Editorial | Stability in Myanmar paramount for China
- Emphasis is on Beijing playing role of mediator and provider of solutions in relations with Asean members
Rebel opposition groups fighting the Myanmar military junta may have ethnic and cultural connections to China, but that does not mean Beijing is happy to see them add to major territorial gains in the country’s civil war, which threatens to spill over the border into Yunnan province.
China attaches too much importance to the stability of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), of which Myanmar is a member. As a result, it supports a plan by the junta to conduct an election next year to resolve the crisis.
“We support Myanmar in achieving domestic political reconciliation within the framework of its constitution,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi said after talks with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.
Faced with United States-led containment of its rise for maybe a decade or more, China wants to ensure a stable regional environment in which to focus on developing its own economy and strength.
That entails playing a patient game, for example in South China Sea disputes and tension with the Philippines in particular, and not being provoked into making a strategic error.
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Myanmar’s military government lost direct control over 86% of its territory after months of fighting
The stability of Asean members, now China’s most important neighbours, biggest trade partners and home to many Belt and Road Initiative projects, is paramount in forming a long-term strategy.
