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China Rolls Out the Red Carpet for Burma’s Democracy Icon Aung San Suu Kyi

5 minute read
MYANMAR-POLITICS-SUU KYI
National League for Democracy chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi talks during a press conference at the parliament building in Naypyidaw, Burma, on April 9, 2015SOE THAN WIN—AFP/Getty Images
By Hannah Beech / Shanghai

Shortly after Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was released from her most recent bout of house arrest in 2010, she fielded a surprise visitor at the party headquarters of her opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). According to a senior NLD figure who was present at the meeting, the well-wisher was none other than a Chinese diplomatic envoy to Myanmar, as Burma is officially known. “China realized the Lady is powerful, and they wanted to curry favor,” he recalled, referring to Suu Kyi by her feminine sobriquet. “The Chinese, they know how to do this foreign policy business very well indeed.”

On June 10, Suu Kyi landed in Beijing, her first visit to Burma’s largest and most influential neighbor. Although the schedule of her five-day visit has been kept closely guarded, NLD associates say she will also visit Shanghai and Yunnan province, which is on China’s border with Burma’s conflict-ridden northern flank. On the afternoon of June 11, Suu Kyi met with China’s President Xi Jinping and is also scheduled to meet with Premier Li Keqiang, according to the NLD. (Earlier on Thursday she also convened with China’s foreign policy-focused state councilor Yang Jiechi.) That is the kind of all-star line-up usually reserved for major national leaders, not opposition party figures.

But Suu Kyi is no ordinary opposition figure. Although she is constitutionally barred from the Burmese presidency because of rules that seem to have been designed specifically with her in mind, her NLD is expected to prevail in national elections in November. The polls are part of a quasi-democratic transition envisaged by Burma’s military leaders, who still control many levers of power, even if some have shed their army uniforms.

During the long years when Burma languished as a pariah state, shunned by the West because of its appalling human-rights record, China provided financial and moral support. Today, China is still the largest foreign investor in Burma. But its once preeminent position has been challenged as other nations shed sanctions on the regime (and its cronies) and consider doing business in one of the world’s last economic frontiers. Notably, U.S. President Barack Obama has visited Burma twice, and his Administration has held up the country’s reforms as a foreign policy triumph, even as ethnic violence has marred the feel-good narrative.

Burma boasts a treasure trove of natural resources, from jade and hydropower to natural gas and timber. An illegal bounty of opium and other drugs is also primed for export. But China’s involvement in two major projects — the Myitsone Dam in northern Kachin state and the Letpadaung copper mine in central Burma — has rankled the Burmese public. The hydropower project is officially suspended while protests against the mine have been met by violent government intimidation. In 2013, Suu Kyi, who chaired a parliamentary commission investigating the mine project, met with rare local opposition when the panel’s report recommended the mine go ahead despite its social and environmental impact.

China-Burma relations have also been tested by armed conflict in northern Kachin and Shan states between ethnic rebels and the Burmese military, which has sent refugees and missiles across the two nations’ border. (Many of the ethnic minorities who live in northern Burma also have large populations in Yunnan province.) Earlier this year, several Chinese villagers living near the national demarcation were killed by what the Chinese government says was errant Burmese military shelling. While China has officially protested the killing of its citizens, the Burmese government’s reaction has not been fulsome. One Burmese government adviser, who is not authorized to speak to the media, speculates that this is because his bosses believe the Chinese military is providing financial support to some of the ethnic armies battling the Burmese.

On June 10, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman called on Burma to answer “relevant requests put in by China, stop the warfare, ease the tension, and restore peace, stability and normal order to the China-Myanmar border area at an early date.” A day later, the official China Daily quoted a Chinese academic who blamed anti-Chinese sentiment in Burma on “lack of knowledge of China and distorted reports of some Western media.”

If Beijing is at all uncomfortable with extending a welcome to one of the world’s most famous democracy activists, the nation’s propaganda machine isn’t saying. (The visit is officially on the invitation of the Chinese Communist Party to the NLD.) In an editorial on Suu Kyi’s tour, China’s official Xinhua news agency offered a fig leaf: “China welcomes anyone with friendly intentions and it bears no grudge for past unpleasantness.”

Still, China Digital Times, which documents Chinese government censorship directives from its base in California, noted that Chinese media were instructed not to report on “the delegation from Myanmar visiting China.” Instead, state media would shape the official narrative on Suu Kyi’s visit. (On Thursday, Burma’s official New Light of Myanmar refrained from covering Suu Kyi’s China trip.)

Meanwhile, human-rights advocates wondered whether Suu Kyi would use her inaugural trip to China to comment on the plight of her fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, who remains in a Chinese jail for his role in publishing a democracy manifesto. A poet and writer, Liu was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment in 2009 for inciting subversion of state power — a common tactic used to silence independent voices in China. But those hoping that Suu Kyi will speak out on behalf of Liu may be disappointed. In a worrying precedent, even as Buddhist persecution of ethnic Rohingya Muslims in western Burma has intensified, Burma’s democracy icon has largely stayed silent.

