Next Myanmar-Bangladesh-China Meeting on Rohingya Repatriation Set For Jan. 19

Radio Free Asia

2021-01-13

Rohingya refugees aboard a Bangladesh navy ship are relocated to a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, Dec. 29, 2020.AFP

 

A secretary-level meeting between Bangladesh and Myanmar, mediated by China, will be held on Jan. 19 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on the issue of repatriating Rohingya refugees, the Bangladeshi foreign minister said Wednesday.

Myanmar has not cooperated in ironing out issues to do with the return of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees, but Bangladesh is hopeful some headway will made at the upcoming meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs A.K. Abdul Momen told journalists.

“We hope it will be a fruitful meeting,” Momen said.

He said that China had initially set the date for Jan. 9-10, but postponed it due to Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Myanmar on Monday and Tuesday.

Rohingya Repatriation: Bangladesh-Myanmar-China tripartite talks Jan 19

daily sun 

UNB
13th January, 2021

Bangladesh, Myanmar and China will hold a tripartite meeting on Rohingya repatriation in Dhaka on January 19 as Dhaka finds their repatriation to Myanmar as only solution to the crisis.

"We hope it would be a fruitful meeting," Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told reporters on Wednesday about the tripartite talks. He said the meeting will be held at secretary level while such tripartite meeting was last held on January 20 last year.

The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh has handed over a list of 8,40,000 Rohingyas to Myanmar for verification.

"Myanmar has verified very few people. They're very slow. They verified only 42,000 people. There is serious lack of seriousness," said the Foreign Minister.

Beijing’s New Toys in Myanmar

THE I DIPLOMAT

By Amara Thiha
January 11, 2021

Infrastructure is high on China’s agenda in Myanmar, but it is also making headway in other important sectors. 

A year after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to Myanmar, Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to arrive in the capital Naypyidaw today for a two-day official visit. The trip to Myanmar follows an African tour that has taken Wang to Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Tanzania, and the Seychelles. The agenda of his Myanmar trip is yet to be confirmed, but the ongoing progress of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), along with COVID-19 diplomacy, is very likely to be high on the list.

First signed between China and Myanmar in 2018, the CMEC envisions the construction of a network of railways, roads, ports, and new cities running overland from China’s Yunnan province to the sea. Although numerous memorandum of agreements related to CMEC and Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have been in place for years, progress has lagged considerably. Indeed, progress on the CMEC seems to have been slowed further by Beijing’s pandemic-induced belt-tightening and the unprofitable nature of many of the infrastructure projects that fell under its aegis. This had prompted Beijing to adopt an alternative model of engagement in Myanmar: one that is more economically feasible, and that leverages its strategic assets, innovation, and technology to expand its sphere of influence, rather than focusing on infrastructure alone.

CORRECTED-Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi visits Myanmar in SE Asia tour, promises vaccines

REUTERS

Healthcare

Sam Aung Moon
January 11, 2021

YANGON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed closer cooperation with Myanmar and promised vaccines against COVID-19, state-run television said on Monday, after he arrived on the first stop of a five-day tour of Southeast Asia.

Wang met President Win Myint and Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto head of the government whose National League for Democracy (NLD) was returned to power in November with a second successive landslide election victory.

China’s BRI Dream Could Turn Nightmare As Myanmar Puts ‘Roadblocks’ Before Key Infra Projects

The Eur Asian Times

Jayanta Kalita
January 9, 2021

Unlike China’s ‘iron brother’ Pakistan, which has rolled out the red carpet for its BRI projects, Southeast Asian nation Myanmar is set to clip the wings of the dragon.

China may be aiming to conquer the world with its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) undermining local sentiments in certain host countries, but the dragon is not invincible it seems. Myanmar is one country where citizens are resisting aggressive and intrusive policies Beijing is known for.

A global infrastructure strategy, BRI reflects President Xi Jinping’s dream of taking China to the ‘numero uno’ spot in the world. It envisages road, rail, and port projects in six economic corridors spread across Southeast Asia, South Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe.

No wonder, the Communist regime has already incorporated the BRI in the country’s Constitution as China plans to invest $1.5 trillion in the next decade.

According to global financial services group Nomura, more than 80 countries are likely to benefit from the BRI project. At the same time, it “will have enormous economic, geopolitical and investment implications for China”, Nomura warns. 

India says China arming rebels near borders

THE STRAITS TIMES 

Dec 8, 2020, 

Modi govt told of 4 most wanted insurgent leaders in Kunming to train, source for arms

Increased activity along the Myanmar border has sparked concern that India's military is becoming stretched as tensions remain with China and Pakistan on other parts of its land border.PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW DELHI • Indian officials say China is assisting rebel groups that have stepped up attacks on India's border with Myanmar in recent months, opening another front in the conflict between two nations already engaged in a deadly stand-off in the Himalayas.

