As the Myanmar military continues its genocidal onslaught—murdering children, raping women, torching whole villages—against the Rohingya people, the U.S. rulers’ media have focused on religious differences in this small country in Southeast Asia. In reality, the mass atrocities and displacement in Myanmar are products of capitalist greed and inter-imperialist rivalry. U.S., Chinese, and local bosses are vying for control over rich reserves of oil and natural gas in Rakhine state, the Rohingyas’ home. Even more critically, U.S. bosses are exploiting the plight of Myanmar’s Muslim minority in a desperate effort to check China’s rise as the dominant power in Asia—and beyond.
China’s “Malacca Dilemma”
China’s ambitious One Belt One Road (also known as the New Silk Road) aims to control Eurasia and East Africa through a land- and sea-based trading network. This multi-trillion-dollar project would create roads, ports, and railroads through Central and South Asia, enhancing China’s access to Middle Eastern and European markets (see CHALLENGE, 3/9/16).
One of six OBOR corridors would connect China to India via Myanmar and Bangladesh. Moreover, Myanmar is “a vital cog in China’s strategy…to avoid its Malacca dilemma” (Huffington Post, 9/23).  At present, 25 percent of the world’s oil—and most of China’s energy supply—is transported through the Malacca Strait, a chokepoint between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
To reduce their vulnerability, guarantee that oil imports from Saudi Arabia flow freely, and strengthen their military foothold in the region, the Chinese bosses established the $10 billion Sino-Myanmar pipeline, connecting the Bay of Bengal to China’s landlocked Yunnan province (Stratfor, 9/14). China is also building a deep-water port in Rakhine at Kyaukphyu, which “will give China highly prized access to the Indian Ocean” (New York Times, 7/20) and is “expected to contribute huge profits to Chinese business conglomerates such as Citic Group” (Huffington Post, 9/23).
As U.S. President Donald Trump neglects to follow up Barack Obama’s overtures to the newly “democratic” Myanmar, now led by genocide apologist (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) Aung San Suu Kyi, China is exerting more power in its backyard:
Across Southeast Asia, China is energetically bringing nations into its orbit, wooing American friends and allies with military hardware, infrastructure deals and diplomatic attention…Once completed, ‘Kyaukpyu will be a Chinese naval base,’ said Mr. Maung Aung Myoe, the military analyst. ‘China desperately needs access on the eastern side of the Indian Ocean.’ China is already building Indian Ocean ports in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and it is seeking approval for one in Bangladesh (NYT, 7/20).
Instability in Rakhine is a problem for Chinese imperialists:
China has a particular interest in pressing the Arakan rebels to the peace table.…Keeping Rakhine free of unrest may have also been a factor in China’s blocking the United Nations from issuing a statement on the allegations of atrocities committed by Myanmar’s army there (NYT, 7/20).   
But for U.S. imperialists, ethnic cleansing in Rakhine could be a pretext for potential military intervention in the region.  Under the smokescreen of “human rights,” the U.S. hopes to destabilize Myanmar and thwart China’s looming regional supremacy:
“[T]he generals at the Pentagon see the [Myanmar corridor] as an enemy supply line. With the U.S. flexing its military muscle in the South China Sea….
[p]lacing Rakhine state under US/NATO protection would be an obvious way to sabotage this project” (Global Research, 9/15).
This is why the Rohingya crisis is getting so much media attention in the West.  While the U.S. imperialists ignore the killing of Yemeni workers by their oil-soaked allies in Saudi Arabia, they cry crocodile tears for the Rohingya. The criminal wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria should teach us to be wary whenever the mass-murdering U.S. bosses voice their concern.
Myanmar: This is What Capitalism Looks Like
With a poverty rate of 37.5 percent, Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in Asia; in Rakhine, the poverty rate is 78 percent (CFR, 9/13). The country has the lowest life expectancy in Southeast Asia and the second highest rate of infant and child mortality (World Bank, 2014).
To keep workers from organizing to overthrow this failed capitalist system, the bosses drown them in religion and nationalism. In Myanmar, Buddhists represent 87 percent of the population. Buddhist rulers have persecuted the mostly Muslim Rohingya people for centuries. Since the military takeover in 1962, the government has excluded the Rohingyas from citizenship. They need official permission to marry and have limited access to education, jobs, and residency. In some parts of the country they can only have two children (CFR, 9/13). These restrictions resemble the racist laws imposed by the Nazis against Jewish people in Germany.
Attempts by the Rohingya people to fight back have met with little success, due both to their limited numbers and weak political line. The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), funded by bosses in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan (International Crisis Group 12/15/16), is driven by nationalist politics. After ARSA’s recent attacks on government buildings, the ruthless Myanmar government responded  by killing thousands and forcing nearly half a million (including 240,000 children) to leave the country. Aung San Suu Kyi defends these atrocities under the guise of “national security.”  
Meanwhile, her administration acknowledged that it will manage the redevelopment of the razed villages, a potential goldmine for local capitalists. The government plan “is likely to raise concern about prospects for the return of the 480,000 refugees, and compound fears of ethnic cleansing” (Reuters, 9/27).
Long Fight Ahead
There are many lessons to be learned from the tragic developments in Myanmar. One in particular is the role played by the big imperialists in a seemingly “internal” affair. Whenever the bosses’ media pay close attention to crimes against workers, a little digging will reveal the rulers’ economic and political interests—which are never to serve the working class. Only a communist revolution, led by Progressive Labor Party, can smash the murderous profit system and end racist genocide for all time. Join us!