Photo retrieved from: www.wantchinatimes.com
“Last Friday, hundreds of people in the US, Denmark, United Kingdom, Malaysia, and elsewhere gathered to protest the recent deadly clashes between Burmese authorities and ethnic militias in Burma’s northern Kachin State.
Standing in front of Burmese and Chinese embassies, Kachin nationals held up placards calling end to the hostility plus to stop dam-building by Chinese companies in Kachin State, Kachin News Group said.
Chinese power companies are building a series of dams in northern Burma to supply electricity to China. The biggest and most controversial of these dams is the Myitsone Dam, a massive 3,600MW hydropower plant being built by China Power Investment and situated in an area of great cultural and ecological significance. The environmental impact assessment on this first dam on the Irrawaddy also expressed grave concerns.
According to the Burma Rivers Network, the current conflict is closely related to the dams. The government has sent in troops because it wants to gain control of a region that hosts major Chinese investments in hydropower. Kachin State has till now been largely controlled by Kachin forces.”
Read more: Asian Correspondent
0 Responses to “Burma’s war in Kachin State directly related to the Chinese dams?”