China has strengthened its ties with the Myanmar junta despite international criticism

Trade and legal agreements between Myanmar and China are flourishing despite strong domestic opposition and international opposition to the military that seized power in February.

Beijing has strengthened its ties with Myanmar’s military leaders despite several threats to doing business in China after the Aung San Suu Kyi government was ousted.

Yun Sun, an expert on Myanmar-China relations with the Stimson Center, a US think tank, says Beijing has already made “significant assumptions” that Myanmar will continue a long period of military rule.

“I think the Chinese feel that this army is doing well and they are here,” he added.

The resurgence of government and economic conditions indicates the return of Myanmar economic dependence on culture in China. The country has used its neighboring country as a counterpart of international sanctions and the expulsion of foreign businesses, which have announced their departure or saved jobs.

Since the attack, 875 people have been killed by junta and 6,242 have been arrested, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (Burma), a civil rights group. The national economy and humanitarian activities were very confused and major shows in the three months that followed the putch, and we recovered a bit.

The resumption of trade unions has sparked widespread suspicion among anti-government groups that China is ready to support the new military.

The volume of exports from China to Myanmar in the first five months of the year was $ 3.38bn, up from $ 2.43bn in 2020 and $ 2.56bn in 2019, before the coronavirus epidemic broke out, according to Chinese tradition.

Shipping to Myanmar immediately did not return the same, however. At the end of May, $ 4.28bn worth of goods were exported to Myanmar, compared with $ 4.56bn and $ 4.79bn two years ago.

Demonstrating the strengthening of diplomatic relations, Chen Hai, the Chinese ambassador to Myanmar, met with military leader and army chief Min Aung Hlaing at Naypyidaw headquarters in June. In a statement, Chen named Min Aung Hlaing as Myanmar’s new president.

China is one of the countries that refused to vote at the UN General Assembly last week asking other countries to stopping the movement of the arms to Myanmar and release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

Beijing was on good terms with the government of the ousted leader, who is in prison is facing numerous charges. However, it refused to criticize the military, and provoked public outrage at the protests that began after the attack.

China is Myanmar’s largest exporter working methods of working in the country, including the power pipelines that provide Beijing with access to the Indian Ocean.

James Char, a Myanmar specialist at the S Rajaratnam School of International Study in Singapore, said many people in Myanmar would criticize the Chinese government and business for helping to support decades before the democratic era.

“The Chinese, too, are very clear about this [public sentiment in Myanmar], “Said Char.

Attack on Chinese-connected businesses Following the seizure culminated in the explosion of a Chinese textile factory in western Yangon on June 11, according to reports from Myanmar media, as well as information from Chinese junctions and journalists.

Beijing’s boldness to launch protests in Myanmar could slow down China’s performance and reintroduce the extravagant measures that became part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, researchers said.

Extras quoted by Sherry Fei Ju in Beijing