The Chinese Consulate in Mandalay’s Chanmyathazi Township is a fortified one. The compound is sealed off to the outside with a high fence while police are on sentry. CCTVs record anyone passing the premises. The two-story building has its own security system inside and outside.
So when an alleged attack hit the consulate on Friday, causing slight damage to the building but no casualties, it prompted questions as to who was behind it. The attack took place amid Chinese pressure on anti-regime ethnic armed groups near its border to stop their anti-junta operations, and follows Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Myanmar in August to show Beijing’s support for the regime in the face of armed resistance against it.
The junta on Saturday said security personnel are conducting an investigation and would arrest the responsible “terrorists”, and that it had beefed up security in response. Local security sources said a high level investigation had been launched and local police in Mandalay were told not to get involved. But speculation was rife that a group linked to the Myanmar military was involved. Local political observers and China watchers thought it might be a regime tactic to direct China’s anger toward anti-regime resistance forces, taking advantage of Myanmar people’s frustration and anger at Beijing over the enormous pressure China has put on armed resistance forces since Wang’s visit. Other observers speculated that a possible conflict between the consulate and Chinese in Mandalay may be the reason, but many think the attack was politically motivated. Other sources in Mandalay and Yangon attributed the attack to the same regime-linked groups that organized arson attacks on Chinese-owned textile factories in Hlaing Thayar Township in Yangon in 2021. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmar-china-watch/who-bombed-the-chinese-consulate-in-myanmars-mandalay.html
