Meeting the United Wa State Army (UWSA) representative Xiao Samkun on 20 March, on the sidelines of Shan-Kayah Trustbuilding for Peace forum, Naypyitaw’s chief negotiator U Aung Min was reported to have informed him that whether or not the Wa should have its own state must be decided by the Union Assembly, according to sources.
Xiao Samkun, deputy chief of External Affairs, had earlier in the day read out a demand for a separate constituent state.
Since Independence in 1948, the Wa states have been incorporated within Shan State. During British days earlier, only one of the its states, Mang Lern, was part of the Federated Shan States formed in 1922.
Xiao Samkun (left) and U Aung Min (Right) greeting each other in Lashio, 20 March 2013. (Photo: SNLD)
Sai Leik aka Sai Lake, spokesman for the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), the main co-convener of the forum, in response to the media query, said, “It is their right. But since the Shans themselves have no rights under the present constitution, we have nothing to comment on it.”
U Aung Min had reportedly queried why the UWSA failed to attend the Kachin-Naypyitaw peace talks in Ruili on 11 March. According to Xiao Samkun, the UWSA Vice Chairman had named Bao Youliang (Chairman Bao Youxiang’s younger brother and finance chief), Zhao Guo-an (Chief of External Affairs) and Aung Myint aka Li Julie to participate in the meeting. “Usually, our request was promptly responded to by Chinese authorities,” he told SHAN. “But I have no idea what went wrong this time. We never received a response.”
(Earlier SHAN was told the representatives were Zhao Guo-an, Zhao Zhongdang and U Aung Myint)
Some sources had accused Burmese authorities of having a hand in the Chinese failure to allow the Wa representatives entry into China. U Aung Min, Vice Chairman of the Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) however categorically dismissed the charge.
He was also reported to have broached the subject of setting up government administrative structures inside Wa controlled territory. To which Xiao Samkun merely replied that he would forward it to Panghsang, the Wa capital, for consideration, according to sources.
The 2008 constitution has granted the Wa an self-administrative status with 6 townships: Hopang, Markmang, Mongmai, Pangwai, Napharn and Panghsang. The first two are under Naypyitaw’s control and the remaining 4 plus parts of Mongyang, Mongton and Monghsat are under UWSA control.
