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Vagabond... Its quite apparent you know very little of the Myanmar Chinese and their situation. Its OK you base your opinion on what a Chinese family at Inle Lake told you but please some intelligence and realise that there might be more to it then what you experienced.

Its sunday, I will try to enlighten you again. Hopefully this time you can comprehend what I write, I will keep it extra simple for you.

There are different kinds of "Myanmar Chinese".

On one side you have the Myanmar Chinese who live there for generations, some of them arrived during the British Colonial time and some even long before that. The first Chinese even arrived in Myanmar in the 18th century (google Kokang people). This kind of Myanmar Chinese are usually well integrated into Myanmar society and most of them have ID Cards and Myanmar passports. As I showed you even famous politicans like Ne Win and Khin Nyunt are ethnic Chinese. They are locals and just as Myanmar as the Bamar, Shan, etc. They speak Myanmar language, have Myanmar friends, many even Myanmar family members. They were raised and born in Myanmar also. This group is by the way also having a disproportionately large presence in Myanmars higher education and economy.

Then you have the Myanmar Chinese who arrived in the 1990s and 2000s. They are a result of the SLORC opening up Myanmar´s economy. They came mostly to invest money, open up businesses, buy cheap land, etc. These "new Myanmar Chinese" usually live in upper Myanmar. In Shan State, Kachin State, Sagaing Divison and Mandalay. They are often poorly integrated into Myanmar´s society and are often met with rejection, even hatred from other Myanmar people. Whether you want to call these people "Myanmar" is up to you, this depends on the personal story of each and every one of them individually probably. Some of them might just be "Chinese living in Myanmar to do business" while others might actually be "Myanmar Chinese".

Its pretty clear that the Chinese you met at Inle Lake belong to this second group.

I hope this time you understood what I said and realise that there is more to the Myanmar Chinese then just this second group of recently arrived Chinese.

And again: "Myanmar" is a nationality. Not a ethnicity. Bamar, Shan, Kachin, Mon, Kayin, Myanmar Indians, Myanmar Chinese etc are all Myanmar. They dont share the same ethnicity, yet they are all Myanmar.

There are people from every ethnicity (outside Bamar people) that dont get ID cards or passports for various reasons. Some Chinese and Indians who live there for a long time dont get ID Cards. The majority though, dont be fooled about that, has ID Cards and passports.

The only ethnicity where the majority struggles to get ID cards and passports are the much hated Rohingya who live in Rahkine State.

And to enlighten you about the Myanmar Indians then please read my post at #61 again:

"And regarding the Myanmar Indians, they are as local as any ethnic Bamar. Most of them arrived more then 60 years ago which means that the current generation is mostly born and raised in Myanmar."

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haha!!!! the point is local chinese are not treated the same as Bamar etc..NOT ALL (some) get cards or citizenships...this is true also in indonesia and philippines...only recently, China has become a big dragon...this has changed...
martin, do not waste your energy to explain to me about chinese in myanma..
i read and write Chinese (university level), i know about chinese and chinese people...haha!!! should have told u earlier...
u been to chinese enclave in calcutta, india? they have a 2 page chinese weekly newspapers....chinese town in buenos aires ??
pls do not write again....i have been entertained enough, thanks...hehe!!!!

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@fowler9: It's not really yada yada; it's quack quack quack.