{"id":99588,"date":"2017-10-02T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=99588"},"modified":"2017-10-01T11:54:38","modified_gmt":"2017-10-01T10:54:38","slug":"oil-gas-geopolitics-guide-u-s-hand-in-playing-the-rohingya-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/10\/oil-gas-geopolitics-guide-u-s-hand-in-playing-the-rohingya-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Oil, Gas, Geopolitics Guide U.S. Hand in Playing the Rohingya Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Internal conflict, appropriately located, spells geopolitical opportunity. With U.S. ally Saudi Arabia funding and stoking Rohingya insurgencies, the U.S. creates a chance to blockade China\u2019s oil supply and provide Aung San Suu Kyi the military cooperation needed to wrest Myanmar back from Chinese influence.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A woman wears a mask of Myanmar\u2019s Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi during a rally against the persecution of Rohingya Muslims, outside the Embassy of Myanmar in Jakarta, Indonesia, Nov. 25, 2016.
(AP\/Dita Alangkara)<\/p><\/div>\n

20 Sep 2017 – <\/em>In recent years, Myanmar (formerly Burma) has only rarely been in the news. The quiet treatment owed much to the assumption that the country\u2019s fledgling democracy was in \u201cgood hands\u201d once the U.S-backed 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi gained renewed political prominence after the 2015 elections and assumed the office of state counselor a year later. However, the tide of international public opinion has been turning sharply against Suu Kyi as human rights activists, the United Nations<\/a> and several other Nobel laureates<\/a> have strongly criticized her handling of what has now become known as the \u201cRohingya crisis<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crisis centers on the plight of the Rohingya, a historically persecuted Muslim minority living in Myanmar\u2019s coastal Rakhine state (formerly Arakan state). The Rohingya are also stateless, as Myanmar\u2019s government has long refused to recognize their centuries-long claim to the region and has asserted on several occasions that the Rohingya are not native to Myanmar but instead \u201cillegal immigrants\u201d from neighboring Bangladesh. Deprived of citizenship and thus of basic rights, their suffering has been compounded by Myanmar\u2019s government, which has used the military to violently intimidate<\/a> the Rohingya and force them from their lands.<\/p>\n

This month, in particular, the corporate media \u2014 as well as several prominent<\/a> human rights organizations and international bodies, such as the UN \u2014 have given unprecedented attention to the conflict. Last Monday, for example, Zeid Ra\u2019ad al-Hussein, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, accused Myanmar<\/a> of undertaking \u201ca textbook example of ethnic cleansing\u201d and stated that Myanmar\u2019s campaign against the Rohingya violated international law. In the first two weeks of September, corporate media outlets<\/a> have reported<\/a> extensively on the crisis. Just last week, CNN published 13 different articles<\/a> about the Rohingya\u2019s plight. Calls have mounted<\/a> for Suu Kyi, as Myanmar\u2019s leader, to intervene.<\/p>\n

Given the recent flurry of press coverage and the spike in concern among international bodies such as the United Nations, one might assume that the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya by Myanmar\u2019s government is a recent phenomenon. However, in reality, the conflict itself is nearly a century old and its current escalation did not begin this year, but rather in 2011, and has continued to worsen<\/a> ever since. Furthermore, numerous other instances of genocide, such as the Saudis\u2019 destruction of Yemen<\/a> and Israel\u2019s ethnic cleansing<\/a> of Palestine, are hardly touched by the corporate media or mentioned in mainstream political discourse.<\/p>\n

So why the sudden interest in Myanmar?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Construction on the China-Myanmar pipeline. (Imaginechina\/AP)<\/p><\/div>\n

Oil and Gas Pipelines<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like so many other cases<\/a> of ethnic cleansing, the Rohingya conflict is essentially a conflict over resources, namely oil and gas. In 2004, a massive natural gas field, named Shwe in honor of the long-time leader of Myanmar\u2019s military junta, was discovered off the coast of Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal. In 2008, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) secured the rights<\/a> to the natural gas and bestowed upon the field its honorific name. Construction began a year later on two 1,200 km overland pipelines that would cross from Myanmar\u2019s Rakhine state \u2013 home of the Rohingya \u2013 to the Yunnan province of China.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Map showing the route of the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines.
(Image: Shwe Gas Movement)<\/p><\/div>\n

