By Maung Kavi
Another round of meetings aimed at kickstarting China-backed projects in Rakhine State’s Kyaukphyu took place on Tuesday, following the signing of a China-brokered ceasefire between the military regime and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and China’s reopening of border crossings with MNDAA-controlled areas.
On Tuesday, officials of the regime and China’s state-owned CITIC met in Naypyitaw to discuss the necessary conditions for the implementation of the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and deep-sea port projects in Rakhine’s Kyaukphyu Township.
Just a week ago, at a meeting of the Myanmar Special Economic Zone Central Working Committee in Naypyitaw, the body’s chairman, Minister of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Kan Zaw, called for effective cooperation between the ministries and departments involved to successfully implement the Kyaukphyu SEZ and deep-sea port projects.
Dr. Kan Zaw told Tuesday’s meeting the regime seeks to get the job done two months ahead of the deadline.
Junta Economy and Commerce Minister Tun Ohn also called for efforts to fulfill the prerequisites specified in the shareholders’ agreement on schedule. He told the relevant departments to prepare timelines to ensure they complete all necessary tasks ahead of the deadline.
The details of the agreement’s conditions are not known.
The Kyaukphyu projects are key to the planned 1,700-km China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), which comes under the broad umbrella of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and envisages a multibillion-dollar package of infrastructure, trade and energy projects designed to link southwestern China and the Indian Ocean via Myanmar.
During his visit to Kunming in November last year, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing, who desperately needs China’s intervention to stop the fighting in northern Shan State, as well as its support on the international stage, said the Muse-Mandalay-Kyaukphyu railroad project under the CMEC would be implemented where possible, depending on conditions on the ground.
The railroad would connect the border town of Muse in northern Shan State with Mandalay—Myanmar’s second-largest city—in the heart of the country, and extend all the way to Kyaukphyu on the Bay of Bengal.
During Min Aung Hlaing’s Kunming trip, Chinese Premier Li Qiang promised the junta boss China would assist with his planned election, and called for the CMEC to be expedited.
Li expressed China’s support for Myanmar in upholding its sovereignty and territory, and said it does not accept any efforts based on the Chinese side of the border to harm the interests of Myanmar, according to junta media.
Since October 2023, an offensive by the Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armed organizations—of which the MNDAA is a member—has seen the regime lose control of almost the entire northern Shan State as well as key border trade routes with China. The regime and the MNDAA last week signed a China-brokered ceasefire agreement during talks in Beijing—nearly two months after Min Aung Hlaing visited Kunming.
However, the ethnic Arakan Army has captured 14 of 17 townships in Rakhine over the past 14 months, and has also encircled Kyaukphyu. Observers therefore believe the regime is unlikely to be able to start the projects soon, though it is making a show of proceeding with them to please the regime.
source : irrawaddy