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Myanmar, Though Suspicious of China, Edges Closer to Beijing for Safety

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Myanmar has crafted a neutral foreign policy since its
   colonial years to avoid leaning too much on any foreign power, but a
   spiraling political crisis at home is pushing it toward China as a
   buffer against international outrage.

   Western leaders say the poor but quickly developing Southeast Asian
   country is trying to wipe out Muslim Rohingya people near its border
   with Bangladesh. Myanmar's head of state, Aung San Suu Kyi, met Chinese
   Foreign Minister Wang Yi to discuss the issue days before going before
   the International Court of Justice on December 11.

   Myanmar faces charges of genocide against the mainly Muslim Rohingya
   minority group in Rakhine state.

   China had backed Myanmar in the U.N. Security Council when a military
   junta ruled the country before 2011. China is grappling with
   international criticism over perceived repression of ethnic Uighur
   people who oppose living under Beijing's rule.

   "I can see why Myanmar authorities want to meet with the Chinese
   counterparts, because Myanmar is being isolated and alienated from the
   international community on the Rohingya issue in Rakhine state," said
   Thitinan Pongsudhirak, political science professor at Chulalongkorn
   University in Thailand. "This Rohingya issue is now the single cause of
   Myanmar's lack of international credibility."

   A Myanmar more beholden to China would alarm India and a bloc of
   Southeast Asian nations that hope to contain Chinese influence over the
   larger member states.

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