Yunnan denies hosting Myanmar rebel leader
Li Jiheng also says he has not hosted Peng Jiasheng, who is battling government troops
The government of the southwestern province of Yunnan has not played host to an ethnic Chinese Myanmar rebel leader and does not support him in fighting Myanmar's government, the province's top official said yesterday.
Myanmar has accused Chinese mercenaries of fighting with the rebels, and has urged China to cooperate to prevent "terrorist attacks" being launched from Chinese territory.
A rebel force known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) emerged from the remnants of the Communist Party of Burma, a powerful Chinese-backed guerrilla force that battled the Myanmar government before splintering in 1989.
Led by ethnic Chinese commander Peng Jiasheng, the army struck a truce with the government which lasted until 2009, when government troops took over their Kokang region in a conflict that pushed tens of thousands of refugees into Yunnan.
Peng is believed to have then fled into exile in China, and analysts think his recent return to Kokang is the cause of the latest fighting.
Yunnan party secretary Li Jiheng told reporters on the sidelines of the National People's Congress meeting in Beijing that stability on the border was in the province's interest.