BANGKOK -- Along its border with Myanmar, China is taking a stab at containing the spread of COVID-19 by ramping up ties with armed groups operating in rural ethnic enclaves, completely ignoring the military regime in Myanmar.
The Kachin Independence Army, Shan State Army-North and United Wa State Army -- the largest of Myanmar's rebel forces -- have become conduits for doses of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines, bolstering alliances that Beijing has cultivated in a corner of Southeast Asia that is strategically important to Yunnan Province in China's southwest.
