China has stepped up its involvement in Myanmar’s conflict as rebels continue to advance, with Beijing recently asking the junta to allow Chinese private military companies to operate in the neighboring country.

The Burmese junta is reportedly still considering the proposal.

After nearly four years of conflict, Myanmar resistance forces now control more than half of the country and occupy key trade routes on the Myanmar-China border. The junta has also suffered several military defeats over the past 12 months, alarming Beijing.

“China owns billions of dollars in geostrategic assets in Myanmar, including the China-Myanmar pipeline project, which represents the sole source of oil and gas delivery to China’s southwest provinces” , said Jason Tower, Myanmar country director at the United States of America Institute. Peace, DW said.

“After the Myanmar military’s repeated security failures, China is moving to take a much more direct role in the security of the pipeline, state-owned mining projects, and infrastructure and connectivity projects commercial plans,” Tower added.

China’s ‘neocolonial agenda’ for Myanmar

With China also being Myanmar’s largest trading partner and a key arms supplier to the junta, it appears Beijing is determined to keep the military regime afloat. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Myanmar in August, while junta leader Min Aung Hlaing visited China in November to meet Prime Minister Li Qiang and, among other appointments, address a gathering of Chinese business leaders.

But Beijing’s proximity to the junta has also fueled anti-Chinese sentiment in Myanmar, with the Chinese consulate in Mandalay targeted by a small explosive device last month.

Khin Ohmar, a Burmese activist and founder of Progressive Voice of Myanmar, says China’s support for the junta is clear.

“China has intensified its aggression against the sovereignty of the people of Myanmar by threatening Myanmar’s revolutionary forces while providing more military supplies, thereby aiding and abetting the junta’s international crimes, while providing false legitimacy,” he said. she told DW, accusing China of having a “neocolonial agenda.”

What is the price of China’s support?

Beijing is unhappy with the rapid losses suffered by the Myanmar military over the past year, with rebels pushing back official forces even from areas bordering China.

“China’s desire to take a more direct security role follows a recent attack on its consulate in Myanmar, as well as several years of failed efforts by the military to provide necessary security to restart key mining projects,” said US analyst Tower. .

Commenting on the proposed joint security project, Tower said China’s demands would “ultimately require the Myanmar military to make significant concessions with respect to the country’s sovereignty.”

He also points out that junta leader Min Aung Hlaing spent years lobbying for China to invite him for a diplomatic visit, and that Beijing’s demands “could be seen as a quid pro quo in exchange for the legitimacy of the general by China”.

Border region rebels go from friend to foe

The junta, however, is not the only faction in Myanmar willing to cooperate with Beijing. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, is an armed resistance group based in the Kokang region, which borders China.

Last year, the MNDAA helped China crack down on Chinese criminal networks in Myanmar’s border towns and hand them over to Chinese authorities.

But relations apparently deteriorated after China wanted the group to also end its offensive in and around its border areas.

The MNDAA is part of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which also includes the Arakan Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. Together, the three factions took control of Kokang and the main military center of Leshio this summer.

In October, MNDAA leader Peng Daxun traveled to China to receive medical treatment, but was reportedly arrested and placed under house arrest.

Pressure from Beijing fails to stop MDNAA

Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington and an expert on Southeast Asian politics, says China is trying to pressure the rebel group to stop its advance.

“(The MNDAA) has tried to show that it is a more responsible actor and partner than the junta. Peng’s house arrest, however, really appears to be Beijing’s anger at the Three-Party Alliance’s refusal Brotherhoods to stop their offensive and capture Lashio, a major processing town, which for China was a red line,” Abuza said.

“It’s an incredible overreach by the Chinese, and I think it will backfire on them. They just don’t understand that the Three Brotherhood Alliance is fighting, because it’s in their interest to fight “They have power and are not going to be intimidated by Beijing which has redoubled its support for the junta,” he added.

Abuza said the MNDAA, like other ethnic groups, is focused on fighting Myanmar’s military regime and is continuing its coordinated offensive, dubbed Operation 1027, in northeastern Myanmar.

“The MNDAA are not boy scouts, but it is fair to say that their main concern over the last two years has been the planning and execution of Operation 1027, which they carried out exceptionally well,” he declared.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic