Chinese Army Build Up near Myanmar Border

News Desk

Chinese concerns have been intensified as Myanmar protesters consider an attack on China’s Pipelines would be ‘Internal Affairs’[1]. It has been reported that Chinese troops were gathering in Jiegao, opposite the Shan State border town of Muse[2]. Many Chinese soldiers and military trucks have arrived at the border to protect the natural gas pipeline. In early March, the Chinese asked Myanmar’s military regime to protect the oil and gas pipelines following the emergence of anti-Chinese sentiment and protesters threatening to blow up the pipelines.

The 800-km twin pipeline project runs from Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State on the Bay of Bengal through Magwe and Mandalay regions and northern Shan State to China.

China has repeatedly insisted that the armed forces’ seizure of power from the democratically elected government is an internal affair, including at the United Nations Security Council and UN Human Rights Council.

Taiwan’s TVBS News reported the Chinese troops were assembling at the border to protect oil and gas pipelines. Chinese authorities have expressed concerns about the assets since Chinese-owned factories were set on fire in Yangon and anti-Chinese sentiment rises in Myanmar.

The relationship between China and Myanmar, while much closer and warmer than relations with China’s other Southeast Asian neighbours. Burma was the first non-Communist country to recognize the Communist-led People’s Republic of China after its foundation in 1949. The border is about 2,129 km.

Chinese firms have been involved in the construction of oil and gas pipelines stretching 2,380 km (1,480 mi) from Myanmar’s Rakhine State to China’s Yunnan Province.

The pipeline through Myanmar is very important for China for avoiding the route of Malacca. Besides this route, China is maintaining other pipelines as shown below:

[1] https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-protesters-say-attack-chinas-pipelines-internal-affair.html.

[2] https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/chinese-troops-gather-myanmars-border-protect-pipelines.html.