Reuters
Chinese security personnel stand near a police vehicle after an artillery shell hits the city of Nanshan in Yunnan province on January 3, 2024. This screenshot taken from a social media video.
Myanmar has protested after five people were injured by shells fired during fighting between the ruling military junta and rebels who wandered into a small town near the border, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday. did.
Armed clashes between the military and rebel groups have intensified in northern Myanmar since late October, prompting calls from neighboring China for a ceasefire and prompting dialogue between the two countries.
“China… strongly regrets the sacrifices of Chinese people caused by the conflict, and has already made serious overtures to the relevant parties,” said Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China.
“China once again urges the parties to the conflict to cease fire and cease fighting, and to take measures to prevent such vicious incidents from happening again,” Wang said at a regular press conference.
China will take necessary measures to protect the lives and property of its people, it added.
Earlier, the state-run Global Times newspaper reported on Wednesday that five people were taken to hospital after being injured by shells that washed up in Nanshan, a subtropical town on the outskirts of Myanmar.
Video of the incident, which the newspaper shared on social media, showed one person lying on the pavement as people shouted “Call the police!”
The newspaper added in a video that authorities in Zhenkang city in southwestern Yunnan province confirmed that the shelling came from Laukai in Myanmar’s northern Kokang region around 2pm on Wednesday.
The incident comes after the Chinese embassy in Myanmar last week called on its citizens to leave Laukai Island as soon as possible, citing increased security risks.
Kokan, Myanmar’s Shan State, has long been a volatile and reactionary region.
In 2015, during fighting between Myanmar government forces and rebels, artillery shells from this area fell across the border into Yunnan province, injuring one Chinese and four Myanmar nationals, and forcing the Chinese government to Made me angry.
Fighting also took place as close as 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the China-Myanmar border at the time.
Clashes in the same region in 2009 forced tens of thousands of people to flee across the border into China, according to Chinese state media and human rights groups.
In mid-December, the United Nations estimated that more than 660,000 people had been displaced in Myanmar since October 27, bringing the total number of displaced people nationwide to a record 2.6 million.
China has urged people to avoid traveling to northern Myanmar and advised those already in the country to seek safety or return home.