Armed groups in Myanmar - including the United Wa State Army and the Arakan Army, which was designated a terrorist organisation this year - are acting as Beijing's proxies by supplying weapons and providing hideouts to insurgent groups in India's north-eastern states, according to Indian officials with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be identified due to rules on speaking with the media.

India Accuses China of Helping Rebel Groups on Myanmar Border

Bloomberg

Sudhi Ranjan Sen
7 December 2020,

• India sent thousands of troops to region as tensions increased
• China denies supplying weapons to ‘non-state actors’
  

Photographer: Ye Aung Thu/AFP/Getty Images

Indian officials say China is assisting rebel groups that have stepped up attacks on its border with Myanmar in recent months, opening another front in the conflict between two nations already engaged in a deadly standoff in the Himalayas.

Armed groups in Myanmar -- including the United Wa State Army and the Arakan Army, which was designated a terrorist organization this year -- are acting as Beijing’s proxies by supplying weapons and providing hideouts to insurgent groups in India’s northeastern states, according to Indian officials with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be identified due to rules for speaking with the media.

'US remarks on Chinese role over Rohingya issue inappropriate'

Prothum Alo------ 

Prothom Alo English Desk

Dhaka

22 October 2020, 

 

Rohingya refugee camps in BangladeshReuters file photo

The Chinese embassy in Dhaka has reacted to US' claim that China has done very little to resolve the Rohingya issue terming it 'inappropriate and not constructive at all'.

The embassy in a post shared on its verified Facebook page said Stephen E Biegun, US deputy secretary of state, during a press briefing in Washington DC summarising his trip to India and Bangladesh said that China 'has unfortunately done very little to help resolve the Rohingya issue', reports UNB.

Bangladesh Will Wage a Quiet Battle with China and Russia Over the Rohingya

THE NATIONAL INTREST
by Anders Corr
November 6, 2020

Dhaka could diplomatically distance itself from Beijing and Moscow for insufficiently supporting it on critical issues such as refugees, trade, water and climate change.

Two of the most important political figures in Bangladesh, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and Ambassador Muhammad Zamir, did a remarkable thing on Oct. 31. They indicated publicly that Bangladesh could diplomatically distance itself from China and Russia for insufficiently supporting Bangladesh on critical issues such as water, refugees, trade, and climate change.

 

US senators seek to declare China 'genocide' against Uighurs

DECCAN HERALD

10:33 istupdated: Oct 28 2020, 10:33 ist

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/us-senators-seek-to-declare-china-genocide-against-uighurs-908106.html

AFP, Washington, Oct 28 2020, 10:33 istupdated: Oct 28 2020, 10:33 ist

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/us-senators-seek-to-declare-china-genocide-against-uighurs-908106.html

AFP, Washington, Oct 28 2020, 10:33 istupdated: Oct 28 2020, 10:33 ist

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/us-senators-seek-to-declare-china-genocide-against-uighurs-908106.html

AFP, Washington, Oct 28 2020, 10:33 istupdated: Oct 28 2020, 10:33 ist

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/us-senators-seek-to-declare-china-genocide-against-uighurs-908106.html

AFP, Washington, Oct 28 2020,

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/us-senators-seek-to-declare-china-genocide-against-uighurs-908106.html

AFP Washinton
Oct 28 2020, 

 

US senators sought October 27, 2020 to declare that China is committing genocide against Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims, a step that could ramp up pressure on behalf of the estimated one million-plus people in camps. Credit: AFP Photo

 

 US senators sought Tuesday to declare that China is committing genocide against Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims, a step that could ramp up pressure on behalf of the estimated one million-plus people in camps.

China’s hand seen in Myanmar’s insurgent group targeting India-backed Kaladan project

Hundustan Time

Rezaul H Laskar | Edited by Sparshita Saxena
Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Updated: Oct 26, 2020,

File photo: Workers seen on the Indian side of the Kaladan project at Lawngtlai in Mizoram.(HT Photo)
 

 The Arakan Army, an insurgent group whose activities have severely affected the India-backed Kaladan multi-modal transport project in Myanmar, has benefited from the clandestine transfer and smuggling of Chinese-made weaponry, people familiar with developments said on Monday.

The group, designated a terrorist organisation by Naypyitaw, clashed with Myanmarese troops on nearly 600 occasions last year, and a majority of the skirmishes occurred in close proximity to the $480-million Kaladan project.

India Transfers Myanmar’s First Submarine Amid Tensions with China

THE I DIPLOMAT

By Blake Herzinger
October 27, 2020

he submarine acquisition fulfills a long-held ambition of the Myanmar Navy, but could prove costly in the long run.

The long-awaited transfer of a Russian-made Kilo-class submarine from India to Myanmar took place last week during Myanmar’s Bandoola fleet exercise. The submarine, UMS Min Ye Thein Kha Thu, a decades-old diesel boat, is only a single vessel but it has significance in Myanmar’s immediate neighborhood and is also indicative of the increasing strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific.

