Following skirmishes between ethnic armed groups and the Myanmar military, China’s public security minister held discussions with the junta of Myanmar on Tuesday to establish peace along their shared border, according to official media.
There have been reports of thousands of displaced individuals, some of whom have crossed into China, as a result of coordinated attacks by three armed factions fighting for autonomy against the junta that was attempting to seize control of towns.
The junta’s home minister, Lieutenant-General Yar Pyae, met with Wang Xiaohong, a member of China’s cabinet, the State Council, in the capital Naypyidaw, according to a report by Global New Light of Myanmar.
The two “discussed peace and tranquillity in border areas of the two countries” and cooperation on law enforcement and security, it said, without giving details.
Since Friday fighting has raged across a swathe of Myanmar’s northern Shan state where a billion dollar rail link is planned as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road global infrastructure project.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) said they had seized several military posts and key roads.
The three groups which analysts say can call on at least 15,000 fighters between them have fought regularly with the military over autonomy and control of resources.
The MNDAA claimed to have published video on Monday that showed its forces taking Chinshwehaw, a border village.
According to the junta, since Friday, at least ten military stations in Shan have been attacked.
The conflict has forced nearly 6,200 people to flee, including 600 who crossed the Chinese border, according to the UN.
China, a significant armaments supplier and junta backer, has declined to call the military’s takeover of power in 2021 a coup.
China’s envoy for the country has met regularly with their leadership in recent months and during the Covid pandemic provided vaccines and aid to territory that the groups control.
But, analysts say, China also backs and arms several groups along its border with Myanmar, home to ethnic Chinese communities who use Chinese SIM cards and currency.
Beijing is also angered by a mushrooming of online scam centres in Myanmar’s northern reaches that it says target Chinese citizens.
Myriad ethnic armed groups operate in Myanmar’s frontier areas and have for decades clashed with the government.
Since the military seized power, several of the groups have allied with People’s Defence Forces that have sprung up to battle the junta.
