Chinese-brokered talks between Myanmar junta and Ta’ang army end in deadlock for second time

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) said that Chinese-brokered talks with Myanmar’s military have broken down for the second time over demands that the group withdraw from five towns in northern Shan State that it captured last year. During the meeting, held in China’s Yunnan Province on April 28 and 29, the TNLA was told that it would have to pull out of the five towns—Kyaukme, Nawnghkio, Mongmit, Mogok, and Hsipaw—as a condition of any deal. “The negotiation ended as we are unable to comply with their demand,” a spokesperson from ethnic Ta’ang armed group told Myanmar Now on Friday, adding that another meeting would be held at the end of August. A junta delegation led by Lt-Gen Ko Ko Oo and TNLA representatives led by Lt-Gen Tar Gyoke Jar, from the group’s political wing, the Palaung State Liberation Front, attended the meeting, which was organised by China’s special envoy to Myanmar, Deng Xijun. During the meeting, both parties discussed the cessation of hostilities, including aerial assaults, artillery shelling, drone strikes, and ground offensives. They also addressed the reopening of trade routes along the China-Myanmar border and efforts to restore regional peace and stability. The TNLA is one of the three members of the Brotherhood Alliance, which launched a major offensive to drive Myanmar’s military regime out of northern Shan State and Rakhine State in late 2023. During the first phase of that offensive, the group took control of Namhsan, Namkham, Mangton, Namtu, Kutkai, Monglon, and Mongngawt townships in northern Shan State. Then, after a short-lived ceasefire also brokered by China, fighting resumed in mid-2024, resulting in further territorial gains by the TNLA and its allies. Kyaukme, Nawnghkio, Mongmit, Mogok, and Hsipaw were captured during this second phase of the offensive. Facing constant pressure from China, the Ta’ang armed group called for talks with the regime to ease tensions in war-torn northern Shan State in November of last year. However, those negotiations, held in February, ended inconclusively. “The pressure is coming not from the military regime, but from the Chinese government, which shares a border with us and also plays a key role in our cross-border trade,” a TNLA spokesperson said. “But, we are committed to defending the towns and territories under our control to the end,” he added. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), a close ally of the TNLA, has also handed over Lashio—northern Shan State’s largest city—to the junta under pressure of China. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood Alliance also announced a one-month extension of a temporary ceasefire on Thursday. The ceasefire was first declared in the wake of a devastating earthquake that claimed nearly 4,000 lives in central Myanmar and southern Shan State on March 28. However, fighting persists in northern Shan State as the military regime carried out aerial assaults on Long Hkan, a village roughly 24 miles northwest of Nawnghkio, on Thursday. “We’ve halted offensive attacks and are acting solely in self-defence. But the junta is continuing its assaults in Nawnghkio Township, significantly heightening tensions,” said the TNLA spokesperson.

Chinese-brokered talks between Myanmar junta and Ta’ang army end in deadlock for second time

Demands that the TNLA withdraw from five towns captured during the second phase of Operation 1027 were unacceptable, the group said

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