Chinese experts said skilled negotiators are needed aside from strong policies in Myanmar's peace process, after a Chinese volunteer teacher was killed during armed clashes in Kokang region, northern Myanmar on Saturday.
Guo Shaowei, 46, from Fengqing county, Southwest China's Yunnan Province was killed by shelling in Hongyan School, Kokang Saturday night, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Sunday.
Several locals were also hurt, but no student was injured as the incident occurred over the weekend.
Residents have since fled the town.
CCTV reported that Guo had been teaching at the school for about 18 years. Before that, he was a teacher in China for eight years.
There are three schools in Hongyan town. Two of them have volunteer teachers from China, and are all supported by charities in China, said Zhang Guo, a core member of the Hua Xia Hu Zhu Society, a volunteer group helping the Kokang people, especially in education.
Meanwhile, six primary schools have been built in Lincang, Yunnan for Kokang children living in China with their families to escape the conflicts, Zhang told the Global Times. The school includes 14 volunteer teachers.
All the schools use Chinese textbooks.
This is the second time a Chinese national had been killed in clashes between ethnic groups and Myanmar government troops in the border region. A bomb exploded in Nansongli, Lincang in Yunnan Province, killing one Chinese citizen on Thursday, said CCTV.
"The death of the Chinese volunteer teacher is a tragedy for all sides,  who all suffer from loss of life, including Myanmar military, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Kokang police," Liu Yun, an analyst on Myanmar issues based in Changshang, Central China's Hunan Province, told the Global Times on Monday.
Myanmar's second meeting of its 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference, a dialogue open to all ethnic armed groups, is scheduled toward the end of March. The Myanmar government is committed to trying to resolve one of the world's longest-running civil wars, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
For Myanmar, the challenge is to strategically steer the whole process with strong and flexible policies and to find and train qualified negotiators, Liu noted.
"Obviously, the deep-rooted distrust has led to the current deadlock … The growing pessimism is dragging down the unstable mood of stakeholders, who have invested large amounts of political capital in the peace talks. Therefore, skilled negotiators with trust-building abilities are urgently needed," Liu said.
Courtesy Global Times