Beijing orders five-days of military exercises in the territories bordering Burma. In recent months, tens of thousands of people have crossed the border to escape the fighting. Tensions remain high in the Kachin and Shan States, heartlands of ethnic guerrilla war.

Yangon (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Chinese army is planning five-days of military exercises in the territories bordering with Myanmar. Official State media report the maneuvers are a response to growing ethnic tensions - often resulting in violence and battles - in the former Burma, particularly in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities. In recent months, tens of thousands of people have crossed borders to escape the fighting.

The clashes between the government army and rebel militias – the Kachin in Kachin State and Kokang, in Shan state - have spilled over into Chinese territory. To respond to the emergency, in February Naypyidaw declared a state of emergency in the Kokang region.

According to reports from the state agency Xinhua, citing unnamed military sources, the exercises will begin tomorrow and will focus in Yunnan Province. There are no further details on either the type of exercises, nor the nature of the weapons used.

Last month, local authorities in southwest China reported the wounding of five people - a local citizen and four Burmese - following the explosion of two bombs. Earlier, in March, a Burmese fighter jet dropped a bomb in a sugar cane field killing five Chinese peasants and wounding eight others.

Beijing's response – furious with Naypyidaw – was to send fighter jets and other military vehicles to patrol the borders. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had also promised "resolute" action to protect its citizens.

Myanmar is home to more than 135 ethnic groups, who have always struggled to coexist peacefully, especially with the central government, which is dominated by ethnic Burmese. In the past, when a military junta ran the country, the authorities used an iron fist against the least amenable to central control, like ethnic Kachin in Kachin state, along the border with China in the north, and more recently with ethnic Kokang in Shan state.

In late March, government officials and representatives of 16 armed rebel groups signed a draft agreement for a ceasefire at the Myanmar Peace Centre in Yangon to end fighting in the country. If it is finalised and implemented, it could turn the page on decades of ethnic violence.

However, some key issues for a true peace in the country remain open. First of all, the non-inclusion of representatives of Kokang minority in talks. The minority have been protagonists of the longest running bloody conflict with the Burmese army.

• MYANMAR
• -
• CHINA
• ethic
• tensiosn
• clashes
• military
• exercises