In a drastic step China has cut off the telephone communication system and electricity supply to Maijayang (also called Mai Ja Yang) business village of Burma's ethnic Kachin ceasefire group, Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) on the Sino-Burma border in northeastern Burma, said local sources.

Residents of Maijayang said, Chinese border authorities have cut off telephone communication since yesterday but electricity supply was shut down since this evening.

A Kachin resident of Maijayang told KNG tonight, "The whole of Maijayang village is plunged in darkness.  I can see many people coming out on the roads and the roads are unusually crowded.  People are using candle light and a few hotels are using power from generators.

Most Chinese traders and store owners in Maijayang came back to villages in Chinese territories on the border because of the power shut down, according to residents of Maijayang.

China had warned KIO in early January that they will cut off electricity supply to Maijayang and block roads and tele-communication if the KIO did not immediately send back over 50 Chinese youths who were kidnapped in Maijayang for money.

China's latest action on KIO followed a fresh incident where a Chinese gambler from Sichuan province, who lost in the Maijayang casino was kidnapped yesterday by Chinese casino owners.  The abduction was reported to the Chinese Sichuan police by his girl friend who was gambling together with him in Maijayang casino.

On February 3, a tripartite meeting was held among KIO authorities of Maijayang, Chinese casino owners and Chinese authorities inside a casino over the missing Chinese teenage gamblers, said locals.

Earlier, on these issues, the KIO and Burmese Army officers along with over 60 company officials also met at Maijayang from January 28 to 30.

Meanwhile, the KIO was just concluded its two-day (February 4 to 5) Manau festival on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of Kachin Revolution Day in Laiza headquarters on the border.