~ Linn Maung ~
In the wake of increasing attacks by rebels and pro-democracy supporters in Myanmar on its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)-related projects, upset China has reportedly proposed to the military ruler of the Southeast Asian nation to form a Joint Venture Security Company (JVSC) to protect its interests in the country.
The move is understood to have a similarity with the Private Security and Military Contract (PSMC) that Beijing has proposed to sign with Islamabad to protect its nationals facing increasing terror attacks in Pakistan where they are involved in projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Both these proposals aim at deployment of security agencies and military forces by China in Myanmar and Pakistan. But while in the case of Pakistan, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian admitted that “China firmly supports Pakistan’s efforts of fighting terrorism and stands ready to deepen practical cooperation with Pakistan in various fields to deliver more benefit to the two countries and the two peoples.” Regarding Myanmar, Beijing has not issued any official statement on the proposal to form a Joint Venture Security Company, comprising security personnel of both countries.
However, China’s state-backed Xinhua News Agency in its report earlier this month maintained that Chinese Premier Li Qiang pledged to support Myanmar in “advancing its interest” in the country. This pledge was made when the Chinese Premier held a rare sit-down with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing on November 7 in Kunming during his first visit to China since he ousted the elected government-led by Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar in February 2021. It appears that China is willing to work with the junta to provide safeguards to its investments and cross-border trade in Myanmar.
In fact, after seeing in August this year the collapse of Lashio, the capital city of northern Shan State, escalation of armed conflict between rebels and the military from northern Shan State to Central Myanmar to Rakhine—areas through which Beijing-owned oil and gas pipelines pass and railway line that would connect Kunming in China to Rakhine State that lies on the shore of the Bay of Bengal, the East Asian country has found no option but to come up with a proposal to defend its projects in Myanmar.
In July rebels had also seized two China dominated joint ventures—a cement factory in Mandalay and a nickel mining company in Sagaing Region. But it was after a bomb attack on the Chinese Consulate in Mandalay on October 18 and capture on November 22 of Toungup town, lying 100 km away from the Kyaukpyu Economic Zone (KEZ) which is on the coast of Rakhine state, where China is building a port and energy facilities, Beijing said enough was enough. It decided to push a proposal for a Joint Venture Security Company with Myanmar to protect its interests in the Southeast Asian nation.
According to Myanmar Gazette, a state-backed weekly periodical, the junta has formed a 13-member committee to review China’s proposal for Joint Venture Security Company. The committee has been tasked to evaluate the proposal, which includes deployment of Chinese security forces, weapons, and other equipment.
It is said that there is a hesitation among the junta leadership over allowing Chinese security forces to set their foot on the Myanmar soil. It wants to ensure that the proposal does not undermine Myanmar’s sovereignty. Besides, it wants to evaluate the reaction of Myanmar’s armed ethnic groups and their allies as they are opposed to the proposal, The Irrawaddy, a news portal run by Myanmar’s exiles living in Thailand, said.
China watchers say that in any case however, Myanmar will fall in line with Beijing’s dictates as the Southeast Asian nation’s military junta which, as per South China Morning Post, “teeters on the brink of collapse,” needs China’s help to survive. Therefore, it has no option but to accept China’s proposal on allowing its security personnel to arrive in Myanmar to protect Chinese interests.
Since 2013, following the launch of the ambitious BRI, Beijing has been active in safeguarding its mega projects across the world with help from its Private Security Companies (PSCs) against perceived threats from terrorists, criminals, ethnic rebels, and other groups.
According to a 2018 study by the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) more than 7,000 PSCs operate domestically within China, while around 20 Chinese PSCs operate overseas, employing an estimated 3,200 staff of security professionals. Other studies, including that of Norway-based Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) also maintain that 20 PSCs, registered with the Chinese government, are licensed to operate overseas.
But since deployment of PLA soldiers or serving police personnel in foreign countries are fraught with diplomatic rows, private security firms are “well-positioned tools” for China to project power abroad, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank said in its recent study.
Experts say that China’s private security firms are for the name-sake private; they are made up of former servicemen from the country’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and police force. “They are equipped with modern firearms and sophisticated gadgets for intelligence gathering and communication. In short, PSCs are miniature Chinese armies in disguise dispatched to places where the PLA cannot be deployed,” The Irrawaddy said.
In Myanmar, Beijing has invested billions of US dollars in the field of energy, development of seaport and other infrastructure, extraction of rare earth materials and so on and so forth. In the period between 1988 and June 2019 alone, China invested more than $25 billion in various projects in Myanmar. Therefore, at the time when Myanmar’s military junta is on the backfoot following sustained attacks from rebels, Beijing does not want to rely solely on it for the protection of its investments.
The same is the case with Pakistan with which China has proposed to sign a Private Security and Military Contract for the protection of its nationals involved in various China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in Pakistan.
Since 2016, when Beijing officially launched the CPEC, insurgent groups have carried out several attacks on Chinese nationals and interests in Pakistan. Even in 2024, seven Chinese nationals were killed in Pakistan. In October, three people, including two Chinese nationals were killed and 17 others injured in a suicide bombing in Pakistan. Earlier in March, an attack in northwestern Pakistan claimed the lives of five Chinese workers and their Pakistani driver.
To send a message to perpetrators of targeted attacks on Chinese nationals, Chinese PLA has begun a 20-day-long joint anti-terrorism exercise Warrior-VIII from November 20, which will continue till December 11 in Pakistan. This is the first joint military drills between military personnel of the two countries after 2019.
Besides, undertaking this move, China has proposed deployment of its own security personnel in Pakistan to protect more than 30,000 nationals engaged in various CPEC projects. In fact, the continued attack on its nationals in Pakistan, has led to China losing its trust on Islamabad and its capability.
If more attacks on Chinese nationals take place in coming days, the relations between Beijing and Islamabad will come under huge strain. And, this is what Pakistan, which is heavily reliant on China for economic survival, will never afford. That means, Islamabad will have to accept Beijing’s proposal and allow the presence of Chinese security personnel on Pakistani soil. Experts say if that happens, it will push Pakistan towards becoming a real client state of China. Will Pakistan accept to live that existence?
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