The Modern History of Insurgent Driven Myanmar

7/25/2019 The Modern History of Insurgent Driven Myanmar

1/13

The modern history of insurgent-driven Myanmar and

post-independent Burmanisation

By Timo Schmitz, Journalist

After Myanmars independence, the fight of the minorities began. The Karen fought for

autonomy, as they claimed that they were promised autonomy or even an independent state

shortly before Burma became independent. At the same time, the probably most influential

party in fighting for an own Burmese state during the colonial era, the Communists, were

banned. Both, the Karen people and the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) began a rebellion

against the just newly created state, and within a short time, Burmas ethnic minorities gained

for posts in the CPB. In around 1960 and thus even before Ne Win made a coup dtat,

several insurgent groups raised their voice for stronger representation, as proposed in the

Panglong Agreement under Aung San in 1947. When Ne Win came into power in 1962 after

his military coup, he started a gruesome assimilation policy and pushed forward a

Burmanisation. In Kachin and Shan State the resistance against the Burmese government

grew and many locals supported the CPB in the underground winning most of the territory of

these two states. Ne Wins military answered with war actions. Although Ne Win was a

Burmese Chinese himself, he started to persecute the Chinese in his country, just one year

after he came into power. In this way, he wanted to push Burmanisation further as the Chinese

were the most important ethnic group, and the Chinese language was the lingua franca in most

parts of the country.

Even further, Ne Wins government rioted against Chinese shops, land owners, schools (it is

even reported that students were burned alive) and traders. The Arakan Liberation Army

started its activity in 1968 and the Kachin Defense Army even in 1961. The Shan State Army

was founded in 1964 and the Shan State National Army started fighting one year later. The

Wa National Army followed in 1969 and the Pa-o National Army was founded in 1976. All

these insurgent groups and many more mainly had one goal: to resist the oppression which

was such gruesome that whoever could leave the country fled Ne Wins regime.

The Shan State Army was led by Sao Nang Hearn Kham, an ethnic Shan and the wife of the

first president of Burma. As chairwoman of the Shan Army, as well as the leader of themilitary council, she was one of the most powerful opponents of Ne Wins regime. However,

the local Shan State fought against the CPB which led to a rebellion within the rebellion.


2/13

Timo Schmitz: The modern history of insurgent-driven Myanmar and post-independent Burmanisation -2-

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Another destabilizor was the activity of the Taiwan-based Guomindang in the area. After the

Chinese Communists won the civil war and founded the Peoples Republic of China, those

fascists who lived in Southwestern China did not leave for Taiwan, bot for Myanmar. Soon

after, the USA and Taiwan sponsored the Guomindang members in Myanmar to fight a dirty

campaign against Communism, within the dirty campaign of the USA to eliminate

Communist governments which gained freedom in their country, such as in Laos and Vietnam.

The CPB was probably accepted very much and represented by many leaders of the ethnic

minorities, such as Peng Jiasheng who represented the Kokang people in Kokang for the CPB

and Bao Youxiang who became the governor of Wa territories for the CPB, after he started a

career in a local bataillon in his hometown Kunma in Kachin State, where he became the

commander in 1969.

In the beginning of the 1950s, the Americans secretly trained Guomindang adherents. They

started in dirty business, such as opium production in Burma, and it is often reported that the

Guomindang tortured locals if they did not fulfill the production properly. Already in 1953,

the Burmese government tried to put pressure on Taiwan by appealing on the United Nations.

The Americans however probably tried to smuggle drugs into China, in hope that China

would intervene militarily in Burma. In 1961, the Burmese invited the Chinese military, and a

joint Sino-Burmese military campain drove the Guomindang into Thailands underground

where they dissoluted and scattered. Their role changed from opium exporters to opium

importers. Many of them built up smuggling businesses and made names as drug lords in all

over Asia.

