With Aung San Suu Kyi’s Rise, China and Myanmar Face New Relationship

China anticipated an election win in Myanmar by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar and invited her for a meeting with President Xi Jinping. “Among ordinary people in Myanmar, China is seen as a heavy-handed northern neighbor largely interested in extracting valuable natural resources like timber and jade – and prone to plundering the land to build pipelines and a vast hydroelectric dam at Myitsone on the Irrawaddy River,” writes Jane Perlez for the New York Times. China also continues to lend support to major rebel groups. Results are not final, but the National League for Democracy won 291 of 491 seats and the governing party won 33. The government in recent years has nurtured ties with the West to lessen dependence on China. China and Suu Kyi may not trust each other, but both could be pragmatic, working on economic growth to reduce poverty in Myanmar where the gross national income per capita is less than $1200. – YaleGlobal