BEIJING: Beijing called Monday for all parties in Myanmar to “resolve their differences” after the military seized power and detained democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
“China is a friendly neighbour of Myanmar and hopes the various parties in Myanmar will appropriately resolve their differences under the constitutional and legal framework to protect political and social stability,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing.
Wang said China — which shares a border with Myanmar — was still “furthering our understanding of the situation.”
The military has declared a one-year state of emergency in Myanmar, and the coup ends a decade of civilian rule in the country.
Myanmar is a vital piece of China’s Belt and Road Initiative — Chinese President Xi Jinping’s $1 trillion vision for maritime, rail and road projects across Asia, Africa and Europe — including a proposed $8.9 billion high-speed rail link from southern Yunnan province to Myanmar’s west coast.
Xi also visited Myanmar in January last year to mark 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
On the visit, he promised that Beijing would “firmly support the Myanmar government and people in pursuing a development path suited to its own national conditions,” according to a foreign ministry readout of the meeting between him and the Myanmar President U Win Myint.
Xi also said China was ready to “work together with the Myanmar side in… speeding up the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Myanmar’s development strategies.”