
Myanmar Rebels Prepare To Hand Key City Back To Junta, China Says
A Myanmar ethnic minority armed group is preparing to hand a captured city back to the military in a Beijing-brokered deal, China's foreign ministry said Tuesday, as residents reported junta troops already returning.
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) ousted Myanmar's military from the city of Lashio in August 2024, capturing their northeastern command and a key trade route to China.
Analysts say it was the worst strategic loss the military suffered since seizing power in a 2021 coup that sparked a civil war pitting the generals against anti-coup fighters and long-active ethnic armed groups.
But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters the MNDAA is set to relinquish the city to the military without firing a shot.
"At the joint invitation of both sides, China recently dispatched a ceasefire monitoring team to Lashio, Myanmar, to oversee the ceasefire between the Myanmar military and the MNDAA and to witness the smooth and orderly handover of Lashio's urban area," he said.
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 like the MNDAA, which can muster around 8,000 fighters.
Monitors have said the fall of Lashio -- around 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Chinese territory -- was a step too far for Beijing, which balked at the prospect of instability on its borders.
The MNDAA has not commented on the handover and a spokesman for Myanmar's military could not be reached by AFP for comment.
But a military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP: "Some military officers have been transferred to Lashio in recent days. Some are on their way to Lashio already."
One Lashio resident this week told AFP they had been turned away by an MNDAA checkpoint outside a hotel, after being told members of the group were meeting Myanmar military officials inside.
And a spokesman for the Lashio office of another ethnic armed organisation, allied with the MNDAA, told AFP they were "seeing military vehicles in town".
In late 2023, the MNDAA and two other ethnic rebel groups began a combined offensive which seized swathes of Myanmar's northern Shan state, including lucrative ruby mines and trade links.
Beijing has long been eyeing the territory for infrastructure investment under its trillion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
After Lashio's fall China cut power, water and internet to the MNDAA's homeland region of Kokang, a source close to the group told AFP.
In December it said it would cease fire and was ready for China-mediated "peace talks with the Myanmar army on issues such as Lashio".
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


DW
18 hours ago
- DW
China's Xi calls for stronger ties with South Korea – DW – 06/10/2025
Chinese President Xi Jinping said a healthy, stable, and deepening relationship between China and South Korea would lead to both regional and global peace during a call with President Lee, state media reported. Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone call with South Korea's newly elected President Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday, emphasizing the importance of strengthening bilateral ties and promoting regional stability, according to China's state media. During the call, Xi called for China and South Korea to "jointly safeguard multilateralism" and uphold free trade, state news agency Xinhua reported. South Korea's newly elected President Lee Jae-myung took office last week Image: ANTHONY WALLACE/Pool via REUTERS He also urged the two countries to "inject more certainty into regional and international situations' and to elevate their "strategic cooperative partnership to a higher level." A healthy, stable, and deepening relationship between China and South Korea would lead to both regional and global peace, Xi said, according to state-run People's Daily. Edited by: Kieran Burke


DW
20 hours ago
- DW
Ukraine updates: Russian drones target Kyiv, Odesa – DW – 06/10/2025
Skip next section Kyiv comes under massive Russian drone attack 06/10/2025 June 10, 2025 Kyiv comes under massive Russian drone attack Kyiv came under a large-scale drone assault for the second consecutive day overnight on Tuesday, with explosions and gunfire echoing across the city as air defenses engaged incoming drones, Ukrainian authorities said. "Stay in shelters! The massive attack on the capital continues," Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko posted on Telegram. Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration said on the Telegram that Russian "drones are simultaneously attacking several districts of the city." Emergency services responded to at least four districts after midnight. Witnesses, including journalists from the French AFP and Reuters news agencies, reported hearing dozens of blasts and gunfire. Several residential buildings and cars were damaged, and debris fell near a school. No casualties were immediately reported. The strikes come just a day after Russia launched its largest drone barrage of the war, in what Moscow claims is in retaliation for recent Ukrainian attacks inside Russia. The Ukrainian military urged people to seek bomb shelters, saying that the strikes were still ongoing.


DW
a day ago
- DW
LA protests: US deploying hundreds of Marines - reports – DW – 06/10/2025
Skip next section Marines to be deployed to help curb LA protests - reports The US will deploy at least 500 Marines to help the authorities' response to the immigration protests in Los Angeles, US officials told the media. "The activation of the Marines is intended to provide Task Force 51 with adequate numbers of forces to provide continuous coverage of the area in support of the lead federal agency," the Reuters News agency cited the US military as saying in a statement. A senior source in the Donald Trump administration earlier told the French AFP news agency that the deployment is due to the "increased threats against federal officers and federal buildings." California governor Gavin Newsom condemned the deployment of Marines on American soil, saying Marines should not be deployed "to fulfill the deranged fantasy" of Trump, on his X account.