News Story: Malaysia calls Cayetano's statement on Rohingya crisis a 'misrepresentation of reality'

By Gaea Katreena Cabico

MANILA, Philippines (Update 2, 10:51 a.m.) — Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano over the weekend released a statement as the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on the crisis in Rakhine state without referring to violence against Rohingya Muslims.

Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim nation and a member of ASEAN, disassociated itself from the ASEAN chairperson's position and described it as a "misrepresentation of the reality of the situation."

Malaysia's Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman, in a strongly worded disavowal, said Cayetano's statement "was not based on consensus."

"The statement (of Cayetano) also omits the Rohingyas as one of the affected communities," Aman said in a statement on Sunday.

Before the chair's statement, ASEAN has kept mum on the crisis involving Bangladesh and member-state Myanmar. Even rarer still is Malaysia's public opposition in the Southeast Asian bloc known for its "flexible engagement," "non-interference" and consensus.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: South China Sea code framework skips dispute settlement

By Patricia Lourdes Viray 

MANILA, Philippines — The framework of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea will not serve as an instrument to settle territorial disputes or maritime delimitation issues.

Foreign ministers of ASEAN and China are expected to adopt the framework that will serve as an outline for a code of conduct on the disputed waters.

In a two-page document acquired by Philstar.com, one of the main objectives of the code is to establish a rules-based framework to guide the conduct of parties and to promote maritime cooperation in the disputed South China Sea.

Despite not being an instrument to settle disputes, the framework stated the parties' commitment to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and other principles of international law.

The framework did not include the arbitral ruling of a UN-backed tribunal that invalidated China's expansive claims in the South China Sea. Last year, the international tribunal ruled that Beijing violated its commitment under the UNCLOS following its reclamation activities within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

The framework of the code of conduct stressed "[r]espect for each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with international law, and the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states."

Read the full story at PhilStar

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PacificSentinel: In other words it's a worthless piece of paper that will be ignored by everyone, what a massive waste of time.

News Story: President Ghani, Pakistan’s PM Discuss Afghan Peace Process

By Mirabed Joyenda

President Ashraf Ghani met with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Kazakhstan on Friday where they discussed the ongoing Afghan peace process among other mutual interest issues.

According to Pakistani officials, Ghani and Sharif met for 45 minutes and talked about improving bilateral ties and Afghanistan’s peace process.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting with Ghani pledged that Beijing will mediate in relieving tensions between Kabul and Islamabad and will host a trilateral summit.

“Our demand is clear; Pakistan should honestly cooperate in fighting against terrorism. In this meeting, it was agreed that a trilateral meeting will be held among Kabul, Islamabad and Beijing,” Dawa Khan Minapal, President Ghani’s deputy spokesman said.

A number of political analysts said China is willing to mediate between Kabul and Islamabad because of its investments and economic interests in the region and that Beijing has the power to force Pakistan to fight terror sincerely.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Story: No Philippines-Russia security alliance, but closer economic ties

By Alexis Romero and Edith Regalado

MOSCOW – The Philippines may be acquiring weapons from Russia, but the two countries will not forge a strategic security alliance and will only focus on boosting economic ties, an envoy said yesterday.   

Philippine Ambassador Carlos Sorreta said Russia has no plans of becoming a military power in the region and that its pivot to Asia is geared toward strengthening economic relationships. 

“They just want a good relationship, a very respectful one. Right now, they want to start heavily on the economic and then eventually on security,” Sorreta said in a press conference here yesterday.

“They don’t want to be a military power in our region. They have no interest in competing with the existing power dynamics. They want to engage our region, Southeast Asia, purely on economic, cultural, people-to-people.”

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: Duterte set to enjoy drug war support from ASEAN leaders — observers

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is set to enjoy much-wanted foreign support for his deadly drug war when he hosts Southeast Asian leaders at a Manila summit this week, observers say.

