It was one of the biggest rebel victories of the four-year civil war in Myanmar. Thousands of resistance fighters from half a dozen rebel armies took the city of Lashio and overran a military command center 75 miles from the Chinese border.

那是缅甸四年内战中叛军取得的最大胜利之一。来自六支反政府武装的数以千计的抵抗战士占领了腊戍市以及距离中国边境约120公里的一个军事指挥中心。

Facing junta artillery and airstrikes, the rebels attacked with small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and drones, ultimately winning in intense street fighting. The triumph in August came at a cost of more than 500 fighters killed, the rebels said.

面对军政府的炮火和空袭，叛军使用轻武器、火箭筒和无人机进行攻击，最终在激烈的巷战中获胜。叛军称，8月的胜利是以500多名战士阵亡为代价的。

But in a stunning reversal, resistance forces quietly abandoned Lashio, in northern Shan State, last month without a shot fired and handed their hard-won territory back to the junta. A military convoy of 200 vehicles flying the national flag rolled into the city in late April and reclaimed control.

但令人震惊的是，抵抗力量在4月一枪未发地悄悄放弃了掸邦北部的腊戍，将来之不易的领土交还给了军政府。4月下旬，一支由200辆悬挂国旗的车辆组成的军事车队开进了这座城市，恢复了对它的控制。

Rebel leaders say the sudden withdrawal was a result of pressure from China, which has been intervening in the civil war to help the junta. Beijing, rebel leaders and analysts say, is protecting its financial interests in Myanmar that are worth billions of dollars, including pipelines that transport crude oil and natural gas nearly 500 miles from the Bay of Bengal to China, and infrastructure projects being built under the umbrella of the Belt and Road Initiative.

叛军领导人说，突然撤军是中国施加压力的结果。中国一直在干预内战，帮助军政府。叛军领导人和分析人士表示，北京是在保护其在缅甸价值数十亿美元的经济利益，包括从孟加拉湾向中国输送原油和天然气近800公里的管道，以及在“一带一路”倡议框架下正在建设的基础设施项目。

To force the rebels out of Lashio, China blocked border trade, cut off power and internet service in nearby towns and reportedly detained the commander of the main rebel group after he crossed into China.

为了迫使叛军离开腊戍，中国封锁了边境贸易，切断了附近城镇的电力和互联网服务，据说还扣押了越境进入中国的主要叛军组织指挥官。

“China claims not to interfere in Myanmar’s internal affairs, but in Lashio, they clearly stepped in and managed the situation directly,” said Ni Ni Kyaw, spokeswoman for the People’s Liberation Army, a pro-democracy force that joined in the battle for Lashio. “China’s approach to Myanmar’s affairs is driven purely by self-interest.”

 “中国声称不干涉缅甸内政，但在腊戍，他们显然介入并直接控制了局势，”亲民主武装“人民解放军”的发言人倪妮觉说，该组织参加了争夺腊戍的战斗。“中国处理缅甸事务的方式完全是出于自身利益的考虑。”

She called the rebels’ withdrawal from the city “heartbreaking.”

她称叛军撤出该城“令人心碎”。

北京对军政府轰炸腊戍并给市中心造成巨大破坏表示不满。

While Beijing has publicly proclaimed a policy of noninterference in Myanmar’s affairs, it has a long history of managing competing interests there, including by supplying weapons to both the Myanmar military and the ethnic groups — sometimes fierce rivals — that have long operated in the area.

虽然北京公开宣布不干涉缅甸事务的政策，但长期以来一直在处理缅甸的利益冲突，包括向长期在该地区活动的缅甸军方和各个少数民族（有时彼此是死敌）提供武器。

“It’s been an open secret for years that China was arming all sides of the conflict,” said David Mathieson, an independent analyst who has long followed events in Myanmar. “China is not interested in peace. It is only interested in itself, and you can see that in its actions.”

