Tensions slightly easing on the Sino-Burma border

S.H.A.N.- The siege by joint Wa-Mongla forces to the Burma Army garrison at Mongyang, 260 km north of Maesai since 26 August, was lifted on 9 September last week following a number of official requests by the Burma Army, according to sources on the Sino-Burma border.

People who had fled from Panghsang (the Wa capital), Mongyang and Mongla, as a result, are slowly trickling back since. “The transport fare between Tangyan (west of the Salween) and Panghsang, up to K 120,000 ($120) the previous week, is almost back to normal (K 40,000),” said a local official in Panghsang. “Now about 50% of those people have returned.”

The siege was prompted by the disappearance of 3 Burma Army officers and men who were found moving suspiciously around Khosoong, the border between Wa and Mongla late last month. “Maj Kyaw Soe Aung, the 2IC (second-in-command) of IB 279 (based in Mongyang) was reported to have demanded the immediate release of his men or else,” said an informed source from Mongla.

The Burma Army’s Kengtung-based Triangle Command officers and Lt-General Ye Myint, Naypyitaw’s chief negotiator on the controversial Border Guard Force (BGF) plan, had in person and by letter to Mongla, requested the released of the said three saying the latter had no cause for worry about an impending attack.

While it wasn’t clear if the Wa and Mongla were convinced about the Burma Army’s intentions, both had finally decided to call off the siege, said the source. “I believe China must have a hand in the alliance’s decision,” commented a Burma watcher from Thailand.

A 15 member Chinese delegation had visited Panghsang on 8 September, the day before the lifting of the siege.

Thousands of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops backed by armored vehicles and artillery were seen in Meng Lien (Monglem), opposite Panghsang, according to a source who was recently visiting the Wa territory. “ ‘We will fight to the last man or woman,’ the Wa was reported to have told the delegation,” he said. “But it wasn’t clear how the Chinese representatives had responded.”

Peng Jiasheng, the deposed Kokang leader, who was reported by Global Times to be taking asylum in the Wa State, is believed to have left it, according to a reliable source in Panghsang. “He’s not in Mongla, where his daughter and his son-in-law Sai Leun are, either,” he said. “To both the Wa and Mongla, he’s a Ho Hsang (the Brahma head, meaning too hot to handle). The farther he’s away from them, the better it is for him and themselves.”

The Burma Army had earlier demanded his extradition, to which the Wa replied he had not been seen since 30 August, a day after the fall of Qingshuihe, the Kokang stronghold.

Burma Army forces laying siege to the Wa territory since late last month, meanwhile, have so far remained in place. “So despite the lifting of the siege Mongyang, the alert is still on,” said another source close to the leadership.

The UWSA has deployed 3 divisions plus supporting units for the defense, he added: the 318th commanded by Bao Ai Roong in the north; the 418th, commanded by Zhao Saidao in the west; and the 468th, commanded by Sai Hsarm in the South.

Along the Thai border, the UWSA’s southern 171st Military Region command has 5 “divisions”, commanded by Wei Xuegang, according to a UWSA publication: 772nd (Mong Jawd), 775th (Hwe Aw), 778th (Khailong), 248th (Hopang-Hoyawd) and 518th (Mongyawn).

Burma Newscasts - Tensions slightly easing on the Sino-Burma border
Monday, 14 September 2009

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The Junta’s Twin August Offensives

By WAI MOE
The Irrawaddy News

After more than four decades of rule, the Burmese military government is confronting the two main centers of domestic opposition to its power in a bid to increase security and prolong military rule before the elections next year.

Having effectively kept pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi out of the elections by sentencing her to a further 18 months of house arrest, the military regime’s forces broke the ceasefire with ethnic groups by seizing the Kokang capital of Laogai on August 24.

Since the military regime’s attack, instability has been reverberating through Kachin State, Shan State and the towns along the Sino-Burmese border in China’s Yunnan Province.

Other ceasefire groups in northern and northeastern Burma, such as the United Wa State Army, the Kachin Independence Army and the eastern Shan State-based National Democratic Alliance Army have been building up defenses against a potential attack by regime troops.

