Kokang incident
Part of the internal conflict in Myanmar
Date27–30 August 2009
Location
Kokang, Myanmar
Result Burmese government victory
Belligerents
MNDAA
NDAA
UWSA		 Union of Myanmar
MNDAA mutineers
Commanders and leaders
Pheung Kya-shin Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing[1]
Bai Xuoqian
Casualties and losses
Per junta government:[2]
8 killed
640 weapons seized[3]		 Per junta government:[2]
26 killed
47 wounded
Per MNDAA and allies: 30+ killed
1 Chinese citizen killed[4]
30,000 displaced[2]
Location of the Kokang region (green) within Shan State (yellow).

The Kokang incident was a violent series of skirmishes that broke out in August 2009 in Kokang in Myanmar's northern Shan State.[5] Several clashes between ethnic minorities and the Burmese military junta forces (including the Myanmar Armed Forces, also known as Tatmadaw, and the Myanmar Police Force) took place.[6] As a result of the conflict, the MNDAA lost control of the area and as many as 30,000 refugees fled to Yunnan province in neighbouring China.[7]

Background

The civil war in Burma (later Myanmar) began when the first shots were fired by the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) in April 1948 in the small village of Paukkongyi in the Pegu District (present-day Bago Region).[8] Since the late 1960s Kokang was under control by some warlords, the first of them were the Communists and later the Kokang nationalists. In March 1989 a group made by Phone Kyar Shin was formed as a splinter group from the CPB called the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA). The rebels in Kokang made soon after a ceasefire with the Burmese military government; they also were the first armed ethnic group to do so.[9] That same year was the CPB dissolved after a peace agreement was made between them and the government.[10]

Other groups like the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA)[11] and the United Wa State Army (UWSA) were also formed in 1989.[12] Like the MNDAA they are splinter groups from the CPB and after their splits, they also made ceasefires with the Burmese government.[11][12] This would be followed by many rebels in the states Kachin, Kayah, Mon and Shan made partial ceasefire agreements in the 1990s.[13] During the truce agreement, the MNDAA was allowed to control their checkpoints and collect taxes from the people. In return the Tatmadaw was allowed to travel freely within the just established Shan State Special Region 1 (SR1). The MNDAA had in 2007 between 3,000 and 4,000 men.[14]

When the 2008 constitution was signed as part of the truce agreement, Kokang became one of the five self-administered zones within Myanmar.[15] Since then, the military junta has proposed that the ethnic armies be assimilated into the Tatmadaw and converted into the Border Guard Forces (BGF);[16] almost all of the ethnic armies have opposed this plan,[17] with exceptions of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and the New Democratic Army - Kachin (NDA-K) who joined the BGF.[18] Observers and activists claim that the junta's motivation for this proposal is to disarm and neutralise the ethnic groups before the Myanmar general election scheduled to take place sometime in 2010.[19]

Prelude

Kokang has been ruled since 1989 by the leader of the MNDAA, Peng Jiasheng (also known as Pheung Kya-shin,[20] Its population was in 2005–2006 c. 70 per cent Chinese Kokang, 12 per cent Paulang, 3 per cent of each the Miao and Lisu and 2 per cent Wa.[9] Until 2003, the MNDAA officially produced opium but they stopped producing it under Chinese and Burmese pressure.[21] Two years later the Burmese government declared that poppy growing in the Shan State becomes illegal.[22][23] But even after that there are claims that Kokang has been implicated in illegal drug trade and Drug trafficking.[24][25]

Tensions came to a head on 8 August 2009 when the junta military, acting on a tip-off from China,[26] moved into the region for a raid on a gun factory suspected of being a drug front[27] and on Kokang leader Pheung's home.[27][28][29] This confrontation, according to the newspaper Shan Herald, was only a "stand-off", with no shots being fired;[30][31] nevertheless, it triggered a mass exodus of locals who were worried about the possibility of violence.[27][31] and a resident of the Kokang regional capital Laukkai later described the city as a "ghost town".[32] Chinese officials had to intervene in the face-off, and by 17 August officials claimed that the situation in Kokang was "normal" again.[31]

