In the last week of May 2017, China organised the second in a planned series of meetings between the Myanmar military, the government and various ethnic armed groups aimed at ending the decades-long civil war in Myanmar. Though Myanmar authorities insisted before the meeting that talks would not he held with three of the seven ethnic armed groups active in the country’s conflict-ridden north because they had taken up arms after the peace process began and that the groups that were invited to the conference had to sign a detailed accord, known as the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), China flew representatives from all seven northern armed groups, none of which have signed the NCA. The representatives of these groups flew to Naypitaw in a plane chartered by China that departed from Kunming and landed in Naypyitaw. The move effectively presented Myanmar’s civil and military authorities with a fait accompli..