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CHINA: Dual Pipelines in Burma to Push Ahead Amid Criticism
By Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING, Sep 9 (IPS) - Despite fresh international criticism of Beijing’s backing for an unpopular regime
as the Burmese junta, China sees its alliance with the country’s military as a
matter of simple economic expediency and is determined to forge ahead with
controversial joint dual oil and gas pipelines that will ensure greater energy
security for its robust economy.
This month sees the first digs on the mammoth infrastructure project that
will connect China’s southwestern province of Yunnan with Burma’s western
coast.
The proposed gas pipeline will transfer gas from the offshore Shwe gas fields
in Arakan state all the way to the capital Kunming of Yunnan province and
possibly further inland in China. The twin oil pipeline will be used to transfer
oil shipped from the Middle East and Africa bypassing the strategically
vulnerable Malacca Strait shipping route.
After Burmese activists released a detailed report Monday on the project
forecasting it will trigger social unrest and create a public relations fiasco for
the Chinese company involved, a state-run newspaper in Beijing rejected the
allegations, saying the project was unlikely to be stopped.
The Shwe Gas Movement, a group of Burmese exiles in Bangladesh, India and
Thailand, also said the junta's recent offensive against ethnic rebels near the
pipeline route showed that the regime had no concerns about providing
stability for investors, which could translate into great security risks for the
project undertakers.
"China is not afraid of the threat and criticism," the ‘Global Times’ – a paper
published by the state news agency – quoted an anonymous Chinese official
familiar with the issue. "When Myanmar (Burma’s official name) was
constructing a pipeline to Thailand in the 1990s, Myanmar activists also
criticised the government, but the voice is barely heard now."
Outside observers though believe the new pipeline project carries greater
potential risks than the pipeline conveying gas to Thailand, which they
described as a "vehicle for a proliferation of human rights abuses" during its
construction and after – such as the widespread use of forced labour and
forced evictions.
"Such practices, in the likelihood they would re-occur with respect to this
latest pipeline, could very well be the spark to set off a broader conflict," said
Sean Turnell, a Burma expert at Macquarie University in Australia. "Of course,
exacerbating matters is the fact that Chinese energy firms have a less than
stellar record themselves when it comes to the ruthlessness with which they
pursue energy deals."
China's largest oil and gas producer, China National Petroleum Corporation
(CNPC), is due to start the construction of the dual pipelines at a total length
of nearly 4,000 kilometres in September. The deal is expected to provide the
Burmese military, which has ruled the country with an iron grip since a 1962
coup, with at least 29 billion U.S. dollars over 30 years.
Although Burma ranks 10th in the world in terms of natural gas reserves, its
per capita electricity consumption is less than 5 percent of neighbouring
Thailand and China, as its government exports most of the country’s energy
resources.
The Shwe Gas Movement report, titled ‘Corridor of Power’, charges that gas
revenues in the past have been lavishly spent by the junta on building a new
capital and satisfying the extravagant wishes of its ruling generals.
"People across Burma are facing severe energy shortages, and this massive
energy export will only fuel social unrest," said Wong Aung, spokesperson of
the Shwe Gas Movement. "These resources belong to our people and should
be used for the energy needs of our country."
China – the exclusive buyer of Burma’s Shwe offshore gas reserves — sees
the pipelines as one of the pieces in a greater energy domino played by
Beijing to secure its energy supplies.
Burma’s pipelines constitute part of CNPC’s four-fold strategy to avoid
China’s dependence on imported oil shipped by sea. Since 2004 Beijing has
negotiated the construction of overland pipelines in four different directions,
connecting Chinese energy buyers with suppliers in Russia, Kazakhstan,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Burma.
"The greatest significance of Burma’s pipelines for China lies with the
possibility for solving our reliance on the Malacca shipping route," said Long
Changwei, expert at China University of Petroleum. "Once it is built, the
pipeline will be a reliable alternative for oil flowing in from the Middle East
and Africa. Even if there is a crisis in the Malacca Straits, China’s exposure to
it will be greatly minimized."
In addition, the development of a deep sea port on Burma’s western coast
will provide China with access to the Bay of Bengal — a strategic advantage in
its attempts to expand its sphere of influence over the Indian Ocean.
Yet there are flip sides to this new energy corridor. The proposed pipelines
run through the north-eastern Shan State, where as recently as late August,
ceasefire ethnic minority armies fought against the regime. The clashes
between the Burmese military and the Kokang rebels that sent tens of
thousands of refugees fleeing across the Chinese border have raised the
possibility that there might be more social strife and armed conflicts if the
pipelines project gets underway.
CNPC is going to have to be "very careful," said Macquarie University’s
Turnell. "What was once a simple deal to extract cheap gas for China could
blow up into a diplomatic crisis should the pipeline aggravate the incipient
conflict between ethnic groups long backed by China, and a regime in Burma
that was long thought of as likewise a client of China."
In a longer term, China’s willingness to help an unpopular regime stay in
power could turn out to be short-sighted as it encourages latent anti-
Chinese sentiment. Chinese communities that have worked very closely with
military regimes in South-east Asia and become immensely rich in the
process have been targeted before, as evidenced by violent anti-Chinese riots
in Indonesia when the Suharto regime fell in 1998.
The Shwe Gas Movement report suggests that China would be in a better
position to trade with Burma under a stable government. It also argues that
the current military rulers’ political roadmap does not aim at bringing peace
and political stability to the country.
(END/2009)
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