A senior Chinese army officer traveled to the Burmese capital, Naypyidaw, this week for talks that were reported to center on efforts to ensure stability on the Sino-Burmese border.
The Chinese officer, Lt-Gen Ai Husheng, is chief of staff of the Chengdu Military Region of the People’s Liberation Army. He met his Burmese counterpart, Lt-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, chief of the Bureau of Special Operations (BSO)-2.
 |
| Burma army parade during the Armed Forces Day in the administrative capital Naypyidaw on March 27. (Photo: Getty Images) |
News of the meeting was carried by Burma's state-run media on Friday, one day after Ai Husheng concluded his Naypyidaw visit.
As the chief of BSO-2, which oversees the Northeast, East and Triangle Regional Military Commands of Burma's armed forces, Min Aung Hlaing is responsible for security along the Sino-Burmese border. He commanded the military offensive against the Kokang army in August.
The offensive heightened the border tensions that have arisen because of the Burmese regime's proposal for armed ceasefire groups to reconstitute themselves as a border guard force.
Most of the larger groups are resisting the proposal, which was put forward by the regime in April.
Even before the proposal was announced, Kachin and Wa leaders wrote to the Chinese government in Dec. 2008 appealing for Beijing's support for Burma's ethnic minorities in their demands for autonomy.
Because of the opposition to the border guards force proposal, the Burmese regime has postponed on several occasions the deadline for accepting it. The latest deadline expires at the end of December.
Ceasefire groups in north and northeast Burma last met government negotiator Lt-Gen Ye Myint in November. Ye Myint, who is also chief of Military Affairs Security (formerly known as the Military Intelligence) failed to secure agreement to the border guard force from groups such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
Some four months after the Kokang clashes, the situation in the region has returned almost to normal, according to local aid workers in the capital, Laokai. During the conflict, about 37,000 Kokang- Chinese refugees fled to China. Most have now returned to Burma.
International organizations including UN agencies have also resumed their work in Kokang areas after withdrawing to the northern Shan State town of Lashio because of the conflict. Maj-Gen Aung Than Htut, commander of the Northeast Regional Military Command, reportedly guaranteed their security if they returned.
During his five day stay in Burma from Dec. 5 to Dec.10, Ai Husheng also traveled from Rangoon to the Golden Triangle town of Kentung, headquarters of Burma’s Triangle Regional Military Command and strategically located near Burma's borders with three neighboring countries—China, Laos and Thailand.
The UWSA and its allies, the Mong-La army and National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), and a non-ceasefire group, the Shan State Army (South), are mobilizing in the region. The UWSA and the NDAA are still engaged in talks on the border guards proposal.
During the meeting with Ye Myint in November, the UWSA and the NDAA reportedly accepted the proposal provided the Wa and Mong-la political leadership retained control of their troops. The compromise was reportedly rejected by the regime, however.
Ai Husheng also visited Mandalay and the Defense Services Technological Academy in Phin Oo Lwin, the state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported on Friday.
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Burma in the near future, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday. Xi Jinping was invited by the Burmese junta's No.2, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye. The Chinese leader will also visit Japan, South Korea and Cambodia.
E-MAIL
PRINT
COMMENTS (5)
