Already on the backfoot whereas battling ethnic armed organisations (EAOs), pro-democracy organisations and militias which have mushroomed after the coup of February 1, 2021, Myanmar and China have determined to kick-start the development of the strategic Kyaukphyu deep sea port venture.
Reviews say that final week, a deal was agreed to expedite the venture by officers from Myanmar’s ruling junta and of the China state-owned CITIC Group (Myanmar) on the Myanmarese capital Naypyitaw.
CITIC Group (Myanmar) Firm Restricted, registered and included in Myanmar in January 2017, is a subsidiary of China CITIC Group. It’s the principal entity to hold out preliminary native companies of the Kyaukphyu Particular Financial Zone’s (KP SEZ) Deep Sea Port (DSP) and industrial park tasks.
Whereas work on the Kyaukphyu Port and KP SEZ started in 2010, the Covid pandemic and the navy or ‘Tatmadaw’ takeover grew to become a spanner and the venture bought stalled.
On completion, the $7.3 billion venture will allow China to entry the Indian Ocean for direct commerce hyperlinks with West Asia, Europe and the Atlantic area by connecting the seaport with Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, by a rail and street hyperlink which might be part of the 1,700-km China-Myanmar Financial Hall (CMEC).
The Kyaukphyu Port is just one of a number of China-controlled factors within the area which features a naval base in Cambodia, Hambantota in Sri Lanka and Gwadar in Pakistan moreover a naval station on the port of Djibouti.
Kyaukphyu is positioned within the sea throughout the restive Rakhine province the place the ‘Tatmadaw’ is battling the Arakan Military. Rakhine can also be the homeland of the Rohingyas, a persecuted Muslim group in Myanmar.
A parallel oil and fuel pipeline already runs from Kyaukphyu island to Ruili in Yunnan province which then extends to Guangxi after a 2,800-km-long run.
Whereas the pipelines carry 22 million tons of crude oil yearly, the fuel pipeline transports 12 billion cubic metres of fuel. This community of pipelines carrying the much-needed power sources is critically vital for energy-deficient China because it makes the troubled Malacca Straits redundant.
