Kachin national organisation says leader in China for health reasons

The Kachin Independence Organisation, a powerful group based on the China-Myanmar border, claimed on Wednesday that the reason for its chairman Gen. N’Ban La’s current visit to China is a medical checkup. 

Local news outlet Kachin Sub-State Media previously reported that the Chinese government was holding the KIO chairman, who is more than 80, under house arrest. 

The detention was reportedly intended to pressure the organisation to halt an ongoing offensive by its armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), against Myanmar’s military.