Risks ahead for China as northern Myanmar clashes near border, analyst says
- Trade and personal exchanges will be affected by the renewed conflict between armed groups and the junta, observer says
- Students and teachers at Chinese school warned to shelter to avoid being hit by stray bullets
Armed groups have launched a series of attacks since Friday across the northern provincial administrations of Shan State, Kachin State, and the upper Sagaing Region.
China’s border runs for 2,000km (1,250 miles) along the Shan and Kachin states, with at least 10 cross-border ports in operation in Yunnan province.
Authorities in the city of Ruili said the fighting had forced three schools in the township of Wanding on the Shan border to suspend classes from Monday.
A school statement posted online also warned students and teachers to actively “seek shelter when hearing gunfire” to avoid “being wounded by stray bullets”.
The four major militant groups – the Kachin Independence Army, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Arakan Army, and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) – have reportedly seized several military posts and key roads in the region.
