BEIJING
China sent extra fighter jets to patrol its southern border with Myanmar on Saturday after four civilians were killed by a bomb dropped by Myanmar’s air force, state media reported.
The incident, in which four farmers were killed and nine injured near the border city of Lincang, Yunnan province, on Friday afternoon, led to China summoning the Myanmar ambassador to lodge “solemn representations,” Xinhua news agency said.
Myanmar forces have been fighting rebels close to the Chinese border in Kokang, northern Shan state, since Feb. 9. The conflict intensified this week and Myanmar has urged China to prevent attacks being launched from its territory, something China denies.
Citing a People’s Liberation Army spokesman, Xinhua reported that jets had been ordered to fly sorties near the border to "track, monitor, warn and chase away" Myanmar planes.
Spokesman Col. Shen Jinke said the air force would enhance its response to "safeguard sovereignty of the national territorial air space."
On Friday evening, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin summoned ambassador Thit Linn Ohn to condemn the bombing and urge a thorough investigation, Xinhua reported. He also insisted Myanmar take measures to prevent a repeat of such an incident and safeguard the border region.
Earlier in the week, China said stray shell fire had destroyed a house on the Chinese side of the 2,000 kilometer (1,250 mile) border, prompting condemnation from Beijing. There were no reported casualties.
Fighting in northeastern Myanmar saw two children killed and several injured on Tuesday in the town of Laukkai when a shell hit a crowded market place.
The conflict has forced more than 100,000 people to flee, many crossing the border into China. Local aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian crisis.
Government forces are confronting an ethnic Chinese rebel group, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, which was formed from a disbanded China-backed communist militia.
The group attacked army outposts last month in an attempt to regain control of land lost during clashes in 2009 and dozens of troops on both sides have since been killed but there have been no official figures on civilian casualties.
Despite the fighting in Kokang, Myanmar state media reported on Saturday that cease-fire talks with armed groups around the country would continue within the next few days.
President Thein Sein’s repeated attempts to secure a nationwide peace deal before a general election this year have so far been thwarted by outbreaks of fighting and stalemate at the negotiating table.
With additional reporting from Joshua Carroll in Yangon.
