Irrawaddy-Nov 2
China has lifted restrictions on the flow of key goods into territories along the border that are controlled by ethnic armed organizations with ties to Beijing, allowing fuel, construction materials, medicines and other previously banned imports to enter Myanmar. Residents and traders say China has recently relaxed some restrictions imposed when the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Kachin forces seized key border trade routes during anti-regime Operation 1027 in 2023–4. At the military regime’s request at the time, Beijing blocked the flow of construction materials, machinery, electrical goods, fuel, medicines and explosives through those crossings. “In Muse, previously restricted items can now be imported through Kyin San Kyawt border gate,” a Muse resident told The Irrawaddy. “Restrictions remain in place at the Sinphyushin and Nandaw gates that are still controlled by the regime.” At the Namhkam border crossing controlled by the TNLA, trade has not yet fully resumed. TNLA spokesman Lway Yay Oo said only food and household goods are being allowed in to help improve living conditions for locals. She added that a full reopening of border trade would help reduce shortages of fuel and medicine in the region. The cash-strapped regime is furious that it can no longer tax imports and tries to intercept them elsewhere if they make their way further inland. In a cabinet meeting on Oct. 28, putschist president Min Aung Hlaing warned that smugglers are indirectly financing armed groups by paying them taxes, thereby strengthening their capacity and obstructing his own “peace” efforts. In northern Shan itself, Chinese products are now plentiful and relatively cheap, but once they pass through Hsipaw, Kyaukme and Nawnghkio and onward to Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay and Yangon, it is a different story. Read more at:
