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.