China’s military conducted live-fire drills on the Chinese side of the border with Myanmar on Saturday amid fierce fighting between Myanmar junta troops and ethnic allied forces.
Fighting has raged along the China-Myanmar border since October 27 when the brotherhood alliance launched Operation 1027, a coordinated offensive against the Myanmar military that has seen most border trade routes closed.
In response, China has publicly called on all parties in the conflicts to exercise restraint and move toward a ceasefire to ensure stability on its border.
The drills, which are part of annual training, aim to test the how troops move and protect the border as well as their firepower capability, a spokesman for the Southern Theater Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army, Senior Colonel Tian Junli, said in a statement.
He said the forces in southern Chaina are prepared to respond to all kinds of emergencies, including safeguarding sovereignty, border stability, and people’s lives and property, according to a report in the government-controlled China Daily.
No end date was given for the drills.
Myanmar junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said on Saturday that Myanmar had been informed of the drills. He also claimed that military ties between China and Myanmar are firm and that collaboration between two armies is friendly getting closer.
The claim followed a protest by regime-backed nationalists against the Chinese government outside Yangon City Hall and the Chinese Embassy in Yangon last Sunday. Protesters accused China of backing the ethnic alliance that has been defeating regime troops in northern Shan State.
The regime has lost over 180 of its bases and six towns – including strategic sections of key Myanmar-China trade routes – to the Brotherhood Alliance. The alliance comprises three ethnic armies: the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army and Arakan Army. Together, they launched Operation 1027 last month.
The drills that began on Saturday are a reminder to both the Myanmar government and ethnic armed forces that China is ready to guarantee China’s sovereignty and security as fighting continues to intensify along the border, China experts say.
On Friday, a convoy of trucks bringing goods into Myanmar from China went up in flames at the Kyin San Kyawt border gate in Muse town. Junta-controlled described the fire as an insurgent attack, saying: “Due to this terrorist act … about 120 out of 258 vehicles carrying household goods, consumer goods, clothes and building materials were destroyed by fire.”
MNDAA spokesman Li Kyar Win said the Brotherhood Alliance did not torch the convoy, saying it did not conduct attacks that damage civilians.
