{"id":10070,"date":"2017-03-09T17:24:17","date_gmt":"2017-03-09T17:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/myanmar-violence-20000-people-seek-refuge-in-china\/"},"modified":"2017-03-09T17:24:17","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T17:24:17","slug":"myanmar-violence-20000-people-seek-refuge-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/myanmar-violence-20000-people-seek-refuge-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Myanmar violence: 20,000 people seek refuge in China"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>                                  <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Refugees fleeing the conflict in the China-Myanmar border town of Laukkai await transportation, 7 March 2017\" src=\"http:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/13547\/production\/_95057197_myanmar1.jpg\"\/>Image copyright                  EPA<figcaption>Image caption                                      The violence that has caused thousands to flee is the worst to hit the Kokang region since 2015                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"caps\">At least 20,000 people from Myanmar have fled across the border to China after violence erupted between ethnic rebels and the security forces.<\/p>\n<p>Thousands entered border camps and are receiving humanitarian assistance, China&#039;s foreign ministry said.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, about 30 people were killed on Myanmar&#039;s border with China after rebels launched a surprise raid.<\/p>\n<p>The violence is a blow to efforts by Myanmar&#039;s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to end decades of conflict.<\/p>\n<p>The latest clashes, which involved artillery and small-arms fire, took place in the town of Laukkai in the Kokang region in the northern part of Shan state.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Shan villagers feel force of Burmese army anger<\/li>\n<li>What is Myanmar like?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Chinese foreign spokesman Geng Shuang said aid was being offered to those looking to &quot;temporarily avoid the war&quot;, and called for an immediate ceasefire, adding that China supported Myanmar&#039;s peace process.<\/p>\n<p>He said that all sides needed to find a peaceful solution through dialogue and urged restraint to &quot;prevent further escalation&quot; and &quot;to restore peace and stability to the border areas&quot;. <\/p>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  EPA<figcaption>Image caption                                      Refugees fleeing the conflict at the China-Myanmar border receive water                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On Monday, fighting erupted after the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) launched a surprise raid while dressed in police uniforms, officials said.<\/p>\n<p>The attack targeted police and military posts. A separate group of fighters later attacked other sites in Laukkai.<\/p>\n<p>Five civilians, five police officers and at least 20 rebel fighters are said to have died.<\/p>\n<p>This week&#039;s violence is among the worst to hit the Kokang region since 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Kokang has close ties to China, with locals speaking a Chinese dialect and using the yuan as currency.<\/p>\n<p>The worsening conflict in the borderlands has raised tensions between Myanmar and Beijing.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Suu Kyi&#039;s government is desperate to end the decades-long violence, amid fears it could spark a major new refugee exodus.<\/p>\n<p><a rel='nofollow' href=http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-asia-39221889 target=\"_blank\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright EPAImage caption The violence that has caused thousands to flee is the worst to hit the Kokang region since 2015 At least 20,000 people from Myanmar have fled<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}