One of the topics discussed at Mongla on the Sino-Burmese border between the United Wa State Army (UWA) and the Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) last month was the reopening the BP-1 Thai-Burmese border checkpoint that has been closed since 2002, according to a report coming from the Sino-Burmese border.
The BP-1 (Boundary Pillar #1) checkpoint, also known as Kiu Pha Wawk, was shut down by the Burma Army after a month long military confrontation with the Shan State Army from May till June 2002.
The government side appointed U Nyunt Aung from the Commerce and Consumer Affairs Directorate as a contact person. On the UWSA side U Philip, was designated as Special Coordinator.
The BP-1 checkpoint connects Mongton township with Chiangmai’s Chiangdao district.
The UWSA’s Vice President Xiao Minliang also proposed six other items: assistance for road construction; license for 60 Wa trucks; national IDs for the Wa people; the hydropower plant on the Salween; the coal mining project and the hydropower plant in Hsipaw.
The National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA)’s President Sai Leun aka Lin Mingxian, who is based in Mongla, meanwhile, proposed assistance for schools and hospitals in his area.
Both the Wa and Mongla groups have enjoyed ceasefire with Rangoon (and later with Naypyitaw when it became the new capital) for 25 years.
Speaking about the latest delays to affect the negotiations between the UPWC and its ethnic counterpart the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), U Thein Zaw reportedly brushed them off claiming that it was like a sieving process. The smaller earlier drafts slipped through easily and quickly but now the final three drafts are larger and more complicated so they will take longer to go through.