Duterte's unpredictable foreign policy is also expected to be in focus at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) event, with confusion surrounding his approach to Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea.

It will be closely watched for how Duterte, who has shocked with curse-laden tirades against the United States and the United Nations, handles hosting his first major diplomatic event.

"This will be a very interesting time. Everyone thinks he is a very charismatic leader, he speaks off the cuff," a Southeast Asian diplomat involved in the summit's preparations told AFP.

The crackdown on drugs, which has claimed thousands of lives and led to warnings by rights groups about a possible crime against humanity, has been a defining theme of Duterte's first 10 months in power.

Duterte has relentlessly railed against the mostly Western critics of his drug war, angrily demanding they respect him while in turn using abusive terms to describe them.

He hogged the headlines at another ASEAN leaders' summit in Laos last year when he called then US president Barack Obama, who was also attending, a "son of a whore" for criticizing the drug war.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: Cambodian PM not support any attempt to internationalize Myanmar's Rohingya issue

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Saturday that the country would not support any attempt to internationalize the issue of Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar, according to Information Minister Khieu Kanharith.

The prime minister expressed the country's position during a meeting with Myanmar's president U Htin Kyaw at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Khieu Kanharith wrote on his Facebook after the meeting.

"We do not agree with any attempt to internationalize the Rohingya issue, considering it as the Myanmar's internal issue, and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Charter also bans members from interfering in others'internal affairs," he quoted the prime minister as saying to the Myanmar president.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Indonesia Breaks Silence on Refugees With Presidential Decree

Krithika Varagur

JAKARTA, INDONESIA — Indonesia has quietly released a presidential decree addressing its roughly 14,000 refugees and asylum seekers, who were previously overlooked in the country's laws. It is being hailed as a promising, if incomplete, first step for Indonesia, which is not a signatory to the United Nations’ 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

“The decree fills the legal vacuum regarding refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia,” Febi Yonesta, chairman of SUAKA, the Indonesian Civil Society Network for Refugee Rights Protection, told VOA. “Of course, its effects depend on how it's executed on the local level.”

Yonesta said President Joko Widodo's decree, released late last month, had been in the works since 2010 under the previous president, but was stalled by the number of ministries (foreign, immigration, police, law, security, health) involved.

As it stands, the decree has entered the global fray at a time when governments like those of Australia, the United States and most of Western Europe are tightening their borders to refugees and asylum seekers.

News Story: Philippines' Duterte calls on ASEAN, dialogue partners to help strengthen community

MANILA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday called on members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN)and its dialogue partners including China, Japan and the United States to help strengthen the Southeast Asian community.

Duterte made the appeal during the formal launching of the Philippine chairmanship of ASEAN in Davao City this afternoon. Diplomats and officials flew to Duterte's home city to attend the event.

As chair of the ASEAN meetings, Duterte said the Philippines "will be firm in its advocacy to promote cooperation between and among ASEAN neighbors and engage our dialogue partners to be more dynamic and vibrant stakeholders in the continued development of our region."

He said priorities of this year's meeting would be to ensure the well-being of the peoples in ASEAN and ensure peace and stability in the region.

"We will place our peoples at the core, work for regional peace and stability, pursue maritime security and cooperation, advance inclusive, innovation-led growth, strengthen ASEAN resiliency and promote ASEAN as a model of regionalism and as a global player," Duterte said.

"This is a tremendous task but one that is not unachievable."

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Malaysian PM - 'Genocide' of Muslims in Myanmar is 'Our Problem'

The Rohingya people, a Muslim ethnic minority of about 1 million in Myanmar, have consistently been persecuted by the Buddhist majority in the country - to the point that some are calling it ethnic cleansing.

Neighboring states have become concerned about the violence toward the minority group. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, led a protest December 4 in Kuala Lumpur calling on Myanmar's Asian neighbors to help stop the genocide. 