The MNDAA reportedly has about 1,000[33] to 1,500[34] soldiers. Recently there has been an inter-faction split within the army,[24] with Pheung being opposed by deputy chairman Bai Xuoqian—while Pheung has opposed efforts to integrate the Kokang army with the Tatmadaw, Bai has supported it and gained the junta's backing.[33] According to the newspaper Shan Herald, several factions of the Kokang army have become loyal to the junta,[20] and three high-ranking army officials informed the junta government that Pheung was secretly producing illicit weapons and drugs.[32]

Violence

Laukkai is located in Myanmar
Laukkai
Laukkai
Location of Laukkai, regional capital of Kokang

By 20 August, however, government troops were beginning to gather near Laukkai, and Kokang leaders reportedly urged residents to "be prepared", which prompted even more people to flee.[35] On 24 August, junta troops captured and occupied Laukkai[33] "without firing a shot".[24][20] The anti-junta Kachin News claimed that the takeover was aided by a "mutiny" staged by Kokang army leaders who had become loyal to the junta.[36]

On 27 August,[37] the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army began to open fire on junta troops outside the city;[38][24] according to a government statement, the Kokang army raided a police checkpoint near the border.[2] Later Wa, Kachin, and as many as nine other ethnic groups joined in the fighting;[6] the United Wa State Army, Myanmar's largest ethnic military force, was also involved in the fighting, as was the National Democratic Alliance Army (also known as the Mong La Army).[38][39] On 27 and 28 there were more battles in the villages of Yan Lon Kyaik and Chin Swe Haw, near the Chinese border.[6] Across the border, the Chinese army increased its numbers in attempt to maintain border stability.[39]

By late 29 August, the United States-based Campaign for Burma claimed that as many as 700 Kokang fighters, outnumbered by junta troops, had fled, surrendered to the Chinese, and given up their weapons.[2][40] Kokang soldiers interviewed in China after surrendering also said they had been overrun.[41] While the Kokang army appears to have been routed, the larger United Wa State Army was still active, and Al Jazeera reported that the government was requesting reinforcements to deal with them;[41] The New York Times, however, reported that the Wa army had withdrawn as early as 28 August.[42] The government issued a statement on 30 August claiming that the fighting had ended,[2] and later formed a new "Kokang Region Provisional Leading Committee" in Laukkai.[43]

The Myanmar Army's operation in the incident was overseen by Min Aung Hlaing and he was credited for it by the junta.[1]

Casualties and refugees

No official casualty count was released in the first two days of fighting,[37] although Pheung Kya-shin claimed that his forces had killed over thirty Tatmadaw troops. One Chinese person was killed during fighting when a bomb went over the border.[4][44] On 30 August, the junta government released its first figures, claiming that the fighting had killed twenty-six junta troops (fifteen police, eleven soldiers) and wounded forty-seven (thirteen police, thirty-four soldiers),[3] and that eight rebel bodies had been found; the figures have not been independently confirmed, however.[2]

From 8 to 12 August, as many as 10,000 residents fled to Yunnan province in neighbouring China, becoming refugees.[5][6][45] The total number of refugees fleeing in the entire month may be as high as 30,000, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees[2] and later the Yunnan provincial government.[46] Yunnan's police chief later reported that the number of refugees in Yunnan reached 37,000, including Burmese refugees as well as Kokang.[47][48] Yunnan government officials stated they have established seven locations (particularly near the city of Nansan, where most of the refugees arrived[5]) to house and treat the refugees; some locals, however, claimed that not all the refugees were being housed,[28] or were being housed in unfinished buildings and tents. According to one refugee, about 13,000 of the refugees were housed in the tents, and 10,000–20,000 more stayed with friends or family in the area.[49] By 31 August, some refugees (as many as 4,000, according to local officials,[50] or 2,800 according to the junta government[43]) had started returning to Kokang;[51] by mid-September, Chinese officials said over 9,000 refugees had returned[52] and Myanmar officials said over 13,000;[53] many refugees, however, were still afraid to go back.[49][52]

Pheung was also rumoured to have fled Kokang,[20][54] and is currently in China,[34] although his precise location has not been revealed. Before the Kokang forces surrendered, he claimed that he was still controlling them from abroad.

