China must stop its dangerous game of siding with the junta if it truly wants to see peace and stability in Myanmar, according to the NGO Progressive Voice.
It needs to stop aiding and abetting them and must not help them with technical support or lethal weapons.
In the wake of the ongoing Spring Revolution, a visit by China’s Special Envoy to Myanmar to meet with some major ethnic revolutionary organizations (EROs) highlights China’s approach in Myanmar. Deng Xijun, China’s Special Envoy to Myanmar, met the representatives of seven EROs including the Kachin Independence Army, the Arakan Army (AA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) at separate times and places in Shan State.
This is the second trip that Deng Xijun has made within three months of his appointment and it was devoted to persuading the EROs, three of whom are now actively participating in the Spring Revolution, to reach some form of ceasefire with the junta. In other words, to cease participating in armed resistance against the illegal junta.
Despite its call for an end to violence, China continues to supply military equipment and arms to the junta.
Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, asserted in the Conference room paper of the Special Rapporteur to the 49th regular session of the Human Rights Council that China has continued to provide the Myanmar military with arms including fighter jets and armoured vehicles since the attempted coup in 2021.
Nevertheless, China is not the only power supplying Myanmar’s junta and condoning its atrocities. Russia, Serbia and India still support the military junta by supplying weapons and have continued to do so since the 2021 coup attempt.
Deng Xijun’s trip also signals that China sees the West, particularly US support for the National Unity Government (NUG), the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and the EROs as adopted in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act as a major concern. It seems that China wants to maintain its “big brother” status mentality over the EROs, particularly in the northern part of the country along the China-Myanmar border.
Myanmar has had a geopolitical headache with China since its independence from Britain in 1948. Particularly after the coup staged by the Myanmar military in 1988, successive Myanmar military juntas and quasi-civilian governments have resorted to taking refuge in China’s power, finding ways to evade international sanctions and justice and accountability for grave crimes committed against the people of Myanmar.
Under the euphemistic “Pauk-Phaw” which can be translated into “fraternal friendship” in Burmese between the two neighboring countries, Beijing has never fully sided with the democratic opposition throughout the political history of Myanmar, instead ramping up its support for successive military regimes for its own advantage.
While China has shielded the military junta from international justice and provided support through a variety of means, including military equipment, it has also fueled conflict by providing guns and ammunition to both sides and taking advantage of a situation between complete peace and fully-fledged conflict.
Now it wants to create conditions that favour the military junta and ensure China’s geopolitical strategic dominance and the stable operations of its massive investment projects in Myanmar.
As Myanmar’s biggest trading partner, China has expressed concerns about its major investment projects that range from oil pipelines and mining to deep-sea ports. Those projects cover areas throughout the country, from Shan State’s Muse Township in the north to Rakhine State’s Kyaukphyu Township in the west.
China has never condemned the illegal attempted coup of the Myanmar military, referring to it as a“ major cabinet reshuffle” since 1 February 2021.
Progressive Voice believes that if China wishes to have good relations with Myanmar and a good reputation and support amongst the Myanmar people it has to make the right decision.
It wants to know if this failed coup is “absolutely not what China wants to see, why can China not be a genuinely responsible neighbour who respects the will of the Myanmar people.
If China truly wants to see peace and stability in Myanmar, it must stop playing a dangerous game of taking sides with and aiding and abetting the murderous junta.
It must stop providing technical support and lethal weapons for the military junta, the very perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against the people of Myanmar, and the root cause of decades-long conflict and violence in Myanmar.
Furthermore, progressive Voice believes that as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China should comply with its mandate and obligations and stop blocking Myanmar people’s call for a global arms embargo including on aviation fuel, and pursue accountability and justice.
