The Chicken Hawks are at it again, this time its Myannmar; formerly Burma. What do they really want?

Trans-Myanmar lifeline

For many critics, China’s own interests are best exemplified by its breakthrough agreement with Myanmar’s junta – the construction of the oil and gas pipelines that will provide strategic shortcut from the shores of the Bay of Bengal to the strategic rear area of China’s landlocked Southwest.

Planners expect the project, which will cut through the heart of Myanmar, to be operational in 2013 and guarantee Myanmar’s rulers nearly $30 billion for 30 years from the sale of natural gas alone.

With a designed capacity for 22 million tons of oil and 12 billion cubic meters of gas annually, the project will at last help deal with the so-called Malacca Dilemma, which has engrossed China’s strategic planners since President Hu Jintao raised the issue in late-2003.

The 550-mile long Malacca Strait connecting the Indian and Pacific oceans, is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and is crucial for China’s trade and security. Between 70 and 80 percent of China’s oil imports from the Middle East and Africa must pass through this congested lane that can easily be blockaded in the event of conflict. Recent disputes with the United States over the South China Sea issues, has certainly added to China’s sense of vulnerability.

In two years’ time, China’s oil tankers from the Middle East and Africa will be able to unload their cargo at Myanmar’s deep sea ports along its western coast. From there, the fuel will be delivered to refineries in Southwest China, avoiding the Malacca Strait and saving nearly 2,000 sea miles and one week of transport time.

And down the road, critics warn that Myanmar’s coastlines could provide China with naval access in the proximity of strategic water passages that connect with the Pacific and Indian oceans.
“The pipeline in Myanmar will be a plausible reason for China to send its advanced submarines…or consider protecting its interests in Myanmar under nuclear umbrella,” warned Mizzima news agency, a Burmese opposition group based in India.

Myanmar as ‘province of China’?

Critics of the projects say they will serve China and Myanmar’s elite well, but do little for average Burmese citizens.

China’s projects “will not bring any benefits to the local communities,” argued Wong Aung, international coordinator for the Shwe Gas Movement opposition group. The military regime will only continue to “systematically abuse its people” and “use the earnings to keep themselves further entrenched in power,” he told NBC News.

He also warned of potential environmental problems, citing an investigative report accusing the Swiss-American firm Transocean of subcontracting for drilling work in an offshore field in Myanmar – in possible violation of American sanctions. Transocean operated the Deepwater Horizon rig in the center of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.

Transocean denied the charges.
“No Transocean affiliate that is subject to the U.S. ban has ever done business in Myanmar,” Managing Director Lou Colasuonno told NBC News.
“Safety is a core value of Transocean,” he further said, noting that there had been seven consecutive years without a single lost time incident or environmental event before the Gulf oil spill in April.

But probably the most vocal critic of the state of affairs in Myanmar comes from the United States itself.

Sen. Jim Webb, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations East Asia subcommitee, called on the Obama administration to pursue a more active engagement policy towards Myanmar’s military junta.
“We are in a situation where if we do not push some sort of constructive engagement, Myanmar is going to basically become a province of China,” Webb told a group of defense reporters in Washington last week.

http://behindthewall.msnbc.msn.com/trans-myanmar-oil-and-gas-pipeline-project

"Do little for average Burmese citizens? Since when has the West cared about the lives of the average citizens of those nations they pillage for resources? Can anyone say Venezuela!!!!

"Mizzima news agency, a Burmese opposition group based in India." The Burmese's version of an Ahmed Chalabi/Iraq counterpart.

If China is interested in removing her vulnerabilities it is a credit to their leaders long-term vision for their country; if Americans are willing to sacrifice their nation's future for the self-indulgent and untempered greed of a few, then they have no one to blame but themselves. I heard this on the radio, on Veterans Day: "If you can read, thank a teacher; if you can read in English, thank a Veteran." I hope those defenders of the 'Estate Tax" are brushing up on their Mandarin, cause its gonna take man, woman and child to defeat a nuclear armed, 1.3 billion Chinese.