Figure 1: Map of Kaladan Project route. Source: Wikipedia. The second development project that impacts Rakhine State and exacerbates the fragile social conditions of the region, involves the gas and oil pipeline project traversing the country. Sponsored by Chinese investment conglomerates and business partners of the Tatmadaw, this project is set to connect the Shwe Gas field, off the coast of Rakhine, to Yunnan province in China. Dubbed the Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone, plans have been in place since 2007 when the project was approved by China’s National Development and Reform Commission. The pipeline project also impacts the Kachin and Shan States in northern Burma as well as central Rakhine, and has significantly contributed to the violence being perpetrated on the Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist communities. The fact that Buddhists are also being targeted further adds to the claim that the Tatmadaw’s primary motive in the Rakhine crisis has less to do with racist sentiment and more to do with economic and political ambitions. 93