Sunday August 30, 2009, 3:25 am
This story realy tells us somthing that these people would rather flee into China another country with appaling human rights record rather than stay in Burma with the despotic Generals.

Monday August 31, 2009, 8:21 am
"Impotent China" (Irrawaddy)
The increased tension and fighting between Burmese troops and ethnic armies along the Sino-Burmese border has sent thousands of refugees fleeing to China. This has prompted Chinese foreign ministry officials to express hope that Burma can “properly deal with its domestic issue to safeguard the regional stability of its bordering area with China.”

Authorities in the southeastern Chinese province of Yunnan say some 10,000 people have already fled across the border from Burma in recent days due to the recent clashes. Most are Burmese-born Chinese and Chinese nationals living along the border.
Over the past few months, Beijing has been engaging in quiet diplomacy with Naypyidaw to urge the Burmese junta to solve the ethnic issue along the border in a peaceful way. When Gen Maung Aye visited Beijing in June, Chinese leaders again requested him not to use force against ethnic ceasefire groups and to maintain stability there.

Burmese leaders are also reportedly unhappy, as Chinese continue to support ethnic groups along the border. Many Burmese military leaders harbor anti-China sentiments, as China has in the past heavily backed ethnic armies and the now defunct Communist Party of Burma (CPB). The Wa and Chinese from the Kokang region were former members of the CPB.
However, it seems the Burmese leaders did not listen to China’s advice. Instead, the regime went ahead with plans to press the ethnic groups near the border to disarm and form border guard forces. The regime aims to complete this transformation before elections are held next year.
The current conflict has been 20 years in the making. It is a direct result of the regime’s refusal to grant the ethnic ceasefire groups the self-determination they seek within the framework of a federal union.

The greatest irony of this situation is that China, a major arms supplier and staunch ally of the repressive regime for the past two decades, has proven to be impotent in its efforts to persuade the junta leaders to find a political solution to this issue.
China has consistently backed the regime at the UN Security Council, exercising its veto power to block resolutions condemning the regime for its brutal repression of dissent, arguing that these actions do not represent a threat to international security.
In early August, Chinese foreign ministry officials even defended the regime’s decision to sentence detained Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to a further 18 months under house arrest, saying that the international community must respect Burma’s judicial sovereignty.

After decades of defending the junta, China’s leaders are learning the hard way that the Burmese junta’s sole concern is its own self-preservation. It cares as little about what Beijing wants as it does about the democratic aspirations of Burma’s people.
Like it or not, Beijing’s approach to Burma—and its status as an emerging superpower—is being put to the test. Unless it can find a way to rein in the generals, China risks not only instability along its border with Burma, but also appearing to be powerless to defend its own interests.

Monday August 31, 2009, 8:25 am
"Junta Sends Major Reinforcements to Shan State" (Irrawaddy)
The Burmese regime has been heavily reinforcing its army units in northern Shan State since the weekend in preparation for a major conflict, according to sources.
The troop movements have come despite a report in the Burmese state newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar, on Monday that said fighting in Kokang areas in northern Shan State ceased on Saturday and locals were returning to their homes.

The day after Burmese troops occupied Laogai, the capital of the Kokang region on Aug 24, fighting broke out between Burmese forces and Kokang soldiers, resulting in more than 30,000 refugees fleeing across the border to China.
One source in Shan State who recently arrived in Chiang Mai said he witnessed dozens of trucks carrying fully equipped Burmese troops going from Taunggyi to Kengtung on Saturday.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Aung Wa, a Kachin source on the Sino-Burmese border, said about 100 trucks carrying Burmese soldiers were reportedly sent to Lashio in northern Shan State during the weekend.
Lapai Naw Din, the editor of the Thailand-based Kachin News Group, said the Burmese regime sent seven Light Infantry Divisions including LID 99, 55, 33, 22 and five other battalions to northern Shan State.
He also said the United Wa State Army (USWSA), which has 20,000 soldiers and is the strongest ceasefire group, reportedly threatened to attack the Burmese forces in the Kokang area unless they withdrew.

Naw Din said, “The Wa and Kokang armed groups told the occupying Burmese troops to withdraw, otherwise they would launch a major attack.”
He also said the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Kachin ceasefire group, is on alert after issuing a warning that it would attack any Burmese troops forcibly entering KIA-controlled territories.
Saeng Juen, an editor for the Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News, said Burmese army reinforcements were also being sent against the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), also known as the Mong La group.

Sources believe the Mong La group is being targeted because its leader, Sai Linn, also known as Lin Mingxian, is a son-in-law of the Kokang leader Peng Jiasheng, who is now on the junta’s wanted list.
Residents in the Mong La group’s area of control fear an impending attack, and wealthier civilians have been leaving their homes in recent days. Some have gone to China and others to Tachilek on the Thai-Burmese border, Saeng Juen said.
On Aug 28, more than 20 trucks carrying Burmese soldiers were sent from Mandalay to northern Shan State, he said.

About 700 Kokang troops who fled to China handed over their weapons to Chinese officials during the weekend, but about 200 Kokang fighters remained in UWSA-controlled territories with their leader, Peng Jiasheng, to launch guerrilla attacks against Burmese troops, according to sources.
Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese observer on the Sino-Burmese border, said the Burmese regime has also been reinforcing its troops in southern Shan State opposite UWSA units based on the Thai-Burmese border.
He said the Burmese regime might continue fighting weaker ethnic ceasefire groups in northern Burma as there has been no significant international pressure as a result of the recent clashes in the Kokang area.