Junta Pushes Revival of China-Backed Myitsone Dam Project

The military regime is pushing to to revive the long-suspended Myitsone hydropower project in Kachin State, coinciding with junta efforts to persuade Beijing to engineer a truce with the state’s ethnic resistance.

During a meeting with locals and community elders in Myitkyina on Tuesday, junta deputy chief Soe Win said the Myitsone hydropower project should be “reviewed and implemented,” according to junta media.

At the same meeting, Deputy Electricity Minister Aye Kyaw briefed locals on discussions with Chinese companies to resume the project, which was first launched in 2009 under the previous junta with an estimated investment of US$7.2 billion.