Whereas India was a few weeks’ sail away, across warm and pacific waters, reaching China meant months of arduous travel by foot and mule. It was this geography that was now being altered. Yunnan, the Chinese province closest to Burma, had only a minority Han Chinese population until the 20th century. Now it was fully integrated into the People’s Republic. It was also industrializing rapidly, tying its markets closely to Burma’s. By the 2000s, the Chinese were hoping that Burma would provide a route to the Indian Ocean. This was a very old ambition, going back to the first Chinese explorers two
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