About 300 Chinese dam workers, who seemed to be hijacked by the Burmese Army in the war zone at the Taping Hydropower Project, were evacuated to the China border today by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), sources close to the Chinese workers said.
After nearly two hours of fighting between the (KIA) and Burmese Army at the Taping dam project in N’mawk (Momauk) Township, in Manmaw (Bhamo) District, eastern Kachin State, Chinese workers were evacuated to the China border by KIA soldiers, according to Chinese authorities on the border.
A KIA officer on the border said Chinese dam construction workers and engineers from the China Datang Corporation (CDT) were forcibly stopped from returning home by Burmese troops when war started June 9th.
Taping Dam No. 1 and No. 2 are being constructed on the Taping River (Ta Hkaw Hka in Kachin), near the China border, by the Chinese CDT and the Ministry of Electric Power-2 of the Burmese government,.
Some electricity from the Dam No. 1 has been distributed to the towns of N’mawk and Manmaw since February.
Monday afternoon, June 13, the KIA declared civil war in the whole country after Burmese troops started an offensive against the KIA on June 9.
