The ongoing fighting between regular Burmese armed forces and MNDAA is one of the many contemporary low intensity conflicts. Several meeting and ceasefires failed in restoring peace and stability. MNDAA started a new offensive in February 2015 to retake control over Kokang region, which is close to China’s southern border in the province of Yunnan.

Many “theories” might try to explain what happened on Friday. Could it have been caused by a human error?  Inexperience and a non-perfect training may have caused the incident. Could it have been caused by a deliberate action? The warplane crew may have decided to target the civilians, something that could only be explained as a lack of “military ethic”. Could it have been caused by an intentional Burmese military action? It may be possible to see the incident as a way to test Chinese reactions; however, if true, it would be a very risky move with unpredictable consequences. Could it have been orchestrated by China itself? It may be possible to think that China is looking for an excuse to interfere with Burmese internal affairs and, truth be told, there is many a precedent; however it may just be one of many unfounded plot-theories as well. Could it have been caused by MNDAA action aimed at exacerbating China-Myanmar relations? MNDAA could, in fact, benefit from a confrontation between the two countries; that is the opinion of a Burmese official quoted by Reuters and BBC who stated:  «it's possible that those fighting with us purposely created these attacks with the intent of causing misunderstanding between China and us».

Myanmar defended itself: Zaw Htay, director of the President's Office, declared that «the GPS data, radar information and ground information all show our planes did not enter those areas as they had claimed». Beijing urged Myanmar to investigate the bombing and take steps to ensure the safety of the border area and deployed fighter jets tasked with tracking, monitoring, warning and chasing away Burmese warplanes in case of new trespassing[2].