China presses Myanmar on Kachin peace NAYPYITAW, Myanmar, June 24 (UPI) -- China is keen to see authorities with the central Myanmar government work toward a cease-fire with Kachin rebels, a visiting diplomat said Monday. Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi met Monday in Naypyitaw with Myanmar President Thein Sein. Jiechi, a former foreign minister, called on the government to continue working on peace initiatives with Kachin rebels. Yang said the Chinese government would work with Myanmar, formerly Burma, to help broker a long-term peace with Kachin separatists, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The government in Myanmar declared a unilateral cease-fire in January following three weeks of clashes with Kachin separatists. Myanmar peace negotiator Aung Min said in May the Myanmar government was removing the Kachin independence group from a list of unlawful organizations. James Lum Dau, a military official from the Kachin independence movement, told Thai newspaper The Irrawaddy of military attacks during the weekend. He said there were more than a dozen such attacks since May peace talks. "Two days ago, they [government troops] came to attack us," he said Monday. Our troops resisted them, it is not surprising. Myanmar started to embrace democratic reforms with general elections in 2010. National security challenges and a poor human rights record, however, have clouded some of those developments. Yang arrived Sunday in Myanmar as part of a two-day visit.