4 Chinese Killed, 9 Injured in Airstrike on Yunnan Province

The Chinese government has reacted strongly after a warplane from Myanmar killed four Chinese citizens on the Chinese side of the border.

The BBC reports that the incident took place in China's Yunnan province near the city of Lincang. The four Chinese victims were working in a sugar field when the Myanmar plane dropped its payload. Nine other people were also injured.

The warplane seems to have mistaken the Chinese sugar field for a target affiliated with ethnic Chinese rebels that are fighting for autonomy in north Myanmar. The BBC says that 30,000 people have had to flee the areas of heaviest fighting.

After the bombing, China summoned the ambassador to Myanmar to express their disgust and displeasure at the incident. At least one Myanmar official has also publicly suggested that the rebels created the conditions for the bombing error in order to draw China into the conflict and weaken the government of Myanmar.

The Chinese Air Force also announced that they would deploy fighter jets to the border region between Myanmar and China. The planes will also do regular patrols of the area in order to prevent another similar instance.

Reuters reports that this incident is not the first time that violence in Myanmar has spread across the border into China. The errant airstrike occurred less than a week after a misfired mortar destroyed a house on the Chinese side of the border.

Myanmar has accused the Chinese of supporting the rebels and said that the rebels have received training from former members of the Chinese military. Myanmar has also said that Chinese mercenaries are fighting alongside the ethnic Chinese rebels.