(Concise translation of Thuta Zaw’s article from MYANMAR NOW on 4 October 2024.)
MNDAA the Kokang Army has recently declared, as the
obivious response to China’s relentless pressure, that its members are now
being prohibited from travelling to the Western Nations especially the US, and
the ASEAN nations. The MNDAA also prohibited all their members from meeting or
discussing the crucial matters with those nations.
That is in addition to its declaration stopping all
collaboration, either politics or military, with US-aligned NUG (NLD’s exile
National Unity Government based in US) or any international organization that
opposed China, in early September this year. But China wants more than those
written assurances from seemingly recalcitrant MNDAA. China wants the Kokang
Army to withdraw from the prized Lashio City they captured from Myanmar Army
this year on July 25.
To force MNDAA to meet that impossible demand China has been severely blockading the Kokang Territory as their so-called Cut-5-Cuts Operation along the Chinese Border since last September. Strictly No Electricity, No Water, No Internet, No crucial supplies such as rice, fuel, medicines, and essential-consumables, and No Cross-border Movement. The whole Kokang-China border has been tight shut by a division of PLA, the People Liberation Army.
But the Kokangs are clever people for they are
using the Wa Territory down south next to Kokang Territory to get the stuff
from China and the UWSA has been benefitting from that. So what did China do
recently to close that blockade-loophole? They sent their Special Envoy for Asian Affairs, Deng Xijun to
a secret meeting with the UWSA and as usual the Narco-Insurgents UWSA leaked
the secret written minutes of that secret meeting to the press such as
Myanmar-Now and Eleven-Myanmar.
Following is their reports on that Secret
China-UWSA Meeting held on August-27 at Pu’er City in Southern-Yunan.
Not-so-Secret Meeting in Pu’er the Tea Capital
Pu’er City is in the south-central part of Yunnan
Province. Often referred to as China's Tea Capital, Puer is probably best known
as the source of Pu'erh Tea, a dark, fermented style of tea that is one of the
most prized kinds of Chinese tea. Pu’er City is one of the highest producing
areas of Pu'er tea today.
The secret meeting in Pu’er City was attended by
China’s Special Envoy for Asian Affairs, Deng Xijun and the top UWSA/UWSP
leaders including Kyauk Kaw An, Head of External Relations, and Bao Ai Kham,
Deputy General Secretary of the UWSP.
 |
| UWSA's Bao Ai Kham in Military Hospital visited by Dictator MAH. |
At that meeting, Deng Xijun applied maximum pressure, and he basically ordered the Wa leaders, to cooperate fully with China in blocking the MNDAA and the Kokang people from accessing China, especially through UWSA/UWSP-controlled Wa Special Administrative Region as the Kokangs are doing right now.
Deng Xijun repeatedly reminded the Wa leaders that
the Myanmar Army has been the only institution building the Nation of Myanmar
from the very beginning (1948-Independence from the Britain?) and ASSK’s NLD or
the National Unity Government, the NUG, won’t be able to substitute the role of
Myanmar Army in Burma. And his China will never accept the collapse of Myanmar
Army and the eventual victory of NUG and its PDF (People Defense Forces,
ironically armed with PLA’s Type-81 rifles) closely aligned to the US and the
West.
And thus, if the MDNAA is still holding the Lashio City and Shan-North, his China will not end the current blockade. He even added that China will take more devastating actions against MNDAA in future soon if the Kokang Army still do not return Lashio City to the Myanmar Army.
MNDAA is the army controlling Kokang Special
Administrative Region in Top Shan-North brodering China and the Lau-Kai and the
Chin-Shwe-Haw are two cities with main Burma-China cross-border trading gates
now being blockaded by the China’s PLA.
Despite the months-long China’s Blockade, Deng
Xijun angrily pointed out, the Kokang Army has been surviving and kept holding
Lashio City since they have access to essential goods and services from China
through Wa Region and Mine-Lar Special Administrative Region, both bordering the
Kokang Region and China.
Deng Xijun also threatened to the Wa leaders that,
if they refuse to collaborate immediately with China in blockading the MNDAA
they will also face similar blockade from China soon.