“The [Burmese] government would like to assert more authority over the ethnic minorities in the highlands, leading to the problems of the past few days,” said Michael Charney, a Burma expert from London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, in an email to the The Irrawaddy. The ceasefire agreements between the ethnic groups and the junta left potentially volatile situations in place, he said.

According to journalists and political observers in Rangoon, the junta is not yet ready to promulgate the election law, though the elections are scheduled to be held in 2010. With only three months remaining this year, time is running out.

If the junta wants to hold elections under the 2008 constitution, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, it has to demonstrate that there is only one commander-in-chief and that the regime’s army is the only armed force in Burma, observer’s say.

“We can see that by sentencing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on August 11, the military regime made sure there would be no worthy political challenger in the 2010 elections. After removing her from the picture, the generals turned on their other main enemies,” said Chan Tun, a veteran politician from Rangoon.

The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Suu Kyi, and the Wa, Kokang and Mongla ethnic ceasefire groups have called for the constitution to be reviewed before the elections.

In 2005, Wa, Kokang and the Mongla delegates to the National Convention called for full autonomy and separation from Shan State, as well as guarantees that their armed militias would remain under their control.

At the end of the fourteen-year-long national convention process in 2007, however, the junta ignored all their demands when the handpicked Constitution Drafting Committee finalized the constitution.

“After the junta ignored their demands at the national convention, the ethnic groups knew a showdown had to come soon,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw, a former communist who observes Burma military affairs from China’s Yunnan Province.

“But ceasefire groups, particularly the Kokang, failed to prepare properly, which is why Laogai fell to regime troops so easily,” he said.

The junta generals, meanwhile, must be wondering whether the simultaneous offensives against urban political opposition and ethnic ceasefire groups have been wise.

“I wonder why the regime is risking conflict with the ethnic militias now. They may want to get control before the elections—but the junta could destabilize the whole country,” said Mikeal Gravers, a Burma expert from Aarhus University, Denmark.

Charney said the Burmese junta will face many similar problems in the coming year, because the generals want ethnic and political stability in order to hold elections and conclude the domestic problems that are bringing so much international attention.

Burma Newscasts - The Junta’s Twin August Offensives
Friday, September 11, 2009

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Kokang campaign still on

Shanland - Despite victory over rebellious Kokang army announced yesterday through state-run media, the Burma Army has yet to slow down its war machine, reported sources from Shan State.

People in Muse, opposite China’s Ruili, and northwest of Kokang, were still being snatched by the official porter collectors yesterday and in Lashio, the capital of Shan State North, southwest of Kokang, civilian trucks were still in demand.

The Burma Army is proceeding with a mopping-up operation against isolated Kokang fighters who are still putting up a guerrilla resistance in the 22,000 sq.km territory, according to a source on the Sino-Burma border. Up to 30% of the original Kokang force (estimated strength, 800) loyal to the deposed leader Peng Jiasheng are believed to be still on Burma’s side of the border.

On the Thai-Burma border, militia units placed under full alert two days ago have been allowed to relax. “Civilian trucks requisitioned by the Army in Monghsat (opposite Thailand’s Mae Ai) have also been permitted to return home,” reported a local.

The United Wa State Army (UWSA)’s Thai-border based 171st Military Region, comprising 5 brigades, under the command of Wei Xuegang, however, have yet to come down from their mountain bases. “Unlike in the past, when Wa trucks passed by Burma Army checkpoints without being searched, they are now being subjected to thorough going-overs,” said another local source.

On the other hand, sources in eastern Shan State are betting that the next target for the Burma Army should be Mongla, the UWSA’s southern neighbor and ally. Kokang that fell on 29 August is the Wa’s northern neighbor and ally.

Even Mongla, 80 km northeast of Shan State East’s capital Kengtung, has become edgy, according to them.

Yesterday, some 470 Burmans working or seeking work in Mongla were rounded up by the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) officials, loaded in trucks and dumped at Taping, the Lwe crossing that marks as the border between the NDAA and Burma Army controlled areas. “We used to have about 100 people working here,” explained one of the officials, on condition of anonymity. “But the number had jumped up to over 400 in a matter of weeks. We believe many of them, not all, must be spies.”

The Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’, that has been fighting against Naypyitaw, meanwhile is yet to issue any official statements on the latest developments in Burma. “We are still closely following the developments,” said one of the senior officers.

One Thai border source reported that the UWSA has begun liaising with the SSA South. “There has been no such thing as yet,” replied the same SSA source.

Tension between the ceasefire groups and the ruling military junta has been growing since April when the former were demanded to transform themselves into Burma Army run Border Guard Forces.

READ MORE---> Kokang campaign still on...

The fall of Kokang raises questions

Shanland - After three days of heavy fighting, 27-29 August, the bulk of the anti-Naypyitaw Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the name given to their armed force by the Kokang, moved yesterday into China where they were disarmed by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

The biggest question raised by the fall of Qingsuihe (Chinshwehaw), opposite Namteuk (Namtit), where the Kokang’s strongest ally United Wa State Army (UWSA)’s 318th Division is headquartered, may be: What were the Wa doing when the Kokang were being attacked at Qingsuihe?

At first, both the Wa and other sources reported that at least 500 UWSA fighters had been deployed to assist the embattled Kokang. However, on the 29 August evening, the Wa source told SHAN Qingsuihe had fallen, as the UWSA had decided only to make a stand along the Namting that forms as a boundary between Wa and Kokang territories in order to prevent any spillovers from the fighting.

What happened to the ‘all for one and one for all’ agreement reached earlier among the Wa, Kokang and Mongla? SHAN asked. But Panghsang has yet to answer the question, which has naturally prompted more questions:

• How strong is the Peace and Democracy Front (PDF), now that it has done practically nothing against the Burma Army’s attack on Kokang?

• Now that the UWSA has allowed Kokang its northern ally to go, is it ready to let go other allies, namely the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’ in the west and Mongla aka National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA) too?

• Does it think the UWSA will be able to make a lone stand against the Burma Army, after its allies have gone?

• What was China’s role in the Kokang debacle? Has the UWSA been advised that the Burma Army will not be allowed to make further attacks against it and its remaining allies?

Kokang’s deposed leader Peng Jiasheng has also voiced similar doubts in his special statement issued late in the evening of 28 August, a day before Qingsuihe’s fall:

• We have vowed that we would together overthrow the common enemy, the ruling military dictatorship clique. I request that we put our vow into practice starting today.

• If the Kokang force has been swallowed, the other allies armed forces will also be swallowed not long after. We therefore request you to counter attack the SPDC forces starting today.

Another big question arose when a report by a usually reliable source said that the mutiny in early August against Kokang’s supreme leader Peng Jiasheng was masterminded by a Liu Guoxi, a disgruntled member of the Kokang leadership, in cooperation with the deputy police of Burma.

With details lacking, SHAN as yet has no way to confirm the report, though Liu has been known in the past to be a colleague of Mong Hsala, the leader of now defunct Mongkoe Defense Army (MDA). MDA went into oblivion and its top leaders either jailed or executed in 2000 by the Burma Army during a mutiny against Mong Hsala.

Granted that the report is true, questions arise:

• Are there more Liu Guoxis among the ranks of the UWSA and its allied armies?

• Is the Burma Army in cahoots with them?

• Wei Xuegang, Commander of the UWSA’s Thai-border based 171st Military Region, is said to be close to Prime Minister Thein Sein. How close are they?

At present, the questions are hard to answer.

But investigations by the media and concerned agencies in the next few weeks will find whether the ideal goal of forming a grand alliance against the hated military regime is too late or can still be a dream come true.

READ MORE---> The fall of Kokang raises questions...

Junta meet with Mongla inconclusive

By Hseng Khio Fah

(Shanland) -The meeting between the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS) and the junta negotiators yesterday on the transformation proposal ended inconclusively, according to a source close to the NDAA leadership on the Sino-Burma border.

