China - Myanmar in Loggers' Logjam

China-Myanmar relations in the  past 67 years of  Myanmar’s existence  have been  full of undulations. They  have  vacillated from being cosy neighbours  in the fifties  to bitter enemies in the sixties, warmer in the following  two decades of  seventies and eighties, and a close entente in the nineties  which  finally led to  Myanmar being  called  a  ‘vassal  state  of China’   in  the first decade of the 21^stcentury.   However after  the much awaited   2011  elections  and  entrenchment of  partial  democracy (which could also be termed ‘militarized democracy’) in  Myanmar,  which resulted  in the removal  of a  number  of  sanctions  by  the  western countries , the relations  with  China  have seemingly  entered , if not a  ‘turbulent' phase,  certainly a  ‘cautious’ phase. This phase is characterized  by  blocking  of  some mega projects by  the Myanmar government on the behest of the local tribals, which were  undertaken by Chinese  companies. With huge investments of almost $ 16 billion in various projects in the last two decades , the Chinese are not likely to allow Myanmar even oblique freedom  from their clutches.  The commissioning of  mega oil and  gas pipelines in 2014  connecting Sittwe  oil fields  in the Bay of Bengal to Kunming in  Yunnan  has  created a  win-win situation for both nations and had  tacitly  cemented the  relations. Myanmar  hasdense forests in its peripheral  areas with large amounts of high quality  timber reserves and other  forestry-based  wealth, and is a bio-diversity hotspot. It  undoubtley deserves preservation. These  areas  are  also surfeit with jade  and  ruby mines. Continued  Chinese  dominance  of the border  areas and the spurt in  illegal activities  along the border areas, however, has irked the  locals  to a great extent. Smuggling of ruby and timber  into the poorer state of Yunnan which borders the ever-ebullient Kachin state hase been the centre piece of this border  dispute.

The previously sunny  relations  have  recently been shadowed by  a range of  issues, from Nay Pyi Taw’s attempt to  lessen the economic dependence on  China to Beijing’s anger over the border fight by Kokang rebels spilling  over into Chinese  territory.  So the case of mammoth timber smuggling caught by the authorities  from border areas of Kachin in  January 2015 was  seen as  daylight plunder of Myanmar's forestry resources. Myanmar  had  adopted a  very strict  check  on timber  trade including  a  total ban on  export  of any raw timber  in  2014 (Te Ping). As per a BBC  report of 2013, the North eastern Burmese forests  were being swallowed up by illegal logging. According to the environmental advocacy group Global Witness, 15 tonnes of illegal logs were  being  smuggled into Yunnan  every seven minutes in 2005. Legal  and illegal logging in Myanmar had really spiked  up during  the military  junta’s ‘rush for cash’ to sustain the dwindling economy. As a result, vast areas of thick forest cover were denuded. Timber  is  in  huge  demand across  the border in China. Though some of  the  Kachin rebels have  also been accused of  being involved in  the  illegal  timber trade, they  have  denied  any participation.

In January 2015, the  Myanmar authorities  arrested  153  Chinese  nationals from Waingmaw township in Kachin state on charges of illegal logging and  smuggling. The  army also seized 240 logs, 455 vehicles , nine motor cycles, opium, methamphetamines and 12000  Chinese yuan. The  Chinese  nationals  were detained in Myitkyina  prison and charged under immigration  laws and also under the Public Property Protection Act. The Chinese Government's  Foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said that they had asked the Myanmar Government  to “consider  the actual situation of those loggers and deal with the matter in a  lawful, reasonable and  sensible  way”. However  it  seems  that the urgings of  the Chinese  government were kept aside  and on 23 July 2015 the court  in Myitkyina  issued  the  harshest  possible sentences to these 153 loggers. 152 out of  153  were  given life imprisonment ,  which  is generally for  20 years  in Myanmar,  a  17 year old  boy  was  meted  out with  a 10 year term and  the  only woman in  the group was  given an additional 15 years  for drug possession. The  Chinesenews agency Xinhua stated  that it was abnormal to impose  such heavy sentences on foreigners for this offence and it raised a question mark on the ‘impartiality’ of  Myanmar’s court.

These mass sentences to  the  Chinese  loggers  sparked  an  outrage in  the Chinese  media which   vehemently questioned the legality of such punishments. However, strategy observers see this as another thaw in the already souring relationship between China and Myanmar. It  needs  to be kept  in  mind that stalled work on the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam  has  still not  resumed  even after  3 years  of  efforts  by Chinese  authorities. With all eyes  on ‘November  Elections’ the  rulers of militarised  democracy in Myanmar will not take a chance  to show  a  tilt towards  the Chinese warmth. On the contrary, an  anti-Chinese stance  by the ruling junta  may hold them in  a better public stead and  allow the military backed   Union Solidarity and Development Party(USDP) party  a  better show in their fight against   the  popular  National League for Democracy(NLD)   and its  enigmatic leader  Aung San Suu Kyi. With the Chinese gas pipeline already on its soil and pumping oil  and gas into Yunnan , Myanmar   is now  in a strong position to leverage its strategic  location and  play its  card  of  keeping the mammoth  China at bay. 

Views expressed here by the author are personal.