Burma's bilateral relations with China & India

Till the late 1980s the People’s Republic of China never had good relations with Burma. By the year 1967 to 1970, Burma terminated relations with Beijing. The reason was the latters support for the Burmese Communist Party. In the year 1978 Deng Xiaoping visited Yangon. At that time he withdrew support for the communist party’s long running insurgency in Burma.

On the other hand, in early 1950s Burma enjoyed a sweet and sour relationship with China. Burma’s U Nu and U Thant lobbied for China’s entry into the Security Council as a permanent member. The intrusion of Tibet denounced it.

Many border quarrels were there between Burma and China. It happened long time before British annexation of Burma. In the year 1956, the last border dispute culminated. It happened when the People’s Liberation Army intruded on northern Burma. But they were repelled. Ultimately in the year 1960, a border agreement was reached.

In the last part of 1960s anti Chinese riot erupted. One of the main reasons can be identified as Ne Win informed all people that the Chinese were accountable for crop failures. The other reason was the increasing number of ethnic Chinese students endorsing Mao Zedong. They were carrying the Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong books. China berated the Burmese government to a great extent and started a war. But in spite of this no other actions were taken. Till the early part of 1970, the anti Chinese riots continued.

But, after the year 1986, China changed side and started supplying the majority of its arms to the military junta. The country did this in exchange for improved admittance to Burmese markets.