So to resume the Burmese history between 1948 and 1961, we have to see that Burma was a

very fragile state when it became independent. Soon after its independence, many ethnic

minorities felt betrayed in their wish for autonomy that was guaranteed in the Panglong

Agreement and the Karen started to fight for independence. The United States used the fragile

and tense situation by recruiting Guomindang soldiers who just started in drug business. The

Guomindang brought a lot of fear and threat to the local civilians, and they probably

controlled Lahu territories, where they tortured and threatened civilians to produce more

opium. At the same time, the CPB became more and more popular, as they were the ones who

fought for independence and many people wanted to get over the colonial past. As in many

Communist countries or among pro-Communist ethnic groups at that time, the main

motivation to join Communism was not the identification with the Communist philosophy,

especially its written works, but rather the Communist main idea of equality of everybody and


3/13


____________________________________________________________________________________________________

the right that everybody can be free without producing for a monarch or to be indepted to

someone.

After a joint Sino-Burmese military campaign that freed Burma from the Guomindang, Ne

Win conducted a coup dtat and started his gruesome Burmanisation, threatening all Chinese

in his country.

As a result of Ne Wins brutal suppression of Chinese, the Chinese government probably

supported the CPB which liberated many areas in Shan and Kachin State.

Since the ethnic minorities stand in a certain tradition, it is no surprise that on the other hand

many rebel armies being in favor for independence arose, rather than supporting being part of

Burma. The reason is evident as it is in a historical tradition. The Shan State for instance was

a scattered landscape of many Shan States in the past, and there was a monarch hierarchy.

While Burma was still part of British India, the Federated Shan States were formed in 1922,

and when British Burma was segregated out of British India, still the Shan States were ruled

by their local monarchs. After the independence of Burma, this system vanished. Some Shan

stayed in their traditional roots, showing grief over the loss of monarchy, while many others

showed sympathy for the idea that everyone is equal. Therefore, the split in two fractions that

want to control one territory is evident. However, the monarchs played no specific role in the

rebellion, they were replaced by drug lords and other dark-shadow businessmen. There has to

be one more fact added. Not all the Shan States were part of British Burma. The very northern

Shan States were part of Qing Dynasty China, and the local monarchs were tributary towards

the Chinese emperor. The Chinese Shan States are known as the Nine Shan States, most of

them were located in Yunnans Xishuangbanna.

However, some parts of nowadays Myanmar were part of Qing China in the past, such as

Kokang, which was self-governed by local rulers, as the area is very remote, however it was

confirmed to be on Chinese territory by the 1894 Sino-British boundary convention.

Just to mention by the way, the historical area of Burma was very small and mainly tangling

in nowadays Magwe Region, Sagaing Region and Mandalay Region as one can see on a Map

of Burma published in 1886 (by the Scottish Geographical Magazine and edited by Hugh A.

Webster and Arthur Silva White). North of traditional Burma as well as west of it, one could

find independent tribes which were bordering Yunnan. To the east the Burmese Shan States

and next to it, the Thai Shan States were situated. The South of Burma was already occupied

by British Burma at that time, mainly nowadays Rakhine State, Bago Region and Yangon

Region. The areas south of it were traditionally Mon-speaking.


4/13


____________________________________________________________________________________________________

To take this as basis to understand the mentality of the people, we can say that most areas of

the Shan States were culturally under Chinese influence, some however remained rather

isolated in their culture (Southern Shan States) or were closely to Thailand and its system.

Thus, the whole Shan State felt threatened by the Burmanisation and northern areas such as

Kokang and Wa territories in Shan State were controlled by the CPB, while the Shan State

Army was probably agitating in the South and border areas to Thailand trying to push its

forces northwards. In 1985, Khun Sa appeared on both, the internal stage of politics and as

major drug lord, becoming one of the most wanted men of the United States. He led the Mong

Thai Army and set his headquarter in Ho Mong in a far southern part of Shan State, directly at

the Burmese-Thai border.

Later, the Thai army fought him back into the hinterland, where he stayed active until his

army surrendered and members joined other insurgent groups.

Khun Sa is a very controversial figure. For some people, he might be seen as a liberator, since

he stopped the Burmese oppression in the territories he controlled, and probably protected the

villages. In return, a certain loyalty might be expected to him especially in trading. As Khun

Sa was probably the most powerful drug lord, and drug trading is always a matter of a lot of

violence and suppression, I would oppose that Khun Sa was a freedom fighter. Indeed, several

generals being involved in the conflicts in Northern Myanmar were involved in very dirty

businesses, but at the same time due to their ethnic backgrounds granted protection towards

ones own ethnic group or civilians of other groups and villages loyal to the general,

sometimes because of historical reasons but sometimes because of fraterniztion of minority

groups. An example for this might be Peng Jiasheng. He was involved in drug trade and a

powerful figure in this field, but at the same time, his army protected the people from the

