Myanmar official accuses China of meddling in peace talks
A top negotiator in Myanmar’s peace talks with ethnic rebels has accused neighboring China of derailing a nationwide ceasefire deal last week that would have brought Japan and Western nations in as observers to monitor an end to decades of conflict.
Beijing has denied the accusation but the rare public criticism exposes growing tensions between China and the Southeast Asian nation, which has sought to reduce its dependence on Beijing and build relations across the globe since a reformist government took power in 2011.
Min Zaw Oo, a senior official at the government-linked Myanmar Peace Center, which coordinates talks to quell the patchwork of insurgencies that have lingered in Myanmar since independence in 1948, said China’s special envoy pressed two key rebel groups not to sign the peace accord.
