Suu Kyi arrived in Beijing on Wednesday night to talk about reviving stalled China-funded projects and to enhance bilateral cooperation in tackling ethnic problems along the border. She visited China in June 2015 as chair of the National League for Democracy (NLD).
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“Otherwise, obstacles will emerge in attracting investment from China in the future and that is not what the new Burmese government and Aung San Suu Kyi want to see”.
It also comes barely a month ahead of her scheduled visit to the USA, and is being seen as a positive move towards boosting bilateral relations with China, who had backed the Burmese military junta that kept Suu Kyi in home detention for 15 years.
In her meeting with Li, Suu Kyi is reported to have said that she is open to working towards a resolution for a suspended Beijing- backed dam project that will “suit both sides’ interests”.
Suu Kyi was quoted by Chinese vice-foreign minister Liu Zhenmin as having told Premier Li that her government had chose to set up an “investigation board” to seek solutions to the problem.
Beijing has been keen to build relations since Ms Suu Kyi’s government came to power in April, and she is the first Myanmar leader to visit China since the nation’s new government was formed in late March.
Prior to the visit, President Htin Kyaw had appointed a 20-member commission to review the proposed project, allowing Suu Kyi to show that “Myanmar no longer has a closed mind” on joint construction initiatives.
“China approves of this”, he said, adding: “China and Myanmar are linked by mountains and rivers”.
China is Myanmar’s biggest investor, but its longstanding and close relationship with the country’s former military rulers has not helped its popularity.
In opening remarks in her meeting with Li, Suu Kyi said she hoped her visit would promote “feelings of friendship” between the countries.
“Rejection is better”, said U Myo Thant, secretary of the Myanmar Earthquake Committee.
China is willing to link its strategies with Myanmar’s, to cooperate in key areas and to advance major projects such as the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project and Myitsone Dam, he said.
On her first visit to China last year, she faced calls to raise the case of her fellow Nobel laureate Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo – sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for circulating a petition calling for democratic reforms – but did not do so. Myanmar’s Parliament has passed a bill giving Suu Kyi a role similar to that of Prime Minister.
Former Myanmar president Thein Sein suspended the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam project in 2011, after the plan drew widespread protests over its environmental impacts.
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Peace and national reconciliation talks between the armed groups, the government and the military are due to begin on August 31.
