China said that its army is on high alert after armed groups in Myanmar attacked military and police posts close to their shared border over the weekend and that it is providing shelter for a number of people who fled the fighting.
China’s Xinhua news agency late on Sunday said that three armed groups simultaneously attacked security posts in the border towns of Muse and Kutkai in Myanmar’s northeastern Shan State earlier in the day.
Xinhua, citing unidentified sources, said there were military and civilian casualties, but gave no other details.
Photo: EPA
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense said in a statement on its Web site that it hoped that calmness and restraint would be exercised to prevent further escalation.
“The Chinese army is on high alert and will take the necessary measures to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and safety, as well as protect the lives and property of Chinese citizens living along the border,” the ministry said.
The Chinese embassy in Myanmar urged an immediate ceasefire on Sunday and for stability to be returned to the border region, according to a statement on its Web site.
The Chinese government is temporarily housing an undisclosed number of Burmese who crossed the border into China to avoid the fighting, it said.
Thousands of people have been displaced by decades of fighting between the military and ethnic armed groups in Shan, which is home to several large groups operating close to the borders with China and Thailand.
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