Chinese envoy terms Rakhine issue Myanmar’s internal affair

[Banglar Bir]

Chinese envoy terms Rakhine issue Myanmar’s internal affair
Tribune Desk
Published at 03:26 PM September 14, 2017

Rohingya refugees walk to a Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) post after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, September 10, 2017 Reuters

China welcomed Myanmar’s undertakings to provide assistance to the people, offering its assistance to the displaced people in conflicted areas in the northern Rakhine state
Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Hong Liang has termed the ongoing crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine State as an internal affair of Myanmar.

He made the statement at a meeting with Union Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Dr Win Myat Aye in Naypyidaw on Wednesday, reports the Global New Light of Myanmar.

The ambassador said: “China’s stance regarding the terrorist attacks in Rakhine is clear, it is just an internal affair; the counterattacks of Myanmar security forces against extremist terrorists.”

“China’s help for the Rakhine crisis is just a social obligation. The president of the Chinese Entrepreneurs Association, the vice president of the oil and gas pipeline project and responsible personnel from the Kyaukphyu Deep Sea Port Project were brought here together with him; the company wished to provide assistance to the displaced persons,” he added.

China welcomed the government’s undertakings to provide assistance to the people and offered its assistance to the displaced people in conflicted areas in the northern Rakhine.

Union Minister Win Myat Aye said: “It was very disheartening for the country when (authorities) were accused of human rights violation following the counterattack on the terrorists for the security and stability of the State.

“The State Counsellor had given instructions to not use unnecessary excessive force and to conduct operations in accordance with the law while clearing the areas.”

Talking about the attacks in 2016 October, he said the repulsing attacks of Myanmarese forces were falsely expressed in international media, resulting in pressure on Myanmar.

“In the attacks, those being killed were ethnic minorities; in northern Rakhine, people of Islamic faith are the majority, and Rakhine and other ethnics were minorities,” he said.

“Besides, the five people of Hindu faith who fled to Bengladesh were coerced to act as people of Islamic faith and give false statements to vilify the security forces. Those made-up stories were put into video coverage,” he added.

According to the Global New Light of Myanmar’s report, all the people of Islamic faith were not taking part in terrorist attacks and some Islamic villages were also cooperating with the government.

Currently, there are over 26,000 displaced people in Rakhine State’s capital Sittway, where food, education and health services were already arranged.

Stating that the relief camps would not exist for too long, the minister said measures were taken to help the refugees return to their original places.

According to International Organisation for Migration (IOM), as of Wednesday, at least 379,000 Rohingya refugees entered Bangladesh since the latest spell of violence erupted in the Rakhine state.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/uncateg...terms-rakhine-issue-myanmars-internal-affair/

 

[AnnoyingOrange]

And you will not find a single Pakistani on this thread....

 

[TopCat]

Burmese propaganda... He is a Chinese ambassador to Myanmar. What he suppose to say?
The same day China voted in favor of Rohingya. Not a single word of ARSA.

 

[bdslph]

hahahahahaha China is saying this internal affair
lol genocide is taking place and people are getting slaughtered its an international affair now and people are going to different countries to escape it

well china do that to same in china itself

 

[A.A. Khan]

And you will not find a single Pakistani on this thread....

Rofl..... what upmanship. Is there any other community mroe despicable than Hindu.
Yeah Chinese Premier followed Hindu Terrorist Modi in going to Myanmar capital and giving the Myanmar a pat on the back,
calling Myanmar forces committing genocide against Rohingya, as fight against extremists and extending support.
The Chinese like Indian media is calling Rohingya victims of mass-rapes, arson, mass-killings as terrorists and waging a campaign to deport 40000 Rohingya refugees from Indian soil many of whom are elderly, orphans and single mothers. Asking other nations to take them who already are giving refuge in 100000+[Bangladesh, Saudi, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia] but the indian b*st*rds can't keep even 14000 with UN cards and want to send them to the killing fields of Myanmar.
The chinese like randi*ns Indian Hindus celebrating and enjoying on vdo of Rohingya woman getting gangraped by Myanmar soldier.
And then our liberal bastards say Indian Hindus are fellow Human beings who gloat and celebrate killings of other community. I disagree, Indian Hindus and their sanatana dharm ideology have nothing to do with humanity.

This humanitarian disaster has nothing to do with Pakistan which has no geographical boundaries it is upon India, Bangladesh, Thai, China, etc... to helpthem as human beings and if can't help at least don't aggraavate their suffering by making wild campaigns against them on English social media.

