Thread by @angshuman_ch

🧵"China wants peace" is too simplistic a narrative.

Weeks before the #China-brokered deal b/w #Iran & #SaudiArabia was announced, Beijing sent its top envoy, Deng Xijun, to northern #Myanmar to meet top ethnic rebel groups & convince them to sign ceasefire deals with the junta.

And last week, Xijun travelled to Nay Pyi Taw to meet the coup leader, Min Aung Hlaing. Beijing wants to tell the US (which has sanctioned "non-lethal" aid to the democratic resistance) that it has more access in Burmese power corridors.
irrawaddy.com/opinion/analys…

For Xi's China, "peace" in #Myanmar only means ceasefire between a rogue junta & powerful ethnic rebel groups that have sway over the Myanmar-China border regions. Beijing wants them to stop fighting so that it can resume work on its own projects.

But, such a deal doesn't ensure "peace". It only maintains an awkward status quo, benefits the rogue military regime & harms the larger people's struggle for freedom, democracy & federalism. Also, it is driven by Chinese desire to balance US outreach to these rebel groups.

Same goes for China's attempts to broker a #Rohingya refugee repatriation deal between #Bangladesh & #Myanmar. Its a deal that hardly gives any agency to the refugees & in fact, could put them in harm's way in junta-controlled Myanmar.
dw.com/en/china-to-he…

Moral of the story: Always be wary of powerbrokers & their core intentions.