(Bangkok) – Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi warned China and the United States against turning Myanmar into a “battling ground” as they vie for influence over the strategically important nation. Speaking at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Bangkok, in her first trip abroad for 24 years, Suu Kyi said she was worried about the two superpowers jostling for position over her country.
“A lot of people are talking now about what the position of Burma will be now that we are starting to engage… more with the United States and how it will affect our relations with China,” she told reporters. “I’m always very concerned when Burma is seen as a battling ground for the United States and China. “It should not be so, it should be an area of harmony for those two big countries,” she said, adding that Myanmar and China had been “good neighbours” for many years.