China unlike India does'nt propagate islamophobia and then try to show neutral stance. China brokered the deal in 1978 to allow 200k Rohingya return back to Myanmar.

Someone should design a cup for the biggest shithole on earth and give it to them as they've already won all battles by doing these sadistic acts.

 

[AnnoyingOrange]

Rofl..... what upmanship. Is there any other community mroe despicable than Hindu.
Yeah Chinese Premier followed Hindu Terrorist Modi in going to Myanmar capital and giving the Myanmar a pat on the back,
calling Myanmar forces committing genocide against Rohingya, as fight against extremists and extending support.
The Chinese like Indian media is calling Rohingya victims of mass-rapes, arson, mass-killings as terrorists and waging a campaign to deport 40000 Rohingya refugees from Indian soil many of whom are elderly, orphans and single mothers. Asking other nations to take them who already are giving refuge in 100000+[Bangladesh, Saudi, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia] but the indian b*st*rds can't keep even 14000 with UN cards and want to send them to the killing fields of Myanmar.
The chinese like randi*ns Indian Hindus celebrating and enjoying on vdo of Rohingya woman getting gangraped by Myanmar soldier.
And then our liberal bastards say Indian Hindus are fellow Human beings who gloat and celebrate killings of other community. I disagree, Indian Hindus and their sanatana dharm ideology have nothing to do with humanity.

This humanitarian disaster has nothing to do with Pakistan which has no geographical boundaries it is upon India, Bangladesh, Thai, China, etc... to helpthem as human beings and if can't help at least don't aggraavate their suffering by making wild campaigns against them on English social media.

China unlike India does'nt propagate islamophobia and then try to show neutral stance. China brokered the deal in 1978 to allow 200k Rohingya return back to Myanmar.

Someone should design a cup for the biggest shithole on earth and give it to them as they've already won all battles by doing these sadistic acts.

I get your rant but....is there anything that you might want to say about how China has sided with Myanmar Government.. just like India does...???

 

[Banglar Bir]

September 14, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 06:13 PM, September 14, 2017
Myanmar says China endorses crackdown on Rohingya, branded "ethnic cleansing" by UN

Nasir Ahmed, a Rohingya refugee man cries as he holds her 40-day-old son, who died as a boat capsized in the shore of Shah Porir Dwip while crossing Bangladesh-Myanmar border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, September 14, 2017. Photo: Reuters /Mohammad Ponir Hossain
Reuters, Yangon

China endorses Myanmar's offensive against Rohingya Muslim insurgents, Myanmar state media said on Thursday, as the UN secretary-general described the operation, forcing nearly 400,000 people to flee to Bangladesh, as "ethnic cleansing".

The Myanmar military offensive in the western state of Rakhine was triggered by a series of guerrilla attacks on August 25 on security posts and an army camp in which about a dozen people were killed.

"The stance of China regarding the terrorist attacks in Rakhine is clear, it is just an internal affair," the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Thursday quoted China's ambassador, Hong Liang, as telling top government officials.

"The counter-attacks of Myanmar security forces against extremist terrorists and the government’s undertakings to provide assistance to the people are strongly welcomed."

But at the United Nations in New York, China set a different tone, joining a U.N. Security Council expresion of concern about reports of excessive violence and calling for immediate steps to end it.

China competes with the United States for influence in Myanmar, which in 2011 began emerging from nearly 50 years of strict military rule and diplomatic and economic isolation.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration called for protection of civilians.

The violence in Rakhine and the exodus of refugees is the most pressing problem Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has faced since becoming national leader last year.

Suu Kyi is due to address the nation on Tuesday.

Critics have called for her to be stripped of her Nobel prize for failing to do more to halt the strife, though national security policy is in the hands of the generals whose junta previously ran the country.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday urged Myanmar to end the violence, which he said was best described as ethnic cleansing.

"When one third of the Rohingya population had to flee the country, could you find a better word to describe it?" he told a news conference in New York.

The government says it is targeting "terrorists", while refugees say the offensive aims to push Rohingya out of Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

Numerous Rohingya villages in the north of Rakhine have been torched but authorities have denied that security forces or Buddhist civilians have been setting the fires. They blame the insurgents.

The government said on Wednesday 45 places had been burned. It did not provide details but a spokesman said out of 471 villages in the north of Rakhine, 176 had been deserted and at least some people had left 34 others.

The spokesman, Zaw Htay, said the people going to Bangladesh were either linked to the insurgents, or women and children fleeing conflict.

According to government figures, 432 people have been killed, most of them insurgents, since Aug. 25. Bangladesh authorities say at least 100 bodies have been found in a border river and on nearby beaches, some with wounds.

