YANGON, MYANMAR \u2013 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has promised to provide Myanmar with 300,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine, according to the website of State Counselor and de facto head of state Aung San Suu Kyi.<\/p>\n
The site said Wang also pledged during a visit to Naypyitaw this week that China will maintain momentum on a number of bilateral projects.<\/p>\n
Wang\u2019s visit Monday came as part of a Southeast Asia tour extending through Saturday that includes Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines. This was Myanmar\u2019s first diplomatic visit since last year\u2019s election, in which Suu Kyi\u2019s National League for Democracy party secured a majority of seats in the legislature.<\/p>\n
It was Wang\u2019s fifth visit to Myanmar since the NLD first won elections in 2015.\u00a0 He participated in Chinese President Xi Jinping\u2019s visit here a year ago, when the two countries signed more than 30 bilateral agreements.<\/p>\n
A day before the latest visit, Myanmar and China signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct a feasibility study on a 650-kilometer railway project to link Mandalay \u2014 Myanmar\u2019s second-largest city \u2014 with Kyaukphyu, a major city in Rakhine state.<\/p>\n
The project is essential to Chinese efforts to gain direct access to the Indian Ocean, including a deep-sea port and the start of a pair of 700-kilometer oil and gas pipelines running from the border with China\u2019s Yunnan province<\/p>\n
Political analysts in Myanmar said that the reasons for this visit were to congratulate the NLD on the election victory, to implement the MOU agreements signed during Xi\u2019s visit, and to supply Myanmar with COVID-19 vaccines.<\/p>\n
Pandemic diplomacy<\/strong><\/p>\n Khin Zaw Win, director of the Tampadita Institute, a Yangon advocacy organization, told VOA that China wants to sell COVID-19 vaccines to Myanmar before other countries do.<\/p>\n \u201cMyanmar first ordered a lot of COVID-19 vaccines from India,\u201d he said, \u201cBut, China wants to sell them first.\u201d<\/p>\n Myanmar\u2019s embassy in Beijing released a statement December 31 saying Chinese vaccines would arrive early this year.\u00a0 According to the statement, Ambassador Myo Thant Pe met with officials from China National Pharmaceutical Group and Sinovac Biotech, Chinese vaccine producers which received emergency-use approval from Xi\u2019s government in June.<\/p>\n The Chinese government and investors have donated medical aid to Myanmar during the pandemic. As of January 12, Myanmar had more than 200,000 reported COVID-19 cases and more than 2,800 related deaths.<\/p>\n Biggest creditor, second-largest investor<\/strong><\/p>\n China is Myanmar\u2019s biggest creditor. Myanmar owes 40% of its $10 billion foreign debt to China. It invests in almost every state and region of Myanmar, mostly in the power sector, which accounts for 57% of total Chinese investment. Many rights groups have raised human rights concerns over China\u2019s investment in Myanmar.<\/p>\n More than 50 civil society organizations sent an open letter to Xi during his visit to Myanmar in January of last year. The organizations demanded that Xi review Chinese investment projects and to follow international standards regarding respect for historical and cultural locations, and implementation of a fair border trade policy that doesn\u2019t favor Chinese buyers or sellers.<\/p>\n The issue came up because of complaints at the low prices Chinese buyers were willing to pay for Myanmar fruits and vegetables.<\/p>\n Equality Myanmar, a human rights organization based in Myanmar, was one of the 52 organizations that addressed an open letter to Xi.<\/p>\n Aung Myo Min, the organization\u2019s director, told VOA that Chinese investors \u201chave weaknesses in following the rules and regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why we are always monitoring Chinese investment companies with human rights concerns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Wang also met in Naypyitaw with Min Aung Hlaing, the commander in chief of Myanmar\u2019s army, known as the Tatmadaw, which is guaranteed 25% of the seats in the parliament. Myanmar\u2019s chief commander raised allegations about the election, which renewed the NLD\u2019s mandate to form the government.<\/p>\n Military officials said Min Aung Hlaing and Wang had discussed \u201cflaws in voter lists\u201d that made \u201cthe election unjust.\u201d<\/p>\n