By Prashanth Parameswaran
Senior official says it is “time to stop whispering” about Beijing’s meddling.
China has undermined Myanmar’s peace talks with ethnic rebels by convincing groups not to ink a ceasefire pact and obstructing international monitoring to help end decades of civil war, a top Myanmar government negotiator has revealed.
As I reported earlier this week, officials had revealed that the Myanmar government would ink a nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) on October 15 with only eight of the country’s fifteen ethnic armed groups it initially agreed to negotiate with (See: “Myanmar to Ink Peace Deal With Eight Armed Groups Ahead of Historic Election”). Observers had expressed concern that the pact had left out several key groups and would do little to help bring lasting peace.
But Min Zaw Oo, a senior official at the government-linked Myanmar Peace Center, toldReuters that this had occurred partly because China’s special envoy to Myanmar had pressed two major rebel groups – the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) not to sign the peace accord.
Beijing also objected to clauses in the deal that would have included Western nations and Japan among international observers of the conclusion of the peace process, he added.
Read the full story at The Diplomat