BANGKOK (AP) — Before Monday’s coup, relations between Myanmar and China already were complicated by Chinese investments in its infrastructure and the Myanmar military’s campaigns along their shared border. The military deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi a little over a year after Chinese President Xi Jinping made a show of support to her with the first visit by a head of state from Beijing to Myanmar since 2001. Analysts say that even if China played no role at all in ousting Suu Kyi, Beijing is likely to gain still greater sway over the country. That’s even more likely if the U.S. and other Western governments try to punish the new military regime through sanctions.
