Insights from six case studies in the Mekong countries - 2.4. Customary land tenure under “development”: the impact of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor on the Ta’ang tea farming communities in Northern Myanmar

Life and politics in Myanmar have changed significantly since 2012, after decades of military dictatorship with centralized politics. This "opening up" provided hopes for the nation's economic growth, among which the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) as part of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiative is the most notable. However, concerns were soon raised about the continuing disturbances and potential impacts of the large-scale land concession. This research, taking both an academic and activism perspective, employs a critical ethnography approach to study how the Ta'ang people — the earliest settlers in Northeast Myanmar — are affected by the project and how they deal with its impacts. The fieldwork is composed mainly of interviews with stakeholders including tea farmers, local civil society organizations, political parties, and armed groups. Through the case study and literature review regarding land policies in different periods in Burma/Myanmar, the author argues that the capital accumulation model for global energy markets is a threat to the survival of the customary land tenure system and the livelihoods of indigenous Ta'ang tea-growing communities, including those of the women. Statutory law amendments have shaped state legal land dispossession politics in favor of large-scale land-based investments such as the CMEC. Going beyond official reports, promises made in the context of CMEC — land and resource compensation, social engagement, environmental assessment, waste treatment, and water access security — have not yet been met. To conclude, the author analyzes the rights of indigenous peoples and customary land tenure with reference to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the customary land rights outlined in Myanmar's 2016 National Land Use Policy.