Talk to Kachin rebel leaders about their battle against Myanmar's army on the border with China and it becomes clear their struggle is a wider symbol for the challenges Beijing now faces from its neighbour.
While the ethnic Kachin's fight is against Myanmar's army and winning more 'autonomy, respect and equality' from the government after any new ceasefire, they also want respect - and greater direct contact - from Beijing.
And while Chinese border officials have attempted in vain to push the two sides together in talks in Yunnan during nearly a year of bloodshed across the border, the Kachin are seeking Beijing's direct involvement.
They want Beijing officials to lean on their long-term benefactors in Myanmar's army to forge a 'sustainable' peace.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Dr La Ja, general secretary of the Kachin Independence Organisation, spoke of the need for greater high-level contact and trust from Chinese officials. And he warned that his people want to be consulted when it comes to any large future projects in the highly strategic Kachin state.
Increasingly over the years, he says, he believes that China has found it easier to deal with its friends in Myanmar's once-omnipotent military than the many ethnic groups vying for autonomy near the border. But given Chinese infrastructure spending - as well as the sweeping political and social reforms unleashed in Myanmar in recent months - that equation is no longer so simple.
'I think China's view has always been that we can't be trusted because we are pro-Western, because we are Christian,' La Ja explains.