China, Myanmar & the US: A history of political expediency

By Hein Khaing China.org.cn, December 13, 2012

As the first ever US president visiting Myanmar, Barack Obama drew worldwide attention when he made his brief visit to the country on November 19, 2012. It is clear that President Obama's latest visit, coupled with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Myanmar in November last year signals an obvious US policy change towards Myanmar, a country which is located at the crossroads of East, South and Southeast Asia and between the world's two most populated countries. The country is of strategic significance for America's "pivot to Asia" policy. There is little doubt, though, that US relations with Myanmar have always been influenced by "Chinese factors". Due to the rise of China, Myanmar, with its significant strategic location, became an important piece in the puzzle in US plans to return to the Asia-Pacific region. The US is eager to resume relations with Myanmar, a country which it viewed as an "enemy" for more than 20 years. This eagerness was evidenced by Obama's comment on the Myitsone Incident in his presentation at Yangon University. Plans for the Myitsone dam, with an investment from China totalling US$3.6 billion, were shelved following an announcement by the president of Myanmar following strident public protests. This was the first time that Myanmar had said no to China and is therefore viewed as a momentous turning point in Sino-Burmese relations. Prior to this, Myanmar, due to sanctions imposed by Western countries, had to rely on China. Sanctions were gradually relaxed following the accession to power of the new Burmese government in March 2011, which ushered Myanmar into the international community and gave it the opportunity to diversify its international relations. When Hillary Clinton visited Myanmar last year, Nay Zin Latt, a political advisor to Myanmar's President Thein Sein, said: "No matter how good its strategic geopolitical position is, Myanmar cannot gain continued benefits unless it operates carefully, bearing in mind that it is sandwiched by 1.3 billion Chinese people on one side and 1.1 billion Indian people on the other."
As the adage goes, "there is no permanent enemy in diplomacy." Establishing and maintaining good relationships with as many neighboring and powerful countries as possible is essential for every country. When there are changes to either the domestic or international situation, it benefits the nation to forgive and forget the "enmity" and work towards dtente. The diplomatic history of US-Burmese relations is a prime example of this. Barack Obama kisses Aung San Suu Kyi during his visit to Myanmar.

Support based on political circumstance The US established diplomatic relations with Myanmar in 1948 when Myanmar gained its independence from Britain. The US subsequently offered financial aid totalling US$21 million to Myanmar in October 1950. Why was the US so generous to the newly independent Myanmar? The answer lies in a combination of politics and strategic significance. At that time, the People's Republic of China was also newly established and remnants of the Kuomintang regime sneaked into northern Myanmar in order to set up a base with the aim of "retaking the mainland". This made Myanmar strategically significant to the US which was covertly aiding the secret action of the Kuomintang.
Page 1 of 3

From then on, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was active in partnership with the Kuomintang in Northern Myanmar. Perhaps as a matter of courtesy to its secret ally, the US remained silent when General Ne Win ousted the government of Myanmar in a coup. It also kept silent during a Chinese exclusion incident which impacted SinoBurmese relations. In 1966, General Ne Win visited the US and met with the-then President Lyndon Baines Johnson in the White House. After that, Myanmar annually sent two military officers to the US for training. Myanmar's Military Intelligence (MI), which was once famous in Southeast Asia, was established thanks to training and help from the US.
General Ne Win

All of this support was related to the international situation at that time. In order to "support Chiang Kai-shek and oppose the Chinese Communist Party" and suppress the development of socialism in Asia, the US maintained good relations with Myanmar, which neighbours China, Laos and Thailand and is close to Cambodia and Vietnam. Equally, however, it worked surreptitiously to accomplish its political goals by means of Myanmar's own development. In 1988, US-Myanmar relations underwent a significant change. Due to a multitude of reasons, including a domestic economic recession, Myanmar was hit by a nationwide student strike. Aung San Suu Kyi, who came back to Myanmar from Britain to visit her family, became a leader of the democratic movement and has remained an influential figure ever since. At the same time, a US senator visited Myanmar and met with democratic personages, including Aung San Suu Kyi. However, the country then experienced the military coup. And later, the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won the national election in 1990, but was not recognized by the country's military forces and US-Burmese relations subsequently broke down. The US not only downgraded its level of representation in Burma from Ambassador to Charg d'Affaires, but also ceased all aid and support to the country. Furthermore, it imposed economic sanctions, which began in 1997. China: Still an important friend Despite the fact that the US imposed sanctions and "severed diplomatic relations" in name of democracy and human rights, it was clear that the international political situation had experienced some significant changes. China, after the "Cultural Revolution" (1966-1976), was developing in a stable fashion, thereby dooming Kuomintang's plan to "retake the mainland". The Korean War and the Vietnam War had ended, the Soviet Union had disintegrated and the Khmer Rouge had dismantled. The US subsequently moved its attention to Europe and as a result, Myanmar became far less significant in geopolitical strategic terms. When Myanmar was enduring its most difficult period, China became its most important partner. Thanks to China's assistance, Myanmar gradually developed its infrastructure, and slowly but progressively developed its economy and it also came out of the political wilderness. The friendship between the two countries was continuously consolidated and since this period, it is surely fair to say that China has been Myanmar's most important ally. The international political situation is constantly changing and unpredictable. With the political and economic rise of China, the US initiated its "return to the Asia-Pacific region" strategy in a bid to reconsolidate its global hegemony. Myanmar was once more on the US political agenda. In 2009, American John Yettaw sneaked into Aung San Suu Kyi's house and was arrested. Seeing this as an opportunity, the US sent Senator Jim Webb to Myanmar, which made him first US Senator to visit the
Page 2 of 3

country in a decade. In the years which have followed, the US has frequently sent Senators and Assistant Secretaries of State to Myanmar. One year after Hillary Clinton's icebreaking visit, President Obama went to Myanmar two weeks after securing a second term in the White House. History shows us that the US always stresses the importance of its relationship with Myanmar when the situation in China is unstable. But when China is in a period of stable development and Myanmar is experiencing turmoil, the US becomes estranged from Myanmar. Now that China is on the rise and democracy is developing in Myanmar, the US is once more trying to get close. Diplomacy has no permanent enemies, only friends. As a sovereign country, Myanmar has the right to develop relations with the US. However, this does not mean that Myanmar will completely relinquish its relationship with China. It can be seen that prior to Hillary Clinton's visit to Myanmar last year, Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces, visited China. In September this year, President Thein Sein visited China for the Sino-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Expo before his visit to the US. And, before President Obama's visit to Myanmar, Soe Win, deputy commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces, visited China. These events would seem to indicate that China is still Myanmar's most important ally. Despite the fact that US-Myanmar relations are developing rapidly, Myanmar's future still largely depends on the development of the Sino-Burmese relationship. The author, of Burmese Chinese descent, was head of the Editorial Department at the Golden Phoenix, the only Chinese-language newspaper in Myanmar. He is now a postgraduate student of journalism at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. (The article was first published in Chinese and translated by Li Bin.) Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/2012-12/13/content_27402248.htm ---------------------------------------------------------

Page 3 of 3