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Consulate attack highlights China’s ‘delicate’ balancing act in Myanmar

Updated: 27-10-2024, 11.05 AM

An attack on China’s consulate in Myanmar’s second-largest city Mandalay highlights the challenges Beijing faces in the war-torn country, as it tries to find a balance between the ruling junta and armed opposition, observers say.

No casualties were reported after an explosive device was detonated on October 18, damaging the two-storey Chinese consulate in central Mandalay, according to China’s foreign ministry.

Analysts say the blast has again raised doubt over whether the military government can protect Chinese interests and assets amid an increasingly violent civil war, ahead of a reported China visit by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing next month.

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Beijing, which is a major ally and arms supplier of Myanmar‘s military while maintaining close contact with rebel groups near its border, condemned the attack and lodged a “serious protest” with the junta.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian on Monday called on Myanmar to “get to the bottom of the incident, make an all-out effort to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice in accordance with the law … and prevent similar incidents from happening again”.

Details of the attack are sketchy and it remains unclear who was responsible. The junta blamed “terrorists” in a statement on Saturday and said it was investigating in cooperation with consulate officials.

According to The Irrawaddy news portal, a loud explosion was heard when the street-side building was hit by a hand grenade, damaging its roof.

Jason Tower, a Myanmar expert at the United States Institute of Peace, said the attack demonstrated “the continued failure of the Myanmar military regime to provide even the most basic level of security to the interests and assets of its most critical external supporter”.

“Such failures on the part of the junta are common … making very clear the limits of the junta’s ability to secure vital infrastructure, such as the China-Myanmar pipeline project, or Chinese factories in Yangon,” he said, noting there had been at least four attacks on China-backed infrastructure projects, businesses or other assets since a military coup in 2021.

Analysts said the attack came at a “sensitive time”, as Beijing has bolstered its support for the internationally isolated junta since the rebels in early August captured Lashio, the military regime’s northeastern command and the capital of northern Shan State bordering the Chinese province of Yunnan.

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