Myanmar’s factory attacks focused on Chinese influence

BANGKOK (AP) – Confusion over exactly what happened during the latest factory attacks in Myanmar has highlighted the complex and problematic nature of the country’s relations with China amid widespread public reaction to a coup. status as of February 1st.

Many in Myanmar suspect that Beijing supports the takeover of the army and there has long been a deep vein of resentment against China’s growing influence, but protesters insist they were not responsible for a series of attacks on factories last weekend. Some say they suspect the military provoked attacks on factories to justify the imposition of martial law in industrial areas that have been hot spots for protests against the junta.

In addition to the uncertainties, China has said it is willing to do more to protect its extensive trade investments in Myanmar, which include factories, pipelines and other major infrastructure projects.

The Global Times, led by the state of China, claimed that protesters “incited by the West” had attacked 32 factories, causing 240 million yuan (about $ 30 million) in damage.

The turmoil is detrimental to businesses and will deter investors, Chinese state-run CGTN said in a comment.

“But China will not allow its interests to be exposed to further aggression. If the authorities cannot deliver and chaos continues to spread, China could be forced to take more drastic measures to protect its interests,” CGTN said. .

With limited internet and mobile connectivity, external observers are finding it increasingly difficult to verify what is happening in Myanmar or get an official response from the board. The vast industrial zone of Hlaing Thayar and several other districts in Yangon, the country’s largest city, have been under martial law since Monday, putting them under complete military control and making it difficult for protesters to organize and communicate.

But people living in the area, where there are hundreds of clothes, shoes and other factories, said there were only a handful of factories affected. Local television networks, including military-run Myawaddy Television, reported that five factories in Hlaing Thayar were burnt down on Sunday.

Much of the controversy over the arson attacks has focused on what happened at the Xing Jia shoe factory, owned by China, in and around Hlaing Thayar. According to records from Panjiva and the Myanmar Investment Commission, the factory manufactures Western-branded boots such as DeWalt and Dunlop and a wide variety of clothing.

But reports from several sources, including Yangon-based workforce organizer Andrew Tillett-Saks, say the fires broke out after five military personnel were killed by soldiers when they reported to the factory. to collect their February salaries.

People living in the industrial area contacted by telephone by the Associated Press said that despite suspicions that the February 1 coup had Chinese support, workers were not responsible for burning the factories, protected by high walls and guards.

“Many were outraged to burn Chinese-owned factories, but none implemented these attacks because it is difficult to access these areas and many residents work in these factories,” said San Maung, a bicycle repairman who lives in the area.

“If people wanted to attack these places, they could have done so from day one. There were no lootings or fires until March 14, when a lot of soldiers’ trucks brutally suppressed the protests, “said San Maung.

According to the association’s assistance association for political prisoners, the violence on Sunday caused at least 38 lives. The Myanmar-based group, which maintains a crackdown on repression-related deaths, said 217 people had died as of Wednesday and 2,191 had been arrested or charged.

The Facebook page of the Chinese embassy in Myanmar was flooded with tens of thousands of angry comments from local residents, outraged by the lack of mention of sympathy for those who died as a result of the violence, after the page posted a call to better protection for factories. and Chinese staff.

“Worryingly, there are a lot of anti-Chinese sentiments,” Thiri Thant Mon of Pegu Partners, a Yangon-based consultancy, said Thursday at a webinar hosted by Japan’s Nikkei Asia. “This is worrying because there are also many Chinese entrepreneurs native to Myanmar.

“Any kind of racial tension is worrisome,” he said.

Aside from hundreds of factories that mainly manufacture clothing, shoes and other light industrial products, China has massive investments in Myanmar’s energy and mining sectors.

One of the largest is the twin oil and gas pipelines that travel nearly 800 kilometers (500 miles) from Made Island on the west coast of Myanmar to Ruili, on the border of China’s Yunnan province.

Prior to the coup, the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, which was to remain in power after a defeat in the November elections, had announced a tender for another major project led by China, a huge deep water port in Kyaukphyu, west of Myanmar. A January visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi encouraged both sides to work to complete the project and push forward an “economic corridor” connecting the southwestern province of Yunnan with the port and major cities in Yunnan. Myanmar.

The coup and its aftermath have posed risks to everyone doing business in Myanmar and with Myanmar, analysts say.

These setbacks are nothing new for China, whose relations with its resource-rich neighbor broke down for a few years in the late 1960s when anti-Chinese riots erupted during Mao Zedong’s ultra-left cultural revolution.

In recent years, Myanmar leaders have for years relied on China, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, to help protect both military and civilian governments from harsh UN sanctions by the United Nations. human rights abuses.