Myanmar junta moves to revive China-backed Myitsone hydropower project

Myanmar’s military junta has announced the formation of a new committee to look into resuming the controversial Myitsone hydropower dam project in northern Kachin State. In a statement released last Friday, the regime said the new 11-member committee, which was formed late last month, would be led by deputy energy minister Aye Kyaw. “The task of those committee members is to carry out research, seek technical solutions, and plan public relations alongside the State Power Investment Company,” the statement said, referring to the state-owned Chinese company backing the project. “A technical team and public relations team are to be formed, which are to support the project negotiations between Myanmar and China,” it added. The massive US$3.6 billion project, covering an area of 766 sq km—greater than the size of Singapore—was originally planned by Myanmar’s former junta and due for completion in 2019, but was suspended in 2011 over strong public opposition. Located at the confluence of two rivers that form the source of the Ayeyarwady River, Myanmar’s most important waterway, the project site is just 26 miles north of state capital Myitkyina. Environmental and political activists objected to the project, saying it would endanger the river’s biodiversity while also destroying the livelihoods of people living along its banks. A boat is seen on the Ayeyarwady River near Myitsone in October 2013 (Nyein Chan Naing/EPA) As their cause gained nationwide support, including from democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the quasi-civilian administration of then-president Thein Sein put the project on hold indefinitely on September 30, 2011. The move angered China, which was to receive 90 percent of the 6,000 MW dam’s output, but also opened the door to détente with the United States after decades of isolation, initiating a decade-long period of political reform and relative openness that ended with the military takeover in February 2021. The bid to revive the project comes as most of Myanmar faces a severe shortage of electricity, and as the junta’s relations with China have been strained over its failure to rein in criminal activity along the two countries’ shared border. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r

Myanmar junta moves to revive China-backed Myitsone hydropower project

The regime’s decision to form a new committee to restart the suspended project comes as it seeks to ease its strained relations with China

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