Junta Sets Up Committee to Expedite China-Backed Muse-Mandalay Railway

缅媒：军政府成立委员会加速中国支持的木姐——曼德勒铁路

作者：伊洛瓦底江        来源：伊洛瓦底江

Myanmar’s junta has formed a national?level Project Steering Committee to push ahead with construction of the Muse-Mandalay railway, a key segment of both China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC). The move comes as the regime, backed by Chinese pressure, regains control of parts of northern Shan State.

缅甸军政府成立了国家级项目指导委员会，以推进木姐——曼德勒铁路的建设，这是中国“一带一路”倡议和中缅经济走廊的关键部分。此举正值缅甸政权在中国的斡旋下重新控制了掸邦北部的部分地区。

Trucks are seen on the road to Muse.

通往木姐的路上可以看到卡车。

According to an announcement posted on the website of the junta’s Ministry of Information, the committee was established on Aug. 30 with 19 members including ministers and deputy ministers. The date coincided with junta boss Min Aung Hlaing’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tianjin, where the two discussed accelerating BRI and CMEC projects.

根据军政府信息部网站上发布的公告，该委员会于8月30日成立，包括部长和副部长在内的19名成员。

The Muse-Mandalay railway would link the border town of Muse with Mandalay via Lashio, Hsipaw, Kyaukme, Nawnghkio and Pyin Oo Lwin, and eventually connect to Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State, giving China direct access to the Indian Ocean.

木姐——曼德勒铁路将把边境城镇木姐与曼德勒连接起来，途经腊戌、昔卜、皎美、瑙丘和彬乌伦，最终连接若开邦的皎漂，让中国直接进入印度洋。

The committee is chaired by Transport and Communications Minister Mya Tun Oo, who is also contesting a parliamentary seat in Pyin Oo Lwin—home to the junta’s elite military academies— in the junta’s election planned for this month.

这个委员会的主席是交通和通讯部部长米亚吞乌。他还将在计划于本月举行的军政府选举中角逐彬乌仑的议会席位。彬乌伦是军政府精英军事院校的所在地。

The committee’s mandate includes drafting frameworks for government?to?government negotiations, inviting domestic and foreign investors, securing concessional development financing, establishing a special?purpose vehicle company, and reviewing agreements between the regime and that company. The committee would be required to report to the junta’s cabinet and economic committee for approval.

该委员会的任务包括起草政府间谈判框架，邀请国内外投资者，获得优惠发展融资，建立一家特殊目的公司，以及审查政府与该公司之间的协议。该委员会将被要求向军政府内阁和经济委员会报告以获得批准。

The formation of the steering committee comes as China exerts greater leverage in northern Shan, where ethnic armed groups including the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) have been pressured into relinquishing towns they had captured from the regime, reversing previous gains.

指导委员会成立之际，中国在掸邦北部施加了更大的影响力。在掸邦北部，包括缅甸民族民主同盟军（MNDAA）和德昂民族解放军（TNLA）在内的少数民族武装团体受到压力，不得不放弃从军政府手中夺取的城镇，逆转了之前的成果。

During his August trip to China, Min Aung Hlaing publicly thanked Xi for Beijing’s assistance in helping the junta regain control of Shan State towns.

8月访问中国期间,敏昂莱将军公开感谢北京的援助帮助军政府重新控制掸邦城镇。

Yet the railway corridor remains contested. Despite the China-brokered ceasefire agreements, the MNDAA still controls the Lashio-Hseni stretch, while TNLA and Kachin Independence Army troops hold routes around Kutkai and Muse.

然而，铁路走廊仍存在争议。尽管有中国斡旋的停火协议，民族解放运动仍然控制着拉希奥-希尼地区，而TNLA和克钦独立军部队则控制着库特凯和木姐附近的路线。

While the regime needs to negotiate with ethnic armed groups to proceed with the railway, the project also calls for negotiations between the TNLA, MNDAA and KIA themselves.

虽然该政权需要与少数民族武装团体谈判以继续进行铁路建设，但该项目也要求TNLA， MNDAA和KIA之间进行谈判。

Despite these obstacles, the Muse-Mandalay railway is considered a strategic priority for Beijing, which views the project as vital to securing a trade and transport corridor through Myanmar to the Indian Ocean. Analysts believe China will push the project forward regardless of local resistance, underscoring its geopolitical importance.

尽管存在这些障碍，木姐——曼德勒铁路仍被中国政府视为战略重点。中国政府认为，该项目对于确保一条从缅甸通往印度洋的贸易和运输走廊至关重要。分析人士认为，中国将不顾当地阻力推进该项目，突显其地缘政治重要性。

作者：伊洛瓦底江        来源：伊洛瓦底江