Burma-China relations: Playing with fire

Asian Survey

Volumn 37, Issue 6, 1997, Pages 525-539

  Seekins, Donald M ^a  

^a MEIO UNIVERSITY   (Japan)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEVELOPING REGION; FOREIGN POLICY; GEOPOLITICAL RELATIONS; INTERNATIONAL TRADE; TRADE RELATIONS;

BURMA; CHINA;

EID: 0031405357     PISSN: 00044687     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/2645527     Document Type: Article

References (28)

1. Japan provided about US$1.78 billion in aid, mostly in the form of concessional loans, between 1973 and 1988. See Donald M. Seekins, "Japan's Aid Relations with Military Regimes in Burma: The Kokunaika Process," Asian Survey, 32:3 (March 1992), p. 250.
2. Robert H. Taylor, The State in Burma (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987), p. 38.
3. Bertil Lintner, Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency since 1948 (Bangkok: White Lotus, 1994), pp. 101-29, 165, 166, 190.
4. Anti-Chinese violence was apparently encouraged by the Ne Win regime to provide an outlet for popular frustration over the deteriorating economy. See Mya Maung, Totalitarianism in Burma: Prospects for Economic Development (New York: Paragon House, 1992), pp. 14, 15.
5. Economist Intelligence Unit, Country Profile: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, 1995-1996 (London: E.I.U., 1995), p. 94.
6. "More Dangerous than the Spratlys," The Nation [Bangkok], May 26, 1995.
7. According to statistics published in Asiaweek, Britain had the largest amount of foreign investment, valued at US$628 million, mostly accounted for by funds channeled through the British Bahamas by non-British companies. Singapore was in second place with US$545 million. China's total was only US$6 million, which again may be underreported. See Susan Berfield, "A New 'Burmese Way'," Asiaweek, January 5, 1996, pp. 46-49.
8. Bertil Lintner, "Enter the Dragon," Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), December 22, 1994, pp. 22-24; William Mellor, "A Border Bonanza," Asia Inc., November 1993, p. 41.
9. Bertil Lintner, "Enter the Dragon," Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), December 22, 1994, pp. 22-24; William Mellor, "A Border Bonanza," Asia Inc., November 1993, p. 41.
10. "China, Burma to Develop River," Associated Press, Beijing, May 5, 1997; "China to Build Channel to Indian Ocean," Agence France Presse, Beijing, May 5, 1997.
11. "China, Burma to Develop River," Associated Press, Beijing, May 5, 1997; "China to Build Channel to Indian Ocean," Agence France Presse, Beijing, May 5, 1997.
12. "Road to Mandalay," FEER, May 6, 1993, p. 9.
13. Bertil Lintner, "Rocks and a Hard Place," FEER, September 9, 1993, p. 26. For a Burmese view of Chinese economic exploitation, see Nyi Pu Lay's short story, "The Python," published in Anna J. Allot's collection. Inked Over, Ripped Out: Burmese Storytellers and the Censors (Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 1994), pp. 85-101. Although the author does not identify a rich businessman, whom he portrays highly negatively, directly as Chinese, he is described as wearing a "bright green ring" (jade), has "yellow-toned skin"-both of which are popular indicators of Chinese ethnicity - and is a recent arrival in Mandalay (p. 95).
14. Bertil Lintner, "Rocks and a Hard Place," FEER, September 9, 1993, p. 26. For a Burmese view of Chinese economic exploitation, see Nyi Pu Lay's short story, "The Python," published in Anna J. Allot's collection. Inked Over, Ripped Out: Burmese Storytellers and the Censors (Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 1994), pp. 85-101. Although the author does not identify a rich businessman, whom he portrays highly negatively, directly as Chinese, he is described as wearing a "bright green ring" (jade), has "yellow-toned skin"-both of which are popular indicators of Chinese ethnicity - and is a recent arrival in Mandalay (p. 95).
15. Quoted in Sheng Lijun, "China's Foreign Policy under Status Discrepancy, Status Enhancement," Contemporary Southeast Asia, 17:2 (September 1995), p. 102.
16. Allen S. Whiting, "Chinese Nationalism and Foreign Policy after Deng," China Quarterly, no. 142 (June 1995), p. 300.
17. Wayne Bert, "Chinese Policy Toward Democratization Movements: Burma and the Philippines," Asian Survey, 30:11 (November 1990), p. 1074.
18. "Murmur in the Ranks," FEER, February 18, 1993, p. 20.
19. "Burma: Foreign Relations," Asia 1996 Yearbook (Hong Kong: Review Publishing Company, 1995), p. 97.
20. J. Mohan Malik, "China-India Relations in the Post-Soviet Era: The Continuing Rivalry," China Quarterly, no. 142 (June 1995), p. 337.
21. "Burma: Foreign Relations," p. 97.
22. Bertil Lintner, "Enter the Dragon," p. 23; "Snooping Around," FEER, August 4, 1994, p. 12.
23. Bertil Lintner, "Enter the Dragon," p. 23; "Snooping Around," FEER, August 4, 1994, p. 12.
24. Malik suggests that "India's defence establishment" may have exaggerated Chinese activities in order to forestall budget cuts, and a Western diplomat posted in Rangoon told this writer in November 1995 that these were merely rumors originating in India. J. Mohan Malik, "Sino-Indian Rivalry in Myanmar: Implications for Regional Security," Contemporary Southeast Asia, 16:2 (September 1994), pp. 137-56.
25. Malik, "China-India Relations," p. 340.
26. Philip Bowring, "Burma Smashes the Rebels with Thai and Chinese Help," International Herald Tribune, February 3, 1995.
27. Asahi Shimbun reported that the Burmese regime erected a statue of Bayinnaung, the 16th century Burman king who invaded and pillaged Siam, at Tachilek on the Burma-Thai border, a gesture perhaps equivalent to the Japanese government's building a statue of Hideyoshi looking out over the Korea Strait. Asahi Shimbun (Tokyo), July 5, 1995.
28. Malik, "China-India Relations," p. 340.