Second major Myanmar rebel group calls for talks with junta

YANGON - A second major Myanmar ethnic rebel group has said it is ready for China-mediated talks with the junta to end more than a year of renewed fighting that has ravaged areas along the Chinese border.

The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), with about 8,000 available fighters, has fought the Myanmar military for over a decade for autonomy for the Kokang ethnic minority in northern Shan state.

In 2023, it and two other allied rebel groups launched an offensive against the military and seized swathes of Shan state, including ruby mines and a lucrative trade highway to China.

Last week, MNDAA ally the

Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) said it was ready for talks

with the military.

“From today onwards, we will cease fire immediately, and will not actively attack the Myanmar army,” the MNDAA said in a statement released late on Dec 3.

“Under the mediation of China, we are willing to engage in peace talks with the Myanmar army on issues such as Lashio,” it said, referring to the city its fighters captured in August in a huge blow to the junta.

The MNDAA was “willing to send a high-level delegation to engage in dialogue and consult with the Myanmar military and resolve conflicts and differences through political means”, it said.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told AFP the MNDAA and the TNLA “need to show their willingness to implement” any peace talks.

“MNDAA and TNLA have released many statements for many reasons. But in reality, we believe that they haven’t implemented them practically on the ground.”

He said junta chief General Min Aung Hlaing had “thoroughly discussed peace procedures” in relation to the two groups with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in China in November.

China “appreciates the MNDAA’s recent positive statement”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told AFP.

Beijing would “continue to provide necessary support for the peace process in northern Myanmar”, he said.

The Arakan Army (AA), the third group in the rebel alliance, is still fighting the military in coastal Rakhine state in Myanmar’s west, home to China and India-backed port projects.

AFP has contacted an AA spokesman for comment.

China is a major ally and arms supplier of the junta, but also maintains ties with ethnic rebel groups that hold territory near its border.

It has repeatedly called for fighting to stop in Shan state, a key link in its trillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative.

Earlier in December, Beijing said the head of the MNDAA had come to China for “medical care” after news reports in Myanmar said he had been arrested on China’s orders.

The MNDAA’s call for talks “reflects China’s growing influence on Myanmar’s conflict,” said Mr Jason Tower of the United States Institute of Peace.

“If not for Chinese pressure... it is unlikely that it (the MNDAA) would have made such a statement,” he told AFP.

Since Lashio’s fall, China has cut electricity, water and internet services to the Kokang region, located on the border with Yunnan province, a source close to the MNDAA earlier told AFP.

Myanmar is home to about a dozen ethnic rebel groups that have battled the military for decades for autonomy and control of lucrative resources including jade, timber and opium.

Some, including the TNLA, have given shelter and training to newer “People’s Defence Forces” that sprang up to battle the military after it seized power in a 2021 coup. AFP