Myanmar, under pressure, seeks support from China

Myanmar, under pressure, seeks support from China

John Ruwitch, Reuters, Beijing

Myanmar's junta, under pressure to move toward democracy and free
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, sent Prime Minister Khin Nyunt
to China this week to seek reassurances from an influential
benefactor and friend.

The third-most senior general in the army-ruled Southeast
Asian country will get what he came for, analysts say, even
though Beijing is increasingly aware of the benefits to be gained
from using its influence to help solve international problems.

China and Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, will sign a raft
of deals to enhance economic and government cooperation during
the seven-day official goodwill visit that started on Sunday,
China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Khin Nyunt, invited by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, would also
meet President Hu Jintao, parliament chief Wu Bangguo and state
security czar Luo Gan.

The Myanmar leader can rely on Beijing's leaders to steer
clear of harsh criticism and eschew the pressure tactics others
have used for being slow to move towards democracy, analyst say.

"China and Myanmar have all along maintained relations of
close cooperation," said Zhang Xizhen, of Peking University's
School of International Relations.

"I'm afraid Myanmar needs even closer ties with China under
conditions of increasing pressure from the international
community," he said.

Just last week, the United States renewed its long-standing
ban on trade with Myanmar for another year and called on other
countries to join in pressing the junta to live up to its
commitments to "restore full democracy and human rights".

Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
had also applied pressure.

For China, Myanmar is a key ally in ASEAN, with whom Beijing
is negotiating a free trade deal, and it is a buffer with long-
time Chinese rival India. Beijing wants little more than a stable
and friendly government in Yangon, analysts say.

Yet China is well aware that international consensus is that
Myanmar's military government needs to make concrete steps toward
democracy, improve its human rights record and free opposition
leader Suu Kyi who has been detained since May last year.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won Myanmar's last
democratic election in 1990, but was never allowed to take power.

Beijing has also learned through the pivotal role it has
chosen to play in the North Korean nuclear crisis talks that
wielding influence to resolve international problems can bring
material and diplomatic benefits.

"China would want to be seen as playing a helpful role," an
Asian diplomat said, adding that it would try to avoid being
accused of unnecessarily interfering.

"I think they would convey their concerns about the
situation," he said.