Several refugee boats have capsized, one on Thursday when a child drowned, a Reuters witness in Bangladesh said.

Smoke was rising from at least two places on the Myanmar side on Thursday. It was not clear what was burning.

'DE-ESCALATE'
"Ethnic cleansing" is not recognised as an independent crime under international law, the U.N. Office on Genocide Prevention says, but it has been used in U.N. resolutions and acknowledged in judgements and indictments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

A U.N. commission of experts defined it as "rendering an area ethnically homogeneous by using force or intimidation to remove persons of given groups".

The 15-member Security Council met behind closed doors on Wednesday to discuss the crisis for the second time since it began and agreed to publicly condemn the situation.

The council "expressed concern about reports of excessive violence during the security operations and called for immediate steps to end the violence in Rakhine, de-escalate the situation, re-establish law and order, ensure the protection of civilians ... and resolve the refugee problem".

British UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said it was the first statement from the Security Council on Myanmar in nine years. Such statements have to be agreed by consensus and Russia and China have traditionally protected Myanmar from any action.

Bangladesh says all the refugees will have to go home and has called for safe zones in Myanmar. Myanmar says safe zones are unacceptable.

Aid agencies are struggling to ramp up operations in Bangladesh and a U.N. top official said on Wednesday an earlier U.N. target of $77 million would be inadequate to deal with the crisis. "There are acute shortages of everything," the U.N. children's agency said.

There are also fears of a humanitarian crisis on the Myanmar side of the border. The government has accused some aid groups of helping the insurgents and has restricted access.

The aid group Médecins Sans Frontières said it had reports that its clinics there had been torched and it called for "unfettered access to people in desperate need”.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2017/09/13/myanmars-murderous-methods/

 

[RISING SUN]

Rofl..... what upmanship. Is there any other community mroe despicable than Hindu.
Yeah Chinese Premier followed Hindu Terrorist Modi in going to Myanmar capital and giving the Myanmar a pat on the back,
calling Myanmar forces committing genocide against Rohingya, as fight against extremists and extending support.
The Chinese like Indian media is calling Rohingya victims of mass-rapes, arson, mass-killings as terrorists and waging a campaign to deport 40000 Rohingya refugees from Indian soil many of whom are elderly, orphans and single mothers. Asking other nations to take them who already are giving refuge in 100000+[Bangladesh, Saudi, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia] but the indian b*st*rds can't keep even 14000 with UN cards and want to send them to the killing fields of Myanmar.
The chinese like randi*ns Indian Hindus celebrating and enjoying on vdo of Rohingya woman getting gangraped by Myanmar soldier.
And then our liberal bastards say Indian Hindus are fellow Human beings who gloat and celebrate killings of other community. I disagree, Indian Hindus and their sanatana dharm ideology have nothing to do with humanity.

This humanitarian disaster has nothing to do with Pakistan which has no geographical boundaries it is upon India, Bangladesh, Thai, China, etc... to helpthem as human beings and if can't help at least don't aggraavate their suffering by making wild campaigns against them on English social media.

China unlike India does'nt propagate islamophobia and then try to show neutral stance. China brokered the deal in 1978 to allow 200k Rohingya return back to Myanmar.

Someone should design a cup for the biggest shithole on earth and give it to them as they've already won all battles by doing these sadistic acts.

I have a query, whenever there is attack, genocide or anything like that. Most of the countries take people from more than one religious faith background, however I don't find the same sympathy or support for non Muslims when they are persecuted in either Muslim countries or non-muslim countries. Why is that non Muslims are not given refugee status in Muslim countries, this is applicable for all kind of followers like Christian, Buddhist, Zoroastrianism, Hindus etc, why does the Muslim would doesn't give sanctuary to all those out there getting persecuted instead of only giving sanctuary to Muslim followers while on the other hand expecting non-muslim countries to adapt liberal policy to support Muslim followers when there is persecution against them. Would be interested in understanding a Muslim outlook on this why does this happen and why no such country seek to help those who are not the followers of Islam.

 

[Saiful Islam]

I have a query, whenever there is attack, genocide or anything like that. Most of the countries take people from more than one religious faith background, however I don't find the same sympathy or support for non Muslims when they are persecuted in either Muslim countries or non-muslim countries. Why is that non Muslims are not given refugee status in Muslim countries, this is applicable for all kind of followers like Christian, Buddhist, Zoroastrianism, Hindus etc, why does the Muslim would doesn't give sanctuary to all those out there getting persecuted instead of only giving sanctuary to Muslim followers while on the other hand expecting non-muslim countries to adapt liberal policy to support Muslim followers when there is persecution against them. Would be interested in understanding a Muslim outlook on this why does this happen and why no such country seek to help those who are not the followers of Islam.

