Word is that there was a clash between the Burmese and Chinese (not
sure local-born Chinese) or Yunnanese Chinese who bought their
citizenship from the regime at Mandalay's gem market - known as kyauk
wai today.
Dr Zarni
"According to DVB reporter, as many as 1,000 people got involved in
the fighting. The voice journal in Rgn and Mizzima reporter in
Thailand have confirmed independently.
No details has been known yet! The market is situated at Junction
of38th and 86th Streets. Some see the incident as a government's
maneuver to divert the public attention!"
The Chinese model of exploitation differs significantly from, say,
that of the British Raj in Burma. Therefore the local reaction to the
new imperialism being hatched there is going to be different. The Raj
built three-layer economy where the locals were virtually squeezed out
of it. Oil production, rice economy, service, etc. - the British
banks in London (like Lloyds TSB) was one of the major financers
while the Indian (Tamil/Chettyers) moneylenders served as a
retailer/retail loan sharks. Indian labor (close to 200,000 males)
was subsidized and imported by the British administration. In
contrast, the Chinese "model" in Burma today involves creating a
symbiosis wherein the relationship brings mutual benefits between
Beijing's national ruling clique (and its economic affiliates) and the
commercial elites, labor force, and security and admin elites in
Yunnan, the southern most and economically 'backward' province of
China.
The result is straight forward. The Burmese regime is provided by
Beijing with international protection from anything binding or
significant. Economically, billions of dollars of direct investment
and interest free loans go to the regime's coffer. The regime in
return looks the other way when the country is flooded with the
massive Chinese private capital, labor and enterpreneurs, as well as
virtually all consumer goods. At the macro-level, Burma is being
turned into a Chinese vessel state. ( No Burmese nationalist has ever
stomached the idea - and fought the Han Chinese fiercely whenever the
latter attempted to bully or invade the country. )
Here unlike the Raj - both in its Calcutta outpost and in London -
the Chinese have two extra-advantages: the geographic advantage (as
hundreds of thousands of laborers and small-time traders, who expect
to make a fortune in Burma) just go across the border into neighboring
Kachin and other minority states, and local Chinese networks through
Chinese traders associations and their twins, local Chinese temple
trustees who historically serve as the helper of first resort based on
racial solidarity.
The bulk of the local elites are pushed out of their traditional
residential neighborhoods, businesses, etc.
The result is a sea of popular hatred towards both the Chinese and the
"Myanmarese" generals who the locals consider nothing more than
despicable pimps doing Beijing's bidding in exchange for protection
and money.
This is a rather significant development that will have massive
societal consequences.
zarni
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