Myanmar rights groups urge China not to threaten country's ethnic groups

Bangkok [Thailand], September 8 : Nearly 300 Myanmar civil society groups have called on China to immediately halt all threats against the country's ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) and to cease pressuring them to agree to a ceasefire and concessions with the "illegal Myanmar military junta," according to a report in The Irrawaddy.
The statement from the organisations, as reported on the website of the publication produced by former Burmese activists who fled violent crackdowns on anti-military protests, said, "The Myanmar military junta is perpetrating atrocities on a mass scale and is the prime cause of instability and regional insecurity."
"There can only be sustainable peace when the junta is removed and held accountable for its international crimes," the 270 endorsing organisations said in their statement, as cited in The Irrawaddy.
They stated that China's support for the junta and its planned election "undermines the will of the Myanmar people, deepens the people's suffering, and prolongs the crisis."
According to the statement, the EAOs are at the forefront of the revolution in Myanmar, serve as the de facto authorities in their territories, and are key stakeholders in a future federal democracy, while the junta is an "illegal, illegitimate, and criminal organisation that is the root cause of the crisis in Myanmar."
This follows a warning reportedly issued by China's Yunnan province, which cautioned the ethnic Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) to immediately cease fighting the Myanmar regime in northern Shan, which lies along the China-Myanmar border, or face "more deterrent and disciplinary measures."
The TNLA is one of the three members of the Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armies that has been waging an offensive known as Operation 1027 since October last year.
On 10 January this year, Beijing brokered a ceasefire between the ethnic alliance and the regime, but the TNLA, along with another member of the ethnic alliance, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, resumed their operation in northern Shan State on 25 June after the regime's military repeatedly bombed the TNLA's territory, breaching the China-brokered ceasefire.
Nan Lin of Anti-Junta Alliance Yangon (AJAY) was cited in The Irrawaddy as saying that the organisations, including civil society bodies, revolutionary forces, ethnic groups, and Rohingya rights organisations, who issued the statement, aimed to show that China's policies regarding Myanmar are "deeply flawed."
"Our revolutionary forces are not promoting hatred against China. We do not hate China, nor any ethnicity, and we seek no enemies. However, we will not accept any interference or pressure on our people's path to freedom, justice, and dignity," he was quoted as saying.
In July, the Communist Party of China (CCP) invited leaders from four of Myanmar's political parties to Beijing as part of its push for elections in Myanmar.
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has promised to hold elections in 2025, with China pledging its support for the move.
Meanwhile, in their statement, the 276 civil society organisations of Myanmar also called on China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to support efforts to impose targeted economic sanctions and a comprehensive arms embargo against the junta, and to refer the crisis in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court or establish an ad hoc international criminal tribunal. China must not block UN action to resolve the crisis in Myanmar, they said.
China's strategic interests in Myanmar are driven by its substantial economic investments and the country's strategic location, which acts as a gateway to the Indian Ocean--a region of interest to China due to its significant investments, including the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, part of Beijing's flagship Belt and Road Initiative, and the China-Myanmar Oil and Gas Pipelines.
According to a report in The Irrawaddy, Myanmar's junta has intensified deadly airstrikes on civilian targets, killing at least 40 people, including a dozen children, in the past six days. The aerial attacks followed junta leader Min Aung Hlaing's recent vow to launch counterattacks to retake territory seized by resistance forces.
Myanmar's military staged a coup in 2021 and imprisoned most of the country's civilian leadership. Pro-democracy groups have allied with ethnic militias to battle the junta.