"UN, please do something. The world cannot sit by and watch genocide taking place," Najib said to the crowd, which included Rohingya refugees. "The world cannot say it is not our problem. It is our problem," he said. 

The Rohingya are considered the most friendless people in the world, the AP put it. They are denied citizenship in Myanmar despite having lived there for generations. Bangladesh, which hosts many Rohingya refugees, also refuses to give them citizenship.

News Story: Putin, Trump vow joint efforts to normalize Russia-U.S. ties in phone talks - Kremlin

MOSCOW, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday held a telephone conversation, with both sides agreeing to make joint efforts to normalize the current stained ties between Russia and the United States.

Putin voiced Moscow's willingness to build a partnership dialogue with the new U.S. administration based on equality, mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of each other, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Read the full story at Xinhua

Editorial: Obama’s Sunnylands Summit - Does ASEAN Really Matter?

By Robert Manning

Can the bloc really be a U.S. strategic partner?

OK, OK, I get the symbolism, but it is a measure of how devalued the language of diplomacy can be that US President Barack Obama would hold an unprecedented summit at Sunnylands in California with ten heads of state whose countries comprise the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to talk of a “strategic partnership.”

The February 15-16 meeting is intended to underscore the U.S. “rebalance” toward Asia, but it is more political theater than strategy. Yes, the nations of ASEAN total 625 million people, make up an economy of $2.4 billion, and individually are important economic partners of the United States with a combined bilateral trade of $260 billion and a similar level of U.S. FDI in all ASEAN countries in 2015.

With regard to defense, longtime US allies like the Philippines and Thailand, and burgeoning security partners such as Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia – all alarmed at China’s assertive behavior – are important actors helping to undergird the regional security architecture built from the core of forward-deployed US forces and alliances. But in defense, too, most serious business is done with the United States bilaterally.

Obama is to be commended for his initiative to elevate Southeast Asia and showcase the importance of the region to U.S. interests. If he uses the summit to highlight the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement; economic and defense cooperation; and ASEAN support for an open, rules-based order, it may be worth the effort.

But it is delusional to portray ASEAN as a viable collective actor that has more than a marginal role in the regional political/security order. Of course, leaders talking is better than not talking. But after two decades of such multilateralism, regional security is more at risk than ever. If you ask the question: if ARF (ASEAN Regional Forum) and EAS (East Asia Summit) and other such acronyms disappeared tomorrow would Asia be any less secure, the answer is no.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: Anticipating China’s 'One-Belt One-Road' in South Asia

By Cameron Munter

The ‘One-Belt-One-Road’ initiative has the potential to have significant impact on both China and Pakistan.

If general impressions are to be believed, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s One-Belt-One-Road project—at least as it plays out in Pakistan and its neighborhood—is either a major step toward Chinese projection of power outside its borders, or an example of the importance of domestic constituencies in Chinese foreign policy. The first camp believes that the hesitancy and inherent conservatism of China is finally giving way to a more muscular and confident role, and that Chinese claims that its investment in infrastructure to its west and south is “win-win” for everyone is actually cover for a new manifestation of its global role. The latter believes that the foreign implications of the plan are secondary to the real issue on the Chinese leadership’s mind: the domestic Chinese economic transformation that will see cheap labor producing mass exports replaced by higher value-added production that depends on technological savvy and education.

On the other end of the One-Belt-One-Road project, in Pakistan for example, there is the prospect of an opening of an economy long stagnant, unleashing Pakistan’s potential in its labor force, accessibility of goods, and role in international trade. That, of course, is what the government of Prime Minister Sharif states, expecting that the 48 billion dollars expected to pour into infrastructure projects in Khyber Pakhtunkwa and Balochistan will transform the country, alleviating much of the poverty that has been increased by the violence and insecurity of recent decades. But it could in fact do no such thing. The economy of Pakistan has become more autarkic over time, as political elites defend their roles in traditional sectors like agriculture, textiles, and basic manufacturing, resisting the changes that have brought neighboring areas like Southeast Asia in to the world economy. Some suspect that the 48 billion, if steered toward political favorites and distributed in a non-transparent way, will simply reinforce the calcified system that favors traditional elites over innovation and flexibility.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: China’s Relations With Iran - A Threat to the West?