Burmese junta. His autonomous state within Myanmar, that became famous later as Special

Region No. 1 can not be compared to both, Western states and Eastern states and their

cultures, but instead was a certain military authority, in which many local young men and

women volunteered to safeguard the area and people, and in return, Peng assured the security

and safety of their families, or villages, in general. Whether this theoretical construction

worked cannot be said until today, as tensions are ongoing after the Burmese took control

over Sepcial Region No. 1 in 2009, and Myanmar was too isolated in the past to get a glimpse

into the development of specific regions. However, when the Burmese took over the area,

many people fled the Burmese regime and a lot of Kokang stay in China. At the same time,

the Kokang still living in Myanmar oppose Burmanisation and struggle for the realisation of

the promised autonomy. Therefore, it can be assumed that Peng was widely respected, since


5/13


____________________________________________________________________________________________________

military hierarchy thinking never ceased in mentality in Northern Myanmar, as Chinas Qing

dynasty was a Confucian hierarchial system, later on Kokang was more or less colonised,

which was also based on monarchical thinking, and thus, the idea that another leader comes

into this place, might be unquestioned by many.

Anyways, lets go back to the 1980s for a second to be able to understand the more recent

conflicts. On 8 August 1988, a nation-wide protest against Ne Wins regime occured in all

over Burma, known as 8888 Uprising. Ne Wins Burmese Way to Socialism finally failed.

Interestingly, Socialism never was established at all during Ne Wins rulership. Instead, mass

persecutions and oppression were daily. Ne Win was that anti-Socialist, that many people

seeked real Socialism and supported the CPB in the underground. The Uprising against Ne

Win was suppressed, however he finally had to resign on 23 July 1988. Ne Win also had a

certain influence on the new junta that was probably Ne Win-backed at first. However, the

junta soon became independent from him in the following years and Ne Win became

unimportant. After a try to come back into power in 2002, he was put under house arrest and

soon later on 5 December 2002 he died in Yangon. The people of Myanmar were not

informed about his death and there was no state funeral. Seemingly, no foreign delegate and

no internal delegate attended the funeral, probably not even his old friends and colleagues.

On 18 September 1988, Ne Wins party, the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) was

dissolved. One year later, in 1989, the CPB also came into trouble when fraction fights and

disputes among different minority leaders appeared. Low rank generals probably rebeled

against their commanders and the CPB areas split apart and fell down. Although the CPB

exists up to this day, they lost their complete influence due to these internal fights.

As a result, many high ranked CPB generals founded new insurgent groups, mostly with their

loyal cadre, to keep control of their lands. In 1989, Peng Jiasheng founded the Myanmar

National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) which is sometimes simply refered to as

Kokang army as he controlled Kokang area to unite all ethnic minorities in a party who seek

democracy. When refering to democracy in this term, it is refered to as the way Peng saw

democracy. For simplification I want to call it Burmese insurgent democracy at this point,

whether it is really democratic or not has to be answered later.

This plan however was soon abolished and the new state reason was to promote Kokang

nationalism. Sometimes, it is claimed that he also seeked separatism, but I doubt it. Peng

never declared independence from Myanmar. He seemingly saw himself as ruler witihin

Myanmar who did not try to segregate the territory, but denied the Burmese government to be

a legal representative. However, the MNDAA was the first insurgent group which signed a


6/13


____________________________________________________________________________________________________

ceasefire with the central government, and the territory that Peng controlled was designated as

Shan State Special Region No. 1 Kokang. In fact, Peng had the total power over his territory,

and thus complete autonomy was established. The MNDAA had its headquarters in Laukkai

also known as Laukkaing. Another important insurgent group being formed following the

8888 Uprising was the All Burmas Student Democratic Front, which is active in all border

regions. The organisation has close ties to the Karen and Kachin armies, although their

ideology is antimilitaristic. In the same year the Chin National Army was founded, as well as

the United Wa State Army. The latter one is the armed wing of the United Wa State Party

which was founded after the CPB territories were about to fall down. The local CPB leader

Bao Youxiang, an ethnic Wa founded the Wa State which unlike the Kokang area formally

proclaimed independence from Myanmar and seeked close ties to China, where the Va also

make up a minority in bordering regions in Yunnan. However, I doubt that China actively

supports the Wa State as the Wa State is a famous area for illicit trading, drug trafficking,

gambling and probably other delicate issues that are major crimes in China. Therefore, since

drug smuggling and smuggling in general to China appeared in the past and Chinese

authorities are hard-working on eliminating these border crimes, it is rather unlikely that they

support one of the hot spots that are responsible for the border problems.