“多年来，中国为冲突各方提供武器一直是一个公开的秘密，”长期关注缅甸局势的独立分析人士戴维·马西森说。“中国对和平不感兴趣，只对自己感兴趣，你可以从其行为中看出来。”

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, an ethnic armed organization that seized territory near Lashio during the same offensive, said it is resisting a separate demand from China that it retreat from the five towns it captured.

塔昂民族解放军是一个少数民族武装组织，在那次攻势中夺取了腊戍附近的领土，该组织表示拒绝了中国的另一项要求，即从其占领的五个城镇撤退。

“Now, China is pressuring us to return those towns,” the group’s general secretary, Colonel Tar Pan Hla, said in an interview. “They’ve warned us not to engage in battles along the China-Myanmar border or near the pipelines. In fact, they’ve explicitly said no battles should take place anywhere they have vested interests.”

“现在，中国正在向我们施压，要求我们归还那些城镇，”该组织的总书记塔潘拉上校在接受采访时说。“他们警告我们不要在中缅边境或管道附近参与战斗。事实上，他们已经明确表示，凡是在他们有既得利益的地方都不应该发生战争。”

This month, China’s president, Xi Jinping, met publicly in Moscow with the junta leader, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, for the first time since the February 2021 coup.

5月，中国国家主席习近平在莫斯科与军政府领导人敏昂莱大将举行了2021年2月缅甸政变后的首次公开会晤。

Mr. Xi told the general that China supports Myanmar in safeguarding its “territorial integrity and national stability” and expressed hope that it would take steps “to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, institutions and projects in Myanmar,” Chinese state media reported.

据中国官方媒体报道，习近平对敏昂莱说，中国支持缅甸维护 “领土完整、国家稳定”，并希望缅甸采取措施“切实保障在缅中方人员、机构、项目安全”。

中国国家领导人习近平与缅甸军政府领导人敏昂莱大将5月在莫斯科合影，照片由中国国家媒体发布。

In the past 18 months, the junta has ceded significant ground to resistance forces, a patchwork of recently formed pro-democracy forces and ethnic armed organizations that have long fought the military. The rebels now hold more than half the country’s territory.

过去18个月里，军政府已将大片领土拱手让给抵抗力量。抵抗力量是由最近成立的亲民主力量和长期与军方作战的少数民族武装组织组成的，现在控制了该国一半以上的领土。

But the junta continues to control the country’s central core, including the major cities, airports and seaports. The resistance is hampered by its lack of sophisticated weapons and central command structure.

但军政府继续控制着该国的核心地区，包括主要城市、机场和港口。抵抗力量由于缺乏先进的武器和中央指挥系统而受到阻碍。

Unable to defeat the rebels on the ground, the military has waged a relentless air campaign against civilians, often using Chinese-made aircraft and drones.

由于无法在地面上击败叛军，政府军对平民发动了无情的空袭，经常使用中国制造的飞机和无人机。

After a devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar in late March, the junta declared a cease-fire but continued the daily bombing of civilians in areas ravaged by the quake, killing more than 330 people, according to the opposition National Unity Government, which seeks to supplant the junta.

3月下旬，缅甸中部发生7.7级毁灭性地震后，军政府宣布停火，但继续每天轰炸地震灾区的平民，据试图取代军政府的反对派全国团结政府说，攻击造成330多人死亡。

In mid-May, military aircraft bombed a school in the Sagaing Region, killing 22 students and two teachers. Gruesome photos showed the children’s bodies laid out in a row in the schoolyard.

5月中旬，军用飞机轰炸了实皆地区的一所学校，造成22名学生和两名教师死亡。骇人的照片显示，孩子们的尸体在学校操场上排成一排。

The rebels’ victory in Shan State was led by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, sometimes known as the Kokang Group. It is made up of ethnic Kokang, who are of Han Chinese descent and speak Mandarin but live on the Myanmar side of the border. Many people in Myanmar see them as Chinese.

