YANGON: Myanmar’s junta chief and foreign minister of China on Wednesday discussed security along the joint border, junta media said.
The development comes at a time when ethnic minority armed groups have captured territory from the Myanmar military in recent weeks.
China is a close ally and weapons supplier to the junta but analysts say it also maintains ties with ethnic armed groups fighting the military in Myanmar’s Shan state.
The meeting was the first between Wang Yi and Min Aung Hlaing, chief of the junta that seized power in 2021 when it overthrew the government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
According to a junta readout, the two sides discussed stability and peace in the border regions. Myanmar’s northern state of Shan has seen repeated clashes since late June after an ethnic rebel groups alliance renewed an offensive against the military along a major trade highway to China.
Shan state borders China’s Yunnan province and is vital to the Belt and Road infrastructure project. Min Aung Hlaing and Wang also discussed and exchanged views regarding free and fair general elections.
The junta of Myanmar has promised to hold fresh polls but critics doubt about the claim. The junta has changed the timetable for elections multiple times and last year banned the National League for Democracy (NLD) of Suu Kyi.
Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) fighters have been battling junta troops in the Shan state towns of Hsipaw and Naungcho.
Earlier, MDNAA fighters captured the town of Lashio from Junta, which is home to about 150,000 people. Dozens of civilians have been killed or injured in the recent fighting, according to the junta and local rescue groups.
