China playing role in its own way

[Banglar Bir]

China’s FM to visit Bangladesh, Myanmar to mediate in Rohingya crisis
SAM Report, November 18, 2017

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will head to Myanmar and Bangladesh this weekend in a bid to shore up Beijing’s influence in the region and mediate in the deepening Rohingya refugee crisis.
The visit comes amid mounting international criticism of Myanmar’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi who has failed to resolve the humanitarian crisis, which has seen more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims flee Myanmar’s Buddhist-majority Rakhine state to Bangladesh since late August.

Despite Beijing’s opposition, the United Nations General Assembly’s human rights committee on Thursday endorsed a resolution by an overwhelming 135 votes to 10 calling on Myanmar’s authorities to end military operations against the Rohingya.

The resolution, which was also opposed by Russia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia and Zimbabwe, also urged the government under the de facto leader Suu Kyi to ensure the voluntary return of all refugees and grant full citizenship rights to the Rohingya.

Beijing has emerged as the top supporter of the embattled Suu Kyi, who has so far rejected accusations of rights abuses in the protracted crisis.

China is behind a US$7.3 billion deep-water port in Rakhine, which plays a pivotal role in Beijing’s belt and road trade initiative, and a US$2.45 billion oil and gas pipeline project that went into operation in April, linking the remote coast of Rakhine to southwestern China’s Yunnan province, 770km away.

On Friday, State Grid Corporation of China launched a power transmission line and a substation project in Shwebo in Myanmar’s northwestern Sagain region, and Myanmar has also bought FC-1 Xiaolong multi-role combat aircraft from China.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Thursday that Wang would go to Bangladesh first and then Myanmar where he would meet his counterparts and exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of mutual regional concern.

In a joint international effort to pile pressure on Myanmar, foreign ministers from Germany, Sweden and Japan, along with European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini will also visit the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka this weekend to mediate in the crisis.

Wang will also attend a two-day meeting of Asian and European foreign ministers in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, starting on Monday, which is likely to be overshadowed by the Rohingya issue, according to the Dhaka-based Bangla Tribune.

Diplomatic pundits said Beijing had taken an unusually high profile in backing Suu Kyi on the Rohingya issue after the Nobel Peace Prize laureate faced widespread condemnation over the treatment of about 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims.

China has voiced its support for what it calls the Myanmar government’s efforts to protect stability, and repeatedly resisted stronger UN involvement in addressing the crisis. In March, Beijing blocked a UN Security Council statement on the Rohingya issue.

“As a major regional power bordering resource-rich Myanmar, China apparently has a lot of geopolitical and economic interests in the country, including in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state, which has been engulfed by the refugee crisis,” Du Jifeng, a Southeast Asian affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.

China, which provided unwavering support for Myanmar’s military junta over two decades, has also invested extensively in the nascent democracy in a bid to compete for influence with the United States and other Western powers.

“However, without Beijing’s backing, diplomatic efforts to pressure Suu Kyi are unlikely to yield any results,” Du said. Instead, the US and European countries were likely to take unilateral action against Myanmar.

Wang’s trip to Myanmar, which follows US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s five-hour visit on Wednesday, was also clearly aimed at shoring up Beijing’s position in Myanmar to counter Washington’s influence, Du said.
SOURCE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
https://southasianmonitor.com/2017/11/18/chinas-fm-visit-bangladesh-myanmar-mediate-rohingya-crisis/

 

[Banglar Bir]

China wants to facilitate Bangladesh-Myanmar dialogue over Rohingya crisis
Prothom Alo English Desk | Update: 00:29, Nov 19, 2017

Visiting Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on Saturday expressed his country's willingness to facilitate talks between Bangladesh and Myanmar to resolve the protracted Rohingya crisis which has hit Bangladesh hard, reports UNB.
Wang Yi made the offer when he met prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganobhaban.

PM's press secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed newsmen after the meeting.

He said the visiting Chinese foreign minister mentioned that Rohingya issue is the internal problem of Myanmar, but this is affecting Bangladesh.

"China is willing to facilitate a dialogue between Myanmar and Bangladesh to resolve the Rohingya crisis. This is a big challenge for Bangladesh...this is Myanmar's internal problem, but this is affecting Bangladesh," Ihsanul Karim quoted the Chinese foreign minister as saying.

