BEIJING, Dec 14, 2023 (AFP) – Beijing said on Thursday it had mediated a temporary ceasefire in fighting between the Myanmar junta and ethnic minority armed groups in the north of the country close to the Chinese border.
Recent talks between Myanmar’s military and the groups, facilitated by China, resulted in several agreements “including the temporary ceasefire and maintaining the momentum of dialogue”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in a statement.
Clashes have raged across Myanmar’s northern Shan state after the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) launched an offensive in late October.
The groups have seized military positions and border hubs vital for trade with China in what analysts say is the biggest military challenge to the junta since it seized power in 2021.
AFP has contacted the AA and the MNDAA for comment, while the TNLA could not be reached immediately.
A spokesman for the Myanmar junta was also contacted for comment.
Beijing said on Monday peace talks had been held and had yielded “positive results” but made no mention of a ceasefire.
“The conflict in northern Myanmar is undergoing a clear de-escalation,” Mao said in Thursday’s statement.
“This not only serves the interests of all parties concerned in Myanmar, but also helps to guarantee peace and tranquility on the Sino-Myanmar border,” she said.
– Strained ties –
Beijing is a major arms supplier and ally of the junta but ties have been strained in recent months over the junta’s failure to crack down on online scam compounds in Myanmar that Beijing says target Chinese citizens.
Analysts say China maintains ties with ethnic armed groups in northern Myanmar, some of whom share close kinship and cultural ties with China and use Chinese currency and phone networks in the territory they control.
Protesters gathered at a rare demonstration in Yangon last month to accuse China of backing the ethnic minority alliance, in what analysts say was a move sanctioned by junta authorities.
Beijing has expressed “strong dissatisfaction” over the clashes in northern Shan state, home to oil and gas pipelines that supply China and a planned billion-dollar railway link.
The offensive by the alliance of ethnic minority armed groups has galvanised other opponents of the junta.
Clashes have spread to the east and the west of Myanmar and forced more than half a million people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.
China announced in mid-November that it had taken in an unspecified number of Myanmar refugees fleeing the fighting in a spirit of “humanitarianism and friendship”.
Myanmar is home to more than a dozen armed ethnic minority groups, some of which have seized territory in the border regions with China and fought against the army since independence from Britain in 1948.
By Ludovic EHRET