Long-running civil war, the exploitation of natural resources and the looming shadow of China were among many tough issues Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had to tackle in a campaign rally in Kachin State’s trading centre of Bhamo yesterday.

The town, lying on the banks of the Ayeyarwady and on a historic caravan route between India and China, is also not far from continued fighting between the Kachin Independence Army and the Tatmadaw in Mansi township.

“Civil wars are waging in countries under dictatorship, not in genuine democratic countries because they use negotiations to find solutions,” the National League for Democracy leader told a rally yesterday evening.

While Daw Aung San Suu Kyi arrived by air at the town’s small airport, which was close to the site of her rally, reporters following her five-day campaign tour of Kachin State journeyed there by road, passing through an area of recent fighting between forces of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and the Tatmadaw. The guns were silent yesterday, however.

Despite the conflict, several thousand local residents, some of them internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Mansi, welcomed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wearing the red shirts of her party’s colours and waving NLD flags in the hope she can achieve peace.

However, continued war is a more likely prospect even if the guns were silent yesterday. The KIO is among several major ethnic groups who refused this month to join a nationwide ceasefire agreement with the government because of its exclusion of three allied factions.

“We have been living under unsafe conditions and fear all the time for our lives. We can’t say openly this is our property, because if we do then all will be lost. We don’t want to live in fear anymore,” said U Kan Aye from Naung Mon village.

The 70-year-old Nobel peace laureate told her supporters she understood the importance of establishing peace and rule of law in Kachin State. She pledged the NLD would try its best to bring peace if it can form a government after the November 8 elections.

“The NLD has announced it is for peace since we ran in the 2012 by-election. We will keep implementing these policies. But we need people’s help. All must try building trust instead of having doubts among each other,” she said in response to a question from the crowd about fighting in Kachin State.

She said Myanmar and Kachin State enjoyed plenty of natural resources but people remained in poverty because of the government’s bad administration.

‘’Despite having rich natural resources, people are poor because the government only looks after itself and doesn’t pay attention to the people. The system needs to change to develop our country. That’s why I urge you to vote NLD to change the system,” she said, delivering her stump speech.

Reflecting local concerns over the growing influence of China, residents asked Daw Aung San Suu Kyi how the NLD would control increasing flows of foreign immigrants, especially Chinese, into Bhamo, if her party formed a government.

“Many Chinese live in Mandalay and also in Bhamo and hold influence in these areas. They hold citizenship cards even though they can’t speak Myanmar. What will you do to control these foreign immigrants if we vote for you?” asked one man in the crowd.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who visited China in June at the invitation of the Communist Party leadership, replied that if the NLD formed a government she would resolve this issue according to the law and by maintaining a bilateral relationship.

“This issue happens because of the lack of rule of law. Governments have the duty to maintain sovereignty of the state and also must respect its people’s rights. If government does not respect its people, no one will. I promise the NLD will be a government that respects the people,” she said.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has said on previous rallies that she will not brandish promises to voters that cannot be kept.

Yesterday, in a state where she is up against several ethnic-based parties as well as the ruling USDP, she was asked by locals what the NLD can do for them if they vote for it. She answered that the NLD cannot change people’s lives in one go because the party is not a saviour.

The NLD leader wraps up her Kachin tour today with a rally in Momauk township before flying back to Yangon.