China continues to court on Myitsone project ahead of commission presser
As the commission tasked with reviewing hydropower projects along the upper reaches of the Ayeyarwady River submitted its first report to the president this past week, Chinese state media has assured its nation of the ongoing “friendly and cooperative” Sino-Myanmar relationship. The China News article, entitled “China’s Mandalay Consul General: The Sino-Myanmar Sustained Friendship”, was published on November 15, just four days after the commission submitted its report to President U Htin Kyaw. The review commission is tipped to favour scrapping the controversial Chinese-backed Myitsone dam in Kachin State. Despite a Myanmar Green Network meeting held in Kachin State at the end of last month, where villagers, NGOs and government officials spoke out about the potential negative effects of the dam, the counsellor of the Chinese embassy in Myanmar maintained that mutual cooperation can resolve these challenges. “The Myitsone dam is just one instance of Sino-Myanmar cooperation. This does not represent the whole of the relationship,” Wang Zongying was quoted as saying in the Chinese-language media. “Those who bad-mouth the relationship are biased.”