By Sara Hsu

Trade between the two countries is set to explode.

China and Iran agreed last Saturday to increase trade to $600 billion in the next ten years, as President Xi Jinping met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani after the lifting of international sanctions against Iran. China has been conducting economic relations with Iran in recent years, despite the presence of international sanctions on Iran for continuing to develop its nuclear program. Iran plays an important role in China’s One Belt One Road initiative, and is to become an important railway connection and remain an oil supplier to China. Should China’s relations with Iran be viewed as a threat to the West?

Maybe. China’s relations with Iran may support the latter’s military capabilities, particularly as China sells arms and transfers nuclear technology to Iran. China’s overall trade with Iran lessens the power of international sanctions. This relationship has reduced the power of sanctions and embargoes for decades, starting in 1979 when the U.S. and the West imposed arms embargoes on Iran, inducing Iran to purchase weapons from China instead. Iran acts as an important transport hub between China and Europe.

Or maybe not. Iran has curbed its nuclear program according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which means that Iran has restricted its possession of enriched uranium, limited centrifuge operations, shipped out all spent fuel reactors, and met other conditions under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. In addition, China is not the only nation Iran is attempting to openly court, now that sanctions have been lifted. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani traveled to Europe to rebuild political and economic relations in that region. Rouhani’s visit appeals to European leaders due in part to his stated commitment in fighting terrorism. Rouhani has underscored Iran’s desire to bring solidarity among all Muslims and combat discord.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: Revealed - China's Blueprint for Building Middle East Relations

By Shannon Tiezzi

The first “Arab Policy Paper” provides Beijing’s official vision for China-Middle East relations.

On Wednesday, one week before Chinese President Xi Jinping is reportedly scheduled to arrive in Egypt for his first visit to the Middle East, China issued a lengthy explanation of its approach to the region in a document titled “China’s Arab Policy Paper.” The paper briefly traces the history of China-Arab relations, from exchanges via the ancient Silk Road to the founding of the China-Arab State Cooperation Forum in 2004, before outlining China’s plan for expanding cooperation in the future.

Some caveats, first: like China’s 2015 policy paper on Africa, the “Arab Policy Paper” does not lay out specific policies for specific countries (in fact, there’s not a single country named in the paper, besides China). The paper presents a blanket vision for regional relations, without getting in to the complexities of how that vision will be realized in bilateral relationships with individual states. This is a paper about China’s approach to “Arab countries,” not China’s approach to say, Egypt or Saudi Arabia. For China’s purposes, the “Arab countries” are those with membership in the League of Arab States, which serves as the basis of the China-Arab State Cooperation Forum.

Right now, China’s relationship with the Arab world is largely defined by its energy imports — meaning, of course, oil. As the policy paper notes, “Arab countries as a whole have become China’s biggest supplier of crude oil.” The full truth is even more striking: Saudi Arabia alone is China’s largest supplier of oil, and when you factor in Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, the Arab world accounts for over 40 percent of China’s total oil imports.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: China Joins Afghanistan, Pakistan, and US for Talks on Afghan Peace Process

Image: Flickr User - ResoluteSupportMedia

By Shannon Tiezzi

A four-nation meeting on Monday discussed the possibility of a return to talks with the Afghan Taliban.

The Afghan peace process took a step forward on Monday, with Pakistan hosting four-nation talks trying to create a roadmap for restarting peace negotiations between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan national government (our own Ankit Panda gave a preview of the talks this weekend). China, along with Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States, makes up the Quadrilateral Coordination Group.

