Chinese special envoy to Myanmar Deng Xijun is in Lashio to personally supervise the handover of the northern Shan State capital to the Myanmar military regime after the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) was forced by Beijing to leave the city it liberated, sources told The Irrawaddy.
On Monday, Deng presided over a meeting between junta officials and the MNDAA to discuss the handover and administration of Lashio at the Two Elephants Hotel. MNDAA flags were replaced with Myanmar national flags in Lashio town as Deng met the two sides.
The Chinese envoy toured the town including the airport in the evening, according to a source close to the MNDAA.
“Some junta troops will return. But they may not bring their family members like they did before. There will be combat forces and administrative staff,” said a source.
Responding to a question from an AFP journalist regarding China’s role in returning control of Lashio to the junta, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday that Beijing “supported various parties in Myanmar in carrying out friendly consultation toward political reconciliation, and support Myanmar in resuming the political transition process.”
A junta military convoy arrived in Lashio on Tuesday, according to videos shared online by residents.
The MNDAA is a member of the Brotherhood Alliance, which launched the anti-regime Operation 1027 military offensive across northern Shan State in October 2023 alongside several resistance groups.
The alliance seized most of northern Shan State, Lashio, and important trade routes with China. Lashio, which housed the junta’s Northeastern Command, fell last August.
Monday’s meeting reportedly discussed the possibility of ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) withdrawing from Mandalay Region to Muse, a town on Shan State’s border with China, and of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) providing security near Lashio town to avoid fresh military confrontation. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify those reports.
Another Brotherhood Alliance member, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), has been conducting military operations alongside local anti-regime groups in Mandalay Region. It controls Mogoke in Mandalay Region, a town known for its rubies.
The UWSA, the most powerful ethnic armed organization in Myanmar, has declared neutrality in the fighting between the regime and other EAOs. China previously wielded its influence over the UWSA, forcing it to refrain from backing the MNDAA against the junta.
One Lashio resident expressed frustration over China’s involvement in the handover of Lashio to the regime.
“People were killed when the military fired shots at young protesters [during the early days following the coup]. Others were killed by the junta’s airstrikes. Back then, China said it would not intervene in Myanmar’s internal affairs. But what they are doing now is active intervention in our domestic affairs. They came to Lashio and are managing it as if it were their own town. I am upset as a resident,” he said.
China previously closed all border crossings with territories the MNDAA holds, in an effort to pressure the ethnic armed group to halt its military offensives against the regime. It has reopened some border crossings after the MNDAA yielded to its demand. But China still restricts exports of certain goods into the MNDAA’s territories, according to sources close to the group.
One ethnic revolutionary leader who asked for anonymity said: “When they met us, they said they don’t want to see the collapse of the State Administration Council [the junta]. They will do whatever it takes to prevent its collapse. So, my message to other EAOs is we need to be more united. Our enemy has collapsed. But, the pillar which is shoring it up is huge. So, it is not an easy task. We need to do more to push it over. We have to be more systematic, and more united. Otherwise, all our hard work will be in vain.”