The pipelines \u2014 one carrying gas and the other carrying oil from the Middle East and Africa, brought to Myanmar by ship \u2014 missed their targeted dates for completion. The gas pipeline became operational<\/a> in 2014 and carries more than 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year to China. The oil pipeline has proven more difficult to construct and is set to be completed later this year. Once completed, it will allow China easier access to oil from the Middle East and Africa and will reduce<\/a> the transport time of such oil by as much as 30 percent.<\/p>\n

Beyond the obvious boon of having increased and easier access to oil, the Shwe oil pipeline is of critical strategic importance to Chinese geopolitical interests. Currently, 80 percent of China\u2019s imported oil passes through the straits of Malacca and disputed parts of the South China Sea. This current route would leave China vulnerable<\/a> to a potential energy blockade imposed by the 6th Fleet of the U.S. Navy, were hostilities to arise between the two rival nations. Once the Shwe oil pipeline became operational, the Chinese would no longer have to worry about the possibility of the U.S. imposing a blockade on the vast majority of Chinese oil imports, a critical advantage for China during a period of rapidly decaying Sino-U.S. relations.<\/p>\n

Since construction began, protests against the pipelines in Rakhine state and other areas of Myanmar have been constant<\/a>. Residents of Rakhine state, in particular, have complained to the government and to CNPC on numerous occasions that the project had polluted rivers, destroyed private property and decimated the livelihood of local fishermen. In addition, many of the owners of properties expropriated for the project were not compensated by CNPC as promised, further stoking anti-pipeline demonstrations and unrest. Protesters have also repeatedly called for CNPC to supply the surrounding area with electricity, a basic utility still lacking there, and to offer more job opportunities for local workers.<\/p>\n

The Myanmar government is a major stakeholder in the pipeline, as it owns a major stake in the Shwe field\u2019s production of natural gas and is set to earn $7 million per year in annual right-of-way fees for the pipelines once both are completed. Given that public opposition forced Myanmar to suspend<\/a> China\u2019s Myitsone Dam project in Kachin state in 2011, the government is acutely aware that unchecked local resistance to the pipelines could potentially deprive it of millions of dollars in annual revenue. Thus, Myanmar\u2019s military has been ardently pursuing<\/a> the Rohingya, citing vengeance for periodic attacks<\/a> launched by regional insurgents as a pretext for the violence that has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ataullah abu Ammar Junjuni, a Pakistani national with deep ties to Saudi Arabia, center, and leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army. (Photo: screenshot)<\/p><\/div>\n

A manufactured insurgency financed by Saudi Arabia<\/strong><\/p>\n

The \u201cRohingya insurgency\u201d in Rakhine state is hardly the organic, local response to long-standing state suppression it claims to be<\/a>. The group, now known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and formerly known as Harakah al-Yakin, is led by Ataullah abu Ammar Junjuni, a Pakistani national who worked as a Wahhabi imam in Saudi Arabia prior to arriving in Myanmar. According to a Reuters report<\/a> from last year, the group is financed by both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia \u2014 and \u201ca committee of 20 senior Rohingya emigres,\u201d headquartered in Mecca, \u201coversees\u201d the group.<\/p>\n

ARSA is directly responsible for both last year\u2019s and the current crackdown on Rohingya civilians and communities, as its attacks on Myanmar military installations and bases have precipitated<\/a> the military\u2019s violent response. ARSA has also targeted<\/a> Buddhist civilians in Rakhine state, fomenting support among extremist Buddhists elsewhere in the country for the continued persecution of the Rohingya.<\/p>\n

ARSA is also likely to have no shortage of recruits, as Saudi Arabia is spending over a billion dollars to construct<\/a> 560 Wahhabi mosques in nearby Bangladesh, the nation where most Rohingya have fled to escape the violence.<\/p>\n

