CHINAMacroReporter

'Coup Puts Myanmar at the Center of the U.S.-China Clash'

Burma: At the Center of the U.S.-China Competition

‘Chinese oil and gas pipelines snake across Myanmar from China’s landlocked Yunnan province to the Bay of Bengal—a route that Beijing wants to transform into a broader economic corridor with road and rail connections.’
by

|

The Wall Street Journal

February 3, 2021
'Coup Puts Myanmar at the Center of the U.S.-China Clash'

‘Chinese oil and gas pipelines snake across Myanmar from China’s landlocked Yunnan province to the Bay of Bengal—a route that Beijing wants to transform into a broader economic corridor with road and rail connections.’

Myanmar’s transition from military rule toward democracy that began a decade ago was trumpeted as a strategic victory for Washington in China’s backyard.’

  • ‘Eager to blunt Beijing’s influence, Myanmar opened its doors to diplomatic and commercial ties with the West.’
  • ‘On Monday, Myanmar’s soldiers seized power in a coup, detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders.’

‘The takeover, coming against the backdrop of a deepening U.S.-China rivalry, pits the foreign-policy strategies of the two powers against each other.’

  • ‘And it thrusts Myanmar on to the front lines of an increasingly tense geopolitical competition for global leadership.’

‘The U.S. has framed its approach to Myanmar as a push for democracy and human rights.’

  • ‘The focus of Beijing, which says it has a policy of noninterference in the domestic affairs of other countries, has largely been on economic and strategic interests.’
  • ‘The differences were clear in the response by the two nations to the coup.’

‘President Biden pressed the Myanmar military to relinquish power and raised the possibility of imposing sanctions.’

  • ‘Mr. Biden said he would reach out to partners in the region—an effort that tests his promise to marshal the world’s democracies against authoritarian states.’
  • ‘The State Department on Tuesday officially labeled the episode a coup.'

‘China took a muted stand, expressing hope that all sides would “properly manage their differences.” ’

  • ‘ “Chinese strategy has always been, ‘We will work with whoever comes to power.’ I call it China’s moral flexibility,” said Yun Sun, a China specialist at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank.’

‘For Beijing, neighboring Myanmar offers a strategic gateway to the Indian Ocean, and it is a source of minerals, timber and other resources.’

  • ‘Chinese oil and gas pipelines snake across Myanmar from China’s landlocked Yunnan province to the Bay of Bengal—a route that Beijing wants to transform into a broader economic corridor with road and rail connections.’

‘For Washington, Myanmar is a place where U.S. officials saw an opening to turn a pariah into a partner, score a win for democracy and erode China’s dominance.’

  • ‘ “The dilemma for the new Biden administration is twofold: additional U.S. sanctions will have only marginal impact on the Burmese military, which is largely immune to unilateral U.S. measures,” said Daniel Russel, a former senior State Department official.’
  • ‘ “Secondly, China is only too happy to step in and support the Burmese military as part of its ongoing effort to maximize its influence in Southeast Asia,” he said.’

‘Western countries imposed sweeping sanctions against Myanmar, banning investment, trade and travel.’

  • ‘Beijing swooped in to fill the void, enriching the military elite through investments in such sectors as resource extraction and becoming the country’s primary trade partner.’

'In Myanmar, aides to Ms. Suu Kyi warned Western ambassadors that pressure on the country was pushing it closer to China.'

  • 'Beijing had become a vocal defender, blocking Western efforts for a resolution in the U.N. Security Council demanding an end to violent treatment of Rohingya. The council settled for a nonbinding statement.'
  • 'Suu Kyi’s office, in a nod to China, thanked those “who upheld the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries.” '

In January last year, China’s leader Xi Jinping made a visit to Myanmar, the first by a Chinese head of state in almost two decades.'

  • 'He signed a raft of agreements to jump-start the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, a multibillion-dollar package of infrastructure, trade and energy projects.'

