Myanmar's strategy in the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor: a failure in hedging?

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Main author: Kobayashi, Yuka
Other authors: King, Josephine
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-37090
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
topic JQ Political institutions (Asia, Africa, Australia)
JZ International relations
description This article examines Myanmar's hedging strategies in China's Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), a key component of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Myanmar has avoided being overly reliant on China by strategically hedging and diversifying its foreign relations with other countries in the region. However, Myanmar's ability to hedge is compromised by its domestic fragmentation, caused by the protracted civil war and rising civil–military tensions. We focus on the two advanced projects in CMEC, the Muse–Mandalay railway and Kyaukphyu deep seaport, and have conducted qualitative, semi-structured interviews with key actors involved in China–Myanmar relations (2016–2021) under the National League for Democracy (NLD). Through the fieldwork findings, we problematize the assumption in the hedging literature which takes for granted a country's competence to act strategically in their foreign policy. Our findings from the Myanmar case suggest that the state's level of fragmentation and capability to hedge are inversely proportional. The multiple actors in Myanmar's political space complicate its China policy and limit its ability to hedge effectively. This is augmented by the military coup in February 2021, which further fragmented the country, compromising Myanmar's China policy even further, making hedging a less viable framework to examine Myanmar's China strategy.
format Journal Article
author Kobayashi, Yuka
author_facet Kobayashi, Yuka
King, Josephine
authorStr Kobayashi, Yuka
author_letter Kobayashi, Yuka
author2 King, Josephine
author2Str King, Josephine
title Myanmar's strategy in the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor: a failure in hedging?
publisher Oxford University Press
publishDate 2022
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/37090/

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