Ailu, a 36-year-old Burmese housewife whose husband works for a tombstone factory in Wanding, a border town in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, has lived in the house of the factory's owner with her four children since the clashes began in Myanmar's northern Shan state on Sunday. "It's safe to be here," Ailu told the Global Times on Friday. Photo: Cui Meng/GT
For Yang Hu, 16, a resident of Pang Sai in northern Myanmar, gun fights have never been unusual, but it was the first time that he had to leave his home behind and flee to China for safety.
"I want to go back, but I'm afraid," Yang Hu told the Global Times on Friday.
Clashes continued in Myanmar's northern Shan state Thursday, the fifth day since armed conflicts broke out between the Myanmar government forces and a combined force of three non-ceasefire signatory ethnic armed groups last Sunday, according to a statement by the Information Committee of the State Counselor's Office Friday.
Yang Hu is now living in a camp in Wanding, a border town, near Pang Sai, in Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of Dehong in Southwest China's Yunnan Province.
His uncle worked in a tombstone factory in Wanding, together with seven other Burmese workers. When the clashes began on Sunday, the workers took their families to Wanding by crossing a border river.
The camp Yang Hu lives in is guarded and managed by personnel from the public security and border defense departments, armed forces and the emergency center. And it is now crowded with more than 2,000 Myanmar locals since it was opened on Sunday.
Similar camps have also been set up in other border towns such as Manghai of Mangshi in Yunnan.
Yang Yan, the owner of the tombstone factory in Wanding, told the Global Times on Friday that around 40 Burmese lived in her house on the first days.
"Now most of them have moved to the camp, except women with children, since living in the camp is not convenient for them," Yang Yan said.
Ailu, a 36-year-old housewife whose husband also works in Yang Yan's factory, has lived in Yang Yan's house with her four children since Sunday. "It's safe to be here," Ailu said.
Yang Yan's mother-in-law has been cooking free meals for the guests every day. Yang Yan told her son,
"You should share your toys with the children living here. They cannot go back home."
"On Wednesday we removed some shells from the main street, but on our side it is fully safe," the owner of a fruit shop in Wanding, told the Global Times on Thursday, adding that they hope Myanmar could become peaceful, but they cannot do anything about it.
Close connection
Myanmar workers like Yang Hu's uncle and Ailu's husband are easy to be spotted in many border cities of China.
"People living in the border areas have a close connection with each other. Doing business, marriage, or finding a job in China are very common here. Many Burmese have relatives in China and vice versa," Wang Fanhua, head of the Wanding Museum, told the Global Times on Thursday.
"Their salaries are lower than that of Chinese," an owner of a small restaurant in Wanding told the Global Times. "It's 500 yuan ($72) for a young Burmese waitress and 900 yuan for an experienced one. They would feel very satisfied," she said.
"Some Burmese parents send their children to the Chinese side for better education, and the local government has a free policy for them," Wang said, adding that the "youngest overseas students" enter and leave China through the border gate every day.
"The Burmese know life in China is better. The women there prefer to marry Chinese men, so their children could have a Chinese hukou [household registration]," Yang Yan said.
"The border trade has benefited the people of both sides greatly. Almost all of them are farmers, but with the border trade, products such as good-quality watermelons and peanuts can be imported into China," He Lin, a professor at Yunnan University, told the Global Times on Friday.
Many Myanmar locals in border areas who can speak Chinese, now live a good life because of the border trade. In northern Myanmar, Chinese products have a great market, He noted.
Experts said that the residents in local areas in Myanmar, who have gained a lot from border trade and exchanges with China, are also suffering from the persistent fighting.
"Recurrent fighting has made it difficult for people to live a stable life. They are very insecure and don't know where they will be tomorrow," He said.
Some Myanmar children from northern border areas might want to seek better education in big cities of Myanmar such as Yangon, but their prospects are hindered by their poor Burmese language skills, so they can only stay in the border areas, He added.
Fighting broke out in northern Myanmar's Shan state early Sunday morning. The government claimed that a total of eight people including one soldier, three policemen, one member of people's militia and three civilians had so far lost their lives and 29 others injured including nine policemen, two customs officers and 18 civilians.
Securing peace
Myanmar's military has a long history of rights abuses which has fostered a deep mistrust among ethnic minorities toward the central government in Yangon. The de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi also has limited control over the army which retains 25 percent of parliamentary seats as well as key defense and security positions in government, according to the AFP.
"The Chinese government has been communicating with the Myanmar central government as well as the local powers, and trying to facilitate negotiations between them to promote peace," He said.
Meanwhile, China is deeply involved in the border trade with Myanmar, so from the economic perspective, there is a need to maintain stability in the border areas, He said, adding that China has also kept an effective trading relationship with ethnic armed groups in northern Myanmar.
However, some local governments or social organizations in border areas of China have been keeping communication with the people on the other side of the border which sometimes is too flexible and not systematic. It could create difficulties for managing the relationship, He added.
Yang Yan's mother-in-law has been cooking free meals for the guests every day. Yang Yan told her son, "You should share your toys with the children living here. They cannot go back home."
i dont understand why they asked like this.. we expected they will ask development plans in infra , their culture etc.. but they asked automatically elected commander-in-chief.. how it can be..? Actually we dont limit to any ethnic to become Commander-in-chief.. Current one is from 'Mon ethnic group'.. there're just only one burmese in Myanmar army history.. most are from various ethnic group.. bro