If today there was two beggars one muslim and the other being non muslim I would give food/money to both. Muslim nations have never been put to the situation of choosing muslims or non muslims furthermore I'm sure there are many Muslim countries that have given some kind of UN aid in times of natural calamities to countries irrespective of majority faith.

But I will not deny that there *was* this special time of Islamic brotherhood. This is no longer the truth.

 

[RISING SUN]

If today there was two beggars one muslim and the other being non muslim I would give food/money to both. Muslim nations have never been put to the situation of choosing muslims or non muslims furthermore I'm sure there are many Muslim countries that have given some kind of UN aid in times of natural calamities to countries irrespective of majority faith.

But I will not deny that there *was* this special time of Islamic brotherhood. This is no longer the truth.

I am genuinely interested in knowing that as Islamic world never gave sanctuary to refugees who were non Muslims. No pro-active action taken till date.

Non Muslims were never given sanctuary in big numbers while non-muslim countries have refugees sanctuary to Muslims in lakhs.

 

[Saiful Islam]

I am genuinely interested in knowing that as Islamic world never gave sanctuary to refugees who were non Muslims. No pro-active action taken till date.

Non Muslims were never given sanctuary in big numbers while non-muslim countries have refugees sanctuary to Muslims in lakhs.

Yes, the great Irish famine.

 

[Banglar Bir]

China affirms support for Myanmar on Rakhine issue
SAM Report, September 28, 2017

Myanmar Vice President U Myint Swe (center right) and Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Hong Liang at the reception to mark the 68th anniversary of the founding of People’s Republic of China in Naypyitaw. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy

Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Hong Liang showed his support for the Myanmar government’s handling of the issues in Rakhine State, assuring that China would stand “firmly” by Myanmar on the international stage.

“We hope that the international community will create a good external environment so that Myanmar can solve its problems properly,” said Hong Liang at a reception on Tuesday to mark the 68th anniversary of the founding of People’s Republic of China ahead of an open discussion on Rakhine at the UN Security Council on Thursday.

Myanmar has faced increasing international pressure over government security operations in northern Rakhine State that have left hundreds dead, sent nearly 500,000 self-identifying Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh, and been labeled a “text book example of ethnic cleansing,” by the UN.

Myanmar’s UN representative U Hau do Suan, however, insisted at the UN General Assembly on Monday that ethnic cleansing was not taking place against Muslims in Rakhine “in the strongest terms.”

Hong Liang promised to continue providing humanitarian aid for people in Rakhine State, noting the Chinese government provided 200 million kyats for Rakhine State through the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement last week.

China supports cooperation between Myanmar and Bangladesh to solve border problems and sincerely hopes that the Myanmar government will be able to bring harmony, stability and prosperity to societies in Rakhine State, he said.

“Myanmar and China have always maintained bilateral cooperation as well as close cooperation in areas of mutual interest in regional and international arenas including the UN,” Myanmar Vice-President U Nyan Tun said at the reception.

When asked about China’s view on State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s briefing to foreign diplomats last week, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at the ministry’s regular press conference on Sept. 19 that her speech will “help the international community to better know about the situation in Myanmar and understand and support the Myanmar government’s effort to achieve domestic peace and national reconciliation”

“As a friendly neighbor of Myanmar, the Chinese will continue providing necessary assistance for [Myanmar] to uphold internal stability and development,” he said.

Myanmar is economically dependent on China while China also requires Myanmar to expand its influence on the international stage, and the two countries need each other, said U Myo Zaw Aung, member of Lower House International Relations Committee.

“China has its interests not only in Kyaukphyu [of Rakhine State], but also across the country. It has friendly ties with the Myanmar government partly because of those interests. There is a need for a stronger bond between two countries to continue to engage in businesses of great mutual interests,” said U Myo Zaw Aung.

Despite China’s Special Envoy of Asian Affairs Sun Guoxiang’s request for China’s direct involvement in solving the Rakhine issue, the Myanmar government replied in April that it would only cooperate with Bangladesh to find a solution.

