A total of 28 Myanmar citizens who set fire to a textile factory owned by China were sentenced to 20 years in prison. They were found guilty by the Myanmar Junta court.

Massive demonstrations in Yangon led to the burning of dozens of Chinese textile factories in March. The arson caused considerable damage with a loss of around 37 million US dollars.

The Twitter account of the Myanmar pro-democracy group alleges that it was the Myanmar Junta soldiers who set fire to the textile factory.

Because of the incident, two Chinese factory employees were seriously injured. In addition, the mob also burned down the Myanmar Rong Wei New shoe factory and the Yuan Hong Garment factory. Meanwhile, 19 other people who are suspected of being involved in the burning of the factory are still being hunted.

The proximity of China and Myanmar

It is known that China and Myanmar are getting closer to establishing diplomatic relations. Several times China supplied military equipment to Myanmar.

In January, Chinese President Xi Jinping elevated Myanmar to the status of a 'country of shared destiny'. Its aim is to push Myanmar politically towards China, as well as away from the United States.

Cooperation between China and Myanmar regarding infrastructure projects has occurred several times, one of which is the oil and gas pipeline project.

Myanmar itself is still in chaos after military generals ousted Aung San Suu Kyi in February. Massive demonstrations took place across the country. As a result 800 civilians were killed.