So that they could attend the summit in the border town of Mai Ja Yang in Kachin State, the Chinese authorities allowed ethnic armed group leaders to travel freely through Chinese territory from the Muse border in northern Shan State—a marked departure from previous practice.
In 2011, senior Karen National Union leader Mann Nyein Maung was detained by Chinese immigration officers while also transiting through China—to reach the border town, and Kachin Independence Army headquarters, of Laiza in Kachin State—and was handed over to the Burmese authorities. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he was released in a 2012 amnesty.
China had also been steadfast in its support for Burma’s military regime prior to the 2011 handover to a nominally civilian government, lending the country an economic lifeline while it remained isolated by stringent sanctions from Western countries.
As the ethnic armed group leaders crossed the border into China at Muse, they were reportedly treated courteously by Chinese immigration officials and allowed to proceed freely on the one hour drive to the border connecting Mai Ja Yang in Kachin State. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
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