Myanmar junta chief, China FM discuss ‘stability’ as clashes rage

YANGON: Myanmar’s embattled junta chief and China’s foreign minister on Wednesday (Aug 13) discussed security along their shared border where ethnic minority armed groups have captured territory from the Myanmar military in recent weeks, junta media said.
China is a major ally and arms supplier to the junta but analysts say it also maintains ties with ethnic armed groups fighting the military in Myanmar’s northern Shan state.
The meeting in the capital Naypyidaw was the first between Wang Yi and Min Aung Hlaing, chief of the junta that seized power in 2021 when it deposed the government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The two discussed “stability of the border regions,” according to a junta readout of the meeting.
Myanmar’s northern Shan state has been the site of repeated clashes since late June after an alliance of ethnic rebel groups renewed an offensive against the military along a vital trade highway to China.
Clashes between the military and ethnic armed groups in Shan state continued on Wednesday.
Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) fighters were battling junta troops in the Shan state towns of Hsipaw and Naungcho, its Major-General Tar Bhone Kyaw told AFP.
AFP has contacted the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), another group fighting in northern Shan for comment.
Earlier this month MDNAA fighters captured the military’s northeastern command in the town of Lashio, home to about 150,000 people.
The capture of the regional command – the first by opponents of the junta since the military’s 2021 coup – sparked rare public criticism of the top generals by its supporters.
Min Aung Hlaing later said the alliance was receiving weapons, including drones and short-range missiles, from “foreign” sources that he did not identify.