China lodges protest to Myanmar after artillery shells hit border town

A spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the country has protested to Myanmar about five individuals who were hurt by artillery shells launched during fighting between the rebel groups and the country’s junta that took place in a tiny village close to their border. Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, called on all sides involved in the conflict in Myanmar to immediately cease hostilities and take action to prevent any occurrence that jeopardizes the peace along the China-Myanmar border during a press conference on Thursday. “China follows closely the recent conflict in northern Myanmar. We strongly deplore the Chinese casualties caused by the conflict, and have lodged serious demarches to relevant parties,” Wang Wenbin told the media on being asked about artillery shell crossing from Myanmar into China’s Nansan in Yunnan province. “China once again asks all parties to the conflict to reach an immediate ceasefire, take concrete actions and stop any malicious incident that endangers the tranquillity in the China-Myanmar border area and Chinese lives and property from happening again. China will take necessary measures to safeguard the lives and property of Chinese nationals,” he added. Five individuals in Nansan, close to Myanmar, were reportedly hurt by stray shells on Wednesday and were sent to the hospital, according to the Global Times – the official mouthpiece of the Chinese government. The video purportedly showed Zhenkang officials attesting to the fact that at approximately 2:00 pm (local time) on Wednesday, shelling had deviated from Laukkai, in Kokang, Myanmar. The incident follows last week’s request by China’s embassy in Myanmar for its citizens to depart Laukkai as soon as possible due to increasing security dangers. Since late October, there has been an escalation in armed confrontation in the north of Myanmar between rebel groups and the military. China has encouraged communication between the two parties and has been advocating for a ceasefire in Myanmar. A coalition of insurgent fighters in war-torn Myanmar overthrew the military authority in numerous important towns in 2023. The alliance’s campaign, which started in Shan State in October of last year, was initially successful, which inspired opposition groups in other regions of Myanmar to seize control of other towns. The largest state in Myanmar, Shan State occupies over one-fourth of the nation. Following the announcement of “Operation 1027” by the three ethnic armies—the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Arakan Army, and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army—the onslaught got underway on October 27.