Clashes between Myanmar’s army and armed rebels in the northern border region is endangering the lives of civilians in the area and causing an influx of refugees into China. The current round of fighting, which has been ongoing for nearly 10 days, has displaced tens of thousands of people, many of whom have fled across the border into China. Local Chinese governments estimate that some 30,000 refugees have poured into China. Other estimates put the number at closer to 50,000.
Yun Sun, a fellow at the Henry L. Stimson Center, writes that some Chinese analysts “still call for the country to provide support to the border ethnic groups in order to gain more ‘strategic leverage’” in Myanmar, but overall this viewpoint “has been clearly rejected by policymakers and mainstream scholars in China.” China wants to see a peaceful resolution, Sun writes, but will not step in to solve the problem for Myanmar.