China’s
exploding appetites have unleashed a wholesale looting of Myanmar’s
valuable natural resources. While this often involves outright theft, it
also comes in the form of crony capitalism. Myanmar’s military elite
has deals with Chinese companies that are eager to exploit the land,
with little concern for the environment or people. The Kachin
Independence Army, a rebel group that controls part of northeastern
Myanmar, also takes a cut of some of this trade with China, especially
jade hacked out of the earth by impoverished, heroin-addicted laborers.
This
week, Chinese government officials were in Myanmar to investigate the
detention of Chinese citizens suspected of illegal logging. Illegal
timber sales to China, especially of Myanmar’s dwindling stocks of
rosewood, have been a big problem, with the Environmental Investigation
Agency, a nongovernmental group, warning that the trees could be extinct
within three years.
China’s
insatiable demand for tiger and leopard parts, bear bile and pangolins
has helped to transform the town of Mong La, near the Chinese border,
into a seedy center of animal trafficking, prostitution and gambling.
Myanmar’s tiger population is by most estimates less than 70.
The
pursuit of the valuable copper deposits in the country, formerly called
Burma, has led to violence against Burmese who dare to object to the
environmental and human costs. In 2012, the Myanmar police apparently
used white phosphorus smoke bombs, usually reserved for warfare, to
quell protesters angry over evictions to make room for the Letpadaung
copper mine in central Myanmar, a joint venture between China’s Wanbao
Mining company and the Myanmar military’s business arm. Last month,
police officers opened fire on residents who were protesting evictions
in the area, killing one woman with a shot to the head.
The
people of Myanmar — as the protests make clear — want this plunder
stopped. The country needs foreign investment that is respectful of
human rights and the environment. It will be up to President Thein Sein
to rein in the corruption and crony deals that are stripping away
resources and creating political instability.
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