China-brokered talks between Myanmar’s military junta and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) collapsed on Wednesday over the regime’s insistence on the return of almost all towns under the ethnic armed group’s control.
During the talks, held in the city of Kunming in China’s Yunnan Province, the TNLA said it was willing to withdraw from Kyaukme and Hsipaw—two key towns on the main route from Mandalay to Muse on the Chinese border—but the junta rejected the offer, sources familiar with the meeting told Myanmar Now.
Instead, the regime’s negotiators insisted that the TNLA relinquish every town in northern Shan State under its control except for Manton and Namhsan. Both are designated as part of the Palaung Self-Administered Zone (SAZ) under Myanmar’s 2008 military-drafted constitution.
The TNLA refused, leading to the failure of the talks, sources said.
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