Arriving in Beijing on August 17th, Suu Kyi’s visit is a culmination of recent talks with Minister of State Security Geng Huichang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s capital city.
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The Nobel laureate holds the portfolios of Foreign Minister, Minister of the President’s Office and State Counsellor, a post created especially for her which is equivalent to that of the leader of the government.
The visit is Suu Kyi’s first major diplomatic overture as de facto leader, after a new government took power in April.
The state-run Global Times acknowledged that a “real breakthrough” on the dam was unlikely during the visit, but insisted: “It is only a matter of time before the project will be resumed”.
“President Xi Jinping and top legislator Zhang Dejiang will meet with Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday”.
China is eager to see the Myanmar government allow the US $3.6-billion Chinese-backed project to restart in northern Myanmar’s Kachin state after five years of suspension, while Aung San Suu Kyi needs China’s support for a key upcoming peace conference involving Myanmar’s armed ethnic groups, some of which occupy territory near the border with China and have traditionally received Beijing’s support.
Though Myanmar’s domestic political landscape, and the bilateral relationship between the two nations, is much changed since the controversial Myitsone project was suspended in 2011, environmentalists have remained steadfast in opposition to it.
Suu Kyi said Myanmar’s new government has made a decision to set up an investigation committee to find a solution to the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam project.
Thursday’s discussion included the dam project and peace talks, Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters.
“If the issue is not resolved it will be an obstacle to furthering economic ties between China and Myanmar”.
Finding a solution to the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam project is important for Suu Kyi who needs China’s cooperation in talks with Myanmar’s ethnic minority armed groups operating along northern borders with China.
There was also criticism over China taking 90 per cent of the dam’s power, while almost 70 per cent of Myanmar has no access to electricity, according to the World Bank report.
“That would be the question on the Myanmar side”, Connelly said. “We want the Chinese to get the views of the local people before embarking on any major projects and investments to ensure good bilateral relations”.
Suu Kyi remains an icon to many people in Myanmar, and that may give her the standing to seek a deal that allows the dam to go forward under different circumstances, Connelly said.
Li said China hopes to press ahead with major cooperation projects, including an oil and gas pipeline and the Myitsone dam. “I will stand on the side of thoroughly rejecting the Myitsone dam project”, said U Kyaw Nyein, executive committee member of the Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation Association, adding that he had concluded that the negative consequences of the project going forward outweighed the benefits for Myanmar.
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Kunlong is on the way to a border checkpoint and near the Kokang region where an ethnic Chinese rebel group fought Myanmar’s military in 2017.
