Business is good. Demand from China’s growing middle class is strong, and that’s why across the border inside Burma, Chinese crews cut down swaths of forest twice the size of New York City each year. The logging across the border is illegal – Burma has banned the export of timber to protect its old-growth forests. But across the border lies the Burmese state of Kachin, where an ongoing civil war between the Burmese military and several local militias has made the ban nearly impossible to enforce. Furniture maker Li Jianli says the chaos makes it easier for Chinese companies to log. Read more
