Chinese
authorities warned an ethnic minority insurgent group on Myanmar’s
northeastern border to stop fighting the Myanmar military or be “responsible
for the consequences,” according to a spokesperson for the group.
China
has extensive economic interests in neighboring Myanmar, including oil and gas
pipelines and mines, and it has been increasingly concerned about the impact of
a surge of fighting this year between various insurgent forces and the military
A
spokesman for the insurgent group, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or
TNLA, told Radio Free Asia that the security committee in the Chinese border
town of Ruili told the TNLA in a letter to stop fighting.
“Fighting
must stop immediately in order to maintain stability and peace on the
China-Myanmar border and protect the lives of Chinese citizens,” the Chinese
security committee said in the letter, copies of which were posted online.
If the
TNLA did not comply, China would “teach them a lesson,” and the group
would be “responsible for the consequences,” the security committee said.
Radio
Free Asia was not able to contact the security committee in Ruili and the
Chinese Embassy in Yangon did not respond to a request for comment by the time
of publication. However, during a regular press briefing in Beijing on Friday,
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters that China is
"highly concerned about ... the conflict in northern Myanmar" and
"will continue to ... promote the easing and cooling of the
situation" in the region.
A
spokesperson for the TNLA, Lway Yay Oo, confirmed that the letter was from
Chinese authorities but declined further comment except to say the group’s top
leaders were meeting to discuss it.
China
is known to maintain contacts with Myanmar rebel groups operating along its
border, some of which have promised to protect Chinese business interests.
China-brokered
two short-lived ceasefires between a three-party insurgent alliance, which
includes the TNLA, and the junta this year but the truces collapsed and the
insurgents stepped up pressure on the military, capturing numerous outposts,
several major towns and a regional military headquarters. RFA was unable
to independently confirm whether the warning was also sent to the other armies
that make up the alliance -- the Arakan Army and the Myanmar National
Democratic Alliance Army.
China
also maintains close ties with the junta that seized power in a 2021 coup, and
is keen to limit the influence in Myanmar of Western countries and Myanmar’s
other big neighbor, India.
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China
is hoping an election the junta has promised to hold next year can help restore
peace and stability, analysts say, while at the same time it is pressing
anti-junta forces to agree to peace.
Media
reported this week that China had closed the border between Ruili and the
Myanmar town of Muse, cutting off trade including fuel supplies apparently to
pressure the TNLA to silence its guns.
In a
show of force, China’s People’s Liberation Army began military exercises, including live-fire drills, in the Ruili area on
Tuesday. China’s defense ministry said the drills would strengthen border
security and stability.
In
mid-August, China fired warning shots into Kachin state to the north
apparently in a bid to warn off junta aircraft bombing an insurgent base on the
border.
Myanmar
political and military analyst Than Soe Naing said there was little China could
do to stop the war apart from making threats and imposing border restrictions
on the insurgent groups and their leaders.
“These
restrictions can’t actually limit the battles that are being fought from
Nawnghkio township in Shan state to Pyinoolwin township in Mandalay,” Than Soe
Naing said, referring to a broad swathe of central-northeast Myanmar where
rebel forces have been making advances.
Translated
by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.
This
story has been updated to include a statement by Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Lin Jian.
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