Burma govt and KIO to meet in China next week, as fighting and airstrikes continue

Burmese president Thein Sein (left) and KIO Chairman Lanyaw Zawng Hra

 Negotiators from Burma's government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) will meet at the Chinese border town of Ruili on Monday for another round of peace talks, according to Lah Nan, the KIO's chief spokesperson.

The upcoming talks come a little over a month after both sides met in Ruili on February 4. As with the previous meeting in Ruili the next round of talks will also be facilitated by China's government.

Although the last few rounds of negotiations have ended positively some fighting has continued in Kachin and parts of north western Shan state since they were held. Yesterday government aircraft attacked KIO positions along China's border near Pangwa. It is unclear if any KIO staff were injured or killed during the attack.

The airstrikes against the KIO came less than a day after Burma's president Thein Sein told reporters in Austria that the fighting had ended. "There's no more hostilities, no more fighting all over the country, we have been able to end this kind of armed conflict," Thein Sein claimed during a joint press conference with Austria's President Heinz Fischer on Monday. 

Thein Sein was in the Austrian capital as part of a 10 day visit to Europe. His trip to the continent has seen him showered with praise by several governments who previously shunned Than Shwe's military regime which Thein Sein was a leading member of.

Located north east of the KIO's capital Laiza, the Pangwa region is the former stronghold of the now officially defunct New Democratic Army Kachin (NDA-K), a militia group whose troops were adsorbed by the government's border force in 2010.

A largely paved road connecting Myitkyina to the Chinese town of Tengchong that passed through Pangwa was one of the busiest trade routes in Burma until the Kachin conflict resumed in June 2011. Since the KIO destroyed a series of bridges along the Pangwa to Myitkyina route some 20 months ago much of the cross border trade in Kachin state has been brought to a standstill.

Other than some Chinese officials who are expected to attend the talks on Monday is not yet known who any of the third-party observers will be. Last month in Ruili representatives of the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Shan Shan State Army South attended as did representatives of Myanmar Egress, a think tanks close to the government.

It is also unclear whether representatives of the army will take part. Burma's military did not participate in the most recent talks in Ruili or during less formal talks that took place in Chiang Mai two weeks ago between the government and United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), a coalition of armed rebel groups that the KIO is a leading member of.

The Chinese government is said to have privately cautioned the KIO against inviting US officials to the talks. China has instead made several public overtures indicating that it will continue to support the Kachin peace process, breaking with long standing practice of not commenting publicly on internal affairs in Burma.

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