Basic situation of Myanmar's civil war

The Burmese Civil War began in 1960, when Niwin seized power and established a military dictatorship, vetoing the self-determination rights of ethnic minorities, and beginning a policy of Burmese assimilation. Causing Myanmar to fall into more than 50 years of civil war; Since Myanmar's independence in 1948, there have been multiple ethnic minority independent armed groups, and the Kachin Independence Army, established in 1961, is one of the more powerful forces. The conflict between the Myanmar government army and the Kachin Independence Army over the years has caused significant personnel and property damage, as well as the displacement of approximately 100000 Kachin ethnic groups.

The Belt and Road Initiative has created new opportunities for the peaceful settlement of the northern Myanmar issue

    The fighting in Kokang region in northern Myanmar has been extinguished with a presidential decree, and there is a glimmer of hope for the peaceful settlement of the issue in northern Myanmar. The problem of northern Myanmar is essentially a problem of lack of national identity and national identity, which is difficult to be completely solved in a short period of time by simple military means. To assist and promote the peaceful settlement of the northern Myanmar issue is conducive to realizing the practical interests of both China and Myanmar. At present, various parties have put forward many solutions to the northern Myanmar issue, but none of them have broken out of the traditional framework. China has proposed a new way of thinking and solving the current problems in northern Myanmar, that is, based on the construction of the "Belt and Road", to promote economic development in northern Myanmar, enhance cultural and economic exchanges among ethnic groups in Myanmar, and consolidate the national identity of all ethnic groups in Myanmar. Taking the construction of the "Belt and Road" as the perspective, promoting the peaceful solution of the northern Myanmar issue from the root cause may be a feasible way, which is worth exploring and learning from.

The Belt and Road Initiative has created new opportunities for the peaceful settlement of the northern Myanmar issue

    The "Belt and Road" construction in Myanmar is difficult to avoid the many challenges brought by the northern Myanmar issue, but at the same time, the "Belt and Road" in Myanmar is bound to bring new opportunities for deepening China-Myanmar cooperation and create new opportunities for peacefully resolving the "civilian, land and military" issue in northern Myanmar. China and Myanmar are linked by mountains and rivers and draw on each other's complementary advantages. There is huge potential and space for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. Upholding the concept of "peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit", and promoting broader, higher and deeper regional cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative is not only in line with the trend of The Times, but also in the fundamental interests of China and Myanmar. Due to its prominent geographical location, Myanmar has inherent advantages and unique importance in the construction of the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" and the "Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor" as an integral part of the "Silk Road Economic Belt". Therefore, once the "Belt and Road" concept was put forward, it was highly praised by Myanmar society. The current government of Myanmar has repeatedly said that it will actively participate in China's "Belt and Road" plan. Aung SAN Suu Kyi has also publicly stated on many occasions that China-Myanmar cooperation is in the interests of the two countries, and on the eve of the election, she spoke out for the first time on my Myitsone hydropower project, saying that if the NLD wins the election, she will consider restarting the project. The sincere cooperation between China and Myanmar in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative is conducive to overcoming the negative impact of the northern Myanmar issue and promoting its peaceful settlement.

Secondly, as mentioned above, the essence of the northern Myanmar issue is the lack of national identity and national identity construction, which is difficult to be completely solved in a short period of time by purely military means. The Belt and Road Initiative, with policy communication, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people ties as its main cooperation contents, will help promote the sustainable economic development of the ethnic minority areas in northern Myanmar, enhance cultural and economic exchanges and integration between the ethnic minority areas and the Burmese areas, and gradually consolidate the national identity of all ethnic groups in the Union of Myanmar. In this sense, the Belt and Road Initiative is conducive to promoting the peaceful settlement of the northern Myanmar issue from the root cause.