The Rohingya, Burma's Forgotten Muslims by James Nachtwey

Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
More than 140,000 minority Rohingya Muslims have been forced to live in camps, where disease and despair have taken root. Abdul Kadir, 65, who has a severe stomach ailment and malnutrition, is cared for by his wife in one of the camps.James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care. Brick kilns operated by Rohingya IDP's. Workers are IDP's. Adults are paid 2,000 kyat per day for about 10m hours of work. Children are paid 1,000 kyat per day. Children in photos are from age 6 to 8 and the oldest is 14. Thek Kay Pyin, 7, an IDP. His father is So Zokorice (small man in white tank top). He was falsely accused of murder and spent 1and 1/2 years in Sittwe Jail, beaten continuously for 8 months before being released without charges against him.Funeral of Ziada Begum, 30, who died of stomach diseasee. Left behind 5 children with no husband.Sham Shi Dar Begum, 18. TB and AIDS. Father died from AIDS. MOther Noor Johan, 50. Has seven daughters, all living in two small rooms in camp.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
Relatives weep at the funeral of a woman who died at 35 of a stomach disease; she left five children behind. James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care. Brick kilns operated by Rohingya IDP's. Workers are IDP's. Adults are paid 2,000 kyat per day for about 10m hours of work. Children are paid 1,000 kyat per day. Children in photos are from age 6 to 8 and the oldest is 14. Thek Kay Pyin, 7, an IDP. His father is So Zokorice (small man in white tank top). He was falsely accused of murder and spent 1and 1/2 years in Sittwe Jail, beaten continuously for 8 months before being released without charges against him.Funeral of Ziada Begum, 30, who died of stomach diseasee. Left behind 5 children with no husband.Sham Shi Dar Begum, 18. TB and AIDS. Father died from AIDS. MOther Noor Johan, 50. Has seven daughters, all living in two small rooms in camp.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
A mourner weeps as she sits by an internee's coffin. The Rohingya lack medical care since most NGOs are now barred from the camps.James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care. Brick kilns operated by Rohingya IDP's. Workers are IDP's. Adults are paid 2,000 kyat per day for about 10m hours of work. Children are paid 1,000 kyat per day. Children in photos are from age 6 to 8 and the oldest is 14.Funerals. First a 16 year old girl who drank poison. Sevcond a woman who died from stomach disease.A blind beggar on railway tracks between two IDP camps.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
Two men are seen mourning at the funeral of a woman who died from stomach disease.James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care. Brick kilns operated by Rohingya IDP's. Workers are IDP's. Adults are paid 2,000 kyat per day for about 10m hours of work. Children are paid 1,000 kyat per day. Children in photos are from age 6 to 8 and the oldest is 14. Thek Kay Pyin, 7, an IDP. His father is So Zokorice (small man in white tank top). He was falsely accused of murder and spent 1and 1/2 years in Sittwe Jail, beaten continuously for 8 months before being released without charges against him.Funeral of Ziada Begum, 30, who died of stomach diseasee. Left behind 5 children with no husband.Sham Shi Dar Begum, 18. TB and AIDS. Father died from AIDS. MOther Noor Johan, 50. Has seven daughters, all living in two small rooms in camp.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
Internees in one camp operate brick kilns to earn money. Adults are paid about $2 a day; children, half that amount. James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care. Brick kilns operated by Rohingya IDP's. Workers are IDP's. Adults are paid 2,000 kyat per day for about 10m hours of work. Children are paid 1,000 kyat per day. Children in photos are from age 6 to 8 and the oldest is 14. Thek Kay Pyin, 7, an IDP. His father is So Zokorice (small man in white tank top). He was falsely accused of murder and spent 1and 1/2 years in Sittwe Jail, beaten continuously for 8 months before being released without charges against him.Funeral of Ziada Begum, 30, who died of stomach diseasee. Left behind 5 children with no husband.Sham Shi Dar Begum, 18. TB and AIDS. Father died from AIDS. MOther Noor Johan, 50. Has seven daughters, all living in two small rooms in camp.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
Thek Kay Pyin, 7, is among the Rohingya Muslims interned in Rakhine state, on the northwest coast of Burma. He is seen here working at a brick kiln where he earns $1 a day.James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care. Brick kilns operated by Rohingya IDP's. Workers are IDP's. Adults are paid 2,000 kyat per day for about 10m hours of work. Children are paid 1,000 kyat per day. Children in photos are from age 6 to 8 and the oldest is 14.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
Children working at a brick kiln where they earn $1 a day. James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care. Brick kilns operated by Rohingya IDP's. Workers are IDP's. Adults are paid 2,000 kyat per day for about 10m hours of work. Children are paid 1,000 kyat per day. Children in photos are from age 6 to 8 and the oldest is 14.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
