Wa army claims control of China-Myanmar border town

The powerful United Wa State Army (UWSA) joined a recent offensive in northern Shan State to capture the town of Hopang from the junta alongside the ethnic Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) last Friday. The occasion marks the first time that the Wa army has participated in Operation 1027, launched against the military in the region in October by the Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armed organisations; its members include the MNDAA, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, and the Arakan Army, considered allies of the UWSA. The estimated 30,000-soldier UWSA is known as Myanmar’s largest ethnic armed group and controls the Wa Self-Administered Division in northern Shan State. The territory, recognised in Myanmar’s military-drafted 2008 Constitution, consists of two districts, or six townships: Hopang, Mongmao, Pangwaun (Pangwai), Matman, Namphan (Na Phan), and Panghsang (Pangkham). Yet Hopang—located on the Chinese border—along with Matman, have been under joint administration by the UWSA and Myanmar’s previous governments, and most recently, the current junta. “For the sake of not causing damage, as well as considering the demands and desires of the local people… after negotiations with all respective levels, we seized the town,” UWSA spokesperson Nyi Rang confirmed to Myanmar Now. Videos circulating on social media depict UWSA troops hoisting its flag above Hopang, accompanied by soldiers in MNDAA uniform. An anti-junta resistance group formed after the coup, the Bamar People’s Liberation Army—composed largely of ethnic Bamar youth—also stated on social media that it had participated in the seizure of Hopang alongside the Brotherhood Alliance and UWSA. Troops from the Bamar People’s Liberation Army pictured at the entrance to Hopang after assisting the UWSA in capturing the town from the military (BPLA) The capture of the town occurred around the same time that the MNDAA took full control of Laukkai, the capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Region, a fact that was confirmed by junta spokesperson Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun to junta-aligned media on Saturday. He claimed that the military had given up the city and its Laukkai Regional Operations Command Centre to the MNDAA out of concern for the safety of family members of Myanmar army soldiers, and to prevent what he said was artillery fire by the resistance from breaching the border to neighbouring China. “The shelling by armed groups is harming the military’s relationship [with China], as though this shelling is being done by the military—that’s why the regional commanders decided it was for the best,” Zaw Min Tun is quoted as saying. “In Laukkai, there are military families in addition to the soldiers. Considering their safety, the surrender was agreed.” Two Myanmar army generals, Brig-Gen Moe Kyaw Thu and Brig-Gen Tun Tun Myint, were seen in video footage on social media having drinks and a meal with MNDAA officials after surrendering to the Kokang forces on January 4. The MNDAA captured the command centre, which was headed by Moe Kyaw Thu, that day, after more than a month of battles around Laukkai. Stray shells from Laukkai exploded on the Chinese side of the border on January 3, injuring five people, and causing outrage from Chinese officials. “China will take necessary measures to safeguard the lives and property of Chinese nationals,” foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in response. Myanmar’s military council held a number of online and in-person meetings with Chinese government representatives following the fall of Laukkai. Chinese deputy foreign minister Sun Weidong visited the country from Thursday until Sunday, meeting with his counterpart in the military council Lwin Oo, as well as junta leader Min Aung Hlaing. China’s state-run media reported on Sunday that the topics of discussion included Chinese investment projects in Myanmar. “Both sides agreed to deepen the implementation of the common understandings between the leaders of the two countries, continue Belt and Road cooperation and the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, and accelerate the building of the China-Myanmar community with a shared future,” it said. Public security minister Wang Xiaohong also had an online meeting with Myanmar’s home affairs minister Lt-Gen Yar Pyae last Friday regarding security and stability along their shared border, the safeguarding of Chinese personnel and their projects, and crackdowns on massive online scam operations in the country, Chinese media said. Amid intensified fighting with the Arakan Army in Rakhine State, the military recently sent major reinforcements to Kyaukphyu District, around a pipeline that has been built to transport fuel to China and near the site of a special economic zone in which China is the largest shareholder.

Wa army claims control of China-Myanmar border town

The UWSA joins the Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armed organisations in taking over Hopang, which was partly under junta control

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