Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on China to see the country as more than just a place for Chinese companies to do business in a magazine interview published Monday, and said Myanmar should work in the future to forge better ties with both Beijing and Washington.
- Associated Press
- Aung San Suu Kyi greeted supporters Feb. 7 as she arrived at Myaung-Mya, the Irrawaddy Delta, Myanmar.
“I hope the Chinese people are able to give us more understanding,” Ms. Suu Kyi said in an interview with the Guangdong-based Southern People Weekly magazine. “We hope they have in mind the future relations of the two countries’ peoples, and can bear in mind this point when investing.”
Myanmar has placed itself in the middle of a strategic tug-of-war between China and the U.S. as it has embarked on a series of political reforms aimed at getting Western sanctions against it lifted.
Those economic sanctions helped pave the way for China to become Myanmar’s most important financial and political backer in recent years. However, aggressive resource exploitation by Chinese companies has galvanized dissident groups, and prompted government concern that wider anti-China sentiment in Myanmar could spur political unrest.
Ms. Suu Kyi has campaigned aggressively for a parliamentary seat, and her interview with the popular Southern People Weekly is a signal that the country’s next parliament could take a tougher line toward Chinese investment in the future.
The Nobel Peace Laureate has signaled reservations about Chinese investment in Myanmar before. In August, she called for a reassessment of the Myitsone hydropower project, a 6000-megawatt cascade-style hydropower station being built as a joint venture by government-run China Power Investment Corp that has been criticized over concerns about environmental damage and the displacement of minority groups. Myanmar’s government later suspended construction of the project.
In a high-profile endorsement of Naypyitaw’s political reforms, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited in December, becoming the first sitting secretary of state to do so in more than 50 years. She shared a dinner with Ms. Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s most famous dissident, who spent the better part of two decades under house arrest, only to bereleased in late 2010.
Beijing has responded cautiously to Myanmar’s efforts to strengthen its ties with Washington. China worries deepening U.S. ties with Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines and others in the region will leave it encircled and susceptible to U.S. encroachment.
“We hope to be a friend of China. We also hope to be a friend of the U.S.,” Ms. Suu Kyi said in the interview.
Since taking power, Myanmar’s new government has released political prisoners and loosened press restrictions, among other measures aimed at making it a more attractive destination for foreign investors. Ms. Clinton earlier this month signed a waiver that will likely make it easier for the World Bank and other international institutions to provide aid to Myanmar. For now, however, the U.S. has left most of its sanctions in place.
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