More

CHINAMacroReporter

February 7, 2021
The 'Longer Telegram' & Its Discontents
Why everyone wants to be George Kennan‘In 1947 X penned his history-changing “Sources of Soviet Conduct” in Foreign Affairs,’ wrote Edward Luce in the Financial Times in 2018.‘The piece, which crystallised America’s cold war containment strategy, was the making of George F Kennan’s life-long reputation as a master of geopolitics.’‘ As the architect of a doctrine that won the cold war.’
keep reading
February 7, 2021
'Brookings experts analyze President Biden’s first foreign policy speech: Focus China'
'To respond effectively, Biden argued, America will need to rebuild leverage, e.g., by pursuing domestic renewal, investing in alliances, reestablishing U.S. leadership on the world stage, and restoring American authority in advocating for universal values.'
keep reading
February 7, 2021
'Why the ‘Longer Telegram’ Won’t Solve the China Challenge'
‘Perhaps the most problematic aspect of the 'Longer Telegram's' emphasis on Xi—“All U.S. political and policy responses to China therefore should be focused through the principal lens of Xi himself”—is the author’s conclusion that Washington should be seeking to escape from, and even try to effect the removal of, Xi’s leadership because that could restore U.S.-China relations to a potentially constructive path: “its pre-2013 path—i.e., the pre-Xi strategic status quo.” ’
keep reading
April 15, 2021
'TSMC faces pressure to choose a side in US-China tech war'
‘Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has maintained its historic position of neutrality, reflected in the company’s strategy of “being everyone’s foundry”.’
keep reading
April 14, 2021
The Belt & Road in the Post-Pandemic World
In this issue of China Macro Commentary, I have focused just on the ‘Digital Silk Road’ and how it supports the business expansion of Chinese tech companies, and on BRI ‘connectivity’ projects: ports (China is involved in 93 around the world) and on the growing China-Europe freight trains traffic (This wasn't covered sufficiently in the Report, so I included a recent article from the Wall Street Journal), plus on the U.S.'s failure to meet the BRI challenge.
keep reading
April 13, 2021
'2021 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community'
‘China increasingly is a near-peer competitor, challenging the United States in multiple arenas—especially economically, militarily, and technologically—and is pushing to change global norms.’
keep reading
April 13, 2021
In Battle With U.S. for Global Sway, China Showers Money on Europe’s Neglected Areas
‘The number of freight trains running between China and Europe topped 12,400 last year, 50% higher than in 2019 and seven times that of 2016, according to Chinese authorities.’
keep reading
April 11, 2021
'Why manufacturing matters to economic superpowers'
‘Whether such reshoring matters for national economies depends very much on the industry.’
keep reading
April 11, 2021
China in Jamie Dimon's Letter to Shareholders
‘China does not have a straight road to becoming the dominant economic power’.
keep reading
April 11, 2021
'Alibaba’s rivals on alert after China’s regulators hand out record fine'
“Everyone with a clear mind won't self-regulate, you just pretend that you do. Who will pay for the loss if you lost your competitive advantage because you self-regulated and others didn't?”
keep reading
April 10, 2021
Alibaba: 'Promote the healthy and sustainable development of the platform economy'
‘From the perspective of the long-term and healthy development of the platform economy, regulation by law and support for development are not contradictory, but are complementary and mutually reinforcing.'
keep reading
April 9, 2021
'The Best Explanation of Biden’s Economic Thinking I’ve Heard'
‘When President Biden’s thinking about the infrastructure investments necessary, a lot of it is in contraposition to what he is seeing China doing in terms of strategic investments.’
keep reading
April 8, 2021
Liu Ge: Competing with China a farfetched guise for US’ infrastructure plan
‘Historically speaking, it seems the only way for the US government to make costly public investments was to create an adversary that is presumed to threaten its security.’
keep reading
April 8, 2021
'Antony Blinken interview: The secretary of state offers a window into Biden's foreign policy decisions'
‘ “Our goal is not to contain China, hold China back, keep it down,” Blinken underlined.’
keep reading
April 8, 2021
'US adds Chinese supercomputing companies to export blacklist'
‘The Biden administration took its first trade action against China on Thursday, adding seven Chinese supercomputing developers to an export blacklist for assisting Chinese military efforts in a move that will likely further escalate frosty tensions between the world's two largest economies.’
keep reading
April 7, 2021
'Remarks by President Biden on the American Jobs Plan'
‘Look, do we think the rest of world is waiting around? Take a look. Do you think China is waiting around to invest in this digital infrastructure or in research and development?’
keep reading
April 7, 2021
China: 'Power Trader'
‘The theory of power trade better explains China’s economic and trade policies than does the theory of free trade or protectionism,’
keep reading
April 6, 2021
'Train Wreck: Ultimately companies have to choose.’
MUST READ: Bill Reinsch succinctly but brilliantly summarizes the situations in China and the U.S. and between the two.
keep reading
April 6, 2021
'Buy American!': Pushing U.S. Companies to Onshore Supply Chains
