Opinion | Why China is succeeding in Myanmar while the West has been sidelined

The West’s incoherent strategy is no match for a ruthless, integrated Chinese approach that leverages economic links to its advantage

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Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing in Moscow in May, on the sidelines of celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 1:30pm, 30 Nov 2025

Over the past year, China has increasingly wielded its economic leverage in Myanmar to tilt the scales towards the military’s State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC), helping it retake territory and re-exert control over the economy.

China has done so by combining its economic heft and proximity to Myanmar with a policy of fostering ties with both state and non-state actors, then leveraging these to its advantage.

Western countries, by contrast, have imposed sanctions yet continue to trade with the SSPC-controlled state. This is despite the SSPC’s numerous changes to the trading system, which have given it extraordinary control and benefits. The result is that Western economic engagement with Myanmar is indirectly undermining its political objectives and the impact of development aid. This is the main reason why China has been increasingly influential in Myanmar while Western countries have been sidelined.

China’s approach has largely been guided by protecting its interests, many of which are economic. These include ensuring access to natural resources like rare earths and keeping other countries from buying them, and protecting infrastructure projects such as the Myanmar-China oil and gas pipelines. China also wants to ensure the uninterrupted flow of cross-border trade, so it trades not only with the SSPC but also with non-state groups, often through a network of unofficial border checkpoints.

The city of Ruili in southwest China’s Yunnan province, a land port on the China-Myanmar border. Photo: Xinhua

Despite a stated policy of non-interference, China has repeatedly used economic pressure to shape the actions of these non-state groups. It has halted trade, closed borders, cut off critical supplies and clamped down on financial services – part of a so-called five-cut policy to force non-state groups into submission.

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