A member of a Myanmar rebel alliance fighting military rule has promised to protect Chinese interests in northern Myanmar.
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, pledged to protect Chinese nationals and investments as the battle for a major Shan state town intensified, the group announced on Tuesday.
Several ceasefires brokered with China's help between Myanmar's Three Brotherhood Alliance and junta forces have failed to maintain a lasting peace since January. Since July 22, when the latest ceasefire collapsed, fighting over Lashio, the main city in northern Shan state, has surged.
The MNDAA has since claimed it captured most of the town, including a regional military headquarters, which junta officials have denied.
The group said it would consult allied organizations and “prevent actions that may harm Chinese investment and Chinese employees.”
Political analyst Than Soe Naing told Radio Free Asia that groups involved in fighting the junta, which include the allied Ta’ang National Liberation Army and Arakan Army, are already obligated to protect Chinese interests under an earlier agreement.
The renewed declaration may be the result of a warning from China to be more cautious during battles, he said.
“China’s interests in northern Shan state are to keep its trade routes convenient and smooth and to maintain stability on the border region. Its interests are also to clean up online scamming,” he said. “Therefore, China has put its trust in the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee to ensure that its interests are not affected.”
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The committee is an alliance of seven ethnic minority forces established in 2017. In 2023, it called on China to help solve the crisis triggered by a military coup two years earlier.
China’s investments in Myanmar include oil and natural gas pipelines running through both Shan and Rakhine states. Fighting in the latter has threatened the safety of Chinese employees.
The MNDAA said it would urge its allies to assist injured Chinese citizens trapped by fighting as well as those who have businesses affected by the war. RFA telephoned MNDAA spokesman Li Kyar Win to ask about the details of the statement, but he did not answer calls.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a recent briefing China’s borders and the security of people living there, as well as its projects and businesses in Myanmar, should not be compromised.
China has called on Myanmar’s rivals to end their fighting and resolve differences peacefully and said it would push for ceasefires and talks.
Wa army claims neutrality
Conflict in Lashio continued early on Wednesday morning, after another ethnic minority militia group, the United Wa State Army, which controls an autonomous region of Shan state and is known to be closely affiliated with China, evacuated trapped Lashio prison employees and their family members, residents told RFA on Wednesday.
The Wa army led more than 120 junta-affiliated prison staff and their relatives, who had been trapped by clashes, to a nearby town on Tuesday, said one witness, declining to be named for security reasons.
“I saw three military vehicles carrying prison employees. They were sent to Mongyai town,” he said, referencing a town 93 km (58 miles) from Lashio.
The evacuees said they were trapped when MNDAA fighters captured an infantry battalion’s position near the prison.
RFA attempted to contact Nyi Ran, an official of the Wa Liaison Office in Lashio, regarding the evacuation but he did not answer.
One resident close to the Wa army, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told RFA that troops arrived in Lashio on Saturday in order to protect properties at the request of “various ethnic groups” in the town. However, the resident declined to reveal which parties had asked the Wa force to come although the resident said the Wa army would not take sides in any battles.
Two Lashio neighborhoods have been damaged by junta airstrikes and heavy weapons fire, residents said, but they could not verify if there were any casualties The Wa Liaison Office and nearby houses were also damaged in air strikes, they added.
RFA called Shan state’s junta spokesperson Khun Thein Maung for more information on the battle in Lashio but he did not answer.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.