However, there are Chinese investments to get the area away from opium. In this way, the

Chinese politics have a method to pressure the Wa State in fighting illicit activity, since the

Wa rely on the economic help.

The ideology of the Wa State is Wa nationalism and Maoism, however, although many

Communist signs appear in the state, nothing is Communist at all. Instead of establishing a

Communist egalitarian society where everyone can live freely and without fear, the people

received a military junta that might be more oppressive than the junta of the Burmese

government. As a result, several parts of the Wa State are completely isolated, especially the

area of Wan Hoong, which borders Thailand is that isolated that almost no information leaves

the area. (It would be unfair not to mention that despite the internal political pressure in Wa

State, Chairman Bao and Secretary Zhao of the United Wa State Party did a lot of economic

growth and effort in their territory that is mostly absent or in not a quite good condition in

other parts of Shan State, including a wide range of electricity (and as a result machines,

goods, cell phones can be widely found), as well as raising living standards and infrastrucutre).

However, in 2009 they declared themselves to be an autonomous region within Myanmar and

accepted the Burmese sovereignity over their territory, although de facto nothing changed

politically. Until 2010, they were designated as Shan State Special Region No. 2 by the


7/13


____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Burmese government and transformed into Wa Self-Administered Division (Wa SAD).

Although the Wa State is regarded as legal government of the Wa SAD, the territory

designated as such is not identical with the de facto territory. The Wa State districts bordering

Thailand are actually not regarded to be Wa territrories under the Wa SAD by the central

government, some places, such as Hopang, the designated SAD capital by the central

government, are not under control of the Wa State. The Wa States capital is Pangkham,

formerly known as Panghsang until 1998. According to the central government, Pangkham is

part of Matman district, one of two districts in the SAD. The Wa State, however, continues to

use its own district system. Historically, the Wa States were administered by the local tribes

in Northern Myanmar and Southern Yunnan in China, and the Burmese Wa States were never

really under British occupation. It is sometimes reported the Wa rebelled against being

integrated into Burma until the 1960s or 1970s. Some Wa States were even probably witihin

Shan States. Mang Lon for instance was a Shan State being mainly composed of ethnic Wa.

Some northern Wa States probably became part of Qing China in the 19th

century as it was

reported that the Chinese Qing dynasty separated the Wa States out of the Shan States, and

thus gave Wa leaders greater autonomy. The Wa were famous for fighting and headhunting

until the 1970s, and therefore the Wa mentality is kind of warrior-like. Wa people always

fought for their interests and as a part of tribal clan system, people know to subordinate to the

interests of the tribe in hope for the most possible result for each member of the community,

as I suggest through their history. However, I dont really know the relationship between

tribal leaders and their subordinates in the traditional Wa system, I can just assume the above.

More field research should be done on this area of interest.

The Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) founded the Shan State Army North (SSA-N) in 1971

fighting for freedom in Kesi Township, as a result of the split off former Shan State Army.

Their headquarters is in Wan Hai in Kesi Township in Loilem District. After the SSA-N

agreed to a ceasefire in 1989, just after the Kokang and Wa, the area became Shan State

Special Area No. 3 Wan Hai.

Although the ceasefire with the SSA-N was renewed in 2012, Wan Hai was not designated as

a special region as it is ethnically Shan, and the members originally fought for representing

the whole Shan State, although their power was restricted to Wan Hai after 1989. As a result,

in 2015 the Burmese army attacked several areas in Loilem District, as well as Lashio District

where the SSA-N has its main influence. Many civilians were targeted and thus many had to

flee their homes and hid in the jungle eventually leading to a humanitarian crisis. The SSA-N

keeps its ceasefire. It was rumored that there is the danger however that the SSA-N and the


8/13


____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Shan State Army South (SSA-S) could clash, as both want to be representatives of the

whole Shan State.

