![]() ![]() ![]() Meanwhile, civil society groups in Myanmar plan to submit an open letter to Xi, urging the total cancellation of the Myitsone Dam project. He added that the two sides would sign agreements on forming two joint committees for bilateral trade and economic cooperation. "The leaders will also discuss the high-speed railroad project to connect Kyaukpyu and Kumin, China," said Aung. ![]() The port project gives Beijing strategic access to the India Ocean and will reduce its reliance in maritime trade on the narrow and congested Strait of Malacca between Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. "The talks would focus on three issues: One is for a concessional agreement for a deep sea port project in Kyaukphyu township in Rakhine," said Aung. Myanmar officials said in a press conference last week that the leaders of the two countries would discuss how to boost bilateral trade and Chinese projects in Myanmar.ĭeputy commerce minister Aung Htoo told Anadolu Agency that the Myitsone Dam project was not on the agenda of the visit. "Efforts need to be made to promote the three pillars of the CMEC, namely the Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone, the China-Myanmar Border Economic Cooperation Zone and the New Yangon City," said Xi in his article. "Our two sides need to deepen results-oriented Belt and Road cooperation and move from a conceptual stage to concrete planning and implementation in building the CMEC. It is widely seen as a strategic economic corridor under the BRI, an ambitious project to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks to boost trade and stimulate economic growth. The CMEC plans to connect China's Yunnan Province with Myanmar's second largest city Mandalay, and then stretch to Yangon and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. "We have signed cooperation documents on building the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) and established a joint CMEC committee to oversee steady progress," he said. ![]() "With Myanmar as an important partner country of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), our two sides have capitalized on the convergence of our development strategies," Xi said in the article. On Wednesday, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar daily published an article written by Xi. He is scheduled to meet his counterpart Win Myint on Friday. Xi, who visited Myanmar as vice-president in 2009, arrived in the country's political capital Nay Pyi Taw on Friday evening. "The message to President Xi is very clear: Please cancel the Myitsone project," said Aung. The previous government led by reformist president Thein Sein suspended the controversial Chinese-led Myitsone dam project in 2011 following growing public criticism. He added that the main purpose of the protest would be to deliver the message that locals did not support a Chinese-backed mega-project for a dam at the confluence of the country’s longest Ayeyawaddy River. "We will then march to the Chinese embassy to submit a letter of our demands," Aung told Anadolu Agency on Friday. We are, however, allowed to do it tomorrow in downtown Yangon," said organizer Aung Soe. "Police did not grant us permission for the demonstration at the Chinese embassy today. More than 100 police officers have been deployed in the Chinese embassy in Myanmar's commercial hub Yangon since Thursday, ahead of a two-day visit by the Chinese president in the country.Īctivists planned to stage anti-China demonstrations in front of Chinese embassy in Yangon on Friday, but the authorities' measures forced them to stand down. Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is expected to be a primary issue of discussion in Myanmar on Friday during a landmark official state visit by the Chinese president to the country. ![]()
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