The debate about how to deal with China commercially ‘has moved in two directions: running faster—improving our innovation capabilities in critical technologies to better compete with China—and slowing China down by restricting its access to U.S. technology.’
keep reading
April 4, 2021
'Why Defending Taiwan is in the U.S. National Interest'
‘As long as Washington assesses that American security is best served by defending forward—an approach that has served the United States well over the past 70 years—Taiwan’s de facto independence will remain a key US interest and driver of American policy in Asia.’
keep reading
April 4, 2021
'Why China Is Going All "Wolf Warrior," All the Time'
‘All this is to say that, living in Beijing as I do, I think the current approach is predictable and consistent with everything else we are seeing in China in the New Era.’
keep reading
April 3, 2021
'With Swarms of Ships, Beijing Tightens Its Grip on South China Sea'
‘Not long ago, China asserted its claims on the South China Sea by building and fortifying artificial islands in waters also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia.’
keep reading
April 2, 2021
'Genesis Celebrates Launch In China With Dazzling, World Record-breaking Drone Show Over Shanghai's Iconic Skyline'
'The spectacular visuals were coordinated to present the world of Genesis, delivering an audacious storytelling concept while also breaking the Guinness World Records for "The Most Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) airborne simultaneously".’
keep reading
April 2, 2021
Mo' Infrastructure, Mo' Problems Copy
‘China’s reliance on building roads, railways and airports to support growth has caused a spike in debt, with some of that money funneled into unnecessary infrastructure and uneconomic boondoggle developments.’
keep reading
April 2, 2021
How Does the U.S. Compare to China?
Two reports from Bloomberg – ‘Biden Starts Infrastructure Bet With U.S. Far Behind China’ and ‘Biden’s Biggest-Ever Investment Plan for U.S. Still Trails China’ – highlight a few of the differences.
keep reading
April 2, 2021
USTR | '2021 National Trade Estimate Report on FOREIGN TRADE BARRIERS'
‘Made in China 2025 seeks to build up Chinese companies in the ten targeted, strategic sectors at the expense of, and to the detriment of, foreign industries and their technologies through a multi-step process over ten years.’
keep reading
April 2, 2021
‘2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure’
‘The 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure reveals we’ve made some incremental progress toward restoring our nation’s infrastructure.’ ‘For the first time in 20 years, our infrastructure is out of the D range. America's Infrastructure Scores a C-.’
keep reading
April 2, 2021
'US to make it easier for diplomats to meet Taiwanese officials'
'Plan to loosen restrictions on contacts with Taipei threatens to provoke China.'
keep reading
April 2, 2021
Biden Starts Infrastructure Bet With U.S. Far Behind China
Even though he didn’t rely solely on the China challenge to justify his new American Jobs Plan; devoted to infrastructure and more, President Biden certainly he had China in his sights. Because as Jonathan Hillman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote“The United States is entering what could be a decades-long competition in which economic and technological power will matter just as much, if not more, than military might.” “Starting this race with decaying infrastructure is like lining up for a marathon with a broken ankle.”
keep reading
April 2, 2021
President Biden Lays Out His ‘American Jobs’ Plan
‘It has become a cliché in U.S. policy circles that the best China policy is to invest in core U.S. capabilities: education, infrastructure, and research and development,’ writes Evan Medeiros of Georgetown University in ‘How to Craft a Durable China Strategy,’ in Foreign Affairs.
keep reading
April 2, 2021
'China’s Dangerous Double Game in North Korea'
‘Beijing’s North Korea policy is primarily motivated by a desire to counter U.S. power in the Asia-Pacific region and increase Chinese influence on the Korean Peninsula.
keep reading
April 2, 2021
'Japan’s Suga to Be the First Foreign Leader to Meet With Biden'
‘Japan walks a narrow line as it seeks to maintain close ties with its only military ally, the U.S., while avoiding damage to economic ties with its biggest trade partner, China.
keep reading
April 1, 2021
'Convicted in Hong Kong'
‘Everyone in the former British colony understands the message being sent from Hong Kong’s new masters in Beijing:’
keep reading
April 1, 2021
'U.S. dollar at risk as China races ahead on digital yuan'
‘So why should America care about any of this?’
keep reading
April 1, 2021
PRC Foreign Ministry Response to the USTR's 'National Trade Estimate Report'
‘The accusations and slanders made by the US against China's industrial policies are groundless.’
keep reading
March 31, 2021
'Consumer boycotts warn of trouble ahead for Western firms in China'
‘Western executives in China cannot shake an unsettling fear that this time is different.’‘Their lucrative Chinese operations are at rising risk of tumbling into the political chasm that has opened between the West and China.’
keep reading
March 31, 2021
'How the Pandemic is Changing the Belt & Road Initiative'
‘The building of roads, railways, ports, and power plants is giving way to a BRI centered on technology—primarily telecommunications, connectivity, health care, and financial services.’
keep reading

Heading

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.