Latest Chinese arrest warrants put Myanmar junta into an even tighter bind

Less than a month after issuing arrest warrants for Kokang officials with close ties to Myanmar’s junta, China has again signalled that it isn’t finished with piling pressure on the regime. On Sunday, it issued more warrants, this time for 10 individuals, including some of the most highly placed figures within the military-backed Kokang establishment. As in November, the latest warrants have revealed that a number of the prime suspects in China’s ongoing crusade to root out crime along its border with Myanmar are among the regime’s closest allies in the region. These include Bai Suocheng, Wei San, and Liu Zhengxiang, as well as members of their immediate families and other close relatives. Like Ming Xuechang and Maung Maung, the former military proxy party MPs targeted by last month’s warrants, their once untouchable status in the Kokang Self-Administered Zone (SAZ) owes a great deal to their relationship with successive juntas in Myanmar. Now the regime must make a decision: do China’s bidding and bring them to justice, or incur its wrath by remaining loyal to its longstanding partners in the region. Bai Suocheng Bai Suocheng, the Myanmar junta's most trusted friend in Kokang (Photo:AFP) Bai Suocheng is one of the military’s oldest friends in the Kokang region. He has held power there since 2009, when he helped the military force the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) out of Laukkai, the administrative centre of the Kokang SAZ, which was established the year before under Myanmar’s military-drafted 2008 constitution. The following year, he also became a Shan State legislator as a candidate for the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), setting himself up to become the inaugural chair of the Kokang SAZ. His two sons, Bai Yingnwe and Bai Yingcang (also known as Khin Maung Lwin and Khin Maung Win, respectively) have inherited much of his influence. Bai Yingnwe, the elder son, holds a high position within the Kokang military council, while Bai Yingcang leads the thousands-strong Kokang people’s militia. In March of this year, Bai Yingcang attended the Armed Forces Day ceremony in Naypyitaw as a special guest, reflecting the closeness between his militia and the Myanmar military. While there, he also met with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing. Bai Yingcang (circled) at the Armed Forces Day ceremony in Naypyitaw in March. (Photo: Myawaddy) On November 16, under pressure from China, the regime issued a warrant for Bai Yingcang’s arrest, accusing him of online fraud, kidnapping, illegal detention, and extortion. Hours later, however, it cancelled the order. On Sunday, China issued its own warrant for his arrest. The warrant has revealed that Bai Yingcang, like Ming Xuechang (who died, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, while the warrant against him was being carried out on November 16), is a Chinese national—an embarrassing fact for a regime that stringently excludes foreign nationals and anyone related to them from holding positions of power in Myanmar. In fact, six of the 10 warrants issued on Sunday by police departments in the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Fujian and Liaoning identify their targets as citizens of China. Wei San Col Wei San, chair of BGF 1006's central supervisory committee. (Photo: Kokang Border Guard Force) Wei San is chair of the central supervisory committee of Border Guard Force (BGF) 1006, a Kokang armed group under the direct command of the Myanmar military. A retired colonel in the junta army, he has long maintained lines of communication between BGF 1006 and the generals in Naypyitaw. In September, Wei San was one of seven elite militia leaders based in northern Shan State who had the opportunity to meet with Min Aung Hlaing in Lashio. This was just weeks before the MNDAA and its allies launched Operation 1027, an offensive that has seen the regime lose control of several towns and more than 200 outposts across the region bordering China. Wei San’s son, 42-year-old Wei Qingsong, was also among those named on Sunday as being wanted by the Chinese government. A Chinese citizen, his Myanmar name is Maung Maung (not to be confused with the Kokang businessman and USDP MP of the same name, who is already in Chinese custody). He is also on the BGF 1006 central supervisory committee. Wei Qingsong (left, in military uniform) with a junta military officer (Supplied) Wei Rong Chaw Chaw Aye, another Wei San relative, is also now wanted by the Chinese authorities. A prominent businesswoman, she is chair of the Hengli Group, a conglomerate that owns and operates a variety of enterprises in Laukkai, including hotels, a high school, a hospital, and a fire station. Liu Zhengxiang Liu Zhengxiang is chair of the Fully Light Group, Laukkai’s largest conglomerate. The brother of detained USDP MP Maung Maung, he is also the recipient of the honorary title of Agga Maha Thiri Thuddhama Mani Jotadhaya, conferred on him by Min Aung Hlaing in 2021. From 2016-2021, when the ousted ruling party, the National League for Democracy, was in power, he served in the Kokang SAZ administration. He has also held numerous other positions, such as chair of the Kokang region’s merchants and industrialists association and its urban development bureau. His Fully Light Group has a presence across Myanmar. Liu Zhengmao, his sone and general manager of the Fully Light Group, is also being sought by China for prosecution. China has shown that it is serious about apprehending those it accuses of defrauding its citizens on a massive scale, offering rewards of between 100,000 and 500,000 yuan (US$14,000-70,000) for information leading to their arrest. It has also warned that anyone who protects them will also be prosecuted in accordance with the law. A map shows the location of Fully Light Group companies across Myanmar (Fully Light) China has shown that it is serious about apprehending those it accuses of defrauding its citizens on a massive scale, offering rewards of between 100,000 and 500,000 yuan (US$14,000-70,000) for information leading to their arrest. It has also warned that anyone who protects them will also be prosecuted in accordance with the law. For its part, the Myanmar junta wants to be seen as cooperating with China’s efforts. In its recent battle press releases, it often includes reports related to scam cases. And according to China’s Ministry of Public Security, the regime has handed over more than 30,000 people believed to be involved in online crimes. It remains to be seen, however, how many high-profile perpetrators will ever see justice, given that many are close associates of a junta that has few priorities beyond clinging to power.

Latest Chinese arrest warrants put Myanmar junta into an even tighter bind

Some of those now being sought by China for rampant online crimes are among the regime’s closest Kokang associates

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