China is "staring at possible chaos, rising anti-China feelings, and little hope that its planned China-Myanmar Economic Corridor can be materialized anytime soon," Thant Myint-U, an award-winning
The suspicion that China approved the military coup against Myanmar’s elected government runs deep among Burmese resisting their new dictatorship. Perhaps proof of such meddling will emerge someday. For now, what seems clear is that China would not have chosen to knowingly embroil its interests in Myanmar in the chaos that has followed the army’s power grab. On virtually every front, from public health to national security, China now faces new threats created by the post-coup breakdown in governance and the rule of law. As these consequences come into focus, Beijing will have to decide whether to maintain its tacit acceptance of the generals’ regime or take a different policy tack to protect investments in its neighbor to the south.
DURING World War II, the British colony of Burma, sitting between British-ruled India and war-torn China, became a key military theatre, pitting Allied forces against Japan.
Today Myanmar is embroiled in conflict once again. While this time the principal factors are internal, there are wider geopolitical dimensions. In particular, Myanmar has become a battleground within the wider New Cold War against China.
A Communist Party of Burma (CPB) spokesman told the Morning Star: “We used to say that Burma’s importance to the world’s great powers lies in the geographical position it occupies.
“Being situated between India and China, Burma became an important springboard for the Allied forces during World War II both on land and sea.”
Shortly thereafter, I found myself to be one of the few foreigners in constant contact with Myanmar’s current
de facto leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, as international censure mounted on his consequential action. My enduring engagement with him underscores Japan’s near century-long special relationship with Myanmar, an oft-forgotten geopolitical factor crucial to resolving the present crisis as China’s clout increasingly overshadows the future of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The Myanmar so territorially defined on today’s map is an impossible geopolitical proposition perennially constrained by its inhospitable terrain and internal contradictions. The horseshoe-shaped Irrawaddy river basin is home to the thriving agricultural base led by the Bamar ethnic majority and a gateway to the burgeoning Indo-Pacific. Meanwhile, while the highlands surrounding the basin insulate the Burmese core from continental powers, such as China and India, they harbor 10 armed insurgent