ABSTRACT
The Burmese term “pauk-phaw” has been the country’s discourse to describe the good relationship between two countries. This chapter will discuss the multiple facets of China–Myanmar relations as expressed in the different levels of meanings of “pauk-phaw.” Following China’s rise, large numbers of new Chinese migrants have migrated to Myanmar, contributing to the country’s economic development as well as reshaping the ethnoscape of cities in Myanmar. All these have affected the daily life of ordinary Burmese people, and consequently transformed their perceptions about the Chinese and about the pauk-phaw relationship. This chapter will discuss national developments in China and Myanmar, ethnic interaction and economic and cultural exchange, as well as the relationship in the transnational networks between the Burmese and the Chinese in Myanmar, new Chinese migrants and China. The discussion will be placed in the regional context and in the contexts of global flows as well as China’s rhetoric about “one belt one road.”
