China Quietly Pushing Myanmar to Back Its Development Plan for Irrawaddy River

Dec 30, 2019 | Nan Lwin
View Original

Chinese think tanks based in Yunnan have been traveling back and forth between Yangon and the Chinese province’s capital, Kunming, since early 2018. But at times their itinerary has taken them beyondMyanmar’s economic hub. They have traveled hundreds of miles conducting field investigations up and down the Irrawaddy River, from the north to the south of Myanmar, with high hopes of turning Myanmar’s lifeline into a vital trade and logistics link with China.

The strategic land and water transport route is expected to start in Kunming and run through Longchuan in Yunnan province to Bhamo in Kachin State, then to Yangon and the Indian Ocean. Developing the 2,161-km route from Kunming to Yangon could cost around 3.3 billion Chinese renminbi (700 billion kyats).