THE country will hold air defence and live fire drills near its border with Myanmar, state media said, in this month’s second round of such exercises as fighting between Myanmar’s ruling junta and rebel forces intensifies.

The drills follow a significant escalation of the conflict last week, when rebel forces captured the Myanmar town of Myawaddy, a key trading outpost near the Thai border, prompting a stream of refugees into Thailand.

State broadcaster CCTV said this week’s drills, by China’s Southern Theater Command, formed part of an annual training exercise, without referring to the fighting in the neighbouring nation.

China’s troops are always prepared to respond to emergencies and will “resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, border stability and the safety of people’s lives and property”, it added.

Myanmar’s military-run government has battled insurgencies on several fronts since overthrowing an elected government in 2021, but defeats in frontier areas since last October have lost it control of tracts bordering Bangladesh, China and India. — Reuters