叛军在掸邦的胜利是由缅甸民族民主联盟军（有时被称为果敢集团军）领导的。该组织由果敢族人组成，他们是汉族后裔，说普通话，但生活在边境的缅甸一侧。许多缅甸人认为他们是中国人。

While the group has long controlled its homeland along the border — with the help of weaponry supplied by China — it took control of Lashio for the first time in August, capturing thousands of prisoners, including three generals.

尽管在中国提供的武器的帮助下，该组织长期控制着边境沿线的家园，但它在8月首次控制了腊戍，俘虏了数千人，其中包括三名将军。

That was clearly a step too far for Chinese officials.

对中国官员来说，这显然太过分了。

去年9月，腊戍一个被破坏的市场。叛军经过激烈的巷战占领了这座城市，但后来又未发一枪主动撤出。

In November, Chinese authorities detained the group’s commander, Peng Daxun, after he crossed the border, and placed him under house arrest, according to his supporters. China’s foreign ministry denied he was under arrest and said he was recuperating in China from medical treatment.

据该组织的支持者说，11月，该组织的指挥官彭大勋（音）越境后，中国当局拘留了他，并将他软禁起来。中国外交部否认他被捕，并表示他正在中国接受治疗。

At the same time, Beijing was displeased that the junta was bombing Lashio and causing extensive damage in the city center, said Mr. Mathieson, the analyst. The airstrikes killed more than a dozen civilians and destroyed 180 buildings, including universities, a high school, temples, hotels and dozens of shops at the city’s main public market, according to the Shan Human Rights Foundation.

与此同时，马西森说，北京对军政府轰炸腊戍并在市中心造成大面积破坏感到不满。据掸邦人权基金会称，空袭造成十几名平民死亡，摧毁了180座建筑，包括大学、一所高中、寺庙、酒店和该市主要公共市场的数十家商店。

Chinese officials warned the rebels that if they didn’t withdraw, the junta’s airstrikes would continue and more civilians would die. They also made it clear that the junta could not be allowed to collapse, said a Kokang army official who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

中国官员警告叛军，如果他们不撤军，军政府的空袭将会继续，更多平民将会死亡。一名果敢军方官员说，中方还明确表示，不能让军政府垮台。由于没有获得公开发言的授权，这名官员要求不透露姓名。

When the junta convoy rolled into Lashio, several vehicles had Chinese lettering identifying them as peace monitors.

当军政府车队驶入腊戍时，有几辆车上有中文字样，表明它们是和平监察员。

Questioned that day about the handover, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun reiterated China’s policy of noninterference but said Beijing supports Myanmar “in safeguarding independence, sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity,” echoing the junta’s own talking points.

当天，被问及的移交问题时，中国外交部发言人郭嘉昆重申了中国的不干涉政策，但表示北京支持缅甸“维护独立、主权、国家统一和领土完整”，这与军政府自己发布的要点相呼应。

During the eight months the Kokang Group controlled Lashio, it tried to improve health care by recruiting doctors who had fled from areas under military control.

在控制腊戍的八个月期间，果敢集团试图通过招募从军事控制区逃离的医生来改善医疗服务。

One such physician, who asked to be identified only as Dr. Min out of fear for his safety, said he watched as the army rolled back into Lashio. His cousin, he said, was one of the rebel fighters who died in the battle to take the city.

其中一名医生说，他眼睁睁地看着政府军队重新进入腊戍。出于安全考虑，他要求只透露自己是闵医生。他说，他的表兄弟是在夺取这座城市的战斗中牺牲的反对派战士之一。

“When I saw the military convoy, hundreds of vehicles entering the city, some with Chinese lettering, I was angry and overwhelmed by grief,” he said. “I thought of all the soldiers who gave their lives to take the city, and how those lives were wasted.”

“当我看到军事车队，数百辆车进入城市，其中一些上面还有中文字样，我感到愤怒和悲伤，”他说。“我想到所有为夺取这座城市而献出生命的士兵，想到他们都白死了。”