Despite the MNDAA in Kokang, another group bearing the same name became active in

Mong La. To avoid confusion, they are often refered to as National Democratic Alliance

Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS), or simply Eastern Shan State Army. The Eastern

Shan State Army has extreme friendly ties to the MNDAA, and it can be assumed that the

area in Mong La wanted to be part of the MNDAA territories in hope to unite several

minorities in one territory. However, unlike the MNDAA, the NDAA-ESS promotes Shan

nationalism, rather than Kokang nationalism and probably became a political stranger with

the MNDAA, leading to a different polity. Besides, they use another flag than the MNDAA.

After they signed a ceasefire with the central government in 1989, they became Shan State

Special Region No. 4 Mong La. The Eastern Shan State arose out of the CPB, the local

chairman and leader of the NDAA-EES is Lin Mingxian, also known under his Shan name

Sai Leun.

After the Wa State switched alliance to the central government after signing a peace deal in

2013, the SSA-S feared that the Wa State might conduct counteractions against their former

allies, and support the Burmese army, as the Wa State might know the tactics of the inurgent

groups. It was reported that the Wa State took part in joint military strikes until the SSA-S

signed a ceasefire agreement in 2015.

In the 2008 constitution, the Taang (Deang) also known as Palaung people was granted

an autonomous territory, which was established in 2010 bearing the name Pa Laung Self-

Administered Zone. The area is de facto controlled by the Taang National Liberation Army

(TNLA), being founded in 1992. The TNLA did not agree to a ceasefire and thus is still an

active combat in the Burmese civil war. The Pa-O National Organisation and its military wing,

the Pa-O National Liberation Army control several areas in Shan State that are designated as

Pa-O Self-Administered Zone in the new constitution. They are fully controlled by the Pa-O

National Organisation which is in a ceasefire with the central government. The Pa-O are

mainly burmanised, and besides their language they mainly speak Burmese, a few probably

speak the local lingua franca Shan. However, most Pa-O seemingly are unable to speak

Chinese, Shan States former lingua franca (and still lingua franca in some parts!).

Besides many ethnic minorities, the Danu, a sub-group of the Bamar, were granted the Danu

Self-Administered Zone. They speak a local Burmese dialect, Danu Burmese. The Intha

people (also a subgroup of Bamar), speak the Burmese Intha dialect and the Taungyo people


9/13


____________________________________________________________________________________________________

(also ethnic Bamar) speak the Taungyo dialect. Most Burmese in Shan State settle in Pindaya

area and near Lake Inle.

Here comes another important point. There are not just ethnic minorities fighting for

autonomy, but also sub-groups of the Bamar that engage in insurgent activities, such as the

Arakanese people, who are also known as Rakhine. They speak the Arakanese language,

which is in fact a Burmese dialect, known as Rakhine Burmese dialect. However, the

Arakanese had independent dynasties and were united in one kingdom and seemingly never

defined themselves as Burmese, but as a different ethnic group. For this reason, it might be no

surprise that the Arakanese also resist the Burmanisation, despite speaking Burmese.

As a result of suppression, the Arakan Liberation Army was founded in 1968, which is the

armed wing of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), being active in Rakhine State and Kayin

State. In 2012, they agreed to sign a ceasefire. In 2010, a new armed group, the Arakan State

Army (ASA), also known as Kayin Arakan Army was established in Kayin. They probably

have around two dozens of fighters and are of no real importance, and thus remain a minor

insurgent group that still continues fighting. One year before, another group called Arakan

Army was founded and went to Kachin State for training, therefore called Kachin Arakan

Army. However, the central government of Myanmar recently pushed back the Kachin

Independence Army, which then set up its new headquarters in Lai Za. Therefore, the Kachin

Arakan Army fighters were trapped in Kachin and most of them could not leave yet. As a

result, they keep on fighting alongside the Kachin Independence Army. Their headquarters

therefore can be found in Lai Za, too. As last, we have to look at the Naga Self-Administered

Zone, which is situated in Sagaing Region. The area was controlled by an insurgent group,

which had Christian extremism and right-wing populism as main ideology. I would not agree

that this kind of ideology fits in the definition usually known as Naga nationalism, as can be

found in Nagaland in India.

As the background of the insurgent groups is pointed out clearly, in the end, I want to point

out some arguments to the questions that I left behind before, to avoid confusion and excursus.