Senior NDAA leaders led by Sai Leun aka Lin Mingxian, 63, met with the delegation led by Military Affairs Security (MAS) chief Lt-Gen Ye Myint yesterday at its main base in Mongla, opposite Daluo.

Ye Myint was accompanied by Brig Gen Kyaw Phyoe, Commander of Kengtung-based Triangle Region Command, Mongkhark area commander Nay Lin and another MAS officer from Kengtung, among others.

The meeting lasted for 3 hours from 09:00 to 12:00 (Burma Standard Time).

During the meeting, Ye Myint informed the NDAA about the rejection by the Kokang and the Wa of its proposal. “They likely did not ask the opinions of their own people,” he was reported as saying.

Sai Leun then told the general that the NDAA’s rejection resulted from the public meetings held recently.

“The best thing for both sides is to keep things as they are,” Sai Leun was quoted as telling Ye Myint.

Ye Myint, on hearing the response from the NDAA, said, “The rise of the ceasefire areas (from hovels into multi story buildings) has been astounding. Don’t you feel sorry to lose them?”

He continued, “Our head of state Than Shwe would like to see you as the role model for all [ceasefire groups].

He also promised that if the NDAA accept the offer, the junta leaders would see to it that the agreement is abided by the new government formed after the upcoming elections.
The junta delegation departed at about 15:00.

On 3 June, the Shan State Army (SSA) North was also reported to have met Ye Myint at the capital of Shan State North, Lashio. But the group declined to disclose any details.
However, a source close to its Hseng Keow base told SHAN the group had asked Ye Myint to defer the question until after a new government has emerged.

Meanwhile, the Burmese military junta’s third highest ranking general Thura Shwe Mann, the joint chief of staff, is reportedly visiting China, according to Irrawaddy and Radio Free Asia (RFA).

He is expected to discuss with Beijing on the current state of affairs in Burma particularly on the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi and the ongoing talks with the ceasefire groups.
Some junta officials had already accused China of supporting the Wa, during the Wa traditional festival at Cangyuan on the Chinese side of the border last month, according to a Wa source. “But the Chinese officials brushed off the accusation by saying, ‘We adhere to the policy of non-interference. But since the population of the Wa on the Chinese side is even higher than that on your side, how can we know who’s helping them if you don’t tell us?’”

READ MORE---> Junta meet with Mongla inconclusive...

Mongla conducts survey on transforming armed wing

By Hseng Khio Fah

(Shanland) -The National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS), commonly known as the Mongla group by the name of its main base, had conducted a 5 day long public survey whether it should transform itself into border guard forces last week, according to sources from the Sino-Burma border.

The survey was conducted from 2-6 June in areas operated by the 369th Brigade, 911th Brigade as well as at its main base regarding the junta’s proposal that all ceasefire groups transform themselves into 326 strong units, commanded by their own officers but supervised by 30 junta officers, said an insider source.

At each public meeting, people were asked three questions:

• Should the NDAA accept the junta’s proposal to transform itself into a border guard force?
• Do the people want war?
• Will the people support the NDAA if there is fighting?

The questions were given not only to the public but also to its military units. The situation of the country since the Panglong Agreement of 1947 up to the present time was also recounted by survey team officers, according to the source.

According to survey team, most respondents had answered “No” to Question# 1 and 2. As for the third question, the 369th Brigade area where the majority are ethnic Shan voted to support the NDAA if there is fighting. The second strongest voice came from the people in the 911th Brigade area and the third from people from its main base.

In Mongla, about 50% of residents had given answers identical to 369th Brigade and 911th areas, while the rest remained silent as most were businesspeople and ethnic Chinese.

Following the results, the NDAA asked people to inform about anything that could endanger its people and military.“We would like to ask for your help. Because it is most important to keep our eyes and ears on the situation.” a villager quoted a survey team officer as saying.

The junta’s negotiator, Military Affair Security (MAS) chief Lt-Gen Ye Myint is expected to be meeting with the NDAA leaders today.

Sources said the significant thing about the meeting is that Sai Leun aka Lin Mingxian himself will be present. He has so far been absent from meetings with junta officials on the transformation question.

