Chinese PM Urged to Promote Burmese National Reconciliation

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao should raise the issue of stability in ethnic areas with the Burmese regime during his two-day visit which began on Wednesday, say ethnic group leaders.

Arakanese leader Aye Thar Aung told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that as  Burma's closest ally and neighborhood, the Chinese leader should tell his counterparts to open the door for peaceful and inclusive solutions for a national reconciliation process to ensure stability.

“The crisis in Burma is due to the military rulers' one-way policy in politics,” said Aye Thar Aung, who is also secretary of the Committee Representing People’s Parliament (CRPP), an umbrella group of political and ethnic groups that won in the 1990 elections.

“Wen Jiabao should tell the Burmese generals to change their policy on national reconciliation. China is the most important ally for the junta. I think the junta listens to the Chinese even though they might not accept everything,” said Aye Thar Aung.

Arakan State  is a strategic area for China. The Sino-Burma oil and gas pipelines begin at the state’s Kyaukpyu Port, which will be upgraded by the Chinese. The Chinese will transport  Burmese natural gas from the Shwe offshore field. China will also build a strategic road  from Kyaukpyu to its southwest Yunnan Province.  

“Chinese should listen not only to the junta’s voice but also the voices of ethnic groups in Burma, including the Arakanese people,” said Aye Thar Aung. “Arakanese people see that the Chinese projects in the state are not benefiting them, but the junta.”

He said the junta profits from Chinese investments and then buys arms to oppress its own people.
“The oppression of ethnic groups and dissidents increases instability in the country and along border areas that could backfire and threaten Chinese interests here,” he said.

One of the difficult issues in Sino-Burmese relations is the junta’s tension with ethnic cease-fire groups on the border, such as the United Wa State Army and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

Officials of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) said Wen Jiabao should play a mediation role to create a peaceful solution between ethnic forces and the junta.

Col. James Lum Dau, the KIO deputy chief for foreign affairs, said that peace and stability in Burma is important for China’s interest.

“If there is no peace and stability in Burma, the Chinese could not do business here. So I think China wants peace and stability in Burma. Wen Jiabao will raise the issue when he meets with Burmese generals.”

Sources close to other ethnic groups along the Sino-Burmese border said they expect the Chinese leader would push generals in Naypyidaw to avoid using force on ethnic groups over the Border Guard Force issue and also warned that the result of instability on the border could badly affect China's interests.

According to Chinese experts on Burma, following the junta’s crackdown on the mass demonstrations in September 2007, China’s approach has become more restrained. It has regularly called on the military government to maintain domestic stability, promote national reconciliation and “unswervingly advance the process of democratization suited to the national realities” of Burma.

On Wednesday, state-run newspapers published a profile of the Chinese premier on the front page. Rangoon sources said security was tight in the city.

On Thursday, he was expected to go to the  capital of Naypyidaw to meet Sen-Gnr Than Shwe and other senior military officials. He was then expected to attend an inauguration ceremony at the Myanmar [Burma] International Conference Centre in Naypyidaw, which was built and funded by China, before returning to Rangoon to fly back to China.

Ethnic group leaders may be disappointed on how far China may be willing to push Burma on reconciliation, analysts said.

“Just as the international community holds China responsible for North Korea, there are expectations that China will prod the junta to adopt political reforms, ease repression and urge free and fair elections,” said Jeff Kingston of Temple University's Japan campus.

“But it is unlikely that Wen Jiabao will meet these expectations because China's priority is stability, and it does not want to jeopardize plans to secure its energy needs and it strategic interests, such as using Burma as a listening post and for its port facilities,” he said.

Interest surrounding Wen Jiabao’s state visit appeared to be limited.

“For ordinary people, the electricity shortage here is more important than the Chinese leader's trip,” said a NGO worker in Rangoon.