RUILI, China — The Burmese military has tightened security along Sino-Burmese trade routes in northern Shan State following the expiration of the deadline on Sunday for compliance to its border guard force order, local sources said.The Joint Check Centre of Ruili on the northern Sino-Burmese border. (Photo: Kyaw Zwa Moe/The Irrawaddy)
Businessmen on the border told The Irrawaddy that security forces including soldiers, police and intelligence services have increased as the tension increases between the regime's army and ethnic groups over the border guard force order.
“Since Feb. 28, more security forces are visible along the Sino-Burmese trade route from Lashio to Muse,” said a Burmese businessman on the border. “Officials said the latest increase was ordered directly from Naypyidaw.”
The Burmese army reportedly has ordered 12 tanks and armored vehicles to Myitkyina, transported by trains.
Other businessmen and brokers said that getting imported items from China into Burmese cities has been more difficult along the trade route between the headquarters of the Northeast Regional Military Command to the border trading town of Muse.
In spite of the tightened security in northern Shan State, the volume of border trade has not been affected so far, said businessmen.
Since April 2009, Naypyidaw has tried to coerce all ethnic armed groups to transform their armies into a border guard force under the regime's command. So far, only the New Democratic Army—Kachin and one Kareni group have indicated they would comply with the order.
Other groups including the large United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have said they would not comply or are in negotiations.
On Wednesday, Kachin Independence Organization members of the central committee and commanders of the KIA continued to negotiate, according to KIA sources.
Ahead of the deadline on Sunday, Lt-Gen Ye Myint, the top junta negotiator and the chief of Military Affairs Security, formerly known as the Military Intelligence Services, met last week with a UWSA delegation led by Chairman Bao Youxiang in Tang Yan, in northern Shan State.
Among the issues discussed was a guarantee of Wa control of territory in southern and northern Shan State including three strategic Wa townships which were not part of the articles in the 2008 Constitution.
Chinese officials, who have tried to broker peaceful negotiations between the ethnic groups and the regime, reportedly accompanied the Wa delegation to Tang Yan last week . A Wa source said the UWSA did not ask Naypyidaw for an extension of the guard force deadline.
Analysts say instability in northern Burma would badly damage border trade and relations between Burma and China, which is one of Burma's main supporters.
According to some Chinese experts on Burma, Beijing did not have a well developed policy on Burma’s ethnic nationalities before the junta’s military offensive in August 2009 against the Kokang armed group, also known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army. The Kokang have close ties with Chinese nationals.
During the military crackdown on the Kokang, many Chinese nationals living in Burma were reportedly abused by the government's security forces, and 37,000 Kokang-Chinese fled to China to seek refuge.
Following the Kokang incident, Beijing sent a research team to the border to gather information and develop a more clear policy on the issues affecting ethnic groups and the Burmese government, said a Chinese scholar in Yunnan Province.
Source :http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17943
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