8月17日至21日，缅甸国务资政昂山素季女士访华。昂山素季同时身兼缅甸执政党民盟主席、总统府部长、外长、民族和解与和平中心主席，是缅甸核心政要之一。这是她出任民盟政府职务后首次出访东盟之外的国家，显示其高度重视对华关系。

中国国务院总理李克强18日下午在人民大会堂北大厅举行了欢迎昂山素季的仪式。双方在会谈中一致同意，本着和平共处五项原则精神，坚持相互尊重，巩固政治互信，加强交流合作，推动中缅关系在新时期取得更大发展。

随着昂山素季访华，缅甸与中美两个大国的关系近期愈发成为舆论焦点。缅甸是东南亚国土面积第二大国家，资源丰富，被誉为“坐在聚宝盆的国家”。同时它地缘位置重要，连接印度和中国两个大国，是连接东南亚和南亚的陆地枢纽国家，历来是大国争相拉拢甚至是激烈博弈之地。西方有媒体此前猜测和热议“昂山素季是先访华，还是先访美”，似乎要以此判定缅甸外交是偏向哪个大国。也说明西方有些媒体对昂山素季的访华高度关注。

其实，缅甸与美国的关系，也是中国舆论关注的议题之一。缅甸民主转型以来，缅甸外交彻底摆脱前军政府时期被美欧等西方世界制裁20多年的孤立困境，与美欧关系迅速热络起来。美欧日在缅甸的势力和影响力迅速拓展，而西方大国在缅甸拓展影响力的目标之一是利用缅甸制衡快速发展的中国，压缩中国在缅甸和湄公河流域的外交空间。这是美国在亚太地区推进有着很强的制衡中国目的的“亚太再平衡战略”的重要一环：在东北亚利用朝核问题部署“萨德”以更有力地监控中国，利用日本和东海问题压制中国；在东南亚利用南海问题搅乱中国南大门，利用发展与缅甸、越南等湄公河流域下游国家关系从西南陆地方向制衡中国，推进实施“湄公河下游行动倡议”就是要将湄公河流域从美国制衡中国的薄弱地带变成前沿地带之一。

美国视缅甸为制约中国的与东盟战略合作、孟中印缅经济走廊、“一带一路”等外交合作倡议的可利用国家之一。美国一些非政府组织长期故意给中国找茬，故意炒作中国投资项目对缅甸民众、社会、经济、生态的负面影响，忽视其正面效应，煽动缅甸民众抗议中缅合作大项目，是导致中缅多个大项目出问题的原因之一。

美国企图利用缅甸制衡中国的行为，在缅甸搞妨碍中缅关系发展的小动作，不仅会让缅甸不舒服，会损害中国利益，也对美国没有多少好处。缅甸外交传统原则是“独立自主和中立主义”，不会在中美间选边站队。昂山素季出任外长后表示，缅甸要发展与所有国家的友好关系。缅甸民盟政府面临着艰巨的稳定和发展任务，需要建立与所有大国搞好关系的良性互动格局。缅甸既需要与中国这个最大邻国搞好关系，搭乘中国快速发展的便车，也需要美国这个超级大国的鼎力支持。缅甸需要充分利用地缘优势和大国资源，成为连接多个大国、连接东南亚和南亚、开放贯通的地区生产、物流与贸易中心，再现昔日中南半岛强国的风采。

昂山素季出任外长后表示，缅甸要发展与所有国家的友好关系。

中国是缅甸最大外资来源国，截至今年7月底，中国（含香港）对缅协议投资总额约254亿美元，占缅甸吸引外资总额的近40%，是美国、欧盟、日本等对缅投资额之和的约3.5倍。同时，缅甸民主转型基本仿效美欧政治体制，其议会、政府、政党的运作需要学习西方经验，缅甸的政治改革、经济社会改革获得美国等西方国家专家、组织的智力支持，缅甸产品出口美国市场获其“贸易普惠制”待遇。

中国提出的“澜沧江-湄公河合作机制”、“一带一路”等区域合作倡议，均是开放性的，需要并欢迎缅甸和美国的参与。中国不想与美国在缅甸和东南亚发生激烈战略碰撞。大家好才是真的好，而美国如果在缅甸搞更多针对中国的不友好举措，最终也会招致缅甸和中国反感，其在东南亚和印度洋沿岸战略利益的拓展也会不顺。其实，缅中美在国家利益上存在一个最大公约数：合作推动缅甸民主转型与稳定发展，把三国合作的“蛋糕”做大，最终每个国家从三边友好合作收益中所能分割的利益就会更多。因此，三方应协商如何规避美中在缅甸可能发生的战略“冲撞”，形成三方良性互动与共同合作的格局，寻找在缅甸的投资与民生合作项目，形成发展利益共享、合作风险共担的局面。合力推动缅甸经济发展与民生改善，具有迫切性，也是符合三国和地区利益的合作方向。

From August 17 to 21, Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi visited China, which was also her maiden visit to a non-ASEAN country since she became State Counselor, and a testament of the importance attached to China-Myanmar relations. The visit carried extra significance as Aung San Suu Kyi also serves as Minister of President's Office, Foreign Minister and President of the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre. Premier Li Keqiang hosted a welcoming ceremony in her honor at the Great Hall of the People on the afternoon of Aug 18. In the meeting that followed, both sides agreed to work together to cement political mutual trust, strengthen communication and cooperation, guided by the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence and mutual respect, in order to take China-Myanmar relations to a new height.

