The Chinese military carried out a series of drills along the border with Myanmar on Tuesday, a move observers see as a show of force that strengthens its resolve to protect its people, the country's state-owned Xinhua News Agency said, following clashes between Myanmar security forces and ethnic rebels.
Fighting this month have escalated a long-running conflict between the Myanmar military and armed ethnic groups that had already forced tens of thousands to refugees to flee into neighboring China, according to the New York Times, prompting Beijing to call for a ceasefire between the militias and security forces.
"China is highly concerned about the military clashes recently," Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a news briefing earlier in March.
Geng urged that the parties involved should resolve their differences in a peaceful manner through dialogue and deliberation.
According to Xinhua, the joint land and air exercises were part of scheduled annual drills but did not specify where they took place.
The agency quoted Colonel Fang Xin of the Southern Theater Command as saying the Myanmar border drills "demonstrated the PLA's resolve and will in safeguarding national security."
In accordance with existing agreements, China has informed the Myanmar military of the drills before they begin, it added.
The China-Myanmar border is a sensitive issue for both nations, with China desiring stability along the 2,200-kilometer border that's constantly plagued by armed conflict, drug smuggling and disease. The border also hosts trade networks that are important to China's southern provinces and Chinese nationals in Myanmar.
When conflict occurs between the Myanmar government and ethnic militias in northern Myanmar, it often spills over into China, according to a report from The Diplomat on Wednesday.
This leads to strong rebukes from Beijing, who has not shied away from leveraging its links with local ethnic groups and exerting its influence over the ongoing peace process in Myanmar.
Earlier this month, China's foreign ministry said it had settled and offered assistance to more than 20,000 border area residents displaced by the fighting. Talks have also been held by foreign and defense ministries at various levels in recent months.