Most border watchers say the group’s answer would likely be the same as its allies.

The NDAA-ESS had already sent a letter rejecting the proposal to Brig Gen Kyaw Phyoe, Commander of Kengtung-based Triangle Region Command, on 27 May.

READ MORE---> Mongla conducts survey on transforming armed wing...

Mongla follows Wa to reject border force proposal

Peng Jiafu, Bao Youxiang and Sai Leun aka Lin Mingxian

S.H.A.N. - A week after Panghsang, the capital of free Wa territory, turned down the ruling military council’s proposition to transform itself to a junta-run border security force, one of its main allies Mongla has followed suit, according to a reliable source from the Sino-Burma border.

A letter written to Brig Gen Kyaw Phyoe, Commander of Kengtung-based Triangle Region Command, yesterday says the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS), the group’s official name, is not ready to become a border security force.

Naypyitaw’s front man Lt-Gen Ye Myint last month made the proposal that all ceasefire groups transform themselves into 326 strong units, commanded by their own officers but supervised by 30 junta officers.

The reply followed a summit meeting among Kokang, Wa and Mongla groups last week, when the decision was reportedly made to place all the three armies under a joint command, in the event of hostilities. Kokang was represented by Vice chairman Peng Jiafu, Wa by Bao Youxiang and Mongla by Sai Leun aka Lin Mingxian.

Another source meanwhile said the Wa have newly acquired 10 armored vehicles at Y 8 million ($ 1 million) each. However, the report is yet to be confirmed by Wa sources in Panghsang.

The Burma Army on the other hand, will be putting to use weapons imported from North Korea, according to a local businessman. “It will also kill a lot of civilians in the vicinity,” an army officer was quoted as saying recently.

According to Bangkok-based Altsean-Burma and US-based Human Rights Watch, Pyongyang has sold a number of military items to Burma, which include 130 mm M 46 field guns and truck-borne multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) with a range about 65 km.

Relations between the armed ceasefire groups and the Burma Army have turned from bad to worse as the 2010 nationwide elections draw near. While the former are insisting on a federal system of government, the country’s military leaders continue to advocate a military-led “democracy.”

READ MORE---> Mongla follows Wa to reject border force proposal...

Junta takes census in Wa, Mongla territory

By Hseng Khio Fah
Shan Herald Agency for News

More than 80 officials from several civil and governmental departments with 7 trucks in Kengtung, are reported to have started taking census in the areas under the control of United Wa State Army (UWSA) and its ally Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS) since February 26.

The census is being carried out by officials from departments such as immigration, police, special bureau, township peace and development councils (TPDC). They were divided into four groups.

However, one group of 27 officials along with 2 trucks, going into Mongpawk, south of the Wa capital Panghsang, were not allowed to pass into the area due to lack of permission from the top, said a local resident.

They were stopped by the Wa at Khosoong gate, the boundary line between the Wa and Mongla. The group returned to Kengtung on the following day.

The remaining 3 groups conducted census in the Mongla region. So far, they have collected family lists in the Hsalue-based 369th Brigade, Yang Nguen (Akha village), Yangkawng, southeast of Mongla, said a source.

However, there has been no information as to what kind of cards villagers will receive.

“They [authorities] told us that they would give ID cards. But we don’t know what type and color we will get,” a local resident told SHAN.

In 2008, there were many temporary ID cards of different colors that the authorities had issued to the people such as yellow, green and white.

Some border watchers say the junta is trying to complete the national census before the 2010 elections.

The returned group has reportedly appealed to the Triangle Regional commander to discuss with the leaders of Panghsang. However, the commander replied that he could not do that without orders from Nay Pyi Taw, said a source close to the junta.

“The reason we did not admit the junta’s officials was because of tight security restrictions before the celebrations,” a source quoted a Wa officer saying.

Wa and Mongla stopped junta officials from issuing temporary cards in their regions in March 2008, according to SHAN report in April 2008.

Census is also being conducted in Mon State, Independent Mon News Agency (IMNA) reported yesterday.

READ MORE---> Junta takes census in Wa, Mongla territory...