CHINA-MYANMAR: BEIJING'S PROPOSAL ON ROHINGYA REFUGEE ISSUE

On November 19, 2017, the South China Morning Post reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had travelled to Myanmar's capital on November 19 and Naypitaw and said the international community must help Myanmar and Bangladesh tackle the problem caused by the 600,000 Rohingya muslim refugees who had fled to Bangladesh following military operations since August. After meeting Aung San Suu Kyi, President Htin Kyaw and military chief Min Aung Hlaing, Wang Yi outlined a three stage plan: (i) “The first is to have a ceasefire and to restore order and stability, so the people can stop running away and live in peace"; 
(ii)“all parties should encourage and support Myanmar and Bangladesh to strengthen exchanges, to find a way to solve this issue through consultation on the basis of equality;” and (iii) the international community should help develop Rakhine. Wang Yi added that “Rakhine is rich in resources but develops them inadequately. We call on the international community to help the region eradicate poverty and increase investment ... China is willing to help and play its part.”

Chinese analysts said that while Beijing wanted to protect its strategic interests, the offer was in line with China’s pursuit of greater leadership in the region. Wang Dehua, Director of the Institute for Southern and Central Asian Studies at the Shanghai Municipal Centre for International Studies, said Bangladesh and Myanmar were both strategically important to China, especially in terms of the “Belt and Road Initiative”. He said Beijing would not want the Rohingya crisis to stand in the way of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, a key component of the Chinese initiative. Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of International Relations, said Beijing’s decision to take a stand in the crisis reflected its desire to be a responsible power. Hu Zhiyong said this was the first time Beijing had offered to mediate in the crisis, and the matter was complex, involving two of the world’s least developed countries. “Economically, neither Bangladesh nor Myanmar is capable of settling these refugees. As their biggest neighbour, China has stood up, which could deepen its relations with Bangladesh and Myanmar. I think China will first offer financial aid to people in the area to help their lives there, while at the same time use diplomacy to try to convince Bangladesh to stop deporting Rohingya refugees. It will also try to persuade Myanmar’s government to acknowledge the identity of the Rohingya people as its citizens. This won’t be easy.”







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