A leader of a rebel group in Myanmar has refuted the report of the government that he has been receiving aid from either Chinese citizens or Chinese mercenaries.

Peng Jiasheng, the leader of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), says Chinese citizens are banned from entering their region of Kokang to join his group.

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Peng made his denial in an interview with a Chinese newspaper, Global Times.

He is reacting to the statement of the government of Myanmar, which claimed that Chinese mercenaries are now fighting alongside the MNDAA.

As a consequence, Myanmar is seeking the cooperation of China to prevent "terrorist attacks."

Myanmar has also warned China that Peng's group and the mercenaries could jointly launch offensives from the Chinese mainland.

Peng himself is an ethnic Chinese.

He, however, said he forbids the participation of any Chinese citizens in the armed conflict in Myanmar because China will not condone it.

Peng says the MNDAA does not need another pressure coming from China.

"If Chinese law enforcement agencies will discover on our side that there are Chinese citizens joining battle, they will give us enormous pressure. So our principle is not to allow any Chinese citizens to fight," Peng said.

The MNDAA was formed from the remnants of the Communist Party of Burma, a fierce guerilla force supported by China in Myanmar, which had fought government before it disintegrated about 15 years ago.

Peng's group had once engaged in a truce with government but this agreement was broken when the government armed forces overran the rural Kokang region, where the rebels were based.

Recent battles between government troops and the guerillas forced thousands of refugees to flee to neighboring China.

For its part, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei says Beijing has always respected Myanmar's sovereignty.

Hong adds it will not allow anyone to use China's territory as a launching pad for attacks against Myanmar.

A state of emergency currently prevails over Kokang.

Myanmar President Thein Sein had made this declaration after fighting in the region killed over 70 people.

On Tuesday, two soldiers were wounded after government troops clashed with the MNDAA twice.

Speculations on Peng's whereabouts abound, when the latest battles occurred. The Chinese Ministry is mum on whether or not Peng had been in China before the latest violence erupted, or if the rebel leader had gone back to Myanmar, with China's backing.

After Tuesday's clashes, soldiers in Kokang were able to pick up several weapons from the battlefields, supposedly including a "China-made sub-machine gun." 

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