Big-Bad-China Revealing its Big-black-hands
After the August-3 Capture of Lashio City by the
MNDAA, Deng Xijun visited Nay-pyi-daw on August-8 and then again on August-14
when he accompanied Chinese Foreign Minister Wan Yi visiting Nay-pyi-daw. He
met the Myanmar Dictator General Min Aung Hlaing on both occasions and
discussed of Myanmar Army’s repeated defeats, including the fall of Lashio City
and the surrender of Northeastern-Military-Command (Ya-Ma-Kha), to the ethnic Northenrn
Alliance Armies (KIA, AA, MNDAA, and TNLA).
Immediately after those high-level-meetings with the Myanmar Dictator, Chinese Communist Government started imposing on the MNDAA and Kokang Region the “Cut-5-Cuts” total blockade.
China also has been pressuring the UWSA, the
strongest and the largest ethnic army among all the China-Border-Based Ethnic
Armed Organizations (EAO is a nice name for the ethnic narco-insurgents), to
stop supplying MNDAA and TNLA with weapons and ammunitions, and not to involve
in the war-of-resistance raging all over the Shan-North.
All despite with the knowledge that over a million
Chinese-Type-81 automatic assault rifles now carried by almost every rebel soldier in Myanmar came from the armories of Yunan-Based PLA divisions.
China Four Points Policy
Positions on Myanmar Affairs
At the Pu’er Meeting, China’s Special Envoy for
Asian Affairs Deng Xijun strongly emphasized that China believes that MNDAA’s aggressive
actions, FIRSTLY, by advancing well beyond their Special Region
No-1 known also as Kokang Self Administration Region and capturing Lashio City
has adversely affected China-Mynamar relationship, and SECONDLY, has been
severely interrupting the BRI (Belt-and-Road Initiatives) projects, and
THIRDLY, has given an opportunistic chance for US and WEST to interfere into
the Myanmar affairs.
He then stated to the Wa leaders the following four principal policy stances of Chinese Government.
(1) China will never recognize MNDAA’s capture and administration of Lashio City,
(2) MNDAA has been collaborating with US-supported-and-funded NUG, its PDF, and other armed groups opposing the Myanmar Army, and actively acting as the leading front to topple Myanmar Military Government,
(3) MNDAA is secretly planning together with Mandalay-PDF to capture Mandalay City while pretending to be collaborating with China by fighting for the freedom of Han Chinese people in Myanmar, and,
(4) MNDAA is publicly claiming to be collaborating with China in eliminating the Online-Scamming Gangs from the Koka, and then not only capturing Laukai and the while Kokang Region from the Myanmar Army but also marching to Lashio and capturing the City from the Myanmar Army.
Four Richest Kokang
Families Have Been Wiped-out
Out of five richest and most powerful families in Kokang the disobedient and greedy four families have been wiped out by China only because they opposed the China and harmed Chinese nationals, stated China’s Special Envoy for Asian Affairs Deng Xijun at the Pu’er meeting with Wa leaders.
Last ruling powerful family “Ming family” and three other rich Families consisting of the “Bai family” and “Wei family” and “Liu families” have been entrenched in Kokang for years, controlling the local economic lifelines and military resources. China had repeatedly accused them as ONLINE-SCAMMERs for various degrees of involvement in the telecommunications fraud industry, and finally destroyed them by arresting them and sentencing them long jail terms.
The Special Envoy Deng Xijun said that, despite the
brutal elimination of those four families, Kokang has still survived and
prospered under the “Phueng Family”, but if Phuengs
are to go Kokang will not be prospering or even surviving. Deng Xijun also
added that he had met the MNDAA leader Pheung Daxun personally and warned him
about the dire consequences if he kept disobeying China’s orders.
If they still refuse to give-in to the China’s demand to immediately withdraw from the Lashio City they the “Phueng Family” will be ruthlessly destroyed as the Fifth Kokang Family destroyed by China like other four Kokang families eliminated by China, threatened the Special Envoy Deng Xijun at the Pu’er meeting with Wa leaders.
