Chinese FM Wang Yi visits Myanmar with aim to speed up BRI projects

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting India s key neighbour to the East   Myanmar   hoping to expedite the execution of BRI projects_ including the mega China-Myanmar-Economic-Corridor (CMEC)_ akin to CPEC in Pakistan.

CMEC is aimed at giving China access to the Bay of Bengal in India s immediate neighbourhood and therefore remains a headache for Delhi. Wang s visit is aimed at kickstarting projects in the early days of the second term of the government led by Suu Kyi s party_ ET has learnt. In fact_ Wang will be the first high-level foreign official to visit the country since the National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide election victory in November.

China-backed BRI projects_ including CMEC_ have been facing headwinds in Myanmar following the current government s decision in its last term to reduce the scope of the projects and slow down its execution. Many of the China-funded projects are also facing protests from Myanmar s citizens and civil society groups.

Under CMEC_ China has proposed nearly three dozen projects including strategic infrastructure projects such as the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rakhine_ which will give China access to the Indian Ocean_ a New City project in Myanmar s commercial capital_ and the Muse-Mandalay railway project connecting two economic centres in Myanmar with Kunming_ the capital of Yunnan province in southwestern China.

The Chinese are pushing the NLD government to expedite BRI projects despite concerns in various states and the regions where the BRI-related CMEC projects are proposed_ ET has learnt.

The Chinese president has branded the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in western Rakhine State_ the China-Myanmar Border Economic Cooperation Zone in Shan and Kachin states_ and the New Yangon City project in Myanmar s commercial capital as the three pillars of CMEC_ and called on both sides to deepen result-oriented BRI cooperation.

Even in his congratulatory statement on the NLD s election victory in November_ Xi Jinping pushed Myanmar to make joint efforts with China in various fields under the BRI.

But the NLD government has said it will implement the projects after verifying that they are commercially viable and in line with the country s development plan.

Critics say that the BRI and CMEC projects will give China increased control over Myanmar s wealth along the economic corridor such a strategy allows China to exert economic control without ever having to resort to military coercion.

Myanmar_ like most countries_ whether they are in Southeast Asia_ South Asia_ Central Asia or Europe_ welcomes investment not only from China but from many sources. But there has been growing pushback against the BRI projects across the globe.

Myanmar has a very complex relationship with China_ which remains its biggest trading partner and a powerful neighbour. But ethnic Burmans in Myanmar have not been comfortable with the Chinese and its ruling elite.