Reaction

Although China has in the past supported the military junta,[4] during the conflict, it had instead warned Myanmar to end the situation, saying they should "properly handle domestic problems and maintain stability in the China-Myanmar border region"[6][38] and urging Burma to protect "Chinese citizens in Myanmar".[4] Chinese officials were said to be "furious" and "extremely upset" over not being forewarned about the offensive on the border.[55] Chinese and other analysts expressed concern that this conflict could lead to a civil war in Burma.[4] The Burmese Foreign Ministry later apologised to China about the incident, but also ran a story on the Dalai Lama in the government newspaper the Myanmar Times, the first mention of him in the state controlled Burmese media for 20 years.[55]

The UN has also expressed concern about reports of fighting and thousands of refugees fleeing across the border.[56] The American government also voiced its concern, and called on the junta to end its military campaign against the cease-fire groups.[57]

Aftermath

After the fighting ended, the new Kokang leader claimed that the Kokang people would participate in the 2010 general elections; other cease-fire groups such as the Wa and Kachin still maintain that they will not participate.[58]

Bai, vice-president under Peng Jiasheng, became the new head of KoKang with the support of ruling junta in 2009. The portion of the MNDAA loyal to him became Border Guard Force #1006. He is also head of Kokang Self Administered Zone and a member of Myanmar parliament in 2011.[59] The area was peaceful till new clashes between Peng Jiasheng's troops and Myanmar troops erupted in February 2015.[60]

