"Myanmar drops controversial dam project" by Thomas Fuller, New York Times / October 1, 2011
BANGKOK - In a rare concession to public pressure, Myanmar’s government yesterday ordered the suspension of a controversial hydroelectric project financed and led by a state-owned Chinese company.
The Myitsone dam project would have been the first to span the Irrawaddy River, the largest waterway in Myanmar, and was a showcase project for the previous military government. The halt in construction was a victory for dissidents in a country with a long history of stifling opposition.
Many prominent people inside Myanmar - including writers, scientists, and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi - had opposed the project.
The government’s announcement underscores the nascent stirrings of democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma, after a nominally civilian government took control from a military junta in March.
The dam’s suspension was a blow to China, long considered a benefactor to the government in Myanmar. China Power Investment, a state-run Chinese company, was leading the construction of the project, which would have delivered electricity to southern China. It is unclear how the suspension will affect six other Chinese-led hydroelectric projects in northern Myanmar....
Although top officials in Myanmar, including Thein Sein, are former military officers, the government has sought to distance itself from decades of army rule. The new government has loosened restrictions on the media, is drafting laws on economic liberalization, and is holding regular meetings with Suu Kyi, who was released from years of house arrest in November. An estimated 2,000 political prisoners remain in detention....
The statement added that the government would negotiate terms with China “without affecting the friendly bilateral relations between the two countries.’’
Chinese businesses have rapidly spread throughout Myanmar in recent years. Chinese companies are sometimes blamed for deforestation and are resented for their appetite for Myanmar’s natural resources. A pipeline that would carry natural gas and oil from the Bay of Bengal to southern China is under construction.
It's a good thing that never happens to the U.S. when we plunder other peoples' resources.
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