Myanmar’s Perception Of China In Recent Years And Its Impact On China-Myanmar Relations

Myanmar is one of China’s most important neighbours,and the relationship between China and Myanmar is a bilateral relationship that cannot be ignored in the course of China’s "strategic neighbourhood" policy.In current international political science,the cognitive perspective has become an important research angle in the study of the interaction between the two countries’ bilateral relations based on international political psychology.As perception is the starting point of behaviour,different groups in contemporary Myanmar present distinctive views on China,with different perceptions on different issues,and both consensus and disagreement on their perceptions of China.From the perspective of the government,the media and the academia,which are important components of Myanmar politics,we focus on the perceptions of these three parties towards China in recent years to capture the overall perceptions of Myanmar from 2016 to the present.On this basis,we analyse the overall perception of China in Myanmar from 2016 to the present.On this basis,the impact of Myanmar’s perception of China on relations between China and Myanmar is analysed.After clarifying the presentation of Myanmar’s perceptions of China in recent years,the analysis is based on the theoretical framework of cognitive genres in international political psychology,and the study identifies the main factors influencing Buy’s perceptions of China from domestic factors,domestic public opinion factors and international political factors.The personal factors of leaders and the interests of political parties influence the process of perceptions of China by the Myanmar government,which in turn will shape its policies towards China in the light of the’operating environment’,thus affecting the relationship between China and Myanmar.The foreign background of the media and the deep-rootedness of NGOs create a complex public opinion environment in Myanmar society at the popular level,creating an "information cocoon" through the media in the "public opinion arena" on China,which makes it necessary for the government to consider and even respond to The "voice of the people" is also a source of resistance to the "people-to-people" project between the two countries.Geo-environmental factors and other national strategic plans are external factors that influence Myanmar’s understanding and judgement of the international political landscape.The reasons for Myanmar’s misperceptions of China are based on the Jervistian theory of "misperceptions".Finally,on the basis of a summary of Myanmar’s perceptions of China and the main factors influencing their formation,the path and policy options for resolving Myanmar’s perception dilemma are analysed.In the face of the current complex and volatile political situation in Myanmar,Myanmar’s perception of China will become even more complex in the future,and policy initiatives will be tailored to the changing political forces within the country,with a more obvious gesture of seeking internal stability and "hedging balance".However,an analysis of Myanmar’s perception of China in recent years shows that,regardless of the country’s domestic political turmoil,the perception of China as an "important strategic partner" on its development path will remain unchanged.However,Myanmar will continue to treat economic cooperation between the two countries with "caution" in order to stabilise "unstable" domestic voices and "pressure" from the international community.As a result,the "close but not close" relations between China and Myanmar will not change dramatically in the short term as Myanmar’s "democratisation" process takes a twisted turn.