Wa state

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Coordinates: 22 ° 10 '  N , 99 ° 0'  E

ဝ ပြည်နယ်
Wa state
Flag of the Wa State.png
Capital Pangkham
surface 9,600 km²
population 558,000 (2005)
ethnicities Wa
Bago-Region Chin-Staat Irawadi-Region Kachin-Staat Kayah-Staat Kayin-Staat Magwe-Region Mandalay-Region Mon-Staat Naypyidaw Rakhaing-Staat Sagaing-Region Shan-Staat Tanintharyi-Region Yangon-Region Yangon-Region Bangladesch Bhutan China China Indien Indien Laos Thailand VietnamWa-Staat.png
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Territories under the control of the United Wa State Army, 2015

The Wa state ( wa Mēng Vax , Chinese  佤 邦 , Pinyin Wǎ Bāng ) is a quasi-autonomous, but not officially recognized state in Myanmar . Officially, it was part of Shan State until 2010 . The official name of the central government was Special Region 2 of Shan State . Since 2010 the area has been named 'Wa Self-Administered Division' by the central government. Wa State is on the border with the Chinese province of Yunnan . The capital is called Pangkham ( 邦康 , Bāngkāng , also 邦桑 , Bāngsāng ).

Power and administration

Wa State emerged from Special Region 2 after a ceasefire between the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Myanmar State Council for Peace and Development , the military government in 1989. The country is owned by the United Wa State Party (UWSP ) governs. The UWSP was guaranteed the greatest possible autonomy in a treaty as long as a new constitution for Myanmar is not passed. In addition, the Wa state has several exclaves on the Myanmar- Laotian border and on the border with Thailand . Official languages ​​are Wa and Standard Chinese . Very few people speak Burmese . The curriculum from Yunnan is taught in schools and not from Myanmar. By a decision by the current UWSP government, Wa and Mandarin are the official languages.

Political offices

The President of Wa State is Bao Youxiang ( 鮑有祥  /  鲍有祥 ), founder of the UWSP. The chief administrator is his older brother Bao Youyü ( 鮑有宇  /  鲍有宇 ). Another brother, Bao Youliang ( 鮑有良  /  鲍有良 ), is responsible for the security of the country .

Drug problem

Wa State, like the neighboring Special Zone 1, Kokang , is closely related to opium production in Myanmar and is often described as a country ruled by drug traffickers . The US government last claimed this in 2003 and 2005. In 2005 the UWSP officially declared the Wa state a “drug-free zone” and the cultivation of opium was banned. This measure is not uncontroversial, even at the United Nations .

Geography and economics

Map of the Wa State with Panghsang.

The country or Special Region 2 of the Shan state lies between the Saluen River and the border with China . It is primarily mountainous with deep valleys. The lowest points are about 600 meters above sea level, the highest mountains are over 3000 meters. In the past, the Wa state was heavily dependent on opium cultivation, opium trade and the production of heroin . For some time now there have been efforts to change that.

Large rubber plantations were created with Chinese help . China also helps with planting tea. Resettlement of residents from the mountain regions into fertile valleys is intended to encourage them to cultivate wet rice , maize and vegetables. Casinos are also operated in Wa State. The Wa state is economically heavily dependent on its Chinese neighbor. China supports the Wa state financially, with military and civil advisers and weapons. A United Nations aid program is also running to alleviate the plight of the former opium farmers.

Resettlement

In recent years, tens of thousands of people (other sources say over a hundred thousand) have been relocated from Wa State and central Shan State to the border with Thailand, often under duress. Observers believe that these actions are intended to strengthen the Wa’s position in the south of Shan State. Wa were also relocated from villages on mountain peaks to the surrounding valleys, officially to offer the residents an alternative to the cultivation of opium. Serious human rights violations were reported during the resettlement .

Tensions with the central government

Since 2009 the government of Myanmar has been trying to force the armed groups that have made ceasefire agreements into their Border Guard Forces program, or BGF for short . The command of these groups is to be transferred to the Myanmar military. Groups that join the Border Guard program are promised extensive autonomy in the new constitution.

