The Centre said the reports, which primarily generated via two articles in Jane’s Intelligence Review, were “extremely hard to verify” and that while the Chinese military had supplied weaponry to the Wa rebels in the past, there was “little reason to believe the Chinese would risk sending military helicopters.”

Jane’s reported in December that China had supplied the UWSA with PTL02 wheeled tank destroyers—an allegation that the Chinese Embassy in Yangon described as “ill-founded” and “misguided”.

Then in April, Jane’s went on to report that the UWSA had purchased “several Mil Mi-17 fighter 'Hip' medium-transport helicopters armed with TY-90 air-to-air missiles.”

Citing an ethnic military source, the respected intelligence monthly said that five helicopters had been flown into Wa territory in northeastern Shan State via Laos.

“It remains unclear as to why the helicopters would have taken the circuitous route of travelling via Laos or whether permission for military helicopters to enter Lao air space had been given,” the Burma Centre for Ethnic Studies concluded.

However, the Centre, which is an independent think-tank, found that in addition to the Chinese Embassy refuting the claims, the allegations were also dismissed by Thai military sources, other Myanmar ethnic sources and the UWSA themselves.

Speaking to Mizzima on Thursday, Paul Keenan, a lead researcher for the Centre, said, “I personally cannot find any evidence to support claims made in the Jane's story. I've asked a number of high-ranking officials in armed ethnic groups allied with the UWSA and they have told me they doubt that the UWSA would have any use for the helicopters or be able to maintain them.”

Combined with a lack of hard evidence for the helicopters’ purchase, Keenan said he believed “the report is based on rumor rather than fact.”