China to assist Suu Kyi in Wa State peace process
PANGSAN ( Myanmar): China is extending its sway over an autonomous enclave run by Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed group, sources in the region said, bolstering Beijing’s role in the peace process that is the signature policy of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The “foreign policy” of the selfproclaimed Wa State is closely monitored by Beijing, senior officials in the administration run by the 30,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA) and its political wing said, with contact with Western governments, businesses or aid groups deemed particularly sensitive.
Reaching an accord with the Wa and other rebels is one of Suu Kyi’s biggest challenges as she grapples with the interlocking issues of ending decades of ethnic conflict and tackling drug production in Myanmar’s lawless border regions.
But the peace process is expected to be smoother with the presence of Beijing in the talks with Wa State.
Officially known to Myanmar as “Special Region 2”, the remote territory is the size of Belgium and home to 600,000 people.
Largely closed to Westerners for decades, it was visited by journalists in October.
China’s influence is quickly apparent, with street signs in Mandarin and Chinese businesses and banknotes ubiquitous in the self-proclaimed state’s capital, Pangsan, and other Wa towns that straddle the rugged border.
“We share the same language and we marry each other,” said the head of the Wa Foreign Affairs Office, Zhao Guo An, when asked about the Chinese influence on Wa politics.
“There’s nothing we can do about it. We use Chinese currency, we speak Chinese and we wear and use products from China. Very little of that is from Myanmar.”
Delve a little deeper and it’s apparent that China’s reach extends much further than business and social ties.
When Lo Yaku, the Wa agriculture minister, was asked about the drugs it is accused of producing on an industrial scale, his secretary and a staffer from the official Wa News Bureau intervened to deflect the question. Both men are not Wa natives, but from China.
“This question was answered yesterday,” said I Feng, a news bureau reporter originally from western China.
“After the drug eradication campaign, our government encouraged agencies, individuals and Chinese investors to participate in anti-drug activities,” said the minister’s secretary, Chen Chun, originally from Zhejiang province on China’s faraway east coast.
A similar scene played out repeatedly during the visit – the first by a major international news organisation – questions on topics ranging from military funding to methamphetamine were mostly fielded not by the Wa minister but by an accompanying Chinese minder.
These and other Chinese citizens who were found working in the administration in Pangsan said they were employees of the Wa government and did not work for the authorities in Beijing.
But their presence hints at just how closely entwined the Wa State and its leaders are with their giant neighbour. — Reuters