The next phase of Myanmar's political transition has been settled. The results of the country's Nov. 8 elections have confirmed that the opposition National League for Democracy now holds a healthy majority in parliament and can form a new government without the help of the formerly ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party. For the first time since Myanmar's 1962 coup, a fully civilian party will lead the government, although it will still have to vie for power with the country's military elite . Meanwhile, China has been watching Myanmar's political transition with growing concern. Myanmar, which shares a 2,192-kilometer (1,362-mile) border with China that cuts across rugged highlands, represents access to trade routes in the Indian Ocean Basin and to overland commerce with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), now China's largest trading partner.