The Chinese foreign minister said his country does not want the activities of BCIM Economic Corridor to slow down because of the Rohingya issue.

Sheikh Hasina urged the Chinese foreign minister to mount pressure on Myanmar to take back their nationals.

She said Bangladesh has given shelter to over one million Rohingyas on humanitarian ground. "Myanmar will have to take back their nationals ensuring their safety, security and dignity for a durable solution to the crisis," she said.

Hasina mentioned that Rohingyas are Myanmar nationals and they have to take back their citizens from Bangladesh as the relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar are good.

The prime minister narrated the plight of the Rohingya people in Bangladesh, especially the women and children, and said a good number of Rohingya women are pregnant.

Iterating the government's stance not to allow the land of Bangladesh for using by any terrorist group to commit any acts of insurgency in neighbouring countries, she said, "This is our firm decision."

The Chinese foreign minister recalled prime minister Sheikh Hasina's visits to China in 2010 and 2014 as well as the visit of the Chinese president to Bangladesh in October last year.

He said he is now touring Bangladesh to see the progress of Strategic Partner Cooperation that the two countries agreed for it during the Chinese president's visit to Bangladesh.

On Bangladesh-China economic cooperation, Wang Yi said his country's concessional loan now has crossed five billion dollars. "China wants to help Bangladesh more under the South-South cooperation," he said.

The Chinese foreign minister also conveyed their president's greetings to Sheikh Hasina.
http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/134920/China-wants-to-facilitate-Bangladesh-Myanmar

 

[Banglar Bir]

Bangladesh to reject China’s proposals on Rohingya crisis
Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
Published at 08:47 PM November 18, 2017

Bangladesh will continue to hold dialogue with Myanmar to resolve the refugee crisis
The government plans to reject a proposal by China recommending Bangladesh seek a bilateral solution to the ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis with Myanmar.

The Bangladesh government will speak in favour of international pressure on Myanmar, and will reject China’s offer for mediating an agreement with Myanmar during a meeting scheduled for Saturday.

The meeting will be attended by Bangladesh Minister of Foreign Affairs AH Mahmud Ali and his Chinese counterpart Wang YI, a government official told the Bangla Tribune.

The official added that Bangladesh will continue to hold dialogue with Myanmar to resolve the refugee crisis, but the international community must remain involved in the matter.

China has been recommending Bangladesh reach a bilateral solution to the Rohingya issue with Myanmar, and advised against involving the international community.

Chinese special envoy of Asian Affairs Sun Guoxiang pressed this issue during his visit to Dhaka earlier on November this year.

Addressing the matter, the government official said: “Bangladesh has held bilateral discussions with Myanmar over the Rohingya issue on numerous occasions, but had failed to make any headway in resolving the crisis.

“As soon as Bangladesh changed its stance and sought involvement from the international community, attempts to resolve the crisis began,” the official added.

“We do not think China’s offer to help solve the Rohingya crisis, and the recommendation of not involving the international community is acceptable.”

The official also said Bangladesh does not agree with China’s stance on dealing with the Rohingya refugee crisis, and will continue to hold dialogue with the international community, including China, to bring the refugee crisis to an end.

On October 25, following a meeting with Chinese special envoy Sun Guoxiang, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque told reporters: “We have presented our stance over the matter. I told him [Guoxiang] when he visited Bangladesh six months ago, there were only 400,000 Rohingya refugees, now there are over 1,000,000.”

“This is the gravity of the situation,” Shahidul had said.

The foreign secretary had also admitted that China is recommending that Bangladesh should seek a bilateral solution to the Rohingya refugee issue with Myanmar.
This article was first published on Bangla Tribune
http://www.dhakatribune.com/banglad...1/18/bangladesh-reject-china-rohingya-crisis/

 

[BitHeroBD]

Not overly optimistic about diplomatic solutions. As someone else pointed out, ban needs to train + fund a Rohingya insurgency.

 

[EastBengalPro]

Not overly optimistic about diplomatic solutions. As someone else pointed out, ban needs to train + fund a Rohingya insurgency.

Diplomatic success doesnt come overnight. You need to give it sometime. Military options is the last weapon to try once all other options fail.

