Chin resistance group seizes properties of Myanmar junta member Dr. Hmuh Thang

The Chinland Defence Force (CDF) Thantlang has confiscated properties belonging to Dr. Hmuh Thang, a member of Myanmar’s military junta, in Chin State’s Thantlang Township, the group announced on Monday.The move, which follows the seizure last month of Hmuh Thang’s home in the Chin State capital Hakha, is intended as punishment for his decision to remain in the regime, according to a CDF Thantlang spokesperson.“We’re not opposing him out of hatred. We’re opposing his actions,” the spokesperson said, adding that while Hmuh Thang has “done many good things for the people of Thantlang,” his continued role in the regime makes him accountable for the junta’s destruction of the town.“The lives of many Thantlang residents and resistance fighters have been sacrificed. Since he hasn’t changed his mind at all and continues to work with the military council, we decided this action was absolutely necessary,” the spokesperson continued.Hmuh Thang, 77, is a native of Thantlang Township and the Chin State chair of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the military’s proxy party. He has been a member of the State Administration Council, as Myanmar’s military regime is officially known, since February 17, 2023.The seized properties, valued at approximately 600 million kyat (around US$135,000), include two houses in Thantlang’s Ward 2, three plots of land, and farmland outside of the town, CDF Thantlang said in a statement. Inside Thantlang in February 2023 (Photo: Tial Hram Ling) According to the statement, the properties will be transferred to the state’s future government once civilian rule is restored.Hmuh Thang currently lives primarily in Naypyitaw and Yangon, but occasionally visits Chin State for official events, including Chin National Day. His home in Hakha was sealed and confiscated by CDF Hakha on February 25.Hmuh Thang first ran for public office in 1990, when he won the Thantlang constituency as an independent candidate. Later, representing the USDP, he contested the general elections of 2010, 2015, and 2020, winning only in 2015.While reports have emerged that he is among the founders of the newly registered New Chin Congress Party, which plans to compete in elections to be held by the junta, he has denied this, according to local Chin media.The European Union imposed sanctions, including travel restrictions, on Hmuh Thang in late 2023.Thantlang has been almost entirely destroyed by fire since the military seized power in 2021. Residents have been displaced for years, leaving the town to junta troops and Chin resistance forces who continue to compete for complete control.Currently, the junta’s primary footholds are at the Thantlang police station and Infantry Battalion 269 camp, while Chin resistance forces control most other areas, with frequent armed clashes occurring, according to the CDF Thantlang spokesperson.

Chin resistance group seizes properties of Myanmar junta member Dr. Hmuh Thang

The properties are located in and around the town of Thantlang, which regime forces have almost completely destroyed since 2021

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