Workers at a brick kiln are seen tossing bricks.James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care. Brick kilns operated by Rohingya IDP's. Workers are IDP's. Adults are paid 2,000 kyat per day for about 10m hours of work. Children are paid 1,000 kyat per day. Children in photos are from age 6 to 8 and the oldest is 14.Funerals. First a 16 year old girl who drank poison. Sevcond a woman who died from stomach disease.A blind beggar on railway tracks between two IDP camps.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
At the camp, mourners are seen at a funeral for a 16-year-old girl who drank poison. James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
Suffering in the camps continues unabated.James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
Children learning the Quran at a madrassa in one of the camps.James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
A child suffering from malnutrition in one of the camps is held by its mother. James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
At a government-run hospital in Da Paing, a mother watches over her 45-year-old son Abdul Salam, who suffers from diabetes. James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care.Baw Du Ba 2 Camp. Mustawba Khatu, 50 - hepatitis, enlarged liverMa Noor Ul Nisa, 3 1/2 - pneumonia, feverNoor Lang Sering, 25 - TB (girl in foreground, daughter)Sham Shi Dar Begum, 18 - TB, HIV+ (husband died from AIDS) Mother on right, Noor Jahan, 50.MSF had dealt effectively with TYb and HIV. Since the NGO was ejected, people are at risk from lack of medication and a systematic approach to administration of the drugs.In Thek Kay Pyin Pharmacy waiting for treatment from the owner of the pharmacy, who is not a doctor or a pharmacist. Ru Kuma, 10 - worms in stomach. Mother, Bi Bi, 30.Mustawba Khatu - orange blouse, daughter in foregroundNoor Ul Nisa - held by mother, father to leftMa Noor Lang Sering - mother in white scarf, red bag on wall.Baw Du Ba 2 Camp mosque - Friday prayers.Aid goods distributed by UNHCR being sold in market after UNHCR distribution.Fishing boats at low tide.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
A child suffering from stomach worms with her mother at a pharmacy waiting for treatment. The owner of the pharmacy is neither a doctor nor a pharmacist but does his best to help people. International NGOs such as Doctors Without Borders have been expelled from the camp by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care.James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
Malnutrition among the camps' children is commonplace. In June a top U.N. aid official who traveled to Rakhine said she had never before “witnessed [such] a level of human suffering.James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care.Fishing boatsDapaing IDP Camp:Thein Maung, 46 - HIV+ and AIDS - son, Athassan Ullah, 4MSF had dealt effectively with TB and HIV. Since the NGO was ejected, people are at risk from lack of medication and a systematic approach to administration of the drugs.Ohn Daw Gee, 5Shaw Bi Ullah, 45 - diarrhea, motorbikeKobir Ahmed, 70 - malnutrition due to stomach troubles - twin grandsons Jamal Hussein, Anwar Hussein, 3 - wormsDapaing Hospital:Su Ra Khatu, 70 - fever, stomach ailmentHar Zar Ra Khatu, 70 - suspected TBAbdul Hussein, 65 - suspected TB, paralysis in one legAbdul Salam, 45 - diabetes - wife Shanisida Begum, 22 - baby Noor Harbiba, 3 monthsLatrines at Baw Du Pha 2 Camp.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
Fishermen tend their nets before going out into the Bay of Bengal to fish, one of the main sources of food and livelihood for the Rohingya. James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care. Brick kilns operated by Rohingya IDP's. Workers are IDP's. Adults are paid 2,000 kyat per day for about 10m hours of work. Children are paid 1,000 kyat per day. Children in photos are from age 6 to 8 and the oldest is 14.Funerals. First a 16 year old girl who drank poison. Sevcond a woman who died from stomach disease.A blind beggar on railway tracks between two IDP camps.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
A blind beggar on railway tracks between two IDP camps.James Nachtwey for TIME
Rohingye people, a Muslim population, living in Rakhine State on the northwest coast of Burma have been restricted to their villages and placed in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps by the Burmese government. They have been the victims of persecution and communal violence by numbers of the Buddhist majority in Rakhine. International NGO's such as MSF have been expelled by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care.Fishing boatsDapaing IDP Camp:Thein Maung, 46 - HIV+ and AIDS - son, Athassan Ullah, 4MSF had dealt effectively with TB and HIV. Since the NGO was ejected, people are at risk from lack of medication and a systematic approach to administration of the drugs.Ohn Daw Gee, 5Shaw Bi Ullah, 45 - diarrhea, motorbikeKobir Ahmed, 70 - malnutrition due to stomach troubles - twin grandsons Jamal Hussein, Anwar Hussein, 3 - wormsDapaing Hospital:Su Ra Khatu, 70 - fever, stomach ailmentHar Zar Ra Khatu, 70 - suspected TBAbdul Hussein, 65 - suspected TB, paralysis in one legAbdul Salam, 45 - diabetes - wife Shanisida Begum, 22 - baby Noor Harbiba, 3 monthsLatrines at Baw Du Pha 2 Camp.Photograph by James Nachtwey.
A boy using an umbrella as a sun shield jumps across a drainage canal behind a row of latrines at Baw Du Pha camp. James Nachtwey for TIME

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