Attacks on factories in Myanmar emphasize Chinese influence

BANGKOK (AP) – Confusion over what exactly happened during the recent attacks on factories in Myanmar highlighted the complex and troubled nature of the country’s relations with China amid a broad public reaction against the February 1 coup.

Many in Myanmar suspect that Beijing supports the military’s seizure of power, and there has long been a deep vein of resentment against China’s growing influence, but protesters insist they were not responsible for a series of factory attacks in the past Weekend. Some say they suspect the military has instigated attacks on factories to justify the imposition of martial law in industrial zones that have been sites of protests against the junta.

To increase uncertainty, China said it is prepared to do more to protect its broad commercial investments in Myanmar, which include factories, pipelines and other major infrastructure projects.

The Chinese state newspaper Global Times said protesters “incited by the West” attacked 32 factories, causing damage to 240 million yuan (about $ 30 million).

The turmoil is bad for business and will deter investors, Chinese state broadcaster CGTN said in a comment.

“But China will not allow its interests to be exposed to further aggression. If the authorities fail to deliver and the chaos continues to spread, China may be forced to take more drastic measures to protect its interests, ”said the CGTN.

With limited internet and cell phone connectivity, outside observers face increasing difficulty in verifying what is happening in Myanmar or in obtaining an official response from the junta. The vast industrial zone of Hlaing Thayar and several other districts in Yangon, the country’s largest city, have been under martial law since Monday, placing them under full military control and making it difficult for protesters to organize and communicate.

But people living in the area – home to hundreds of factories for clothing, shoes and others – said that only a handful of factories were affected. Local TV networks, including military-run Myawaddy TV, reported that five factories were burned in Hlaing Thayar on Sunday.

Much of the controversy over the arson attacks centers on what happened in and around the Chinese-owned Xing Jia shoe factory in Hlaing Thayar. According to records from Panjiva and the Myanmar Investment Commission, the factory makes boots from Western brands, such as DeWalt and Dunlop, and a wide variety of clothing.

But reports from several sources, including Yangon labor organizer Andrew Tillett-Saks, say the fires started after five clothing workers were shot and killed by the military when they reported to the factory to receive their February salaries.

People living in the industrial zone contacted by telephone by the Associated Press said that despite suspicions that the February 1 coup had Chinese support, workers were not responsible for the burning of the factories, which are protected by high walls and guards .

“Many screamed in anger to set fire to Chinese-owned factories, but none actually implemented such attacks because it is difficult to access these areas and many residents work in those factories,” said San Maung, a bicycle repairman who lives in the area.

“If people wanted to attack these places, they could have done it from day one. There were no looting or fires until March 14, when trucks of soldiers brutally suppressed the protests, ”said San Maung.

According to the independent Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners, violence on Sunday claimed at least 38 lives. The Myanmar-based group, which keeps a record of repression-related deaths, said that as of Wednesday, 217 people had been killed and 2,191 people arrested or charged.

The Facebook page of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar was flooded with tens of thousands of angry comments from local residents outraged at the lack of any mention of sympathy for those who died in the violence, after the page published an appeal for better protection for women. Chinese factories and personnel.

“It is worrying that there are a lot of anti-Chinese sentiments,” said Thiri Thant Mon of Pegu Partners, a consultancy based in Yangon, on Thursday, at a web seminar organized by Japanese Nikkei Asia. “This is worrying because there are also many Chinese businessmen native to Myanmar.

“Any kind of racial tension is worrying,” she said.

In addition to hundreds of factories that mainly manufacture clothing, shoes and other light industrial products, China has massive investments in Myanmar’s energy and mining sectors.

One of the largest are the twin pipelines and gas pipelines that run almost 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the island of Made, on the west coast of Myanmar, to Ruili, on the border of the Chinese province of Yunnan.

Before the coup, the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was supposed to remain in power after a landslide victory in the November elections, announced a tender for another major project led by China, a huge deep-water port in Kyaukphyu, west of Myanmar. A visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in January made both sides work to complete the project and move forward with an “economic corridor” linking southwest China’s Yunnan province to the port and main cities in Myanmar.

The coup and its aftermath have increased risks for everyone doing business in and with Myanmar, analysts say.

Such setbacks are nothing new for China, whose relations with its resource-rich neighbor were severed for a few years in the late 1960s, when anti-Chinese uprisings broke out during Mao Zedong’s ultra-left Cultural Revolution.

In recent years, Myanmar’s leaders have for years relied on China, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, to help protect civilian and military governments from harsh UN sanctions for human rights abuses.