Armed ethnic rebels in northeast Myanmar declare ceasefire and seek talks with military government

BANGKOK — A major ethnic rebel group in Myanmar has announced a unilateral ceasefire in its conflict with the ruling military and called for a dialogue under Chinese auspices to help restore peace in the country's northeast.

China's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it welcomed the initiative. China is the military government's most important foreign ally.

Myanmar's military government did not immediately comment.

The announcement Tuesday by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, came a week after its battlefield ally, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, declared its readiness for peace talks with the military government.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army's 2021 takeover ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, which led to nationwide peaceful protests that escalated into armed resistance and what now amounts to civil war.

The MNDAA and TNLA are members of a rebel alliance that launched a surprise offensive in October last year that succeeded in seizing large tracts of territory along the border with China. The MNDAA is a military force of the Kokang minority, who are ethnic Chinese, and the TNLA represents the Ta'ang ethnic minority, also known as the Palaung.

The groups have been fighting for decades for greater autonomy from Myanmar's central government and are loosely allied with the People's Defense Force, or PDF, the pro-democracy resistance that emerged to fight military rule after the army's 2021 takeover.

China originally appeared to give tacit support to last year's rebel offensive, when it seemed to aid the goal of eradicating illegal gambling and internet scam operations organized by ethnic Chinese gangsters in northeastern Myanmar.

But the offensive also weakened the army's grip in other parts of the country. A ceasefire in the northeast would allow the army to deploy more forces against the resistance elsewhere.

China seeks stability to protect its strategic and economic interests.

The Chinese government helped broker a ceasefire in January, but that fell apart in June when the MNDAA and the TNLA resumed their attacks, seizing strategic towns and the military's northeast command.

China showed its displeasure with the new rebel attacks by shutting down border crossings, cutting electricity to Myanmar towns and taking other measures to end the fighting.

Two weeks ago, Myanmar's independent media reported that MNDAA leader Peng Daxun had been detained in Kunming, the capital of China's southern Yunnan province, by Chinese authorities to pressure his troops to withdraw from Lashio, a key northeastern Myanmar city. Beijing denied the report, saying he was receiving medical treatment.

The MNDAA said in a statement posted Tuesday on The Kokang, an MNDAA-backed online media outlet, that it was immediately implementing a ceasefire. It called on the army to stop its attacks.

The MNDAA said it hoped that issues in contention would be resolved through dialogue, with mediation by the Chinese government. It said the group will send a high-level delegation for talks.

Asked about the MNDAA statement, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Wednesday commended the ''positive remarks.''

''China is closely watching the developments in northern Myanmar, and has been urging relevant parties of Myanmar to engage in dialogue and consultation, stop the fighting as soon as possible, settle differences through peaceful means, and avoid escalation,'' Lin said. ''In particular, they should not endanger the security and safety of China's border areas, Chinese people living in the border areas and Chinese projects, companies and personnel in Myanmar. We will continue to do what we can to assist and support the peace process in northern Myanmar."