China Reaches Out to Myanmar on Maritime Dispute

Jul 1, 2014 | The New York Times
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At first blush, Myanmar, hardly a naval power and not exactly a major diplomatic heavyweight, would seem an odd place for China to seek relief from its headaches in the South China Sea. But President Xi Jinping, who hosted Myanmar’s leader, President Thein Sein, in Beijing last weekend, did not pass up the opportunity to court him. That’s because Myanmar holds the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year, a moment atop the regional pecking order that Myanmar has sought as it moves to shed its authoritarian, reclusive past.