Related |<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0British Ambassador: Saudi Arabia Breeds \u2018Fodder For Terrorism\u2019<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite this, international corporate media outlets such as CNN<\/a> and Al Jazeera<\/a> have published sympathetic portrayals of the Wahhabist insurgency, asserting that the group \u201cis not a terrorist group aimed at striking at the heart of Myanmar society as the government claims it is\u201d but rather \u201ca group of hopeless men\u201d working to protect their people. However, Myanmar\u2019s Muslim organizations have overwhelmingly condemned<\/a> ARSA for its tactics and extremist views. The parallels to the corporate media coverage of Saudi-funded Syrian \u201crebels\u201d are obvious.<\/p>\n

What does Saudi Arabia stand to gain from funding and driving the Rohingya conflict? A large crisis in Rakhine state, particularly one that has gained the attention of the UN, has the potential to derail the completion of the Shwe oil pipeline to China, which is set to begin functioning later this year. Preventing this pipeline from being built might directly benefit Saudi Arabia to some extent, but would be far more profoundly beneficial to a major ally of the Saudis, the United States. Another U.S.\/Saudi ally, Israel, also stands to profit as a significant supplier of weapons to the Myanmar regime, a role that has continued<\/a> unimpeded despite the conflict.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

U.S. President Barack Obama, right, watches as Myanmar democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, center, greets U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton at her residence in Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Asian nation.
(AP\/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)<\/p><\/div>\n

U.S.\u2019 noncommittal response a product of its long-game cynicism<\/strong><\/p>\n

While China\u2019s tacit support<\/a> of Myanmar\u2019s response to the Rohingya crisis was expected given its clear economic and strategic interests in the nation, some reports expressed surprise that the U.S. \u2014 the reputed, if selective, global \u201cdefender\u201d of human rights \u2014 was \u201cwary of involvement\u201d in the conflict despite the outrage expressed by the UN and the corporate media. According to the Associated Press<\/a>, the U.S. is concerned its involvement could \u201cundermine the Asian country\u2019s democratic leader,\u201d Aung San Suu Kyi, whose rule is largely a product of Western funding<\/a>.<\/p>\n

U.S. interest in Myanmar is hardly new, as the U.S. government, along with various U.S. nongovernmental organizations, have spent millions on \u201cdemocracy promotion\u201d \u2014 specifically on funding the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Suu Kyi. In 2003, a document titled \u201cBurma: Time for Change<\/a>\u201d by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) noted that the NLD, and its leader, \u201ccannot survive in Burma [Myanmar] without the help of the United States and the international community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related |<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Mad Monks: The Greatest Threat To Myanmar\u2019s Fledgling Democracy<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the years since, the U.S. government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in order to cultivate \u201cdemocratic institutions\u201d and spur \u201ceconomic development\u201d in order to push for<\/a> a new form of government in Myanmar. Between 2012 and 2014, the Obama administration gave<\/a> $375 million to Myanmar for such efforts.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, in 2015, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was the \u201cleading donor\u201d<\/a> in Myanmar\u2019s 2015 election, which saw Suu Kyi and her party claim decisive victories. It also funded the creation of Myanmar\u2019s entire voter database that year and the use of all technology used in the election and subsequent elections. Ultimately, over $18 million was spent on the election by USAID.<\/p>\n

In addition, several nongovernmental organizations, often funded<\/a> by controversial U.S.-Hungarian billionaire George Soros, have been involved in Myanmar \u201cdemocracy promotion.\u201d Two such examples are the London-based Prospect Burma<\/a> and the CFR umbrella group known as the Burma Task Force<\/a>, which has taken up the Rohingya\u2019s plight as its flagship issue since 2013<\/a>. Soros\u2019 Open Society Foundations have also been involved in Myanmar for some time, specifically in attempting to pressure Indian shareholders<\/a> of the Shwe natural gas pipeline into abandoning the project.<\/p>\n

Suu Kyi\u2019s election marked a reversal for Myanmar in several ways, particularly economically. While Suu Kyi\u2019s predecessors had favored investment from China and South Korea, Suu Kyi\u2019s rise to power has seen increased U.S. investment in Myanmar, partly because the U.S. waited to remove sanctions<\/a> against the country until she became the nation\u2019s leader. Soon after her election, U.S. investment increased precipitously and is expected to double<\/a> its current level by 2020. As of last month, U.S. companies had invested $250 million in Myanmar following Suu Kyi\u2019s assumption of power.<\/p>\n