At first, one might see that I sometimes use Burma and sometimes use Myanmar. The term

Myanmar was adopted in 1989 as there are not only Bamar in the country, but many

Myanmarian minorities, and therefore the country name is not only restricted or exlusively

refering to one ethnic group, but to the many ethnic groups in the country. The name change

in fact is a kind of anti-discrimination of minorities that are now included in the name of the

state. As a fun fact of history, American media still uses the name Burma, although this name

excludes half of Myanmars population. In my article, I refer to events following 1990 as


10/13


____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Myanmar. (Another fun fact worth to mention is the renaming of Burmese language in

Myanmar language in official sources, and as mentioned above the renaming of the country

made a lot of sense, but the renaming of the language is sensless as the Myanmar language

cannot claim to represent all ethnic groups in Myanmar, and is only a local language by the

Bamar, thus the Burmese. Therefore, the name of Myanmar language is another try for

Burmanisation of all groups.)

When I talked about the Kokang Democracy Party or Myanmar National Truth and Justice

Party and its military wing, the MNDAA, I talked of Burmese insurgent democracy. I would

call it semi-democratic, since on the one side there is just a single party in the area, but on the

other hand, it is a very fragile and war-torn area, and therefore one should not expect to find a

multi-party system. Another factor is the mentality, as Kokang mentality does not demand for

a multi-party system, but rather a government that meets the needs of the people. Being in a

state of emergency as the Kokang had to avoid Burmanisation and thus their own assimilation,

the military one-party design is quite normal. After the local forces were driven out of

Kokang and the Burmese army took over the area, the democratisation process or at least

the hope for a minortity-friendly democratisation process was destroyed, as the Burmese

military is regarded very repressive. In April 2010, the newly founded Kokang Democracy

and Unity Party which also participates in Lashio District and Kunlong District took up the

Guomindangs Three Principles of the People of Sun Yatsen and promotes national

conservatism and anti-communism. Although the party seemingly tries to continue the

Burmese insurgent democracy, in which old values, norms and hierarchy (the conservative

elements), military and martial arts (the cultural component), but also freedom from the

Burmese military occupation and political participation Confucian-styled, play a large role,

taking up the Guomindang ideology is a step back rather than a step forward. The negative

stance towards Communism is another problem. Of course, even the officially Communist

Wa State and their leaders Bao and Zhao had only a very, very few aspects for Communism

and thus were loosly partners in the CPB without a real ideological background, but the idea

of an egalitarian society where workers and peasants and they make up almost everyone in

unindustrialised Myanmar, especially in rural areas and remote places as can be found in Shan

State and local villagers hope to have a government that respects workers and peasants

needs. However, they have no affiliation to any Communist ideology, and thus in practise

Communism was never established in Wa State, but people see the social compount in the

development and modernization of infrastructure and growing possibilities of working and

working conditions. The Kokang Democracy and Unity Party is rather in the right-wing


11/13


____________________________________________________________________________________________________

spectrum, same as the Wa Democracy Party that relies a lot on local values and is national

conservative and Wa nationalist. The Wa Democracy Party is active in areas that are inhabited

by Wa people, but not under control of the Wa State.

Recently ethnic minority interests can be found in local parliaments, too, for instance in Shan

State. In the Shan State Hluttaw, the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy represents the

Shan people, the Taang National Party gives the Taang minority a voice, the Lahu National

Development Party represents the Lahu, the Lisu National Development Party is for the Lisu,

the Pa-O National Organisation (remember that the Pa-O National Army controls the SAZ)

represents the Pa-O in the Shan parliament, the Akha National Development Party represents

the Akha (being close to the Yi and Hani), the Wa National Unity Party is for the Wa and the

Kokang Democracy and Unity Party claims to back the interests of the Kokang.

Recently, ethnic minorities gain a voice in politics as shown above, which hopefully will be a

step to stop the Burmanisation of ethnic minorities and to strengthen the two local lingua

francas, Shan and Chinese, which traditionally dominate the area. Among local traders

Chinese and Thai remain the main languages, but it is important that education will be

available for everyone. Shan rebels and insurgent groups installed temporary schools in their

refugee camps, in Northern Shan State among the border to China, Shan State Special Region

No. 1, 2 and 4 use the Chinese education system and Chinese resources to ensure education.

