China’s Role in Myanmar’s Bloody Jade Industry: Poison or Panacea

Abstract

 

Corruption, cronyism, and jade smuggling in Myanmar’s jade industry have fueled racial and regional conflicts in northern Myanmar for decades. Myanmar's military plays an integral role in this process. They act above the law and commit genocidal atrocities to maintain control over the jade industry through financial resources such as jade smuggling, crony companies' jade revenue, and bribes paid by miners, jade merchants and mining companies. Ninety percent of Myanmar's jade travels to China. Chinese culture, corruption, and capital outflows in renminbi drive demand for Myanmar’s jade. Such demand sustains the vicious cycle between jade and armed conflict in Myanmar’s jade business, aggravating human rights violations and environmental destruction in the Kachin State and Mandalay Region, jade-rich areas in Myanmar. However, current international sanctions and recommendations that aim to curtail the illicit financial flows in Myanmar’s jade business overlook the significant role the government of China can play to fundamentally remove cyclical violence from Myanmar’s jade industries. China's demand for Myanmar’s jade undermined Chinese President Xi Jinping’s 2012 “Anti-Corruption Campaign” and the policy of capital control. These political goals have caused the demand for Myanmar’s jade to plummet since 2014 and can continue suppressing demand in the future. In conclusion, to cut off the jade funds flowing to the Myanmar military, the international community needs to boycott all jade from Myanmar and jade products that are made in China but originate from Myanmar. The central government of China must continue its Anti-Corruption Campaign and capital control policy.