"With recent intense fighting in Myanmar’s northern Shan state and ongoing armed conflict in northern Rakhine state, China’s influence in the Southeast Asian country’s peace process has grown with the country’s government pushing for ethnic armed groups to meet with peace negotiators. But not everyone in Myanmar trusts Beijing or sees its role as beneficial. China jumped in last month after three members of the Northern Alliance group — the Arakan Army (AA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) — launched coordinated attacks on various locations in war-torn northern Shan state and neighboring Mandalay region, killing 15 Myanmar troops, policemen, and civilians. The combined forces carried out further armed assaults on various bridges and border passages to disrupt overland trade with China in retaliation for what they said were offensives by Myanmar soldiers in areas the ethnic armies control. As fighting intensified last month, Sun Guoxiang, special envoy for Asian affairs from China’s foreign ministry, met with the armies to express Beijing’s displeasure with the armed conflict, which has increased instability in the border region, and pressured them to stop fighting..."