Myanmar denies bombing China

Myanmar army soldiers patrol on a road in Kokang in northeastern Shan State. (AP Photo)

The Myanmar government on Saturday denied the involvement of the country's military in a bombing incident that killed four civilians across the Chinese border.

Zaw Htay, director of the President's Office, told Kyodo News that the country's ambassador to China and military attache were summoned by Chinese authorities to explain the bombing. Based on information the Chinese provided, the Myanmar military concluded that one of its warplanes did not carry out the strike.

"The GPS data, radar information and ground information all show our planes did not enter those areas as they had claimed," he said.

He added that the military routinely notified the Chinese side in advance of planned flight schedules and flight paths near the border.

"We will cooperate fully over the matter," he said, adding that senior government and military officials were to hold further meetings with the Chinese ambassador and military attache.

China lodged a strong protest Friday night after a bomb it claims was dropped by a Myanmar warplane killed four Chinese people and injured nine others in the border city of Lincang in Yunnan Province earlier in the day.

According to China's official Xinhua News Agency, senior Chinese military official Gen Fan Changlong telephoned Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Defence Services, and warned him that Chinese forces would take "firm and decisive action" if any further deadly stray-fire incidents occurred.

Myanmar government troops have been fighting ethnic Kokang rebels in northeastern Shan state, which borders Yunnan. A stray shell from Myanmar landed in China last Sunday, prompting China to express serious concerns to Myanmar.