Protesting against Letpadaung copper mine / Photo – Multi-village strike committee
RFA
Hundreds of people in central Myanmar are protesting against operations at the Chinese-backed Letpadaung copper mine, saying revenue from it supports the junta, residents of the area told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.
The Letpadaung mine in the Sagaing region’s Salingyi township has been beset by intermittent protests for more than a decade by villagers angry about being forced off their land, what they see as inadequate compensation and pollution from the mine.
Workers at the joint venture between China’s state-owned Wanbao Co. and the military-owned Myanmar Economic Holding Limited company, went on strike soon after the army seized power in a 2021 coup as part of protests across the country against military rule.
The latest round of protests began on May 7 in a bid to force the mine to cease operations, which they say financially support the junta.
“The protest is still going on. We are protesting the Chinese companies that are supporting the junta, which we do not accept,” a member of a Salingyi township strike committee told RFA on Tuesday. He declined to be identified in fear of reprisals.
Nearly 80 Chinese nationals arrived at mine sites in early May to keep the project running, residents said.
RFA telephoned the Wanbao Mining Company and Sagaing region’s junta spokesperson, Nyunt Win Aung, for more information about the situation but neither responded by the time of publication.
The Chinese embassy also did not respond to inquiries from RFA.
Since the military ousted an elected government in 2021, residents have opposed China’s development projects in different parts of the country including Rakhine State and the Mandalay region.
Insurgent forces have seized territory near some of China’s projects, forcing the suspension of work. The disruption to projects was a central focus of the latest peace talks that China hosted with representatives of the junta and an alliance of ethnic minority insurgent forces known as the Three Brotherhood alliance in the Chinese city of Kunming in May.
In the past, protests at the mine have been broken up with force and strikers told a 2023 conference that more than 30 people had been killed in various clashes over the years.
The junta had posted troops around the mine so the latest protest is being held some distance from it, another strike leader said.
“The protest could not be held near the project area because the junta troops are guarding the project area,” said the strike leader, who also declined to be identified. “Protests are held in safe places.”
Residents in three villages near the mine were forced to move because of an expansion of the project last August and soldiers built fences to keep people away.
On Thursday, the junta’s foreign minister, Than Swe, met China’s ambassador to Myanmar, Chen Hai, in the capital Naypyidaw to discuss issues related to joint projects between the two countries, junta-backed media reported.
The two also discussed China’s assistance in developing Myanmar’s economy and closer bilateral cooperation.
In an April 17 statement, Wanbao Mining Company said intensive maintenance work on machinery would be required because the project had been halted since 2021 due to land disputes.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.
Courtesy of Radio Free Asia
