The root of the issue

China’s poverty alleviation efforts in Myanmar help ease Rakhine State situation

China’s solution to the Myanmar refugee exodus targets the root cause of the humanitarian crisis, calling for the international community to promote development in the region

China has been carrying out aid projects in education, infrastructure and agriculture in Rakhine State and other parts of Myanmar in order to achieve prosperity and stability

China has been paying close attention to the Rakhine State conflict in Myanmar and the ensuing refugee exodus to Bangladesh.

In March, during the legislative two sessions, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China has always insisted on a peaceful and rightful way of dealing with international affairs, especially those at the center of attention.

Nearly one million Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh since violence broke out between the Myanmar military and the Rohingyas, becoming a major humanitarian crisis. The international community has since been in a debate about how to accommodate the refugees.

China has proposed a solution aimed at tackling what it perceives to be the root cause of the conflict and massive exodus – poverty.

Last November, while jointly meeting the press with State Counselor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar in Nay Pyi Taw, Wang introduced China’s opinions on the situation in Myanmar and noted that China suggested addressing this issue in three phases.

For the first phase, an on-site cease-fire should be called for and social stability should be resumed. In the second phase, all parties along with the international community should encourage Myanmar and Bangladesh to strengthen communication so as to find a feasible approach through friendly consultation.

At the third phase, priority should be given to addressing the root cause of this conflict. China believes that poverty is the cause of such turbulence. Even though Rakhine State boasts rich resources, its development still lags far behind.

“We call for the international community to increase support and investment in this area to promote development through poverty alleviation and achieve stability through development. China is willing to make contributions to this end and play its due role,” Wang noted in a proposal that was highly regarded by both sides.

Educational projects

China has long been following step three of this proposal, not only in Rakhine State but also in other parts of Myanmar requiring strong poverty alleviation efforts.

Last September, Hong Liang, China’s ambassador to Myanmar, donated 200 million Kyat ($150,262) on behalf of the Chinese government to Myanmar’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement for Rakhine State.

Lin Yuan, deputy director of the Myanmar Office of the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA), told the Global Times the organization has been conducting educational projects in Myanmar since 2015 and has received good results.

In 2013, CFPA sent a team to assess the needs of Myanmar. The team visited local governmental departments, monasteries, universities, villages, media, an economic counselor to Chinese enterprises and overseas Chinese living and working in the neighboring nation.

“We chose education because we thought it is important to a country’s development, and also because we have a lot of experience in China regarding education,” Lin said.

The office found that higher-education quality in Myanmar is not ideal, with many local college students receiving less than satisfactory knowledge and having to take private training classes in their free time in order to obtain jobs in the future.

Furthermore, local college campuses do not have dormitories, forcing students to travel great distances to school every day; many families simply cannot afford to send their children to travel to school.

To change this situation, CFPA proposed the Paukphaw Scholarship Project, which aims to provide financial aid and capacity building for

Myanmar university students in need, who are selected by a committee of officials and teachs ers.

The selected students receive $300 per person per school year (10 months), which is $30 or 30,000 Myanmar Kyat every month. In 2015, CFPA conducted a pilot project to aid 50 students in two universities in Yangon. In 2016, it expanded to four universities in Yangon; last year, the project expanded to Rakhine State, aiding 100 students there. The project now has 1,300 students in total.

“Another phase of the project to be