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| Aung San Suu Kyi (Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Cristina Garafola
The importance of a recent visit extends beyond its unprecedented nature.
In June 2015, Burmese parliamentarian and opposition party leader Aung San Suu Kyi led a delegation of National League for Democracy (NLD) party members to China. Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK), the general secretary of the NLD, met with President Xi Jinping and other senior Chinese officials.
The trip marked a series of firsts in the Sino-Myanmar relationship: the first visit by the Nobel Peace Prize winner to China since her release from house arrest in November 2010, as well as the first meeting between President Xi and ASSK, both heads of their respective parties, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the NLD.
The high-level discussions also reflected the importance of ASSK’s trip for both sides. For China, whose relations with Myanmar have become increasingly strained since 2011, ASSK’s visit provided an opportunity to engage with a key player in the now-pluralized political landscape prior to Myanmar’s upcoming parliamentary elections on November 8th. For ASSK and the rest of the NLD delegation, meeting with Chinese leadership provided a forum for bilateral engagement with one of Myanmar’s most important neighbors in the region, relations that will continue, if not expand, if the NLD performs as well as expected in the November elections.
Read the full story at The Diplomat