Since coming to power in 2011, Myanmar’s President Thein Sein has distanced the country from its previously tight-knit relationship with China in favour of rapprochement with the west and Japan.
Yet the past few months have seen a determined push by Beijing to re-engage Myanmar economically and politically, reminding Naypyidaw that it sees the country as a key strategic neighbour, particularly in the wake of recent general elections.
So Chinese officials will have looked on approvingly on December 30 when Myanmar’s parliament gave the go-ahead to the first phase of the Kyaukpyu special economic zone, awarded to a consortium of mostly Chinese companies led by