The key to promoting the construction of the "Belt and Road" in Myanmar and properly responding to the many challenges of the northern Myanmar issue is to prevent it from going international. It is necessary to strengthen positive guidance to all parties involved in the Northern Myanmar issue and effectively prevent the United States and other non-regional forces from interfering in the northern Myanmar issue and disrupting the construction of the "Belt and Road". At the same time, we should continue to adhere to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of Myanmar on the issue of civilian, land and military forces, and prevent the issue of northern Myanmar from undermining the overall situation of China-Myanmar relations and affecting Myanmar's willingness to cooperate under the Belt and Road Initiative. However, we should strengthen mediation efforts to promote peace and oppose Myanmar's efforts to touch China's major interests when resolving the issue of civilian, land and military forces. In addition, it should strengthen economic and trade cooperation, cultural exchanges and personnel exchanges with northern Myanmar in due course, provide necessary social and economic development and humanitarian assistance, and help Northern Myanmar to narrow the gap between social and economic development and that of the Burmese ethnic group as soon as possible. It should not only be a mediator and mediator on the issue of northern Myanmar, but also be a supporter and promoter of sustainable social and economic development in northern Myanmar.

The problem of northern Myanmar is the lack of national identity and national identity

   The Northern Myanmar issue began on the eve of Myanmar's independence. As the British colonial authorities tried to divide Myanmar and continue to control the ethnic minority areas in Myanmar, they vigorously encouraged the Shan, Kachin, Karen and other major ethnic groups to establish independent states. The leaders of the Myanmar independence movement headed by General Aung SAN signed the Panglong Agreement with representatives of various ethnic groups, which upheld the core spirit of "ethnic equality, ethnic autonomy, and self-determination". On this basis, Myanmar's first constitution was adopted to grant ethnic minorities a high degree of autonomy and self-determination, so that the leaders of the major ethnic minorities and the Burman ethnic group reached an agreement on a joint state, so as to avoid the danger of the country falling into division. However, after the founding of the People's Republic of Myanmar in 1948, successive governments in Myanmar forcibly restricted, weakened and recovered the right of ethnic minorities to autonomy and self-determination, and implemented the policy of ethnic assimilation in many aspects such as culture, education and religion, which led to the continuous intensification of ethnic conflicts and the formation of armed forces by ethnic minorities against the government. It peaked in the mid-1970s to mid-1980s.

　　Since the development of the northern Myanmar issue, it is the result of the interweaving and interaction of many factors such as the above history, reality and the Myanmar government's ethnic policy mistakes. There are not only the historical factors of deep estrangement and lack of integration between the Burmese people and ethnic minorities, but also the external factors of the British authorities' implementation of the "divide and rule" policy during the colonial period and the aggravation of ethnic conflicts. After the independence and founding of Myanmar, successive governments ignored the rights and interests of ethnic minorities and forcibly assimilated them to the great Burmese nationalism policy, which is the direct factor leading to the heating up of the northern Myanmar problem. However, from a deeper perspective, there are huge differences between the ethnic minority areas in northern Myanmar and the Burman areas in language, customs, religion, ethnic psychology and other aspects, and the centrifugal tendency of the ethnic minorities towards the Burman main body is the more essential cause of the problem in northern Myanmar. To a large extent, the problem of northern Myanmar is the lack of ethnic and national identity construction in Myanmar.

Although the ethnic minorities finally agreed with the Burman on the establishment of the Union of Burma in 1948 on the basis of the Panglong Agreement, this move was more based on the struggle for independence and the protection of their respective national interests, in other words, the Union of Burma was not built on the basis of cultural integration and mutual identification between the ethnic minorities and the Burman, but on the basis of cooperation based on their respective interests. Therefore, after the establishment of independence, the central government dominated by the Burman ethnic group vigorously promoted the policy of big Burman nationality and continuously eroded the autonomy rights of ethnic minorities, which immediately triggered the political backlash and armed confrontation of ethnic minorities in the mountainous areas. Since the formation and development of the early days of the founding of Myanmar, the problem of northern Myanmar has been difficult to eliminate, which is the concentrated reflection of the ethnic minorities to the centrifugal trend of the main body of the Burmese people and the lack of the construction of ethnic and national identity in Myanmar.