The Burmese military is back. China is their biggest arms supplier. “President Biden’s administration is reviewing whether the United States will officially label the campaign against the Rohingya genocide.” What happens next?
Myanmar was lauded by Western governments, including the Obama administration, as a democratic beacon in a world where authoritarianism was on the rise. But the political transition in the Southeast Asian nation was never quite as smooth or as significant as the political fairy tale made it out to be.
Enter the dragon? From Wikipedia:
China is the most important supplier of military aid and maintains extensive strategic and military cooperation.[9] Since 1989, China has supplied Myanmar with jet fighters, armored vehicles and naval vessels and has trained Burmese army, air force and naval personnel.[9][10] Access to Myanmar’s ports and naval installations provide China with strategic influence in the Bay of Bengal, in the wider Indian Ocean region and in Southeast Asia.[9][10][14] China has developed a deep-water port on Kyaukpyu in the Bay of Bengal.[29][14] It has also built an 85-metre jetty, naval facilities and major reconnaissance and electronic intelligence systems on the Great Coco Island,[10][30] located 18 kilometres from India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, giving China capabilities to monitor India’s military activities, including missile tests.[10] However the building of intelligence systems on the island is widely regarded as a myth today and the Indian forces recently denied their existence [31] China assists in constructing a naval base in Sittwe, a strategically important sea port close to eastern India’s largest city and port, Kolkata.[30] Beijing also funds road construction linking Yangon and Sittwe, providing the shortest route to the Indian Ocean from southern China.
China and Russia once vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution designed to punish Myanmar.[13][32] In recent years, China has shown a lack of willingness to back the Burmese government and has attempted to stabilize the political situation in Myanmar. …
In July 2019, UN ambassadors from 50 countries, including Myanmar, have signed a joint letter to the UNHRC defending China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region.