With the arrival of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Naypyidaw, China’s ministry of foreign affairs expressed support for the renewed Burma-US relationship. Below the surface, however, there is growing concern in Beijing about Burma’s outreach to the US.
Burmese President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi both gave public assurances that Burma would maintain good relations with China, but given the direction the winds are blowing in the Asia-Pacific region, those assurances may not be sufficient to soothe the giant dragon to Naypyidaw’s north.
Since Burma achieved its independence in 1948, its relationship with China has seen many ups and downs.
In the early 1950s, the two countries agreed to abide by the five principles for peaceful coexistence in international relations: Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty; Mutual non-aggression; Mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs; Equality and mutual benefit; and Peaceful co-existence.
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Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at [email protected].
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However, in the 1960s, China called Burmese dictator Ne Win a “fascist” and heavily backed the efforts of communist insurgents to topple his regime, which ultimately failed, and Burma experienced anti-Chinese riots in 1967. After the death of Chairman Mao, Beijing slowly stopped supporting the communists and improved relations with Ne Win’s socialist government, but it wasn’t until the late 1980s that it began to forge the politically and economically influential relationship with Burma’s leaders that it enjoys today.
In 1988, when a new military regime took power in Burma and subsequently cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators, threw Suu Kyi in prison and ignored the results of the 1990 election, Western governments dropped almost all support for Burma and slapped sanctions on the junta. China then stepped in and filled the void by supplying military hardware, aid, loans, economic opportunities and foreign diplomatic cover for Burma.
In return, the Burmese generals gave China sweetheart deals on business opportunities inside of Burma, particularly with respect to the country’s natural resources.
Burma also became a geographically important and mostly reliable ally for China, with the Burmese leaders even sharing open sympathy for Beijing during its crackdown on dissidents in Tiananmen Square. This type of mutual support led to the cementing of what the Burmese call a paukphaw relationship, meaning “brotherhood,” with state visits by national leaders occurring frequently.
But to ordinary Burmese people, most of whom had almost no personal contact with the Chinese, the paukphaw friendship meant nothing. In fact, they were repulsed by China’s support for the brutal regime that dictatorially ruled their country, they saw that China did little to help improve the lives of Burma’s ordinary citizens or support the efforts of the pro-democracy opposition, and they became extremely concerned about the fact that their country was becoming a virtual client-state of China.
As a result, anti-Chinese sentiment grew as most Burmese believed that China’s support for Burma was intended only to preserve the brutal regime so that it could exploit their country’s natural resources and gain strategic access to the Indian Ocean.
In contrast to China, the US and other Western governments criticized and isolated the Burmese junta, both politically and economically, and supported the efforts of the Burmese people over the last two decades in their struggle for human rights and democracy.
But while the West’s efforts to help bring democracy and human rights to Burma were welcomed and appreciated by the country’s oppressed population, the isolation and sanctions it imposed had the ironic side-effect of pushing the junta generals further into the waiting arms of Beijing.
China, however, may have overplayed its hand by attempting to dominate Burma’s economy and natural resources, as well as overestimated the loyalty of the Burmese generals it supported for over twenty years.