Protest surrounds Chinese envoy’s hotel in Kachin State
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MYITKYINA - About 70 residents of Kachin State, including some politicians and social activists, staged a protest yesterday at Palm Spring Hotel where Chinese ambassador Hong Liang stayed during his visit to the state. They urged China to axe Myitsone hy
The protest lasted about an hour. Residents, politicians, activists and township elders demanded that land seized for the dam construction be returned to villagers. They chanted: “Get out CPI [China Power Investment Corporation].”
Protester Jar Naw said: “We are staging a protest although we don’t hate the CPI or China. We are not protesting against small dams which do not threaten lives. There are many examples of dams bursting and killing people. We are protesting against the project which is posing a danger to many people. If they want to build a dam, they can do it in their own country. We want the CPI to understand it. The previous government suspended the project. We believe the government will not resume the project and will not ignore the people’s demands.”
Aung Khan, chairman of Kachin Democratic Party, said: “The dam concerns the whole country. That’s why we joined the protest. It is on the Sagaing fault. The River Ayeyawady is key to Kachin culture. We will always be against the project and we believe the government will scrap it.”
Major Myint Thein, head of Myitkyina Township police, said the protesters did not ask for permission for the protest from the authorities.
"They did not ask for permission which violates the law. The authorities will decide whether to take action. We told them to disperse in 15 minutes and noted the names of the leaders.”
An 11-member Chinese delegation led by Hong with consul general Wang Yu, the vice chairman of SPIC (State Power Investment Corporation), the new name for CPI, arrived in Myitkyina on June 2 and met state administrators and MPs to discuss the dam project and border issues. They visited the project site and Myitsone resort and gave an insulated flask to each home in Aung Myinthar Sanpya village which was eviced because of the project. The authorities had removed anti-project posters in the village in advance.
The project, suspended in September 2011, was part of the Confluence Region Hydropower Project, which included seven dams with a total installed capacity of 20,000 megawatts. The investment licence was granted in 2009.
