Myanmar called on to end fighting

By Bao Daozu in Beijing and Li Yingqing in Kunming (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-29 08:08

One person was killed and several people were injured in Yunnan province by a bomb thrown from across China's border with Myanmar on Friday as fighting in the Kokang area of Myanmar continued, an official of Red Cross Society's Yunnan branch said.

The injured have been admitted to hospital, He Yongchun, deputy president of Red Cross's Yunnan provincial branch, said.

Clashes broke out between Myanmar government troops and the Kokang army earlier this month and many people have fled Myanmar in fear.

By Friday morning, about 10,000 people, including ethnic Kokang and Chinese businessmen, had crossed over from Myanmar into Nansan town and Genma county of Yunnan province.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said China hoped Myanmar would deal with the situation properly and ensure stability along the border and protect Chinese citizens in Myanmar.

"China is following the situation closely and has expressed concern to Myanmar," Jiang said. Seven camps have been set up for the displaced people, the Yunnan news website Yunnan.cn said, and a few small groups are still crossing over into China.

Some of the displaced people have sought shelter in their relatives' houses in the border towns, while others are staying in hotels, He said.

A person who answered the phone at Nanhai Hotel in Nansan told China Daily that the hotel was fully booked.

Myanmar's ambassador to China, Thein Lwin, told China Daily: "I thank the government of China for taking care of the people who have fled (Myanmar) in fear."

The two governments are cooperating "in all fields to control the situation, although I cannot give you details", he said.

Lwin said: "I believe the situation will improve soon and people in the camps can go back home."

The fighting is concentrated in forests and some pockets of the Kokang area, and Lwin said he had no news of civilian casualties.

Tension reportedly started on Aug 7, when the Myanmar authorities sent 30 policemen into a weapons repairing factory in Kokang to see whether it was being used to make and supply drugs.

A day later, the Myanmar government army deployed hundreds of troops in Kokang.

The Kokang army, which declared a ceasefire with the Myanmarese government in 1989, is part of an alliance of four ethnic groups called the Myanmar Peace and Democracy Front (MPDF).

In a statement issued through the MPDF, the Kokang army said the government was pressuring it to join a border security force before Myanmar's elections scheduled for next year.

The Myanmar government wanted to iron out differences with the Kokang army, led by Kokang commander Peng Jiasheng and that's why it sent the policemen and deployed the troops, said Song Qingrun, senior researcher with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

(China Daily 08/29/2009 page1)