Military drills near border with Myanmar
Print Edition
CHINA’S military is to hold live-firing exercises this week along its border with Myanmar near where Chinese civilians were killed by stray bombs from fighting between rebels and Myanmar’s government.
The defense ministry said the exercises in Yunnan Province, which start today, will include both ground and air elements. It didn’t say how many troops would be involved or how long the exercises would last.
Aircraft are being warned to stay away and vehicles entering the drill areas in Gengma and Zhenkang counties will be subject to traffic controls, according to a People’s Liberation Army statement.
The drills will be held in jungle-covered mountains along China’s southwestern border, directly across from where Myanmar troops have been battling ethnic Kokang rebels in its northeastern Shan state. The country declared a state of emergency in the Kokang region in February.
Last month local authorities in Yunnan said that five people — a Chinese national and four from Myanmar — were injured after two explosive devices hit the area.
In March, a Myanmar warplane dropped a bomb in a sugarcane field in Yunnan, killing five Chinese people and injuring eight others.
China responded by sending fighter jets to patrol the border, with Premier Li Keqiang promising to resolutely protect Chinese citizens.
Thousands of refugees have streamed across the border to avoid the fighting, which is believed to have killed hundreds of people. The Kokang are descendants of ethnic Chinese migrants who have long operated on both sides of the border.
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