From 2 April to 17 April, in just half a month, the PLA's Southern Theater conducted two live-fire military exercises on the Chinese side of the China-Myanmar border. What is happening behind this rare action, and what kind of signal does it send?
First of all, the exercises in the PLA's southern theater of operations were of course launched in response to the increasingly fierce civil war situation in Myanmar. Since the ceasefire between Myanmar's military junta and local forces brokered by China earlier this year, the situation in Myanmar has continued to be turbulent, culminating in another fierce exchange of fire just over a month after the ceasefire.
China-Myanmar border
Moreover, compared with the previous Burmese military junta, which mainly fought against the Kokang Allied Army, it is now the flowering of Rakhine State, Kayin State, and Kachin State, and this wave of civil war situation can be described as fierce and fierce, and there are even signs of developing into a full-scale civil war.
Myanmar is close to China, and the resumption of war in Myanmar will of course have some impact on its neighbors, which cannot but attract China's attention. On the one hand, there are security concerns along the border with Myanmar, and on the other hand, the trade route from China's Yunnan to the port of Kyaukphyu in Myanmar, which is cooperated by China's military junta with the Burmese military junta, is also likely to be affected by the Burmese civil war.
The PLA's Southern Theater held military exercises twice at this time, of course, to prevent the flames of war from spreading to the people on the mainland, and at the same time to deter all parties in Myanmar from achieving a ceasefire as soon as possible and not harming China's interests.
Specifically, according to the official announcement issued by the Southern Theater, the purpose of the exercise is to "test the theater troops' reconnaissance and early warning, three-dimensional closure and control, warning and expulsion, and air defense strike capabilities." ”
People's Liberation Army live-fire exercises
Among them, "reconnaissance and early warning" naturally means that the civil war in Myanmar is intensifying, and the PLA Southern Theater has been closely observing and always ready to respond to changes.
The "three-dimensional lockdown and control" naturally means to prevent the Burmese civil war from spreading to China, including but not limited to some shells flying indiscriminately, as well as the deliberate fire of some forces in an attempt to involve China.
"Warning and expellation" is a relatively rare statement, because foreign media have previously reported that there are signs of broken armed men fleeing to China on all sides of the warring parties in Myanmar. Then the "warning and expulsion" of the PLA in the southern theater obviously means that the defeated army of Burma is not allowed, whether it is a local armed force or the defeated army of the Burmese military junta, cannot flee into China.
In fact, this is also the basic attitude of non-interference in the Burmese civil war, otherwise if one side suffers a loss, it will secretly hide in China, and the other side will not dare to attack, which may involve China.
Internal situation in Myanmar
In particular, the Burmese military junta has cooperated with China and transferred Bai Socheng and other blackmailers to the Chinese police, which is more or less trying to give the Burmese military government a little face.
The final "air defense strike" capability naturally means to prevent the various forces in Myanmar from misfiring and causing losses to our side due to the accidental entry of missiles and drones and other equipment.
On the one hand, the civil war in Myanmar has intensified, so the PLA is highly vigilant, and on the other hand, it is to clearly send a signal that no matter how you fight in Burma, you will not allow the war to spread to China.
Second, in addition to the military defense of the homeland and the country, the PLA's live-fire exercises in the southern theater actually revealed some political implications.
The border with Myanmar is close to the Chinese strip
On the one hand, the parties in Myanmar have achieved a ceasefire under the mediation of China, although the matter is their business, but China is the mediator after all, and now they are opening fire again, and the party that takes the initiative to provoke is somewhat faceless.
Then the live-fire exercise held in the southern theater of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) sends a signal that China is not satisfied with this, and we do not interfere in the civil war in Burma, but you yourself ask China to mediate, and under China's mediation, both sides have agreed to a ceasefire, and then war breaks out in the blink of an eye.
In addition, if a large part of the previous conflict between the Kokang Alliance and the Burmese military junta was to solve the problem of fraud in northern Myanmar, then the current civil war caused by local armed forces in Myanmar's Rakhine State, Kayin State, and Kachin State is a bit of a political purpose, triggering war.
From this point of view, neither China nor the Burmese military junta wants to see the Burmese civil war develop in the direction of intensification and prolongation, which is not conducive to the geopolitical stability of China's neighbors.
Min Aung Hlaing, head of Myanmar's military junta
In other words, the PLA's live-fire exercise in the southern theater also conveyed China's unwillingness to see the escalation of the civil war in Myanmar and affect the overall situation of peace and stability in the region.
Finally, it must also be pointed out that the current civil war in Myanmar is also related to the continuation of the fight against transnational wire fraud. Specifically, although the Kokang Northern Myanmar Telecom Fraud Park has been destroyed, there are still remnants of the telecom fraud park in Kayin State, which is close to the Thai side of Myanmar.
The warlords who control these telecom fraud parks are naturally afraid when they see that the Burmese military government is cooperating with China's crackdown on wire fraud and directly handing over the wire fraud leaders such as Bai Socheng to the Chinese side.
From this perspective, continuing to deepen the fight against telecom fraud is a key step in ensuring long-term peace and stability in Myanmar. China's attitude on this matter is very clear: we will not interfere in the civil war in Myanmar, but if anyone relies on the guns in their hands to support telecom fraud and harm the Chinese people, then China will definitely not sit idly by.
The northern Myanmar wire fraudsters were handed over to the Chinese police
Based on this, although the live-fire exercise in the southern theater of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has not directly pointed out the direction, the signal sent is undoubtedly clear, that is, China is serious about continuing to crack down on wire fraud, and no one should want to fish in troubled waters in this matter, let alone continue to harm the Chinese people.
To sum up, the domestic situation in Myanmar is once again unstable, and China's live-fire exercises from the perspectives of stabilizing the regional situation, ensuring domestic security, and continuing to crack down on telecom fraud are actually a way to show China's attitude to all parties in the Myanmar civil war.
In particular, against the backdrop of the current tense situation in the South China Sea, the United States and the Philippines have stepped up their military activities in the South China Sea in an attempt to distract China.
U.S.-Philippines joint military exercises
All in all, whether it is the China-Myanmar border or China's "southern gate" on the sea, the PLA has the strength and determination to protect the country's sovereignty and security and keep the enemy out of the country.