China’s top representative at Monday’s talks was Special Envoy on Afghan Affairs Deng Xijun. Other high-ranking attendees included Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry, and Richard Olson, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

China’s inclusions in the talks on Monday signals its growing involvement in the Afghan peace process. The four countries represented at the discussion are seen as crucial to ensuring the success of any negotiations with the Taliban, in part because of China’s clout with its “iron brother,” Pakistan. Islamabad’s involvement (not to mention a commitment to depriving the Afghan Taliban of support) is crucial to actually bringing the militant group to the table.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: Is China's Maritime Silk Road A Military Strategy?

By Anthony Kleven

The initiative may have a strong military dimension too.

Did Xi Jinping just acknowledge that the Maritime Silk Road has, in fact, a strong military dimension?

That seems to be the case, following a joint declaration made with his Djibouti counterpart, Ismail Omar Guelleh (IOG), on the sidelines of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg. According to Xinhua, the usually guarded Xi welcomed “Djibouti’s participation in developing Beijing-proposed 21st-century Maritime Silk Road in proper ways.”

However, in light of last week’s bombshell that China has chosen this sleepy East African nation to house its first military base, giving such a warm embrace to Djibouti’s “proper” participation in the Maritime Silk Road is, quite frankly, startling.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: After Deadly Attack in Mali, How Will China Protect Its Citizens Abroad?

By Benjamin David Baker

The al-Qaeda attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali’s capital left 3 Chinese citizens dead. How will Beijing react?

As Shannon Tiezzi reported for the Diplomat, seven Chinese citizens were among the 170 hostages taken at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali on November 20. According to Xinhua, a total of 27 hostages were killed, including three Chinese nationals. The three killed were senior executives in the China Railway Construction Corporation, a state-owned firm. The attack was carried out by the jihadist groups al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) and al-Mourabitoun.

These killings are symptomatic of the vulnerability Chinese citizens face abroad. Although the Chinese citizens present at the Radisson were probably not the main target for these attacks, they are as vulnerable to transnational terrorism as anybody else. Secondly, it shows that for all the hype, China’s non-interference policy in Africa is under threat and Beijing is struggling to find an effective way to secure its economic interests there.

Over the last couple of years, the protection of Chinese nationals overseas has become a key priority for Beijing. This is a problem that is not isolated to China’s presence in Africa. For example, as Shannon reported last week, a Chinese hostage was recently killed by ISIS in Syria. Chinese nationals have been kidnapped and killed in Sudan,Ethiopia, the Gulf of Aden, and throughout the Middle East. In fact, in the African context, Chinese nationals are increasingly at risk, not least due to the fact that there are so many of them on the continent. This has generated pressure among the population for the Chinese Communist Party to do more to protect its citizens overseas.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: What Is China's Plan for Fighting Global Terrorism?

By Shannon Tiezzi

After the Paris attacks, China pledged to support the international fight against terrorism. But how?

On November 13, gunmen and bombers affiliated with Islamic State (ISIS) attacked Batalcan Theater, cafes, restaurants, and the Stade de France in Paris, killing 129. A week later, armed gunmen took 170 hostages in the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali’s capital, Bamako. In between, ISIS announced that it had executed two hostages, a Norwegian and a Chinese citizen.

Each of these events impacted China directly. One Chinese citizen was shot but survived the Paris attacks; three Chinese were killed in the Mali hotel attack; and hostage Fan Jinghui’s murder was confirmed by China’s Foreign Ministry.

After the events of the past two weeks, China has being facing more pressure – both domestically and internationally – to clarify its contributions to the fight against terrorism. Government officials, from ministry spokespeople to Xi Jinping himself, have been clear cut about China’s revulsion toward terrorism. The question is how China plans to fight it.