Major General Huang Xing, the former head of the research guidance department at the Chinese Academy of Military Science, was ousted in 2015 because of his relationship with MNDAA during this incident.[61]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Senior General Min Aung Hlaing". altsean.org. Archived from the original on 31 July 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ng Han Guan. "Ethnic rebels flee Myanmar, abandoning weapons and uniforms for safe haven in south China". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
  3. 1 2 "Myanmar says 34 killed as border fighting ends". Agence France-Presse. 30 August 2009. Archived from the original on 23 September 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Dasgupta, Saibal (29 August 2009). "Fresh violence near China-Myanmar border". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 "More fighting feared as thousands flee Burma". Bangkok Post. Agence France-Presse. 27 August 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Fuller, Thomas (28 August 2009). "Refugees Flee to China as Fighting Breaks Out in Myanmar". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  7. ↑ "47 Myanmar soldiers reported dead in clashes with Kokang rebels". Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Lintner 2019, p. 1.
  9. 1 2 South 2008, p. 140.
  10. ↑ "The Demise of a Once Powerful Communist Party—Now in Burmese". The Irrawaddy. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  11. 1 2 "What's Next for NDAA and Its Border Boomtown of Mong La?". The Irrawaddy. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  12. 1 2 "Twenty Years on, the Wa-Burmese Cease-fire Looks Shakier". Transnational Institute. 24 April 2009. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  13. ↑ "Timeline: 70 Years of Ethnic Armed Resistance Movements in Myanmar". The Irrawaddy. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  14. ↑ South 2008, p. 141.
  15. ↑ "New Self-administered Areas Struggle to Assert Authority". Myanmar Times. 17 February 2014. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  16. ↑ Egreteau & Jagan 2013, p. 281.
  17. ↑ "Myanmar's Ethnic Problems". The New Humanitarian. 29 March 2012. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  18. ↑ "Border Guard Plan Could Fuel Ethnic Conflict". The New Humanitarian. 29 November 2010. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  19. ↑ "Q+A: Will Fighting in Northern Myanmar Escalate?". Reuter. 29 August 2009. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  20. 1 2 3 4 "Kokang Capital Falls: "Not shoot first" Policy under Fire". Shan Herald. 26 August 2009. Archived from the original on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  21. ↑ Egreteau & Jagan 2013, p. 283.
  22. ↑ "Drugs and Conflict in Burma". Transnational Institute. 8 February 2011. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  23. ↑ UNODC 2018, p. 13.
  24. 1 2 3 4 "Junta Renews 'Divide-and-Rule' Tactic in Shan State". The Irrawaddy. 28 August 2009. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  25. ↑ The Daily Herald 2009, p. 33.
  26. ↑ Myint, Zaw (14 September 2009). "Tip from China sparked Kokang arms factory raid, says gov't". The Myanmar Times. Archived from the original on 23 September 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  27. 1 2 3 Lawi Weng (10 August 2009). "Kokang Thwart Burma Army Drug Raid". The Irrawaddy. Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  28. 1 2 Bodeen, Christopher (28 August 2009). "Fighting in Myanmar sending refugees to China, underscoring Beijing's border woes". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  29. ↑ "Situation in Myanmar's Kokang region remains". China Daily. 29 August 2009. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
  30. ↑ "Junta and Kokang almost come to blows". Shan Herald. 10 August 2009. Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  31. 1 2 3 "Kokang returns to "normal"". Shan Herald. 17 August 2009. Archived from the original on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  32. 1 2 "Junta's ploy: push Kokang to shoot first". Shan Herald. 14 August 2009. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  33. 1 2 3 "Myanmar military moves to crush Kokang Chinese". Earth Times. 27 August 2009. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  34. 1 2 Magnier, Mark (29 August 2009). "Myanmar troops attack minority militia in the north". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  35. ↑ "Tension sparks people to flee into China". Shan Herald. 24 August 2009. Archived from the original on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  36. ↑ "Burmese troops and Kokang soldiers clash". Kachin News. 30 August 2009. Archived from the original on 20 October 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
  37. 1 2 "Fightings (sic) keep on in Myanmar's Kokang region". Xinhua News Agency. 30 August 2009. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
  38. 1 2 3 Johnson, Tim (29 August 2009). "China Urges Burma to Bridle Ethnic Militia Uprising at Border". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 15 September 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  39. 1 2 Saw Yan Naing (28 August 2009). "Burmese Cease Fire Breaks Down". The Irrawaddy. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  40. ↑ Wai Moe (30 August 2009). "Fighting Stops as Kokang Surrender Arms to Chinese". The Irrawaddy. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
  41. 1 2 "Myanmar fighters cross into China". Al Jazeera. 30 August 2009. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
  42. ↑ Fuller, Thomas (30 August 2009). "Myanmar Forces Overwhelm Rebels". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
  43. 1 2 "More than 2,800 Myanmar border inhabitants return to Kokang after fightings end". Xinhua News Agency. 1 September 2009. Archived from the original on 7 September 2009. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  44. ↑ 1 killed by bomb along China-Myanmar border: media. AFP. 29 August 2009.
  45. ↑ "Thousands Flee Burma Violence". BBC News. 26 August 2009. Archived from the original on 29 August 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  46. ↑ Tran, Tini (29 August 2009). New Myanmar clashes leave 1 dead, dozens injured Archived 4 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Associated Press.
  47. ↑ "Myanmar border inhabitants begin to return from China as situation calms". Xinhua News Agency. 30 August 2009. Archived from the original on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  48. ↑ Buckley, Chris (31 August 2009). "Myanmar refugees weigh risks of returning from China". Reuters. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  49. 1 2 "Myanmar refugees wary of return". Al Jazeera. 31 August 2009. Archived from the original on 31 August 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  50. ↑ Ng Han Guan (31 August 2009). "Myanmar refugees begin to return home from China". Miami Herald. Associated Press. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  51. ↑ Shearf, Daniel (31 August 2009). "Burma Refugees in China Head Home as Fighting Dies Down". Voice of America News. Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  52. 1 2 Storey, Ian (10 September 2009). "Emerging Fault Lines in Sino-Burmese Relations: The Kokang Incident". China Brief. 19 (8). Archived from the original on 15 September 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
  53. ↑ "Myanmar says market trading in Kokang capital returns to normal". Xinhua News Agency. 7 September 2009. Archived from the original on 10 September 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
  54. ↑ 果敢乱局当前 传"果敢王"已逃离 (in Chinese). 29 August 2009. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2009. 传言果敢特区领导人彭家声已经逃离。
    English: "It is rumored that the leader of the Kokang Special Region, Peng Jiasheng, has also fled."
  55. 1 2 Jagan, Larry (1 September 2009). Border war rattles China-Myanmar ties. Asia Times Online.
  56. ↑ Islam, Siddique (29 August 2009). U.N. Voices Concern As Fresh Fighting Breaks Out In Northeastern Burma Archived 3 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine. AHN.
  57. ↑ "U.S. urges end to violence in Myanmar". Xinhua News Agency. 31 August 2009. Archived from the original on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  58. ↑ "Myanmar says Chinese tip-off led to border clash". Associated Press. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
  59. ↑ "Kokang wants to join ceasefire talks". Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  60. ↑ Khin Maung Win. "Myanmar says Kokang rebels on the run despite allies' help". Stars and Stripes. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  61. ↑ Minnie Chan (6 March 2015). "Senior Chinese military strategist 'leaked state secrets, helped rebels in Myanmar'". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.

Bibliography

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