The United Wa State Army and Burma's Peace Process
The United Wa State Army, a force of some twenty-thousand fighters, is the largest of Burma’s ethnic armed organizations. It is also the best equipped, boasting modern and sophisticated Chinese weaponry, and operates a formidable drug empire in the Golden Triangle region. This report examines the history of the Wa people, the United Wa State Army’s long-standing political and military ties to China, and the Wa’s role in Burma’s fragile peace process.
About the Report
Supported by USIP’s Asia Center to provide policymakers and the general public with a better understanding of Burma’s ethnic conflicts, this report examines the role of both the United Wa State Army and China in Burma’s peace process and suggests ways forward to break the present stalemate.
About the Author(s)
Bertil Lintner has covered Burma’s civil war and related issues such as narcotics trafficking for more than thirty-five years. Burma correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review from 1982 to 2004, he now writes for Asia Times and is the author of several books about Burma’s civil war and ethnic strife.