6 - The Burmese Jade Trail: Transnational Networks, China and the (Relative) Impact of International Sanctions on Myanmar's Gems

Summary

Diamonds are a girl's best friend, as the song goes. So is Burmese jade for a Chinese, or for any gem and jade dealer settled along the China- Myanmar borders. Hard numbers are difficult to come by, but it is thought that today thousands of Myanmar-origin jadestones worth several million U.S. dollars are traded every year in China, most particularly in the border province of Yunnan. Myanmar has long been prized for its precious gemstones, but its own gem and jade industry has rather stagnated since independence in 1948. Over the past decade, however, it has witnessed extraordinary growth, mostly driven by extravagant Chinese demand. With rising Sino-Myanmar economic interaction in the decade from the year 2000, the construction of modern infrastructure in the borderlands of Yunnan, and the increased purchasing power of jade-crazed Chinese diaspora societies, all the signs are that the Burmese jade trade is roaring ahead. Yet Western countries have been calling for tougher economic sanctions on the Myanmar gemstone market. After the international outcry that followed the “Saffron Revolution”, European Union (EU) and United States policy-makers determined on imposing “smarter” sanctions to target the profits that military-ruled Myanmar could scoop up from this thriving industry. Brussels subsequently, in November 2007, revised the EU Common Position to include a section on mining, timber, and gems, and in July 2008 Washington adopted the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta's Anti-Democratic Effort) Act. These moves have had little success, however, as the Burmese jade trade has continued to boom. At the root of the ineffectiveness of Western sanctions on that particular industry is a simple miscalculation: China is too big a player in the jade industry to leave outside the scope of such sanctions; moreover, cross-border trade in and around Myanmar has become increasingly viable and profitable in recent years.

This chapter intends to explore and evaluate the impact Western “targeted sanctions” have had on the Myanmar gem industry. The research on which it is based is drawn primarily from a broader project the author has been conducting since 2010 on Burmese Muslim jade traders settled in Yunnan — mostly in the major market town of Ruili (Shweli in Burmese) (see Figure 6.1).