China will be unable to solve the crisis in Myanmar by holding talks with “untrustworthy” military dictators, U Kyaw Zaw, the spokesman of the President’s Office of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) told The Irrawaddy.
He made the comment following the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Myanmar last week.
Wang visited Naypyitaw on August 14, holding talks with junta boss Min Aung Hlaing, the junta’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Than Swe as well as former military dictator Than Shwe.
During the meeting with the coup leader, Wang said China opposes chaos or conflict in Myanmar as well as any remarks that attempt to sow discord in China-Myanmar relations.
China hopes “Myanmar finds a path to long-term peace and stability,” he said.
His visit coincided with a string of humiliating defeats of Myanmar’s military in northern Shan State, Mandalay Region and Rakhine State.
The Brotherhood Alliance of three ethnic armies launched Operation 1027 in northern Shan State in October last year, seizing hundreds of junta bases, about 20 towns, and vital trade routes with China.
The operation was halted on January 10 after the ethnic alliance agreed to a China-brokered ceasefire with the regime, but it resumed in late June after the ceasefire collapsed when the junta started attacking alliance member the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. The junta’s prized Northeastern Command fell in early August.
U Kyaw Zaw said China should not expect a solution from junta leaders who do not keep their word because they will continue to commit violence for any excuse.
“One thing China can do is to pressure the regime politically and diplomatically, build people-to-people friendship and stand by the Myanmar people and help them accomplish their wishes. Doing so will help Myanmar become a stable and prosperous country at the earliest,” U Kyaw Zaw advised.
As Wang Yi told Min Aung Hlaing that “China’s friendly policy towards Myanmar is for all the people of Myanmar,” China should help find a solution that meets the desires of the country’s people if it wants to forge a people-centered friendship, the spokesperson for the civilian government added.
Only then will Myanmar become a stable country where China can invest, he added.
The NUG’s policy toward China is focused on maintaining friendly ties with neighbors and it, and revolutionary forces, protect Chinese investments, like the Tagaung nickel processing plant in Mandalay Region, and oil and gas pipelines that pass through Myanmar to Yunnan Province, while the regime and military sympathizers spread anti-China sentiment, U Kyaw Zaw said.
“It is resistance forces that are forging friendships with China and Chinese people,” he stressed, adding that he hopes China can tell the difference between those who promote ties and those who undermine them.
Following his visit to Naypyidaw, Wang had informal talks with counterparts from Myanmar, Thailand and Laos in Chiang Mai on Friday.
He insisted that three basic principles must be adhered to regarding the Myanmar “issue.”
They are: Myanmar should not be subject to civil strife, should not be detached from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and should not be infiltrated with or interfered in by external forces.