 

[Banglar Bir]

2:47 PM, November 20, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 01:18 PM, November 20, 2017
China draws 3-stage path for Myanmar, Bangladesh to resolve Rohingya crisis

China has proposed a three-phase plan for resolving the Rohingya crisis, starting with a ceasefire in Myanmar's Rakhine State so that refugees can return from Bangladesh, China's foreign ministry said ahead of meeting of European and Asian officials in Myanmar on Monday, November 20, 2017. In this Reuters photo taken yesterday, Rohingya refugees walk towards a refugee camp after crossing the border in Anjuman Para near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Reuters, Naypyitaw
China has proposed a three-phase plan for resolving the Rohingya crisis, starting with a ceasefire in Myanmar's Rakhine State so that refugees can return from Bangladesh, China's foreign ministry said ahead of meeting of European and Asian officials in Myanmar on Monday.
More than 600,000 Muslim Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh since late August driven out by a military clearance operation in Buddhist majority Myanmar's Rakhine State.
Also READ: China wants to facilitate bilateral dialogue
The refugees’ suffering has caused an international outcry.

The foreign ministers Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM, opening in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw is an important multilateral diplomatic gathering which happens once every two years and is designed to discuss issues between Asia and Europe. The meeting was scheduled to take place in Myanmar before the outbreak of the current crisis.
READ more: Europe stands by Bangladesh
Read More

Violence in Rakhine State: Deadly attacks in Myanmar kill 89

Fresh influx on
Speaking in Naypyitaw on Sunday having arrived from Dhaka, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China believed that the Rohingya crisis could be addressed by a solution acceptable to neighbours Myanmar and Bangladesh through consultations. "The first phase it to effect a ceasefire on the ground, to return to stability and order, so the people can enjoy peace and no longer be forced to flee," China's foreign ministry said in a statement citing Wang.

"With the hard work of all sides, at present the first phase's aim has already basically been achieved, and the key is to prevent a flare-up, especially that there is no rekindling the flames of war."
Also READ: The other face of today’s humanity
After a ceasefire is seen to be working, Wang said bilateral dialogue should follow to find a workable solution, and the third and final phase should be to work toward a long-term solution based on poverty alleviation.

Wang said poverty was the root cause of the conflict.

Myanmar's military has said that all fighting against the Rohingya Islamist militants died out on Sept.5, but it remains on guard against incursions by fighters who had fled to Bangladesh with the refugees.

The refugee crisis erupted after the military launched a brutal counter-insurgency operation against the militants after attacks on an army base and dozens of police security posts in Rakhine on Aug. 25.

The group behind those attacks, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), had declared a one-month ceasefire on Sept.10, which was rejected by the government. But there have been no serious clashes since.

Visiting Myanmar last week, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson condemned ARSA's attacks, and voiced support for Myanmar's transition to democracy under the civilian administration led by Nobel peace price winner Aung San Suu Kyi. But Tillerson also called for a credible investigation into reports of human rights abuses against the Rohingya committed by Myanmar's security forces, whose generals retain autonomy over defence, internal security and border issues.
Increased engagement
The United States and other Western countries have become more engaged with Myanmar in recent years, since it began a transition to civilian government after nearly 50 years of military rule.

Federica Mogherini, the European Union foreign policy chief, was expected to address the ASEM gathering, having also visited Bangladesh over the weekend.

Myanmar state media said the meeting was being attended by senior officials of the ASEAN Secretariat, 28 member countries of the EU, two non-EU member countries, 10 member countries of ASEAN, 11 countries of northeast and south Asia totalling 51 countries.

China has close relations with both Myanmar and Bangladesh, and has long been a key player in lawless borderlands where rebel ethnic groups have fought Myanmar's government for decades. The conflict in those border regions have occasionally pushed thousands of refugees to seek shelter in China.

Since the Rohingya crisis, China has repeatedly expressed support for what it calls the Myanmar government's efforts to protect stability.

Myanmar and Bangladesh officials began talks last month to settle a repatriation process for refugees, and Bangladesh's foreign minister expects to take those talks to the next level in coming days.

The international community and the United Nations Security Council should give encouragement and support to both countries "to create the necessary conditions and a good environment", the ministry's statement quoted Wang as saying at a joint press conference with Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de facto leader.
http://www.thedailystar.net/rohingy...ine-bangladesh-asem-wang-yi-naypyitaw-1493917