YANGON: Myanmar issued a rebuke to the US Embassy in Yangon yesterday after the United States raised concerns over continued fighting between the army and ethnic rebels in the northern state of Kachin.
The Myanmar foreign ministry accused the US statement, issued on Thursday, of only presenting one side of the bloody conflict, which has continued despite a government announcement of a unilateral cease-fire earlier this month.
Myanmar said the US release “could cause misunderstanding in the international community,” in a response printed in the state-run English language newspaper New Light of Myanmar.
It said the statement suggested “only the Myanmar government and the Tatmadaw (army) launched the offensive” and “did not mention anything about terrorist actions and atrocities committed” by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Kachin state since June 2011, when a 17-year cease-fire between the government and the KIA broke down. The conflict has resulted in civilian casualties, although the exact number killed is unclear.
The US on Thursday cited media and aid agency reports that the Myanmar military had continued its offensive close to the KIA headquarters on the border with China.
It said Washington “strongly opposes the ongoing fighting” and urged both sides to work toward “sustainable peace.”
Myanmar also raised the thorny issue of the country’s name yesterday, objecting to the Washington’s continued use of Burma.
Its statement said “Myanmar strongly objects the usage of the words ‘Burma’, ‘Burmese Government’ and ‘Burmese Military’ in the US Embassy’s press release,” and urged the avoidance of actions that could affect “mutual respect” between the nations.
The Southeast Asian nation’s official name was changed two decades ago by the former junta, which said the old term Burma was a legacy of British colonialism and implied that the ethnically torn land belonged only to the Burman majority.
Many opposition figures, including veteran activist Aung San Suu Kyi, continue to call the country Burma.
US President Barack Obama broke with tradition and used both names during his landmark visit to Myanmar in November that sought to encourage further reforms in the former pariah state.
Myanmar’s dramatic reforms, including Suu Kyi’s election to parliament, have impressed the international community and led most key sanctions to be scrapped or suspended.
Myanmar’s quasi-civilian government has reached tentative cease-fires with a number of ethnic rebel groups since taking power in early 2011 at the end of decades of military rule. But several rounds of talks with the Kachin have failed to bear fruit.
The rebels say any negotiations should also address their demands for greater political rights.
Beijing also this week urged a cease-fire after vice foreign minister Fu Ying visited Myanmar for talks with President Thein Sein. China’s foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the pair had agreed to maintain peace and stability on their shared border.
Chinese state-run media has reported that officials in China’s Yunnan province are planning camps for 10,000 people in case large numbers flee across the frontier to escape the Kachin fighting.
