International Relations Lead Story News
Burma’s government praised China on Wednesday for suspending a Chinese bank account used by ethnic rebels fighting Burmese troops, in a move to prevent potential damage to diplomatic ties.
Foreign Affairs Kokang Lead Story News
Chinese Ambassador Yang Houlan said Beijing made contact with MNDAA leader Peng Jiasheng to seek an end to the hostilities.
The three ethnic militias tabled their resignations on the third day of the Law Khee La summit of ethnic armed organisations..
The ethnic coalition remains resolute that the TNLA, MNDAA and Arakan Army must all be included in a peace deal.
Ethnic issues Kokang Lead Story News
Violence between ethnic armies and government forces has reached an impasse with the KIA and MNDAA both reporting more violence.
Kokang Lead Story Military News
A new surge in fighting has been observed between government forces and Kokang troops close to the China-Burma border, according to a Kokang spokesperson.
Ethnic issues Kokang Lead Story News
Kokang residents are returning home, according to Chinese reports, as the MNDAA claim a boost in the number of its troops since recent troubles began.
Mar 12, 2009 (DVB), Representatives of a number of ceasefire groups attended the 20th anniversary of the formation of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army yesterday near the China-Burma border.[…]
Analysis Ethnic issues Lead Story Peace Process
Insofar as the Union government’s agenda for ethnic reconciliation is concerned, there is little doubt that the north, where the most powerful rebel armies operate, holds the key to a permanent negotiated settlement.
Aung Kyi, the head of the Peace Commission, told DVB that they hoped the ethnic rebel alliance would be “involved in the peace process very soon”.
Olive Yang, the crossdressing royal-turned-warlord, died on Thursday. She was 90.
The move came after UNFC delegates refused to speak to journalists about the conference, and barred media from entering the meeting room.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
The dwindling alliance of ethnic armed groups joined under the United Nationalities Federal Council banner convenes a conference in Thailand chaired by a leader of one of its former members, the influential Kachin Independence Army.
Conflict Lead Story Military News
A damning new report from Amnesty International paints a picture of northern Burma in which the military continues to act with impunity, accused of human rights abuses tantamount to war crimes just weeks after the appointment of a UN fact-finding mission to probe such concerns.
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will meet with seven allied ethnic armed groups that are not signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) on the sidelines of the ongoing 21st Century Panglong Conference in the capital on Friday, a government official has confirmed.
“As far as I know, the government is not going to allow them to be represented as an alliance or coalition. It believes no progress can be made if it does so.”
The seven militias say they have formed a committee to negotiate with the government, but will not discuss the NCA.
Lead Story Mon News Peace Process
Mon political parties, monks and members of civil society in the southeastern state are urging the New Mon State Party, a Mon ethnic armed group, to sign Burma’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement.
“Many shells landed. They were fired across the border and landed about two miles inside Chinese territory,” a local told Chinese TV.
International Relations Lead Story News
One of China’s biggest state-owned lenders has suspended an account used to fund ethnic rebels fighting government troops in Burma, halting an arrangement that could have stoked diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Naypyidaw.
More than 30,000 people have fled Burma’s restive Kokang autonomous zone in the aftermath of an attack by the region’s dominant ethnic armed group on the administrative capital Laogai earlier this month.
Dozens of Burmese soldiers have been killed in several clashes between ethnic rebels and the army in Kokang along the border with China, state media reports.
Conflict International Relations Lead Story News
Aid workers and those displaced have expressed fears of a more violent and protracted conflict than a previous flare-up in the Kokang region in early 2015.
Conflict International Relations Lead Story News Shan
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday more than 20,000 people from Burma are seeking refuge in China from fighting in northern Shan State, as fighting threatens Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s top goal of reaching peace with minorities.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) denies allegations that the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army abducted 80 female staffers working at a casino in Laogai in the aftermath of an early Monday morning assault on the town.
Conflict International Relations Lead Story News
China on Tuesday called for an immediate ceasefire between ethnic rebels and Burmese security forces in the restive border area of Kokang, urging the two sides to resolve their differences through peaceful means instead.
The Kokang Self-Administered Zone’s capital Laogai, in northern Shan State, came under attack early Monday morning, with a spokesman for the coalition of ethnic armed groups identifying itself as the Northern Alliance saying one of its members was responsible for the assault.
Several ethnic armed groups that are not signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) have decided they will not sign the accord and instead are looking to engage in alternative-track peace talks under the leadership of the United Wa State Army.
Analysis International Relations Lead Story Opinion
US President-elect Donald Trump has not made any public statements on what his administration’s policy toward Burma will be, but he is unlikely to take a strong personal interest in the country as his predecessor has.
Conflict IDPs Kachin Lead Story Military News
A recent offensive by the Burmese military in Kachin State, seizing the Kachin Independence Army’s Gidon mountain outpost, has exacerbated the dire conditions for displaced people living in the area as northern Burma enters its coldest stretch of the year.
