Update | Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's China visit may open door to better ties
Beijing expected to enlist Nobel laureate's help to ease conflict along Yunnan border
Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will make her first visit to China next week amid strained ties between the two nations.
Suu Kyi would visit from Wednesday to June 14 at the invitation of the Communist Party, a statement from the international department of the party central committee said.
The statement did not say which Chinese officials Suu Kyi would meet, but Nyan Win, secretary and spokesman for the National League for Democracy (NLD) said the Nobel laureate would meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang during her trip.
Ties between China and Myanmar have been made tense by the armed conflicts in Myanmar’s Kokang region, which borders Yunnan province.
Last week, the Chinese military started a drill along the border, saying it has to protect its citizens and calling on Myanmar to ensure the safety of the border. Five Chinese people were killed in March by a bomb dropped by a Myanmese warplane.
[China] does not want to only focus on the ruling junta
“The security of the border will be a key item for the talks between Suu Kyi and Chinese officials,” said Xu Liping, a professor of Southeast Asian studies at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
“The recent conflict has damaged political trust between the two nations. Beijing hopes that Suu Kyi’s political party can use its influence to settle the conflicts between different parties.”
Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Friday that Suu Kyi’s trip was an important exchange between the two political parties.
China maintained exchanges with different parties in Myanmar, and hoped Suu Kyi’s visit would help boost mutual understanding, he said.
Observers also said that by receiving Suu Kyi, Beijing was stepping up ties with not only the ruling party of Myanmar but also other key figures. Even though Suu Kyi is excluded from presidency under a military-drafted constitution, the NLD is expected to perform well in a general election to be held in November.
China and Myanmar have traditionally enjoyed close ties, with Myanmar relying on its powerful neighbour for economic and diplomatic support when it was under Western sanctions before embarking on political reforms four years ago. Those reforms made Beijing nervous as the government that replaced the military junta appeared to be courting Washington.
The shift in relations was highlighted in 2011 when President Thein Sein suspended work on the US$3.6 billion Chinese-led Myitsone dam project over environmental concerns.
Small but regular demonstrations were held earlier this year outside the Chinese embassy in Yangon and its consulate in Mandalay after the fatal shooting of a woman protester near a Chinese-backed mine.
“Beijing is putting more effort into trying to be friends with as many influential people as possible,” said Fan Hongwei, a professor of Southeast Asian studies at Xiamen University. “It does not want to focus only on the ruling junta.”
Suu Kyi became an international icon after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her pro-democracy efforts and spent most of the next two decades under house arrest. She was freed in 2010.
Additional reporting by Reuters, Agence France-Presse
