Myanmar’s Political Reform under the New Civilian Government and Its Impact on Myanmar-China Relations

Since Myanmar has been about to embark on the next phase of its remarkable journey to the democratic state, the new transformation with firm destination, a clear roadmap, and a deep sense of responsibility has undertaken with Three Waves of Reforms. Taking office on 30 March 2011, the new civilian government has laid down several steps towards democratization. Consequently, Myanmar experienced some relaxations over the sanctions previously imposed by the US, Japan and the European Union. The new government has issued amnesty order for a number of political prisoners and taken several steps to liberalize the state-controlled economy. Although Myanmar has been on good terms with China since 1988, the relationship between Myanmar and China has little strains after suspended China’s investment in the Myintsone dam project since September 2011. Therefore, this research attempts to explore how does the new civilian government carry reforms. It also analyses how far reform process affects on Myanmar-China political relations and why China attempted to improve China’s public diplomacy on Myanmar-China relations