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China offers food, medicine to Myanmar refugees

Xinhua, February 17, 2015

• People fleeing from Laukkai, the capital of Kokang in Shan State, line up for food at a monastery functioning as a refugee camp in Lashio, February 16, 2015. [China Daily]

  China has provided food and medical services to Myanmar refugees that fled to Yunnan province, following armed conflicts in the Kokang region in Myanmar's northeastern Shan state.

  "Residents from Myanmar have crossed into China more than 30,000 times since Feb 9," the press office of Yunnan's Lincang City said in a statement Monday.

  "The Chinese side provided necessary aid and supplies [...] offering them food, medicine and quarantine services," said the document.

  It said the local governments in Yunnan had also tightened patrols in the border area.

  "The overall situation on the China-Myanmar border is stable. We hope the conflicting parties in Myanmar will settle their disputes by peaceful means and avoid disrupting the border region, " the statement said.

  The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) have launched attacks on several government outposts in Kokang since Feb 9.

  During the week-long clash, government forces carried out five air strikes, claiming 47 of their troops were killed and 73 others wounded in fights with MNDAA.

  A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday that China will continue to play a constructive role in promoting peace in Myanmar.

  "We hope the [...] situation does not affect the stability along the border and our domestic security," spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a routine press briefing.

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