Wa armed group allows work on Chinese-backed dams in Myanmar despite public opposition

Subscribe to the Myanmar Now daily newsletter. It's free. Sign up > One of Myanmar’s most powerful armed groups is supporting Chinese investors’ controversial plans to resume work on a hydropower dam project in northern Shan State, according to civil society groups and local sources. The potential resumption of the Chinese-backed Naung Pha dam project has raised concerns since the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the largest ethnic armed group in Myanmar by manpower, deployed some 2,000 of its troops to the town of Tangyan, northern Shan State in July. According to local sources, the UWSA has taken control of the entirety of northern Tangyan Township, giving them control over access to the dam project construction sites on the Thanlwin (Salween) River. Map indicating the location the Naung Pha and Mantong dam sites relative to Tangyan Township and UWSA-controlled areas (Shan State Frontline Investment Monitor) Since mid-August, at least a dozen Chinese businessmen have visited the Naung Pha dam site escorted by UWSA troops, according to Shan State Frontline Investment Monitor (SSFIM), a civil society group that researches development and investment projects in northern Shan State. China and Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in constructing hydropower dams on the Thanlwin River in late 2009. The planned construction of the Naung Pha dam was initially undertaken as part of the Mantong dam project, a larger joint venture involving the Chinese state-owned company Hydropower China and Myanmar’s military crony-owned company International Group of Entrepreneurs. “The construction of the Mantong dam is currently underway, with crews clearing the site to lay the foundation,” an SSFIM representative said. The Mantong site is located on Nam Ma Creek, a tributary of the Thanlwin River, in northern Shan State’s Hopang Township. Locals confirmed construction is ongoing at the site. Hopang Township is part of the Wa Self-Administered Division, a territory controlled by the UWSA and its political wing, the United Wa State Party, with broad legal autonomy from Myanmar authorities. The Naung Pha site is a few miles to the west, upriver on the Thanlwin River’s mainstem. The site of a third dam project backed by Chinese investors on the same river, located farther upstream in Kunlong Township. Public opposition to the Thanlwin projects, arising from concern about threat of flooding and other environmental harms from damming the river, led to orders to stop construction on the Naung Pha and Mantong sites under the civilian administration of National League for Democracy. However, in a possible show of favour to Chinese interests, the UWSA allowed work on the Mantong project to continue within their territory, prompting more recent concerns that they will do the same at the Naung Pha site. United Wa State Army troops are present at both the Mantong and Naung Pha dam sites, according to the SSFIM, citing local sources. However, Nyi Yan, a spokesperson for the UWSA, told Myanmar Now he was unaware of any work on dam projects in Tangyan Township. “If the construction of these dam projects is completed, it could have a significant impact on the ecosystem and might also prompt the initiation of other dam projects along the Salween River,” a representative of SSFIM said.

Wa armed group allows work on Chinese-backed dams in Myanmar despite public opposition

The United Wa State Army appears to be helping Chinese investors resume construction at dam project sites on the Thanlwin River despite widespread concern about their environmental impacts, which led to the projects’ suspension before the coup

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