However, this new surge in investment is not as new for U.S. oil and gas companies, who have been allowed to invest in Myanmar, despite U.S. sanctions, since 2012<\/a>. The Obama administration made the exception due to the fear that the U.S. \u201cwould lose out to foreign competitors\u201d before sanctions were fully lifted, a clear allusion to the Chinese and South Korean companies which had claimed large swaths of the Shwe gas field a year prior. However, Suu Kyi\u2019s rise to prominence led to more lucrative contracts for U.S. and Western companies, particularly Shell Oil<\/a> and ConocoPhillips<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Myanmar\u2019s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, left, talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan during a welcome ceremony for leaders attending the Belt and Road Forum, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Sunday, May 14, 2017. (Wang Zhao\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cPuppets\u201d with ideas of their own<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the uptick in U.S. corporate investment and U.S. ties is unsurprising given the U.S.\u2019 own massive investment in Suu Kyi and her political party, the U.S. is less than pleased with Suu Kyi\u2019s tenure thus far. As The New York Times<\/a> recently noted, Suu Kyi has maintained and even strengthened her nation\u2019s ties with China, failing to favor the U.S. interests responsible for her rise to power.<\/p>\n

For instance, Suu Kyi has visited Beijing twice since becoming Myanmar\u2019s leader yet has rejected an invitation to a conference organized by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. She has expressed her feelings that China \u201cwill do everything possible to promote our peace process,\u201d referring to China\u2019s eagerness to end sectarian fighting in Rakhine State and other area of Burma. There are also suggestions that the Chinese are seeking to develop a naval base in the port city of Kyaukpyu, something the U.S. desperately wants to avoid.<\/p>\n

Min Zin, executive director of the Institute for Strategy and Policy in Myanmar, told the Times<\/a> that \u201cAs the United States recedes, Aung San Suu Kyi is relying more and more on China in Myanmar and on the international stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related |<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0The Myanmar Conflict \u2013 Explained<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Suu Kyi\u2019s decision to keep China close is similar to the stance taken by Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, who has fought to diminish the U.S.\u2019 historically strong influence in his country and forge closer ties to both China and Russia. Interestingly, following the strengthening of ties between these two nations and China, Myanmar and the Philippines became the only Southeast Asian nations forced to battle against Saudi-funded Wahhabist insurgencies \u2014 ARSA in Myanmar and Daesh (ISIS) in the Philippines. Duterte has implicitly blamed<\/a> the U.S. for the rise of Daesh in his country.<\/p>\n

The rise of both Wahhabist groups has offered a convenient excuse for the U.S. to boost its military presence in both nations<\/a>. In Myanmar, the U.S. State Department in late June removed Myanmar<\/a> from its list of nations using child soldiers, despite having no valid reason for doing so, as Myanmar continues that odious practice. \u00a0The move \u2014 which conveniently ended the U.S.\u2019 prohibition on providing U.S. military aid, training and U.S.-made weapons to Myanmar \u2014 was carried out over the objections of experts in the State Department\u2019s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, which typically shapes U.S. policy on the issue.<\/p>\n

The U.S. is set to further expand<\/a> its direct military ties with the nation by way of an amendment hidden within the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). If passed, the NDAA would allow for the full normalization of ties between the militaries of the U.S. and Myanmar, and would enable<\/a> the U.S. to provide the same level of technical and logistical assistance as well as training it currently provides in the Philippines. It would also open the path for the U.S. to establish a military base, which would definitively end Chinese hopes for its own naval base in Myanmar. Meanwhile, Israel, a strong ally of the United States, has continuously been selling arms<\/a> to Myanmar\u2019s military.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

South Korea and U.S. warships participate in their joint military drill Foal Eagle in South Korea\u2019s West Sea.
(AP\/South Korea Navy via Yonhap)<\/p><\/div>\n

