China still providing aid amid Myanmar's escalating conflict

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‍‍China has not prevented Myanmar residents from crossing the border into Chinese territories and seeking refuge as the conflict inside Myanmar rages, according to a spokesperson at Chinese embassy in Myanmar.

The statement came in response to media reports that about 4,000 Myanmar residents were allegedly refused entry into China as they fled from the conflict between government troops and ethnic militia groups.

The unnamed spokesperson added that the Myanmar government has stepped up resettlement and management of the border residents and China has provided food and medicine to those who fled their homeland to China.

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Some people who fled Myanmar to China's Yunnan Province are now staying within Myanmar's borders. Chinese volunteers provided them with clothes, foods, and water. /Photo provided by Chinese volunteer Mr. Zhang via CGTN Reporter Liu Yang

The latest bout of armed skirmishes was reportedly between the Myanmar government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in northern Myanmar.

Last November, violence broke out between an alliance of four ethnic insurgency groups and the government’s military along the Myanmar-China border. At the time, about 3,000 Myanmar people were allowed to cross into China’s Yunnan Province, where they sought shelter from the fighting. When receiving the border people, stray bullets fell inside China and Chinese were injured.

People from Myanmar try to cross into Chinese territories after clashes erupted in northern Myanmar on November 20, 2016. /CGTN Photo

Chinese medical workers provide assistance to Myanmar people who crossed the border into China on November 20, 2016. /CGTN Photo

In response, the neighboring countries held a two-day diplomacy and defense consultation in Naypyidaw, capital of Myanmar in November. The talks focused on establishing peace and stability along the border area. Both sides agreed it is in line with the common interests of both countries to maintain peace and stability along the border, and cope with emergencies properly.

In March 2015, a Myanmar warplane dropped a bomb on a sugarcane field in the border city of Lincang in Yunnan, killing five and injuring eight others. The incident led to China summoning Myanmar's Ambassador Thit Linn Ohn in Beijing, and holding a massive military drill along the borders to ensure peace and safeguard sovereignty.

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