SCOTT McDONALD | Published: March 10, 2012
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BEIJING (AP) — Chinese officials have urged
Myanmar's
government to restart a Chinese-backed multibillion-dollar power dam
project that was suspended apparently without notice last year.
China
was caught off guard by September's suspension of the $3.6 billion
China-funded Myitsone dam, which was being built by a Chinese company in
Myanmar. The project had drawn protests from ethnic and environmental
groups, and the suspension marked a significant about-face in Myanmar's
domestic politics.
The officials, speaking on the sidelines of China's annual
legislative session, said the dam would produce badly needed electricity
for Myanmar and raise living standards, the official
China Daily reported Sunday.
It quoted a former head of the National Energy Administration,
Zhang Guobao, as saying the dam is a good project that will bring local residents a better life.
It also quoted
Lu Qizhou, president of
China Power Investment Co.,
which is providing the financing for the project, as saying the company
will do all it can to avoid negative environmental impacts from its
projects.
"Myanmar is our friendly neighbor ... we hope to restart the project as quickly as possible," Lu said.
Both Lu and Zhang are members of the Chinese People's Consultative Committee, an advisory body to the annual National People's Congress being held in Beijing.
China and resource-rich Myanmar have historic ties, but the
suspension of the dam project came as an apparent surprise to Beijing,
which has long provided key diplomatic and economic support for Myanmar.
Myanmar President Thein Sein
announced the suspension of the project on Sept. 30, drawing sharp
criticism from the Chinese company behind the project but praise from
activists who say it would displace many villagers and upset the ecology
of the Irrawaddy River. It also would submerge a culturally important site in the ethnic Kachin heartland.
The dam has also been criticized because about 90 percent of the
electricity it would generate would be exported to China, while the vast
majority of Myanmar's citizens have no power.
Beijing has poured billions of dollars of investment into Myanmar to
operate mines, extract timber and build oil and gas pipelines. China has
also been a staunch supporter of the country's politically isolated
government.
China Power Investment Corp., which has threatened legal action over
the move, is a state-owned company, and its website says it operates
under the leadership of the State
Council, which is China's Cabinet.
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