Hong Kong Media "One Chinese Person Dead"
As clashes between the Myanmar military junta and ethnic armed groups intensify, casualties have occurred in China, which shares a border with Myanmar. The Chinese government has lodged a stern protest.
Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated at a regular briefing on the 7th, "China is closely monitoring the conflict situation in northern Myanmar and expresses strong dissatisfaction over the casualties among Chinese nationals caused by the escalation of armed clashes," adding, "We have already lodged a stern protest with the relevant parties."
Spokesperson Wang emphasized, "China repeatedly demands that all parties involved in the clashes in northern Myanmar immediately cease fighting and take substantive measures to prevent incidents that threaten the lives and property of people in the Chinese border areas from recurring."
He added, "China will take necessary measures to protect the lives and property of its citizens."
Hong Kong media outlet Asia Times reported on the 4th that a shell fired by the Myanmar military missed its target and landed on Chinese territory near the China-Myanmar border, resulting in the death of one Chinese national and injuries to several others.
Asia Times reported that the Myanmar military targeted Laiza in Kachin State, a northern border area where the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an ethnic armed group, has its headquarters. Laiza borders Yunnan Province in China.
Currently, ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy resistance forces are intensifying their offensives in northern Myanmar. The military junta claims that the 2020 general election, in which the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory, was fraudulent and staged a coup on February 1 of the following year.
The military junta has yet to fully control the entire country.
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