President of Burma Thein Sein will make visit the United States after
concluding his current China trip. He has been visiting China for a trade fair
since 18 September. It is Thein Sein’s second trip to China since he became
head of state in March 2011.
President Thein Sein is attending
the 9th China-Asean Expo and the China-Asean Investment Summit. The 9th Expo in
Nanning aims to promote economic cooperation between China and ASEAN. Burma was
named the trade fair’s “Country of Honor” this year and the President spoke at
the opening ceremony on behalf of the ASEAN-member states to launch the event,
which runs from September 21 to 25.
Relation between China and Burma
(Myanmar) has become a little strained recently as Burma moves closer to the
US. However, according to Reuters News, during a meeting on the sidelines of a
trade fair in southern China, Thein Sein said Beijing should not worry.
“Myanmar is at present in a
transitional phase, but Myanmar pays great attention to developing relations
with China, and its policy of seeing China has a true friend has not changed,”
China’s foreign ministry cited Thein Sein as telling Chinese Vice President Xi
Jinping.
In the wake of the postponement
of the controversial Myitsone dam in Burma, China Power Investment Corp.
President Lu Qizhou said the project’s suspension by the Burmese government in
September 2011 was an upset. It will
lead to a series of legal issues, he said.
According to Chinese media, CPI
representatives have repeatedly met with Burmese officials to lift the dam
suspension and in April CPI visited relocated villagers to assure them that the
dam will be beneficial. CPI is the project implementer for a series of seven
dams on the Irrawaddy and its tributaries in war-torn Kachin State to sell
electricity to China, Kachin Development Networking Group said.
Ahead of the 9th Trade Fair in
Nanning, President Thein Sein visited Yanglin Northwest Agriculture &
Forest University of Yanglin High Tech Agriculture Sector Demonstration
District on September 19, according to The New Light of Myanmar daily.
Rector of Yezin Agriculture
University of Burma Dr Tin Htut and Mr. Sun Quxin signed a MoU for cooperation
between the two universities and exchanged documents in the presence of President Thein Sein and party.
As a symbol of greeting, Mr Sun
Quxin conferred the honorary doctorate degree on the President. The President said
in his acceptance speech that he thanked the University for conferring the
honorary doctorate degree on him for his poverty eradication efforts through
rural development tasks undertaking in Myanmar (Burma) and he was encouraged by
it.
It looks as if China has been
trying to keep Burma within its influential sphere since the ASEAN-member
country has also been seeking to join in the US-led Cobra Gold military
exercise in the Pacific. A senior Thai army officer was quoted by Japan’s Kyodo
News saying that Burma expressed an interest in joining the Cobra Gold annual
military exercises in the future. China may be concerned about military
relations between Burma and the US.
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