China embraces Aung San Suu Kyi

To China, the Nobel Peace Prize is unwelcomed. When the Nobel Peace Prize Committee named Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident activist, the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2010, Beijing strongly protested, claiming that the award was intervening in China`s internal affairs. Lately, China is attracting the world`s attention by giving VIP treatment to Myanmar`s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, during her first official visit to China.

During a meeting at Beijing`s Great Hall of the People on Wednesday, China`s President Xi Jinping told Suu Kyi that the traditional friendship between China and Myanmar has not changed for 65 years, since the establishment of diplomatic relations. "[China and Myanmar] have become a community of common interests and common destiny sharing weal and woe," Xi said.

Suu Kyi was named a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1991 but could not attend the awarding ceremony because of the Myanmar`s military government opposed it. Even when she was under house arrest until 2010, Beijing supported Yangon despite criticisms from the international community.

At the meeting, the Chinese leader cited an old Chinese expression‍ as an analogy to the special ties between the two countries. The expression‍ was similar to "as close as lips and teeth," which China uses to describe its ties with North Korea. Although the "lips and teeth" analogy has rarely been used since Xi came to power, Li Jinjun, the Chinese ambassador to the North, told Yang Hyong Sop, vice president of the Presidium of the North`s Supreme People`s Assembly that the two countries were allies "as close as lips and teeth."

Some analysts say that Xi invited Suu Kyi in an attempt to bring Myanmar back to its side, as Yangon has been getting closer to the West with reform and openness. Some others view that Xi extended his hand first, expecting that the National League for Democracy, Myanmar`s main opposition party led by Suu Kyi, will win in Myanmar`s November general elections. Then, Xi`s expression‍ of his commitment to "advancing friendly ties, no matter how its domestic situation changes" does not just sounds like diplomatic rhetoric. Clearly, his broad-minded diplomacy of embracing any country or anyone, if necessary, is the main driving force behind China`s power.

hnbhang@donga.com