As many insurgent groups agreed to a ceasefire but still have their bases and areas of control,

the political field in many parts of Myanmar is still a mess. Before 2008, Yawd Serk, the

leader of the SSA-S, installed the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), a political

institution where he appointed ministers and deputies, and also declared himself the chairman

of Shan State. He was the de facto head of state in the territory controlled by the SSA-S, but

his RCSS also had an influence in other areas of Shan State (competing with SSA-N), as well

as Shan refugee villages in Thailand. Between 2008 and 2010, Yawd Serk appointed himself

leader of Shan State and installed the Shan State Council (SSC), in which the RCSS was

integrated as a political party, besides the Pa-O National Liberation Organisation, the Tai

Coordination Committee, the Lahu Democratic Union, and the Wa National Organisation

(seemingly reactivated as a same-called Wa insurgent group already ceased in 1997). Yawd

Serk withdraw his claims on Shan State in 2010, and after the SSA-S signed a peace treaty in

2014, he served as mediator among conflicts between ethnic minorities and the Burmese

government and has become a well-respected politician.

The future of Myanmar is still not clear and tensions are not over yet. If someone should be

awarded for pushing Myanmar forward and encouraging peace, then it is former leader Thein


12/13


____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sein. Of course, under his leadership minorities still suffered a lot due to the military, but as

an internal struggle took place, Thein Sein did not have full control over the military, and thus

gruesome crimes were possible. However, Thein Sein intervened to secure minorities and put

a lot of reforms forward. It was Thein Sein who did as many efforts as no other Burmese

president since the independence of Myanmar, and no one encouraged freedom that much

while being in office. What did the new government do after taking power in February 2016?

Until now, not much! The hope for a rapid change was very high, but as one can see fighting

among minorities goes on and the country still faces desastrous consequences of past-

Burmanisation. On the other hand, there are so many things that are still to face, and so many

crisis and the government just came into power, so we should not expect to much, since

politicians are just human-beings and they cant solve everything within one single day. But

the expections on the new government are high, and as fighting between insurgent groups and

the Burmese military goes on, the new government, that has many prominent political

activists in its ranks, should open its arms for those groups that just like them fought for

freedom for decades. But the views on freedom among the fractions are very different, and

talks wont be easy. Aung San Suu Kyi and her government have to prove now, that they can

do better than the previous administrations in Myanmar. But the start is quite disappointing

after she denied that the Rohingya are no Burmese citizens, denying that an ethnic cleansing

took place (although there is evidence that ethnic cleansing took place!), and silencing over

the riots. At the moment, she is rather the shadow of hope that people know from the past, an

abstract hope.

Annotation:

It is a very wide spread rumor that the Wa State already switched alliance in 2008 or even

before and joined military campaigns with the Burmese army, and were sometimes labeled as

proxy force for the Burmese. The truth in this rumor is that the Wa State really supported the

Burmese army in joint campaigns against the SSA-S in the early 2000s, but there is no

evidence that they switched alliance (or at least it cant be said for sure), since the Wa State

continued to support Kokang, Mong La and Kachin rebels. In 2009, the Burmese army sent a

warning to the Wa State by taking over Kokang. In 2010, the Wa State denied to give away

territory that connects the Wa State with Mong La (Special Region No. 4). However, one year

later they renewed the ceasefire with the Burmese army and continued active support in


13/13


____________________________________________________________________________________________________

fighting other insurgent groups. Therefore, I do not agree that the Wa State served as proxy

force for the Burmese army. My assumption in supporting the fight against the SSA-S before

2010 is that the Wa State saw a threat in the SSC that also hosted a political Wa organisation.

Therefore, I suggest the Wa State only supported the Burmese government in cases where the

Burmese government fought an enemy of the Wa State and needed the knowledge of

insurgent guerilla warfare. (The Wa State government can be seen as very opportunitist in

many cases.)

Timo Schmitz. Published on 12 June 2016

http://schmitztimo.wordpress.com

Suggestion for citation:

Schmitz, Timo: The modern history of insurgent-driven Myanmar and post-independent Burmanisation, self-

published online article, 12 June 2016, http://schmitztimo.wordpress.com

Documents

The Modern History of Insurgent Driven Myanmar