billion, an increase of 1.0% from the previous year. China’s exports to Myanmar rose 1.9% to $12.5 billion, and imports fell 0.7% to $6.34 billion. Last year, Chinese companies’ investment in Myanmar rose 7.8% to 260 million dollars.

Even this year, Wang Yi, the foreign minister, visited Myanmar. Wang Yi’s visit to Myanmar was vague in time. On January 11th, Wangi visited Myanmar to meet Ms. Suu Kyi, as well as Supreme Commander Min Aung Hlaing, who initiated the coup, which was the last time the Myanmar military met a foreign envoy before the coup. Western media raised the possibility that the military announced the intention of a coup, and China stubbornly denied it.

China is unconditionally opposed to the international community’s sanctions in Myanmar. Since the military coup is also an internal affair in Myanmar, foreign countries do not have the right to intervene. Considering the history of the Myanmar military and communist China becoming closer, this seems a natural reaction. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said, “China’s strategy is always’we are with anyone who holds power’,” said Winsun, a senior researcher at the Washington Think Tank Stimson Center. .

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However, it is unlikely that China’s flexibility will continue to succeed in Myanmar. Apart from the military, Myanmar people’s perception of China is rapidly deteriorating. In recent years, factories operated by Chinese people were attacked and burned. It is said that it is a manipulated play by gangs hired by the military, but anyway, Myanmar’s perception of China has fallen to the worst in history. If the military is overthrown, it will be difficult for democrats to establish friendly relations with China as in the past.

America’s strategy is also changing. Although there are concerns that the Myanmar military will be directed toward China if economic sanctions are imposed on Myanmar, it has become difficult for the Biden administration, which puts the’universal human rights’ first, to let go. India has already been put in the siege of China, and it has been moved to Myanmar, the immediate neighbor.bruiseThis is because it shouldn’t happen.

/Beijing = Correspondent Soomoon Choi [email protected]

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