Junta Myanmar loses ground on the Chinese border

taketonews

Myanmar’s military junta has lost control of the strategically important village of Chinshehaw in the northeast of the country. Chinshehaw is located on the border with China, on one of the main transit routes to Myanmar’s main trading partner. According to figures from the Myanmar government, about a quarter of total bilateral trade passes through the border post in Chinshehaw.

The village, like several other places in the area, fell into the hands of an alliance of three rebel groups after days of fighting. These rebel groups are fighting in Shan State against the Tatmadaw, the Myanmar army that seized power in February 2021 after Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy recently won the elections by a landslide. In Shan, like other groups elsewhere in the country, rebels have been fighting against central authority and for more autonomy for decades. According to estimates, the three groups together would have about twenty thousand fighters have put on its feet.

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In the jungles of Myanmar, resistance groups are working together against the junta

<strong>In a hospital in the jungle of the Karen state</strong>, in eastern Myanmar, doctors who joined the resistance after the coup two years ago work.” class=”dmt-article-suggestion__image” src=”https://images.nrc.nl/b6Ur17gL59T6_7si-cV3iBTRA2E=/160×96/smart/filters:no_upscale()/s3/static.nrc.nl/bvhw/files/2023/01/data96270650-ab7eae.jpg”/></p><p>Despite mutual distrust, cooperation between various rebel groups fighting against central authorities in Myanmar has grown since the coup. Partly as a result, the regime still has limited control over the country outside the major cities.</p><p>Still, Chinshehaw’s fall is significant, analyst David Mathieson told the French news agency AFP. “The army has not been confronted with such fierce attacks since the coup. This is a major defeat for the military and intelligence services. This shows how far the Myanmar military is reaching its limits.”</p><p>Communication with the isolated, jungle-covered area is difficult, resulting in a lack of reliable figures on battle casualties. <a rel=UN organization OCHA on Monday spoke of an unspecified number of civilian deaths, 6,200 internally displaced persons and “several hundred people” who are said to have fled across the border with China.

Ceasefire

China, which still maintains strong ties with the internationally isolated regime in Myanmar, called for a ceasefire on Thursday and “peaceful settlement of disputes” in the border area. In addition to the trade route with China, important gas and oil pipelines to the People’s Republic run through the area.

On Tuesday, Chinese Security Minister Wang Xiaohong had a meeting with junta leader Min Aung Hlain in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, discussing “insurgents’ attempts to undermine peace and stability.”

In a statement from the junta-affiliated medium NP News quotes, Myanmar military spokesman Zaw Min Tun blamed “powerful countries” for the violence wanting to damage the bond between Myanmar and China. Chinese texts are said to have been written on drones and explosives that the army allegedly found in the conflict zone with the intention of “creating misunderstandings between China and Myanmar.”

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