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In recent months the KIO’s armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army, has come under sustained attack by the Tatmadaw, resulting in the loss of several key mountain posts and bases. These offensives have put IDPs in the firing line, prompted the Northern Alliance counter-offensive in northern Shan State in late November and jeopardised progress at next month’s planned 21st Century Panglong – Union Peace Conference.
Since the NLD government took office, Japan has promised billions in aid and investment, much of which will be administered through its development aid arm, the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The agency’s chief representative in Myanmar, Keiichiro Nakazawa, spoke to Frontier’s Thomas Kean about the government’s donor coordination efforts, the next phase of the Thilawa Special Economic Zone and plans for a new port and airport in southern Yangon.
While interfaith marriage has been a hot topic in recent years, mixed ethnicity marriages can also be a sensitive issue in Myanmar, where women in particular come under pressure to shoulder the burden of cultural preservation by marrying within their ethnic group.

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Myanmar enters 2021 with more friends than foes
The early delivery of vaccines is one of the many boons of the country’s geopolitics, but to really take advantage, Myanmar must bury the legacy of its isolationist past.
Will the Kayin BGF go quietly?
The Kayin State Border Guard Force has come under intense pressure from the Tatmadaw over its extensive, controversial business interests and there’s concern the ultimatum could trigger fresh hostilities in one of the country’s most war-torn areas.

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