China Urged to Halt New Myanmar Dams

A coalition of Myanmar dissident groups called on China to halt a series of dam projects it is building in the resource-rich Southeast Asian nation, the latest sign of rising hostility toward Chinese investment there.

The call comes as sporadic fighting has continued between Myanmar troops and ethnic insurgents in dense jungle areas near Myanmar's borders with China and Thailand, including areas close to some of the dams. Although details about the fighting with Kachin and other ethnic-group rebels are scant-the areas are largely off-limits to outsiders-dissident groups in communication with the groups say that as many as 10,000 people have had to flee and that resentment over the dams is a significant contributing factor to the conflicts. Decades-old animosities between the ethnic groups and Myanmar's powerful military are also to blame.

Separately on Tuesday, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was mobbed by supporters-and trailed by plainclothes policemen-while visiting the ancient ruins of Bagan in central Myanmar, the Associated Press reported, but otherwise the day passed without incident. It was Ms. Suu Kyi's first trip outside of Yangon since being released from several years of house arrest late last year, and supporters have been watching closely to see if authorities permit her to move about freely.

Dissidents had been stepping up their complaints about Chinese investment amid signs it is increasing rapidly. Foreign direct investment commitments from China in the year that ended in March totaled $8.27 billion, or 41% of the total in Myanmar, compared with total Chinese investment of less than $2 billion by the end of the prior financial year, according to the Associated Press and local media reports. Major projects include a multibillion-dollar oil-and-gas pipeline built in part by Chinese investors across the country. It also includes an estimated 60 hydropower projects involving at least 45 companies, according to International Rivers, a California-based advocacy group.

Activists say the investments harm the environment and help support Myanmar's harsh military-backed government, which is accused of a wide range of human-rights abuses, including forced labor and rape, while failing to boost living standards for average citizens. Western governments, including the U.S., maintain tough economic sanctions against Myanmar that block investment in such projects, but a growing number of dissidents are beginning to question the sanctions, in part because Chinese investment has undermined their effectiveness.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hong Lei said "cooperation between China and Myanmar is on the basis of mutual equality, and is in the interest of both countries' development and both countries' people." The spokesman added that China pays close attention to ecological protection and requires Chinese companies operating outside its borders to obey local environmental and other laws.

Attempts to reach the Myanmar government weren't successful.

The dams have remained a major flashpoint, however. Much of the recent fighting has occurred near Chinese-backed dams that are opposed by local residents, with nine planned or under construction by Chinese companies in Kachin areas, according to the Burma Rivers Network, an advocacy group that represents dam-affected communities and uses the country's former name. The group in mid-June cited the dams for "fueling further conflict" and "not benefiting the people of Burma," while other dissident organizations have tried, unsuccessfully, to pressure Chinese leaders into halting the projects altogether.

The latest call was distributed by a U.S.-based advocacy group, the U.S. Campaign for Burma, and signed by more than a half-dozen other dissident groups, including the All Burma Monks' Alliance and the All Burma Federation of Student Unions. In the statement released Monday and circulated in some areas on Tuesday, they accused the Chinese government of "completely disregarding Burmese people's life and property" and collaborating with the Myanmar government to stop the flow of rivers in Kachin areas with megadam projects.

The Chinese government support for such dam projects "amounts to an indifference toward Burmese people's lives," the groups said.