Pauk-Phaw tie lays pivotal for mutual interests
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Tun Mon Thet (NP News) - Aug 5
Within 40 years, China has fully transformed itself into a nation with an advanced economy, high technology with a stable political accord among ethnics from a starving agricultural land. It is a bona fide impressive makeover and the world calls it “The China Miracle”.
Establishing Special Economic Zones has been one of the most significant economic reforms in China since the 1980s. Setting regional development and stability as the priorities, the rising China, without a doubt, gives its hand to Eurasia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa with sophisticated development strategies and the ways of economic revolution that it made within it. Unfortunately, its immediate neighbour, Myanmar, is at a standstill.
The rising China’s reputation will be more stunning if China shows and makes effective efforts in helping and assisting its neighbours to be able to release from conflicts, under-development, civil wars, and other complicating issues. It is a kind of opportunity for China to polish its existing good reputation to be more elegant on the global stage; will support the characteristic of China not only being a ‘Super-power country’ but also a ‘Wholehearted nation’ while the Western world’s hegemony is trying to shape the world with neo-conservatism and neo-colonialism.
The year 2024 marks the 70th Anniversary of Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence which was primarily developed by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in seventy years ago emphasizing the following: mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.
According to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, which Myanmar earliest signed in the bygone history, Dr. Aye Maung – Chairman of the Arakan Front Party suggests China to get involved more deep-down in resolving the current ongoing conflict of Myanmar.
“Previously, China was involved as the facilitator in our peace process and maintaining the peacetime. Now, China should increase its role from the facilitator to the mediator in resolving this time political and military dilemma in order to overcome and restore normalcy,” said Dr. Aye Maung adding “It weighs symmetrically between the stability of China’s Belt and Road Initiative route in Myanmar and the country stability. The BRI plan will be successful in Myanmar only if the ethnic regions and mainland are stable.”
Myanmar is situated in a geopolitically strategic position as per the Rim Land Theory. Sharing a total of 2,204 kilometers (1,370 miles) of borderline, Myanmar and China have been living in a peaceful coexistence for thousands of years in a general view.
Thus, even if people of the neighbour are wrongfully deceived that China is somehow involved in their crisis to be more complicated, should the elder-brother-like more powerful nation clarify its clear status of not being involved since People-to-People tie plays an important in maintaining the regional stability and fulfilling the objective for shared-future, which China has always been seeking for.
U Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, remarks: “It is very clear that China has to deal with the State Actor, the Government of Myanmar, to uphold its interest. No proxy entity can be there, especially on the BRI route in Myanmar. That’s for sure. Again, there might be contradictions between the central government of China and the Yunnan Province authorities. I mean there might be corruption and briberies in the Yunnan authorities which shares borderline with Myanmar. I’m sure the Beijing administration won’t spark flames to complicate the Myanmar issue.”
People of Myanmar are also welcome to implement the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor and the BRI projects in Myanmar as soon as possible so as to reap the advantages from it.
Spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Ms. Mao Ning recently stated that China is closely following the situation in northern Myanmar and calling on the stakeholders to uphold dialogue for ending hostilities. She also emphasized the safety of the Chinese projects, businesses, and personnel in Myanmar.
U Ko Ko Gyi, the chairman of the People’s Party, said: “It’s true that our neighbours are also suffering from what impacts of our conflicts.” He remarked on it during the press conference held at the Yangon International Airport on 27 July.
That is to say, without a doubt, maintaining the stability of Myanmar with a peaceful situation is important for the benefit of the two countries.