Chinese factory burning in fire in Yangon, Myanmar▶ Click here for a larger view
Chinese factories were attacked amid intensifying anti-China sentiment after a military coup in Myanmar, and some local Chinese companies are reportedly considering withdrawal as well.
The China Global Times reported on the 18th that Chinese state-owned companies in Myanmar have not been ordered by the government to withdraw.
This denies the Hong Kong South China Morning Post report that China has ordered the withdrawal of non-core workers from their own countries dispatched to state-owned companies in Myanmar.
However, the Global Times said that there is discussion on withdrawal at the level of individual companies, not the government.
One source said that many companies have emergency response plans and that withdrawal would be one of several options.
An official from a Chinese company in Myanmar said he had not received any notice from the authorities regarding the withdrawal of employees. However, he said, “some companies are considering withdrawal to China as an option, taking into account the situation in Myanmar.”
Indeed, an official from a Chinese state-owned company in the hydroelectric power sector said that some Chinese employees had already returned home a few weeks ago because of the confusion after the coup.
According to an announcement by the Chinese embassy in Myanmar, 32 Chinese factories in Yangon, Myanmar, were attacked and burned by unknown people on the 14th. It is reported that this caused property damage of 240 million yuan (about 42 billion won).
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Li Jian said at a regular briefing the day before, when asked whether China would withdraw its citizens from Myanmar, “I hope Myanmar will take steps to protect the safety of the Chinese people.”
Some people in China are pointing to Western powers such as the United States behind the attacks on Myanmar’s own companies.
Researcher Liu Zhongyi of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies said in an observer network interview, “It is relatively likely that the West, including the United States, agitated local forces in Myanmar to attack Chinese companies.”
However, in Myanmar, suspicions have been raised that it was the Myanmar military terrorists who burned Chinese factories, and that China and the military had joined hands in a self-acting play.
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