China has funded schools, hospitals, the renovation of Bagan temples, afforestation, scholarships and eye surgeries for Myanmar people, which reflect the friendship between two countries, said Hong Liang.
SOURCE THE IRRAWADDY
http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/09/28/china-affirms-support-myanmar-rakhine-issue/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Conflict-hit Rakhine a magnet for Chinese cash
Agence France-Presse
Published at 05:04 PM September 28, 2017

This picture taken on September 27, 2017 shows burnt houses in Maungdaw in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state AFP
Rakhine, a vast area of farmland, coast and off-shore gas reserves, has been roiled by communal violence for decades, pitting ethnic Rakhine Buddhists against Rohingya Muslims
Battered by global outrage over an army crackdown on Rohingya, Myanmar has found comfort in an old friend – China, an Asian superpower whose unflinching support is tied to the billions it has lavished on ports, gas and oil in violence-hit Rakhine state.

Close to half a million Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in the last month after a militant attack sparked a vicious military campaign that the UN has called “ethnic cleansing”.

China, which is expected to speak later Thursday at a UN Security Council meeting on the crisis, has fallen out of step with much of the world in condemning the army-led crackdown.

“We think the international community should support the efforts of Myanmar in safeguarding the stability of its national development,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said earlier this month.

That support was far from unexpected from an ally who ploughed cash into Myanmar even as its economy choked under a half century of military rule and US sanctions.

Most of those sanctions were rolled back in 2014 as a reward for democratic elections. But those freedoms meant little to Beijing anyway.

Between 1988 and 2014, China invested more than $15 billion in the junta-run country, according to its official Xinhua news agency, mostly in mining and energy. It also propped up the pariah military regime with weapons.

“They have a few major economic projects under way with the Myanmar government,” said Sophie Boisseau du Rocher, Southeast Asia expert at the French Institute for International Relations.

That includes a planned $9 billion deep-sea port and economic zone in Kyaukpyu, south of the epicentre of the recent violence, by Beijing’s massive CITIC investment group slated for 2038.

China has already pumped money into the restive state.

In April this year, a $2.45 billion pipeline from Rakhine to China’s Yunnan province opened, securing a key route for Beijing to import crude from the Middle East.

That same month, Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose ‘One Belt, One Road’ strategy aims to hook in China’s neighbours with huge trade and infrastructure projects, rolled out the red carpet for his Myanmar counterpart Htin Kyaw in Beijing.
Valuable land
Rakhine, a vast area of farmland, coast and off-shore gas reserves, has been roiled by communal violence for decades, pitting ethnic Rakhine Buddhists against Rohingya Muslims.

Clashes erupted last October when the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) carried out deadly attacks on unsuspecting border police.

Swathes of land have been abandoned with scores of Rohingya villages burnt to the ground allegedly by the Burmese army and Rakhine mobs.

“The land freed by the radical expulsion of the Rohingya might have become of interest to the military and its role in leading economic development around the country,” said Saskia Sassen, sociology professor at Columbia University.

“Land has become valuable due to the China projects,” she added.

The government said this week it would manage all fire-damaged land in Rakhine for “redevelopment” purposes, without elaborating.

It is not clear what that might mean for the masses of Rohingya who have been pushed into Bangladesh over the past month, with questions looming about how or when they could return.

Despite its natural resources, Rakhine is one of Myanmar’s poorest states – some 78% of the population live below the poverty line, nearly double the national average.

Ethnic Rakhine, who remain deeply suspicious of the motives of Myanmar’s Bamar majority, have seen scant benefits from increased investment in the area.

There is also discomfort among the public with Chinese influence across Myanmar.

“These massive Chinese projects in Rakhine state have deeply upset local populations who have not seen any positive fallout,” said Alexandra De Mersan, Rakhine expert and researcher at the French School of Oriental Studies (Inalco).

An August report by a government-backed commission on Rakhine’s troubles, led by former UN chief Kofi Annan, echoed alarm about who is really benefiting from investments in the area.

But Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said that development is a top priority for the region, even as rights groups have warned against investing in Rakhine.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/south-asia/2017/09/28/conflict-hit-rakhine-magnet-chinese-cash/

 

[Al-zakir]

I am genuinely interested in knowing that as Islamic world never gave sanctuary to refugees who were non Muslims. No pro-active action taken till date.

Non Muslims were never given sanctuary in big numbers while non-muslim countries have refugees sanctuary to Muslims in lakhs.

Palestine gave shelter to Jews. Jews behind was saved by the Palestinian from the Roman Catholic.

 

[idune]

Chinese short sighted policy will come back to haunt them. Helping Myanmar conducting genocide, they will not able to use Rakhine port and transport facility as planned. Let Chinese learn it hard way. In the mean time Chinese ambassador in Bangladesh should be put on "dog house" so that he does not run his mouth while 160 million Bangladeshis utterly critical of Chinese policy.