User:BrunoPOSC237/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article pertains to modern economic, social, and political relations between the People's Republic of China, and the rebel-occupied Kachin State of northern Myanmar. Since the renewal of the Kachin Conflict in 2011, China has developed a more active and unscrupulous role with the Kachin people[1]. As violence between the Kachin Independence Army and the Burmese military continue to prevent contact with lowland Burma, China has become the Kachin region’s sole window to the outside world[2]. Currently, the majority of activity between Kachin, and the neighboring Chinese province of Yunnan is made up of illicit trading and the illegal migration of refugees[3].
China holds a significant economic and strategic interest in the region and is heavily invested in development projects including several controversial hydroelectric dams and pipelines[4]. Although officially adhering to a policy of nonintervention, the Chinese government has been very involved in the discourse of the region and often acts as a mediator between the KIA and the Burmese government in Naypyidaw[5].