China: Portrait of a Country

For a combination of historical and economic reasons — and because otherwise Myanmar would find itself even more isolated — China’s relationship with Myanmar is, in fact, more intimate than that with any other country in the region. [920] Figure 25. East Asian attitudes towards China and the United States (% вЂfavourable’) Nov 2005. Figure 26. East Asian perceptions of bilateral relationship with China and the United States (% вЂgood’) Nov 2005. Figure 27. East Asia’s perceptions of Asia’s future power centre (%) Nov 2005. Figure 28. East Asia’s perceptions of their closest economic partner in 5-10 years (%) Nov 2005. For geographical reasons, the archipelagic countries of South-East Asia have traditionally enjoyed a more distant relationship with China than those like Myanmar and Vietnam that share the same land mass. [921] Furthermore, the ethnic, cultural and religious differences between China and countries like Malaysia and Indonesia are very pronounced. Malaysia, following its independence in 1957, viewed China with considerable suspicion because of its own large Chinese minority and the fact that the Maoist regime encouraged a guerrilla war, mainly based amongst the local Chinese, against the British and, after independence, against the newly installed Malay-dominated government ...»