China says Myanmar rebel chief in Yunnan for medical care, contrary to detainment reports

Beijing says that Myanmar rebel leader Peng Deren is undergoing medical treatment in southwestern China’s Yunnan province, contradicting media reports saying he had been put under house arrest.

“Peng Deren, the leader of Myanmar’s National Democratic Alliance Army, had previously applied to come to China for medical treatment and is now undergoing treatment and recuperation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Tuesday.

On Monday, Yangon-based news agency Myanmar Now reported that Peng has been held in Yunnan since he was summoned there for a meeting with a senior Chinese official late last month. The report cited sources from both Myanmar and Yunnan.

According to reports, the rebel leader – also known as Peng Daxun – has been in phone contact with commanders in Myanmar during his time in Yunnan.

The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) is a member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, a resistance group that launched a large coordinated attack against Myanmar’s military junta in the northern state of Shan last year.

Peng has served as commander of the MNDAA since 2009 – the same year that intense fighting broke out between the rebel group and the Myanmar Armed Forces, leading the MNDAA to lose control of the Kokang region in the north of Shan state, an area that borders Yunnan.