A Brief Summary: * Oil exploration by Chinese companies in Arakan, western Burma, precipitated a rare explosion of local anger in April 2007, resulting in damage to a Chinese drilling site, a crackdown by Burmese forces, and seventy villagers fleeing their homes…. * Burma?s oil and gas resources are being exported while a majority of the people has no electricity. Exploration operations carried out without prior knowledge or consent of local residents and without impact assessments resulted in social and environmental abuses contrary to the claims of corporate social responsibility reports by the Chinese companies involved…. * Chinese investment in Burma?s oil and gas sector is growing, with 16 blocks under contract for exploration. This investment also includes the purchase ofhuge offshore natural gas reserves, construction of cross-country pipelines, and the development of a deep sea port, which stand to amplify abuses across the country…. * While the military regime now takes in US$2.7 billion a year from the sale of natural gas, less than half of the earnings are publicly recorded. Revenue from the sale of new natural gas finds are destined to triple in the coming years. This includes the sale of gas from the Shwe gas project, which would generate an estimated US$24 billion over the next twenty years…. * Without rule of law, accountability or transparency mechanisms in Burma, Chinese and other companies operating in the country will become complicit in military abuses and conflict…. * Without assurance of adherence to basic international standards, Chinese and multinational oil and gas corporations in Burma need to s top investment and operations in Burma?s oil and gas sector until such time as Burma has a genuine democratically-elected government, rule of law, and legislation guaranteeing the protection of human rights and the environment. At the same time, s hareholders, investors, and banks that support Chinese and other multinational oil and gas companies must divest their funds from projects in Burma.
Download Blocking Freedom: A Case Study of china’s oil and Gas investment in Burma PDF file here
