Temporary tents are provided by Nansan local gov't in Yunan for people fleeing from Kokang due to the conflicts between the Kokang ethnic and the Myanmar gov't forces. (CNS photo)

By Qiu Yongzheng in Nansan and Qiu Wei in Beijing

Military clashes between government forces and local troops in the restive Kokang area of northeastern Myanmar have driven more than 30,000 people across the Chinese border to Yunnan province for shelter since Thursday, Chinese officials said yesterday.

Some refugees began returning to their homes in Myanmar yesterday amid signs that the fighting had subsided, Meng Sutie, a senior Chinese official, said at a press conference in Kunming, capital of southwestern Yunnan province.

This was confirmed during a report late last night by State-run Myanmar Radio and Television, adding that a new "Kokang Region Provisional Leading Committee," operating under the central government, had been formed in Laukkai to restore order.

The committee said the fighting resulted in the deaths of 11 government soldiers, 15 police officers and eight Kokang ethnic army soldiers. Additionally, 34 soldiers and 13 police were injured.

Two Chinese citizens were also killed and 15 were injured during the conflict, Meng said. Three bombs that the government said exploded on the Chinese side caused one death, and the other took place in Myanmar. The statement didn't provide the victims' identities.

Meng Jianzhu, head of China's Ministry of Public Security, is in Yunnan to lead the efforts to keep order along the Myanmar border.

The conflict arose from confrontations between Myanmar government forces and an ethnic Chinese army in Kokang, which has been enjoying a high degree of autonomy since 1989.

Kokang leader unrelenting

The wife of Kokang leader Pheung Kya-shin, also known as Peng Jiasheng, told the Global Times yesterday that the Kokang leader was safe and staying with his family. She did not give his location, but sources close to Peng told the Global Times that he has been in the Nandeng area of the Shan state since Wednesday.

Peng told the Global Times in an exclusive interview Saturday that he would fight on and not surrender, despite Myanmar central authorities putting him on a most-wanted list.

Earlier rumors had suggested that he had surrendered to the central government.

Peng also admitted that he regretted having signed a peace treaty with the Myanmar government.

"The central government has broken its promises," he said.

The renewed conflict began after Government troops moved into the Kokang capital of Laukkai on August 8.

Raids were conducted at the home of Phone Kyar Shin, the former leader of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and at an arms factory, on suspicion of producing drugs.

The resulting infighting has triggered a large outflow of border inhabitants into Yunnan.

The MNDAA signed a ceasefire agreement with the government on March 31, 1989, but was allowed to retain arms and enjoy self-administration.

Peng expressed satisfaction at the economic development of Kokang in the past year.

"My policies designed to foster the development of Kokang included banning drug trafficking, pursuing peaceful development and stressing economic construction," Peng said.

Calls to the Myanmar embassy in Beijing seeking the country's official stance went unanswered yesterday.
Fierce firefight

A Global Times reporter who arrived Saturday morning at the Nansan township bordering Kokang heard gunshots and mortar explosions coming from the Myanmar side.

"It was a fierce battle," an 18-year-old alliance army fighter named Luo Song, who fled to Nansan, told the Global Times. "Three were killed and five others were wounded on our side."

As of yesterday, government troops had taken control of Yanglongzhai, according to sources close to Peng.

Entering Kokang on Saturday afternoon, the Global Times reporter found that several of the restaurants, jewelry stores and fruit stores had been looted.

Many of the stores are owned by Chinese. The looting, Luo said, stopped Friday when police were dispatched to maintain order.

A Chinese Internet café owner in Kokang, surnamed Zhang, who fled to Yunnan, told the Global Times that the fighting almost ruined his business there.

"My newly refurbished Internet café was the biggest in Kokang. The equipment and three of my cars are worth as much as 1 million yuan," Zhang said.

Aid continues in Yunnan

"The provincial government has supplied accommodations, food and medical treatment to those who fled the conflict," said Meng, of the Yunnan government

The humanitarian aid, he said, included more than 1,000 tents, 10 million yuan worth of food and drinking water, and medical aid.

"I want to return home, but it is impossible. Horrible! Water and electricity supplies were all cut off there," a Kokang girl surnamed Zi told the China News Agency. She had fled her home and crossed the border to seek shelter in Zhenkang, Yunnan.

Myanmar has apologized for Chinese casualties in the incident, thanked the Chinese government for its friendly treatment of Myanmar residents, and promised to protect the safety and legal rights of Chinese citizens in Myanmar, according to the foreign affairs office of Yunnan.

Guo Qiang and An Baijie contributed to the story.