Beijing imposes media blackout over border with Myanmar

Beijing has placed an information blackout over the region around its border with Myanmar and banned foreign reporters from the area, the New York Times reported. Authorities had reportedly started to take down tents that were used to shelter 30,000 refugees, mostly members of the Chinese ethnic minority in Myanmar, who had entered China from the Kokang region of Northern Myanmar after government troops broke a 20-year cease fire to attack rebel forces in the area. China’s foreign ministry refused to comment on the situation except to say that Kokang is now safe and humanitarian assistance is being provided to the refugees. Officials did not say what they planned to do with the remaining refugees in the country. While about 4,000 refugees had returned to Myanmar on Monday, flows have slowed significantly, according to AP. The issue is complicating relations between Beijing and Naypyidaw. The Chinese government is particularly sensitive to instability during the run-up to the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, and most of the rebel forces pushed out of Kokang by the Burmese government are ethnically Chinese.