Chinese money, US human rights: in Myanmar’s Kachin State, a delicate balance
- Far from the front lines of the US-China trade war, the resource-rich Kachin is the scene of a familiar struggle for influence between the two superpowers
- China has invested heavily, but for some locals development has come at a cost
While the US-China trade war plays to the audience on the global stage, behind the scenes the two superpowers are engaged in a unique tug of war for influence in one of the world’s more remote corners.
Myitkyina, the capital of Myanmar’s Kachin State about 1,200km north of Yangon, rarely features on tourist bucket lists. Despite its verdant scenery and dynamic culture and traditions, it suffers from high rates of poverty and drug addiction, and has been the scene of a conflict between the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar military which has displaced an estimated 100,000 people since a 17-year ceasefire collapsed in 2011.
Yet recently not one, but two high-profile visitors arrived in the space of just days.
US Ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel and a delegation from the US Embassy held a Myitkyina Road Show in November that included a jobs and opportunities fair, a workshop with the agricultural sector, and a meeting with veterans who fought alongside US troops in World War II. Marciel said the embassy wanted to work with the Kachin people “in support of freedom, democracy, human rights and economic progress”, and that the US was “committed to implementing development programmes in an open, transparent manner … to listen and learn”.
Just days later, the Chinese Embassy held its own visit, filming scenes later posted on Facebook of Ambassador Chen Hai handing out items including laptops, rice and cooking oil emblazoned with a “China Aid” logo. China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency said the ambassador had donated to a hospital, university, orphanage and school for the blind and pledged to “assist Myanmar to achieve eternal peace”.
Economically, we need to deal with China, and on human rights, we need to deal with the West
It should not be surprising that the two superpowers are keen to woo the resource-rich Kachin, which neighbours both China’s Yunnan Province and India, and holds jade, gold, amber, timber, and vast hydropower potential.
Myanmar has signed up to President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to link Eurasia with Beijing-backed infrastructure projects, in the form of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. Many of the details of the corridor, for which a memorandum of understanding between the two governments was signed in September 2018, remain unknown to the public. Yet China is ramping up its economic activity across the country, including in Kachin.
The close timing of the envoys’ visits was not lost on locals interviewed by This Week in Asia, who expressed a keen awareness of Kachin’s strategic importance, and a desire to participate in the social and economic future of their state.
According to La Aung, chairman of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly, an independent organisation which advises on matters concerning society in Kachin State, “We Kachin need to deal well with both the West and China for our survival. Economically, we need to deal with China, and on human rights, we need to deal with the West.”
CONCERNS FOR SOME
However, Chinese mega-projects are a concern for many Kachin.
While La Aung said Chinese development in Kachin was inevitable, he worried about the effects on Kachin tradition and culture. “I fear that our culture will run away,” he said. “If there is too much commercial development, people won’t care about each other. Only money will be in the centre. Our hearts, our mentality can change.”
Included in the economic corridor is the construction of an industrial zone known as Namjim, 25km from Myitkyina. The public has been largely left in the dark about plans for the zone, expected to cost US$400 million and cover 4,700 acres, but land disputes emerged in November among dispossessed locals.
According to La Aung, “Namjim will occupy a large area, but China didn’t discuss details carefully with local people or get their agreement, so I don’t support it”.
Another contentious mega-project is the Myitsone hydropower dam, stalled since 2011 in the midst of widespread community resistance. Earlier this year, protests were reignited after China’s former ambassador Hong Liang visited Myitkyina and his embassy released a statement that Kachin’s political leaders had assured him that local people in Kachin did not oppose the project. In October, the Kachin State People’s Party issued a statement calling for a stop to all mega-projects in Kachin until peace had been achieved. The party’s vice-chairman Gumgrawng Awng Hkam said: “Given the instability of the region, China should not implement the [belt and road] nor its mega-projects in Kachin right now … China should consult us Kachin, but they are mainly dealing with the central government over the projects in our region. We know we cannot get the upper hand, but we have to bear it.”
At the same time, he said that with many ethnic Kachin residing in Yunnan Province, maintaining cordial cross-border relations was essential.
“There are many Kachin in China. We should continue our brotherhood by having good communication with the Chinese government.”
Those interviewed by This Week in Asia voiced concern that Chinese business practices often skirted loosely-enforced regulations and primarily benefited Chinese interests.
Illegal Chinese-backed banana plantations now cover tens of thousands of acres of land in Kachin, bringing a range of environmental and land rights concerns. Reports have also emerged of illegal rare-earth mining along Kachin’s border with China, with little public information available as to the companies involved or the extent and nature of the activities.
Lahkri La Aung, chairman of the Kachin State Mining Association, said that civil war and a patchwork of authorities along the border, including the Myanmar military, Kachin Independence Army and various militias, had enabled Chinese companies to conduct mining activities haphazardly in Kachin, with little regard for the environment or worker safety. He also said that a centralised government limited the authority of state governments to regulate the industry. This situation, he said, had fostered a sense of urgency among local actors at all levels, including the state government, military, armed groups and militias, to grab the resources that were still available. “Locally, people lack a sense of ownership over this region. They think, ‘If we do not act, someone else will’,” he said.
Seng Hkum, chairman of the Kachin State Travel Association, took a more optimistic view towards Kachin’s eastern neighbour. “I welcome Chinese investment if it enables us to build our economy. We cannot avoid China as a great market,” he said. At the same time, he expressed concern about business practices. “I don’t necessarily want to reduce Chinese business engagement, but I want to see a more sustainable, responsible approach.”
‘SOFT AND POLITE’
America is also building its presence in Kachin. In November, the US Agency for International Development launched a five-year, US$38 million agriculture and food-systems development activity in three regions, including Kachin. In the same month, the agencycalled for proposals for a five-year, US$6 million initiative promoting local solutions to Kachin’s drug epidemic.
Such moves have gone down well with the locals, tapping into historical goodwill.
Awng Hkam said Kachin soldiers’ role in fighting alongside Americans in World War II and the role American missionaries played in bringing Christianity to Kachin had fostered a connection between the two countries, adding: “I really appreciate Americans’ democratic culture…The way they deal with us is soft and polite.”
La Aung hoped the US would continue to support peace-building through providing funding and technical assistance to development projects.
“US initiatives in Kachin are firmly positive…they can provide economic support to us to go towards righteousness and peace if we cooperate through joint management of projects,” he said.
While those interviewed by This Week in Asia hoped China could help broker peace talks, they expressed a lack of clarity about the role China intended to take.
Seng Hkum said: “Many Kachin feel that China is closer to the central government and Burmese military. I would like to see China engage more with the ethnic sides as well.”
According to Awng Hkam, China’s ongoing investment in Myanmar during periods of conflict as well as under the former military regime makes some confused over where China stands on the peace process between the Kachin Independence Organisation and the government.
For Lahkri La Aung, achieving peace is essential to ensure that Chinese businesses operate sustainably.
“We need stability in the region to create a space where we can jointly do business with China,” he said.
Seng Hkum hoped that Kachin could claim a sense of agency in relation to the US and China.
“It’s important for us Kachin to consider how much we will benefit from engaging with both countries. We have to look at our own interests first.
“The world’s ideologies are not so distinct any more. It’s not necessary to be an ideological battleground. It’s not necessary for us to be victims. As long as it benefits Kachin, I think we should engage with everyone,” he said. ■
