Irrawaddy-Aug 31
The United Wa State Army (UWSA), Myanmar’s largest ethnic armed organization (EAO), has replaced its senior leadership in a surprise reshuffle. The UWSA controls its own territory – known as Wa State – in northern and southern Shan State and has an estimated 30,000 soldiers and a sophisticated arsenal of weapons, as well as maintaining close ties with China. UWSA liaison officer Nyi Rang based in Shan State’s Lashio confirmed the shakeup of the leadership to The Irrawaddy. The Irrawaddy has learned that 14 senior figures from the UWSA and its political wing the United Wa State Party (UWSP), who make up the government of Wa State, were replaced with middle-aged men in their 40s and 50s. Most of the new leaders are well-educated with experience in military and administrative affairs, and can speak fluent Burmese as well as Mandarin, according to sources. Previous leaders only spoke Mandarin, as the UWSA’s territory in northern Shan State borders China. The UWSA and UWSP were established after ethnic Wa soldiers split from the Communist Party of Burma on April 17, 1989 and signed a ceasefire with the then military regime. Since then, the UWSA has become the most powerful EAO in Myanmar. While it has maintained the ceasefire with successive governments, the UWSA refused to sign the 2015 Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement. Wa State is officially classified in the 2008 military-drafted constitution as the Wa Self-Administered Region, also known as ‘Special Region 2’. Its capital is Panghsan, also known as Pangkham, and the region is made up of Mongmao, Monglin and Mongpauk districts and Pangkham Special Township, an area covering around 1,500 square kilometers that the UWSA refers to as northern Wa State. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmars-most-powerful-ethnic-army-reshuffles-leadership-what-does-it-mean.html
