Chinese Generals Backing Kokang Insurgents In Burma

(With enormous Chinese help Kokang Army is fighting a deadly proxy war for China.)

On February 9 the six years-old peace and quiet in the remote Kokang land known as First-Special-Administrative-Region in North-Eastern Burma was suddenly broken by the ferocious attack on the small people militia unit of Htout-Shwe Village at just few miles north of Kun-Lone Town on the Salween River.

A company-strength mobile column of Burmese Army IB-125 (Infantry battalion-125) then responded the seemingly small-scale attack and met unexpectedly with more-than-500-strong insurgent unit of Kokang rebel army or MNDAA (Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army) manned mostly by PLA soldiers moonlighting as Chinese mercenaries digging in and waiting to kill Burmese.

The well-planned Chinese ambush killed four officers and seven soldiers of Burmese Army column and wounded severely two officers and eleven soldiers. Most Burmese deaths are by the high-powered bullets from Baraett-liked Chinese-made .50 calibre sniper rifles. The concentrated Chinese sniper fires basically killed and wounded all the officers of the army column.

At the same time on February 9 the Kokang insurgents (mainly Chinese mercenaries) attacked Burmese Army units from Kut-Khaing-based IB-125 at Kone-Gyan and Nyan-Khun and killed also many officers and soldiers. Another Chinese mercenaries unit also raided the Border Post camp at BP-161(1) at Maw-Htaik and wounded four Burmese border guards.

Surprise Two Days Raid Inside Burma By Chinese

Next day on February 10 the Burmese Army reinforcements from IB-143 were ambushed multiple times at the 18-Miles on the road between Kone-Gyan and Nyan-Khun. Two-hundred-strong insurgent force waiting at Tar-Shwe-Htan then ambushed a Burmese Army column from LIB-522 (Larsho-based Light Infantry battalion-522) and killed one officer and 29 other ranks and wounded 39 Burmese soldiers.

Another group of 200-strong Chinese unit also attacked the Burmese Army Forward Base at Kone-Gyan but the reinforcement arrived and the Chinese attack was expelled. The withdrawing Chinese then raided Yan-lone-kyaing Police Station and killed many policemen there.

During those two days there were thirteen major engagements between Burmese army units and the invading Chinese units of MNDAA. Those battles were so intense Burmese Air Force and heavy artillery units of Burmese Army were forced to support battling army units.

All together five officers and forty-two soldiers were killed and eleven officers and sixty-two other ranks were severely wounded. And today intense battles are still raging in Kokang Land amid the thousands of casualties on both sides.

More than 5,000 Chinese mercenaries and a few hundred Kokang-Chinese are reported to have been fighting on the MNDAA side heavily armed with Chinese-supplied guns and provided with seemingly-inexhaustible ammunition freely direct from the PLA.

The surprise invasion appears to be supported by at least Yunan State Government if not the Chinese Central Government and Burmese President Thein Sein has responded by declaring State of Emergency and Martial Law in the Kokang Land on February 17 for three month period.

Chinese Resurrection of Dead Tiger “Phone Kyar Shin”

The Chinese-back invasion obviously was the brainchild of MNDAA Chief Peng Jiasheng widely known in Burma as Phone Kyar Shin who was driven out of power by Burmese Army in 2009 and since been hiding in China.

Just before his sudden incursion into Burma Peng Jiasheng and his Kokang ethnic cause were publicised by China’s state-run Global Time newspaper and Chinese authorities also released his sieged properties and blocked bank accounts back to him.

Peng Jiasheng and his son-in-law

The apparent resurrection of Peng Jiasheng by China and Peng now fighting a proxy war for China are all part of the strategic plan China had been playing since Burma relaxed her xenophobic rules and opened the economy to the West. Burma’s Spring apparently has seriously threatened China’s Second Blue Water strategy of gaining access to the Indian Ocean through Burma.

China’s PLA is even rumoured to have been developing detail plans and tactics to invade Burma in case the Chinese strategic interests such as “Chinese Oil and Gas Pipelines through Burma” were threatened by the hostile incidents inside Burma. According to Burmese Army sources the “Strategic Infiltration Supported By Intense Sniper Warfare” tactic now being used by the Chinese mercenaries of Peng’s Kokang Ethnic Army obviously was one of those PLA secret strategies developed specially for Burma Invasion.

The arrest and charging of the senior PLA strategist Major General Huang Xing exposed by the South China Post newspaper basically confirmed the widespread Burmese suspicion that the PLA truly was behind the Kokang ethnic rebels now waging a ferocious war in Burma.

Thapa Bride over Salween River in Kokang Land.

South-China-Post’s Expose On The Chinese General  

A senior PLA strategist will face a military court on fraud charges that sources say are a cover for the officer's alleged leak of state secrets to armed rebels in Myanmar. Major General Huang Xing, the former head of the research guidance department at the Chinese Academy of Military Science, was detained for "serious disciplinary violations" earlier this year, a phrase often used by the Communist Party to refer to alleged corruption.

He was among the 14 generals the PLA Daily announced on Monday had been detained over the last two months for alleged graft or related crimes.

A source close to the academy said Huang's chief offence was violating military discipline by allegedly leaking state secrets to rebels in the Kokang region of northern Myanmar during fighting in the Southeast Asian nation in 2009.

The main rebel force in Kokang is the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, who are ethnic Chinese and once formed part of Communist Party forces in the region. "He [Huang] was arrested recently and charged with committing fraud," an academic source said, but gave no further details on the case.

PLA Major General Huang Xing

Another source who claimed to be Huang's friend told the South China Morning Post that the major general was charged with "swindling one million yuan [HK$1.25 million]". The details were not clear, but the friend suggested the allegation was a pretext to " take Huang down".

"One million yuan should not be a strong enough reason to charge a major general. Other generals facing corruption investigations have all allegedly received much more than that," the friend said. "Huang's family handed in the one million yuan, but the authorities still went ahead and charged him. I suspect somebody is just waiting for an opportunity to bring him down."

The PLA Daily reported that Huang was investigated by military graft-busters in January over "serious disciplinary violations". His case had been handed over to military judicial institutions, it added. The military newspaper did not mention Huang's alleged relationship with Kokang rebels. The People's Liberation Army strictly forbids officials contacting foreign military personnel without prior approval.

Myanmar's chief of military affairs security last month alleged that Kokang rebel forces had received training and advice from former Chinese soldiers during a recent upsurge in fighting. He also hinted the rebels had received support from China. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing and the Kokang rebel leader denied the claim.

Chinese M99 50 Cal sniper rifle used by Kokang Rebels.

Professor Arthur Ding Shu-fan, a PLA expert at the Taipei-based Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, said he was surprised to see Huang's name on the list of the 14 disgraced generals.

"Huang is quite famous for his research work on military strategies. As a military scholar, I didn't think he would be implicated in corruption because he wouldn't have had many opportunities to take bribes," he said.

Two retired senior colonels said Huang's detention was due to a combination of factors. They said Huang's involvement with the Kokang rebels was a "political mistake" and an embarrassment to the PLA hierarchy. "The fact that this is not mentioned [in the PLA Daily report] suggests that the top leaders may feel embarrassed. Instead they picked a more convenient charge to punish him with," one of the retired officers said.

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