China quiet despite Burmese mortar shells landing in its territory

KIA'S CAPTURED MORTAR SHELLS FROM BURMA ARMY IN MADI YANG-HKAYA WAR ON JULY 19.

KIA'S CAPTURED MORTAR SHELLS FROM BURMA ARMY IN MADI YANG-HKAYA WAR ON JULY 19.

China's government has opted not to publicly complain about Burmese mortar shells repeatedly landing in Chinese territory on Monday.

The errant shells fired by the Burmese army were likely intended to strike troops belonging to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and their strongholds on the Kachin side of Burma's border with Yunnan province.

Throughout the day Monday, at least six Burmese 120 mm mortar shells fell on the Chinese side of the border in the Man Bun area in Longchuan (N’Shawn) County located in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, witnesses report. No one on the Chinese side of the border appeared to have been hurt by the shells, witnesses added.

According to a KIA official on the front line, the errant mortar shells were fired by Burmese troops based in Sinlum. During the past week the Burmese army launched a fierce barrage of artillery in the area, in an attempt to drive the KIA from nearby Hkai Bang Yang and Mu Bum mountain on the border line, KIA officials report.
One day after the shells hit Chinese territory, witnesses on the border saw a group of Chinese military personnel visit the location of the shell's impact.

This is at least the second time that Burmese shells have hit China since fighting between the KIO and the Burmese government broke out in June of this year. KIA officials previously reported that on July 9, four of six mortar rounds fired by Burmese troops towards the KIA's Padang Kawng post instead landed in Chinese territory. The shells were reportedly fired by Burmese forces based at the KIA's former general headquarters in Nahpaw and Pajau. China chose not to publicly complain about the July incident. It remains unknown if China complained to the Burmese government in private about either of the incidents involving the Burmese army's violation of Chinese sovereignty.

Last month during a visit to Beijing by the commander-in-chief of Burma’s armed forces Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, China's state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Xu Caihou, Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission referring to the strong ties both nation's armed forces have with each other. The warm words for the Burmese military came despite the fact that over the past few months thousands of Kachin refugees have fled to China to avoid the Burmese offensives.

Currently Chinese military and border authorities are in the process of forcing more than 7,000 Kachin refugees back into Burma, this despite the fact that refugees are to be sent back into an area where the Burmese army is presently engaged in a heavy offensive against the the KIA’s 3rd brigade.

In January and February of this year shells fired by the Burmese army landed on Thai soil near the border town of Mae Sot. The shelling was part of a Burmese government offensive against troops loyal to the breakaway Democratic Karen Bhuddhist Army (DKBA) commander Na Kham Mwe. Although no one is known to have died as result of the shells landing in Thailand, at least two Karen refugees, including a young child were injured by the mortars.