One thing is clear: an American-style “war on terror,” with military operations overseas designed to attack and overrun terrorist strongholds, is not in the cards for Beijing. China’s non-interventionist foreign policy wouldn’t necessarily prevent China from sending its military to help fight terrorist groups like ISIS, if (and only if) the host country requests it. But even countries that have openly asked for China’s aid, such as Iraq, have received only promises of personnel training and other support. China simply isn’t interested in placing boots on the ground (or missile in the air, for that matter) to fight international groups like ISIS. And given how little effect military strikes against ISIS have had so far (and the mixed results of the long-standing U.S. operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan), it’s easy to understand how Beijing reached that decision.

But the question remains: if China doesn’t subscribe to a literal war on terror, how does it propose to contribute to the global effort to eradicate terrorism, which Chinese leaders vocally supported over the past two weeks?

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: The Importance of the Joint Statement on the US-ASEAN Strategic Partnership

By Ben Schreer and Sheryn Lee

The elevated relationship sends a clear message to China.

At the 3rd ASEAN-U.S. Summit in Kuala Lumpur, both sides elevated their relationship to the “ASEAN-U.S. Strategic Partnership.” While “strategic partnerships” abound in the Asia-Pacific, this one is symbolically important for several reasons. It comes amidst growing tensions over China’s assertive behavior in the South China Sea (SCS). Two ASEAN states, the Philippines and Vietnam, are engaged in fierce territorial claims with China. Moreover, Indonesia and Malaysia are increasingly concerned about China encroaching on their maritime sovereignty. And Beijing’s massive “land reclamation” activities in the SCS has all too clearly demonstrated to Southeast Asian littoral countries that China seeks to change the regional security order with blatant disregard for their strategic interests and sovereignty.

China’s challenge to Southeast Asia’s order has put considerable stress on ASEAN. Primarily designed to deal with economic and political issues rather than questions of hard power and security, ASEAN runs a real risk of being “divided and conquered” by China, whose large checkbook seems particularly irresistible for smaller, land-locked members. Beijing’s participation in “ASEAN plus” forums has also provided it with the power to veto criticism of its maritime behavior. For instance, the recent ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting’ Plus (ADMM Plus) in early November ended without a joint declaration after China blocked a push by some ASEAN nations, the United States, and Japan to include concerns over the SCS.

Against this background, the conclusion of the ASEAN-U.S. Strategic Partnership can be seen as sending some clear messages to China. Hitherto largely unthinkable, the relationship agenda with the U.S. now not only includes security issues but the joint statement also implicitly acknowledges the critical role played by Washington in upholding the principles of the regional security order. It states that both sides are “committed to a rules-based approach in Asia, respect for international law and the peaceful resolution of disputes.” It also emphasizes “ASEAN Centrality in the evolving rules-based architecture of the Asia-Pacific” and reaffirms “the importance of maintaining peace and stability, ensuring maritime security and safety, and freedom of navigation including in and over-flight above the South China Sea.” Finally, it stresses the resolution of disputes in “accordance with universally recognized principles of international law.”

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: China Derailing Myanmar Peace Talks - Top Negotiator

By Prashanth Parameswaran

Senior official says it is “time to stop whispering” about Beijing’s meddling.

China has undermined Myanmar’s peace talks with ethnic rebels by convincing groups not to ink a ceasefire pact and obstructing international monitoring to help end decades of civil war, a top Myanmar government negotiator has revealed.

As I reported earlier this week, officials had revealed that the Myanmar government would ink a nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) on October 15 with only eight of the country’s fifteen ethnic armed groups it initially agreed to negotiate with (See: “Myanmar to Ink Peace Deal With Eight Armed Groups Ahead of Historic Election”). Observers had expressed concern that the pact had left out several key groups and would do little to help bring lasting peace.

But Min Zaw Oo, a senior official at the government-linked Myanmar Peace Center, toldReuters that this had occurred partly because China’s special envoy to Myanmar had pressed two major rebel groups – the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) not to sign the peace accord.

Beijing also objected to clauses in the deal that would have included Western nations and Japan among international observers of the conclusion of the peace process, he added.

Read the full story at The Diplomat