This week, state-run newspapers splashed Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida’s photo with Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi all over their front pages. But beneath the smiles and handshakes, there is a history of discord.
After the political opening in 2011 and 2012, Japan moved quickly to resume aid and investment to Burma—including development of the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a 2,400-hectare industrial zone in southeast Rangoon Division. Japan’s Nippon Foundation also provided funds for Burma’s peace-building process and general aid to the previous government.
Suu Kyi was opposed to this aid and investment from Japan during the junta’s reign because she saw it as bolstering the repressive regime that ruled over the country with an iron fist.(Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
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