Myanmar’s military government says China brokered peace talks to de-escalate fighting in northeast

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government has confirmed it’s been holding talks, brokered by China, with representatives of an alliance of ethnic minority armed groups against which it is engaged in fierce combat in the country’s northeast. Fighting has been raging since the alliance launched a coordinated offensive in October, posing the greatest battlefield challenge to Myanmar’s military rulers since they seized power from the elected government in February 2021. Much of the fighting is along the border with China, Myanmar’s biggest trading partner which maintains good relations with the ruling generals. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said earlier Monday that Beijing welcomes the “positive results” of peace talks.