Playing both sides: a high-stakes geopolitical protection racket<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the context of the Rohingya crisis, the U.S. is playing both sides of the conflict. On one hand, its close ally Saudi Arabia is funding and fomenting the insurgency responsible for the worst recent escalation of the crisis, while the U.S. corporate media paints this insurgency as \u201cfreedom fighters\u201d and focuses public attention on the issue at a critical time. On the other hand, the U.S. is offering Myanmar deeper military cooperation to help combat the very insurgency problem it is helping to create, while also offering increased U.S. corporate investment in Myanmar\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

With calls for Suu Kyi to take drastic action to address the issue growing by the day, the U.S. has the ability to force her hand, both covertly and overtly. If the crisis continues to worsen, the possibility that Suu Kyi will request U.S. military assistance to combat an outbreak of \u201cterrorism\u201d will grow. Such an outcome would greatly benefit the U.S., which would gain a new military foothold in another Chinese border nation and also secure Myanmar\u2019s oil and gas riches for itself.<\/p>\n

U.S. strategic interest in Myanmar is hardly limited to dominating the exploitation of the nation\u2019s lucrative oil and gas resources. A large part of the U.S. motivation to wrest influence from the Chinese is crucial to its larger regional \u201cChina containment\u201d strategy \u2014 one that seeks to create a united front of U.S. influence surrounding China in order to reassert U.S. dominance in the region.<\/p>\n

This goal was notably expressed<\/a> by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who, in a private speech in 2013, stated \u201cwe\u2019re going to ring China with missile defense. We\u2019re going to put more of our fleet in the area.\u201d This policy has been put into practice with Obama\u2019s 2011 \u201cpivot to Asia<\/a>\u201d \u2014 resulting in a massive increase in U.S. arms sales<\/a> to countries neighboring China, as well as the proliferation of Saudi-backed insurgents<\/a> in nations that seek to foster closer ties<\/a> with Beijing, namely the Philippines and Myanmar.<\/p>\n

Watch journalist John Pilger\u2019s documentary, \u201cThe Coming War on China,\u201d for a thorough examination of the U.S.\u2019 China \u201ccontainment\u201d policy:<\/strong><\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jsdOw2_LGsk<\/p>\n

With so much to be gained in geopolitical goal-realization from a favorable veer in the current \u201ccrisis,\u201d the U.S. is also acutely aware of what it stands to lose if the chips fall the other way. An opening of the Shwe oil pipeline to China would remove permanently the U.S.\u2019 capacity to impose a blockade on 80 percent of China\u2019s oil supply. Losing this massive strategic advantage would be disastrous for the U.S. were a major geopolitical conflict between the two rival powers to develop. With the U.S. threatening<\/a> to remove China from the SWIFT banking system, tensions<\/a> on the Korean peninsula flaring, and China touting<\/a> a oil\/gold\/yuan alternative to the petrodollar, such a conflict is far from a remote possibility.<\/p>\n

Thus, the U.S. interest in Myanmar is multi-faceted \u2014 a sinister union of the U.S.\u2019 ever-growing demand for fossil fuels and its ruthless push to reassert political dominance in Asia at China\u2019s expense. As with other recent U.S.-led efforts to control<\/a> globally strategic hydrocarbon flows, the cloak is a Saudi-funded insurgency that has sparked and continues to foment a brutal crackdown against a disadvantaged minority group. The goal is simple: to force Myanmar to choose between either the United States or China as a \u201cstrategic partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the Rohingya are the latest pawns of the United States\u2019 desperate attempts to cling to global dominance under the guise of \u201chumanitarianism.\u201d If U.S. interests are successful and oust the Chinese, the Rohingya will continue to suffer all the same. The only difference will be that their tormentors will answer to different masters.<\/p>\n

______________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Whitney Webb is a<\/em> MintPress contributor who has written for several news organizations in both English and Spanish; her stories have been featured on<\/em> ZeroHedge, the Anti-Media, 21st Century Wire, and<\/em> True Activist among others – she currently resides in Southern Chile.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Republish our stories! <\/em>MintPress News is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License. <\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 mintpressnews.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Internal conflict, appropriately located, spells geopolitical opportunity. With U.S. ally Saudi Arabia funding and stoking Rohingya insurgencies, the U.S. creates a chance to blockade China\u2019s oil supply and provide Aung San Suu Kyi the military cooperation needed to wrest Myanmar back from Chinese influence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[225],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99588\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}