Myanmar is the second–largest country in Southeast Asia, and is known as the Golden Land because of her natural endowments and resources. Bordering China and India, Myanmar is an important junction linking Southeast and South Asia, hence occupying a critical geopolitical location that is caught at the center of political wrangling between foreign powers. Western media have discussed and speculated over Aung San Suu Kyi 's first overseas destination, whether it would be the United States or China, in order to get a sense of her foreign policy priority. To some degree, the discussion itself spoke to the attention Aung San Suu Kyi 's visit to China would attract.

Myanmar's relationship with the United States is closely watched by Chinese media. Since Myanmar's democratic transition, the country is gradually shaking off the isolation and sanctions posed by Western countries when it was under junta rule. Engagement with the West is gaining traction. Consequently, the United States, the EU and Japan see their influence in Myanmar surging, and one of the goals of the Western powers is to leverage their influence over Myanmar to contain the development of China, and squeeze the diplomatic space of China in the Mekong River region. It fits into US' pivot to Asia strategy, which hosts overarching components. In Asia's northeast, the deployment of the THAAD system as an apparent countermeasure to North Korea's nuclear activity would also serve to monitor China's defense system. In the east and southeast, the East China Sea and South China Sea issues have been simmering, in which the US play no small part, posing a security threat at China's doorstep. While in the southwest, the United States have been working intensively to cultivate relations with Myanmar, Vietnam and other lower Mekong River countries, as a counter measure against China's growing presence in the region. Furthermore, the United States launched the Lower Mekong River initiative as part of the effort to cement US clout in the Mekong River region against that of China.

China has been party to many cooperation initiatives, such as the China ASEAN strategic cooperation, Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, and the Belt & Road initiative. The United States sees Myanmar as a lever to throw spanners into China's works. It is no news that NGOs based in the US have been casting China-invested projects in a negative light, claiming these projects would result in adverse environmental and social impacts, in utter disregard of the benefits these projects generate for the local community. Their distorted narration fuels resistance towards Chinese projects and has even derailed several major projects.

In its attempt to counterbalance China, the United States resorts to backdoor means to disrupt China-Myanmar relations. This not only jeopardize China's interests, but also puts Myanmar on the spot, and it is questionable how much the US could gain from it. Myanmar upholds a foreign policy of independence and neutrality, and therefore will not take sides between China and the United States. In her capacity as foreign minister, Aung San Suu Kyi said that the country seeks friendship and cooperation with all countries. The NLD-led government has a twin task — to deliver stability and development for Myanmar, and to foster good relations with major countries.

Myanmar needs to build good neighborly relations with China, and ride on the train of China's fast development, and in the meanwhile, it cannot go without the support of the US, which is the sole superpower in the world. To spell it out, Myanmar needs to tap into its geopolitical positon and proximity to major powers in Asia, establish itself as a manufacturing, logistics and trade hub linking Southeast and South Asia, setting the stage for restoring its former glory as a major country straddling Central and South Asia.

In her capacity as foreign minister, Aung San Suu Kyi said that the country seeks friendship and cooperation with all countries.

Crunching a few numbers will make the case clearer. China is the largest source of FDI, with investment agreements worth $25.4 billion signed between China (Hong Kong included) and Myanmar in the first 7 months of the year, accounting for 40% of the total FDI to Myanmar, and 3.5 times the combined FDI from the US, EU and Japan. In terms of developing its political institutions, Myanmar models its democratic transition after the political systems in the US and Europe, and therefore need to emulate and learn from Western experiences in running the administrative government, parliament and political parties. What's more, Myanmar has drawn from the expertise and counsel from Western countries, and is on the list of US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which provides duty-free treatment to goods of designated beneficiary countries.

Regional cooperation initiatives, such as the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation initiative and the Belt and Road initiative proposed by China, are invariably open-ended, including to Myanmar and the United States, and by no means would China want to engage in strategic confrontation with the United States over Myanmar in Southeast Asia. What China seeks is common development and shared benefits. Having said that, should the United States resort to unfriendly acts against China, a backlash will result in China and Myanmar alike, consequently derailing Washington's own strategies in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean region. Alternatively, the United States, China and Myanmar can work together by building on their aligned and shared interests, and work towards win-win outcomes through trilateral cooperation. It is imperative that the three countries identify areas of cooperation in Myanmar, such as investment and public service projects, and foster a viable cooperation mechanism where interests are shared, risks are distributed. That will contribute to the economic prosperity of Myanmar and the well-being of its people, and meet the interests of the three countries and the region at large.