Myanmar's farmers pay for China's oil thirst
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - The largest island off Myanmar's west coast is emerging as another
frontier for China's expanding plans to extract the rich oil and gas reserves
of military-ruled Myanmar.
Initial explorations by a consortium, led by China National Offshore Oil
Company (CNOOC), has left a deep scar on Ramree Island, which is twice the size
of Singapore and home to about 400,000 people. ''They have destroyed rice
fields and plantations when conducting the seismic surveys and mining the
island in search of oil,'' says Jockai Khaing, director of Arakan Oil Watch
(AOW), an environmental group of Myanmar people living in exile.
''The local communities have been directly and indirectly affected,'' he said.
''Hundreds of people have been forced to relocate as a
result of the drilling conducted near their communities. The locals hate the
Chinese; their world has become crazy after the Chinese arrived.''
CNOOC has been pushing ahead with its work since early 2005 with no attempt to
consult the local residents and showing little regard to such notions as
corporate social responsibility, said Jockai. The Chinese company, which is
listed on the New York and the Hong Kong stock exchanges, has ''not conducted
the required environmental impact assessments and social impact assessments
that are recognized internationally as a must before exploration work begins.''
To dispose the waste from its drilling sites, ''CNOOC workers dug shallow
canals designed to carry the [toxic] drilling mud, or wastewater containing
oil, away from the drilling sites and into Chaing Wa Creek, which curves past
several local farms before flowing into the Bay of Bengal,'' states a report by
AOW, released in mid-October. ''This arbitrary disposal can make soil in
surrounding areas unsuitable for plant growth by reducing the availability of
nutrients or by increasing toxic contents in the soil.''
Concerns about the cost of letting China tighten its grip on the natural
resources in Myanmar has also been expressed by other groups, including
EarthRights International (EI), a US-based group championing human rights.
There are 69 Chinese companies involved in 90 ''completed, current and planned
projects'' in the oil, gas and hydropower sectors in Myanmar, EI said in
groundbreaking report released in late September.
That number marks an over 200% increase in the number of Chinese energy
developers thought to have had existed in the country a year before. ''Given
what we know about development projects in Myanmar and the current situation,
we're concerned about this marked increase in the number of the projects,'' the
rights lobby stated in the report [1].
''China is using Myanmar's military dictatorship to its advantage as it goes in
search of oil and gas. There are no rules and regulations for Chinese companies
to follow in Myanmar,'' Ka Hsaw Wa, executive director of EI, said in an IPS
interview. ''This will hurt the future of Myanmar.''
Such criticisms come at a time when China has begun to show signs that the
environmental cost of its projects abroad cannot be ignored. ''The country
lacked comprehensive environmental protection policies in its overseas
projects, although investment had been expanding,'' states a report released in
mid-September by the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning (CAEP),
according to the China Daily newspaper.
''China's overseas investment and aid mainly focuses on exploring oil and other
resources, processing and manufacturing, and construction in African and
Southeast Asian countries,'' the English-language, Chinese government-owned
daily said. ''Without proper management, such projects are likely to cause
environmental problems, the [CAEP] report said.''
Myanmar will prove to be an ideal testing ground, given that China has emerged
as the biggest investor in the military-ruled country's power sector. The money
flowing in from such foreign direct investments and the sale of gas has helped
to prop up a junta notorious for suppressing its people through many forms of
abuse.
In 2006, the government of Myanmar earned an estimated US$2.16 billion from
sales of natural gas to Thailand, which accounts for close to half of Myanmar's
export earnings and is the single largest source of foreign earnings. In 2008,
Myanmar is expected to earn $3.5 billion from export of gas, according to one
estimate.
But few of these benefits trickle down to the country's people. Consequently,
Myanmar ranks as one of the world's least-developed countries. Nor has having
abundance of natural resources improved the power supply in the country either.
Regular blackouts are frequent in Yangon, the former capital, and elsewhere.
The government has profited in other ways, too, from China's energy interest in
Myanmar. ''Beijing has come to the junta's rescue and protects it from
criticism at international forums like the UN Security Council,'' says Win Min,
a Myanmar national security expert teaching at a university in northern
Thailand. ''A strong relationship of mutual benefit has developed since 1988.''
In exchange for letting Chinese companies exploit its natural resources, the
Myanmar leadership has received military hardware from Beijing. They range from
fighter jets and armored carriers to small weapons, Win Min told IPS. ''The
junta will open the country to China because the military regime needs Beijing
more than the other way around.''
Note
1. China in Burma: The Increasing Involvement of Chinese Multinational
Corporations in Myanmar's Hydropower, Oil and Natural Gas, and Mining Sectors.
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road,
Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