Groups that do not want to be integrated into the program should be banned after April 24, 2010. The military threatens armed crackdowns against groups that refuse to join the military. And the military set an example by invading Special Region No. 1 Kokang in 2009. "In the Wa region in Myanmar (Burma) there is a threat of a new war between rebels and government troops," said the Foreign Office . A counter-proposal by the WA government, which could lead to a peaceful solution, was rejected by the Union government in early April. General Yawdserk of Shan State Army-South , a rebel army that has not signed a ceasefire with the government, warned on April 27, 2010 that the BGF program could plunge Myanmar and the WA state into a new civil war. Cooperation between the UWSA and the SSA-S can no longer be ruled out.

structure

Districts of Wa State

Wa State comprises seven districts (townships) of Shan State. Internally, the administrative authorities of Wa State divide their area into 15 districts.

literature

fiction
  • Alex O'Brien: Midnight in Burma. A Golden Triangle thriller. Asia Books, Bangkok 2001, ISBN 974-8303-58-6 (A novel about the daughter of a general in Wa State)
Non-fiction
  • Tom Kramer: The United Wa State Party. Narco-army or ethnic nationalist party? East-West Center, Washington 2007.
  • Hideyuki Takano: The Shore Beyond Good and Evil. A Report from Inside Burma's Opium Kingdom. Kotan Publishers, Reno NV 2002, ISBN 0-9701716-1-7

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Andrew Marshall, Anthony Davis: Soldiers of Fortune - "In return for keeping the peace, the UWSA was given full autonomy over what the regime termed" Special Region No. 2 ', which Bao christened' Wa state '”. In: Time . December 6, 2002, accessed September 22, 2019 .
  2. ↑ www.president-office.gov.mm Self-Administered Division and Self-Administered Zone
  3. ^ Myanmar Times New self-administered areas struggle to assert authority
  4. ↑ [1] Myanmar State / Region and Self-Administered Zones / Division map as PDF published by the UN 2013. Wa state marked with the number 4
  5. ↑ a b General background of the Wa ( Memento from September 29, 2005 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on September 18, 2019
  6. ↑ Wa leader takes a breather . ( Memento of October 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Shan Herald of April 18, 2006: “'Officially, Bao Youxiang is still the President of the Wa State Government and Commander-in-Chief of the United Wa State Army', said a Thai security officer, a ten-year veteran on the Thai-Burma border. "
  7. ↑ Wa reach Thailand's border . Burma Nachrichten, 4/2005 of February 25, 2005: "According to the United Nations Organization to Combat Drugs, UNODC and other observers, the implementation of the opium-elimination plan by 2005 threatens a serious humanitarian crisis for dependent farmers."
  8. ↑ Michael Tröster: The Wa in danger . In: Focus Asia No. 26: Poverty in the Land of the Pagoda of February 24, 2006, pp. 45–55 (pdf; 192 kB).
  9. ↑ Xinhua General News Service: China develops more substitute crops for opium poppy in bordering countries ( Memento of April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) BurmaNet News - Tuesday, February 20, 2007, accessed on September 18, 2019
  10. ↑ Michael Black: World Politics Watch: On Myanmar-China border, tensions escalate between SPDC, narco-militias ( Memento of April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: BurmaNet News - Wednesday December 13, 2006, accessed on September 18, 2019
  11. ↑ Jean-Luc Lemahieu, Nikolas Win Myint, Lars Pedersen: Strategic Program Framework: Union of Myanmar 2004–2007 . UNDOC publication of November 2, 2004, p. 5: “Opium ban introduced by wa authorities”. (pdf; 85 kB)
  12. ↑ Wa reach Thailand's border . Burma News 4/2005 of February 25, 2005.
  13. ↑ Myanmar: War with rebels in Wa State threatens . Development Policy Online, September 12, 2009.
  14. ↑ Hseng Khio Fah: Naypyitaw turns down Wa's latest proposal ( Memento of February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), In: Shan Herald - April 10, 2010, accessed on September 18, 2019
  15. ↑ Hseng Khio Fah: Shan rebel leader warns Burma Army ( Memento from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), In: Shan Herald - April 28, 2010, accessed on September 18, 2019