To Hopeland and Back: 27th trip
Day Two. Monday, 13 February 2017
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Sun Guoxiang meets KNU
delegation,
Kunming, 13 February 2017. (Photo: PI)
|
The meeting with Mr Sun Guoxiang is at the World Trade
Center (WTC). “I hope no airplane hits the building while we’re talking,”
somebody quips as we enter it.
The
meeting lasts 3 hours. Here’s the gist of what he says about China’s policy on
Burma:
§
Fighting
does not benefit anyone. That’s what I’ve been telling both the Northern
Alliance and the government
§
At the same time,
we respect Burma’s sovereignty. We will never be the judge deciding who’s right
and who’s wrong
§
We want every EAO
in the peace process
§
We want everyone
to sign the NCA
§
However we shall
not force our will on anyone (to sign the NCA)
§
At the same time,
it should not be forgotten that China was one of the witness signatories to the
NCA (on 15 October 2015)
§
If the EAOs wish
to hold meetings in China, we shall be happy to host them with prior approval
from Naypyitaw
We
also learn from Saw Tamula, Gen Mutu’s assistant, that the UWSA has replied it
is pretty much preoccupied to spare time to meet us.
We
then pack our bags to fly to Mangshi and then by road to Laiza. But there is a flight
delay again. (Gen N’Ban La explains to us later that Chinese fighters have been
busy patrolling along the border since fighting broke out between the Burma
Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) again late
January. As a result, civilian planes have been warned to take extra caution to
make sure the sky is clear before flying.)
We
are received by KIO officer Shan Long who treats us to a sumptuous dinner at a Shan
restaurant. He tells us it’ll be too late for us to cross the border and we will
have to put up at Yinjiang, two hours drive away, for the night.
We
get into Yinjiang, known to Shans as Mongna Zanta, one of the 16 extinct Shan
principalities in China. The hotel we stay, Bianchui, is also owned by a Shan.
One
of our friends, Sai Kham Htoon, who now lives in Bangkok, hails from here.
Tags: Opinion
