Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, was publicly quiet about human rights issues when she met with Xi last June, which disappointed many of her supporters.
Advertisement
The visit is Suu Kyi’s second to China. She will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang during her trip.
Kyaw Zeya, the director-general of Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters in Nay Pyi Taw on August 12 Suu Kyi will discuss the Myitsone Dam project with her Chinese interlocutors.
Myanmar’s former military rulers were shunned by the West and close to China, which has been on a diplomatic offensive since Suu Kyi’s government came to power in April, aiming to forge good ties with its resource-rich southern neighbour.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also chairperson of the Central Committee for Holding the Panglong Conference, has called for continued coordination and cooperation on preparatory work being carried out by the government in order to successfully hold the conference, saying that the Panglong Conference is the first step toward a robust Union.
Ms Suu Kyi’s visit also comes before her planned visit to the United States next month.
She plans to make an official visit to the United States, once she has attended the UN General Assembly in NY next month, and to Vietnam when she attends a regional meeting there.
It is widely believed that Suu Kyi would seek to calibrate Myanmar’s policy toward China during the trip, especially when China ranks highly on her domestic agenda in the ethnic peace process and economic development, although some experts believe Suu Kyi and her NLD-led government would try to maintain a balanced policy that favours neither the United States nor China.
“China’s support is seen as vital in resolving Myanmar’s decade-long ethnic conflicts”, the Global Times said.
While her approach may serve as a boon to burgeoning relations between Myanmar and China, there continues to be an expectation from rights activists around the world that she speak up for their cause.
Under the investment deal, about 90 percent of the electricity produced by the dam would go to southern China’s Yunnan province.
Ji Qiufeng, a professor of worldwide relations at Nanjing University, said Suu Kyi has made a smart choice by visiting China first, ahead of other non-Asean countries.
Advertisement
She is unlikely to do so during her upcoming visit to China, and Beijing is anyway not eager that such issues should be raised publically.