He also added that next one to be punished will be
TNLA the Palaung Army which is collaborating with Mandalay-PDF to capture
Mandalay the second biggest city and the ancient royal capital of Burma before
the British Invasion in 19th century.
UWSA is Being Threatened by China
Myanmar Press
and people generally believe that the Chinese-style-sanction “Cut-5-Cuts” is an
unlawful action punishing not just MNDAA but to starve the people of Kokang
who are also the Han-Chinese.
Kokang Region doest not cultivate rice their Main
staple and thus they mainly rely on the rice imported from China. Kokang people
are now facing the starvation threat by China blocking rice import, healthcare
threat by the shortage of medicines because of China’s blockade, and survival threat
since China has blocked the supply of electricity and water and fuel.
Despite China repeatedly stating that they are just
punishing the MNDAA for their refusal to obey China’s order to withdraw from the
captured-Lashio, their blockading actions against Kokang people are basically
violating International Human Rights and Humanitarian laws.
Pressuring UWSA/UWSP to help China blockade MNDAA
and the Kokang Region is causing Wa leaders a lot of troubles as it is nearly
impossible task, and also creating political and military tension between UWSA
and MNDAA.
UWSA trying to defend against Chinese Accusation
At the Pu’er meeting the Wa leaders seemed to
explain the true situations on the ground to the Special Envoy, and also
denying most of his accusations as groundless rumors and innuendos.
The Wa leaders then replied to the Special Envoy
that they had been exactly obeying the policy orders from China by directing
all the border gate posts on the Wa/Kokang Border to strictly inspect every
vehicle entering or leaving the Wa Territory. They also explained to the
Special Envoy that nobody is allowed to transport rice, medicines, fuel,
weapons, ammunitions, and any other consumables from the Wa Territory to the
Kokang.
But, they added, they could only control the UWSA
personnel to obey the orders, and it is impossible to force the Wa civilians to
do so. Many civilians are crossing the Wa/Kokang Border every day and many are
just carrying personal loads of some essentials, which are not substantial, to
the Kokang Land.
Their reason of those personal trade flows between
Wa and Kokang was outright rejected by the Special Envoy Deng Xijun. He
countered their explanation by yelling at them that their replies were just
unacceptable excuses, for blocking only 90% and letting 10% go freely is making
China’s “Cut-5-Cuts” blockade ineffective.
He even accused them of not being an effective Wa
government at all by letting some Wa people do what they want. In China, added
him, the Chinese people must do what Chinese Government wanted them to do.
We are Watching you Wa via the Satellites above
He then warned them that the PLA has been watching
the Wa/Kokang border traffic in Realtime fulltime from the satellites and the
satellite images will be telling PLA and him if you Wa are disobeying China’s
orders.
Wa leaders responded by saying back to him that if
he could share those satellite images with them, they could do a better job of
controlling the cross-border traffic at the Wa/Kokang border. They then
complained to the Special Envoy that because of China’s electricity blockade
many Wa areas are forced to use Diesel Generators, and the Diesel fuel blockade
is adversely affecting some WSOP units and many Wa families.
Myanmar Press’s General Conclusion on the Pu’er Meeting Minutes
Chinese Foreign Minister Wan Yi’s international
promise of not interfering in the Myanmar affairs is completely opposite to the
ongoing MNDAA Blockade and the relentless pressure on the UWSA/UWSP to obey
China’s orders in helping China blockade the MNDAA and the Kokang Territory.
The well-known fact that the super-power China is
deeply and intentionally tangled in the Myanmar domestic affairs, both politically
and militarily. is clearly exposed in the leaked meeting-minutes of the Secret
Pu’er City Meeting between the China’s Special Envoy for Asian Affairs Deng
Xijun and UWSA/UWSP leadership.
Followings are the recent photos of people and refugees trying to enter China at Panwar on the Kachin border were blocked by the PLA after the border is being tightly shut as punishment to KIA the Kachin Army for not obeying China's order to stop fighting.
