A shelved $3.6 billion Chinese-financed Myitsone Dam project in northern Myanmar is being revived by military rulers, potentially reigniting conflict with Kachin ethnic rebels who previously protested the dam.

Deep in the forested highlands of northern Myanmar, where the Irrawaddy River rises from two tributaries in the hills of Kachin state, a contentious infrastructure project is stirring again – and threatening to reopen wounds that never fully healed. The Myitsone Dam, a US$3.6 billion Chinese-financed hydroelectric megaproject that was shelved more than a decade ago after igniting a storm of popular fury, is back on the table. Myanmar’s military rulers have begun holding public consultations on.....