Myanmar will take back Rohingya from Bangladesh: China

AA

Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh

25.10.2020 

Myanmar has told China it is willing to take back Rohingya refugees currently living in Bangladesh, according to the Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said China’s top diplomat Wang Yi conveyed this information to his Bangladeshi counterpart AK Abdul Momen in a phone call on Thursday night.

OP-ED: Bangladesh is being held hostage

Dhaka Tribune  

Anis Alamgir

October 12th, 2020

Abandoned by all BIGSTOCK

With little support from the international arena, what is the future of the Rohingya in Bangladesh?

On October 5, Vikram Doraiswami, the newly appointed Indian High Commissioner to the country, arrived in Bangladesh. He told reporters at the land port in Akhaura: “Bangladesh is one of India’s closest friends, and thus we are eager to continue and enhance our bilateral relationship with this neighbouring country.”

Beijing is now more interested in keeping Bangladesh as a development partner through the continuous effort of distancing Dhaka from Delhi. Recently, Sino-Indian relations with Bangladesh are looking great, but the reality is different.

Why China wants Suu Kyi to win Myanmar’s polls

ASIA TIMES
by Bertil Lintner
September 3, 2020

China’s interests will be better served by the Suu Kyi-led status quo than a return to military-dominated rule 

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi shake hands before a bilateral meeting at the Presidential Palace in Naypyidaw on January 18, 2020. Photo: AFP/ Nyein Chan Naing/Pool 

BANGKOK – As Myanmar enters an election season, the economy, Covid-19 and issues of war and peace are expected to dominate the campaign trail discourse.

But for the international community, speculation centers on which direction foreign policy will likely take after the poll: toward an even stronger and closer relationship with China or a shift towards a more independent posture.

China’s Top Diplomat Checks in on Myanmar Projects

THE I DIPLOMAT
By Sebastian Strangio
September 03, 2020

Yang Jiechi’s visit is a sign of the complications China faces in advancing its strategic interests in Myanmar. 

On Tuesday, Yang Jiechi, the head of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party, paid a short visit to Myanmar as part of a globe-spanning tour that will also take him to Greece and Spain. Coming almost eight months after President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Myanmar in January, Yang’s stop in Naypyidaw was aimed at shoring up key areas of bilateral cooperation ahead of Myanmar’s upcoming elections on November 8, which the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) is widely expected to win.

Chinese Investment in Myanmar: Beyond Myitsone Dam

THE I DIPLOMAT
By Ruosui Zhang
July 22, 2020

How national security concerns sealed the varying fates of Chinese investment projects in Myanmar.

Almost nine years have passed since the Thein Sein administration unilaterally announced the suspension of construction work on the Myitsone dam in September 2011. The building of the controversial hydroelectric dam is a gargantuan Chinese investment project in Myanmar, with an estimated total cost of $3.6 billion, and with a planned reservoir area larger than the size of Singapore. The suspension followed increasingly severe public protests in Myanmar expressing opposition to the Myitsone dam project. Naypyidaw credited the suspension decision to the “people’s will, and many analysts have thus attributed the unexpected suspension to the victory of popular anti-China sentiments and anti-dam movements, following Myanmar’s domestic political transition. If the “people’s will” really brought the Myitsone dam project to a halt, might other Chinese overseas projects be at risk of a similar fate?

Weapons originating from China: India seeks probe findings from Thailand, Myanmar

OneIndia
Vicky Nanjappa
Tuesday, July 21, 2020

New Delhi, July 21: India has asked Thailand and Myanmar to share the details of a probe in which illegal arms originating from China were seized. It may be recalled that the Royal Thai Army had intercepted a big consignment of illegal arms and ammunition. The ammunition having its origin in China was smuggled into Myanmar.

Representational Image

New Delhi's envoy to Bangkok, Suchitra Durai held a meeting with Unsit Sampuntharat, governor of the Tok province of Thailand. Local police and immigration officials too were present at the meeting. India is keen to find out about the renewed flow of illegal weapons that originate from China.

US, Chinese embassies in Myanmar exchange barbs

TAIPEI TIMES
Reuters
Mon, Jul 20, 2020

REGIONAL RIVALRY: The US embassy said Beijing was trying to undermine the sovereignty of its neighbors, while the Chinese said the US statement was sour grapes

The Chinese embassy in Myanmar yesterday accused the US of “outrageously smearing” the China and driving a wedge with its Southeast Asian neighbors over the contested South China Sea and Hong Kong, as tensions mount between the superpowers.

UK accuses China of 'gross' human rights abuses against Uighurs

B B C

19 July 2020 

 China's ambassador Liu Xiaoming: "There is no such concentration camp in Xinjiang"

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has accused China of "gross and egregious" human rights abuses against its Uighur population and said sanctions against those responsible cannot be ruled out.

Reports of forced sterilisation and wider persecution of the Muslim group were "reminiscent of something not seen for a long time", he told the BBC.