
Beijing said on Tuesday that the head of a Myanmar ethnic minority armed group had come to China for “medical care,” after news reports in its war-torn neighbour said he had been arrested on Chinese orders.
China is a major ally and arms supplier of Myanmar’s ruling junta, but is also thought to maintain ties with ethnic minority armed groups that hold territory along the countries’ shared border where fighting often flares up.
Local media in Myanmar reported this week that Chinese authorities had arrested Peng Daxun, the head of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), one of the strongest Myanmar rebel groups.
Asked to confirm the reports at a regular press conference on Tuesday, Beijing’s foreign ministry said Peng had “previously applied to come to China. . .