China’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.N. Geng Shuang said during a Security Council briefing on Thursday in New York that Beijing will play a “constructive role” in stabilizing the conflict between the military and Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State.
“As a friendly neighbor of Myanmar, China has been closely following the developments in the Rakhine State,” he added. Chinese diplomats were reportedly in Naypyidaw to begin mediation efforts to end the conflict in Arakan State. Geng stated that China is also working on a plan to repatriate Rohingya refugees to Myanmar from Bangladesh.
China’s’ Special Envoy for Asian Affairs Deng Xijun, and other Chinese officials, met with Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on April 2. Beijing brokered a ceasefire between the military and the Brotherhood Alliance in northern Shan State on Jan. 11.
The AA is a member of the Brotherhood Alliance, along with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), but has not signed its own ceasefire yet in Arakan State with the military since fighting between the two sides resumed on Nov. 13.
