The 11-day meeting to sound out members of the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’ at its Hsengkeow headquarters Hsipaw township, Shan State North, adjourned on 18 December, without being able to fulfill the required 900 to 1,000 strength quota to form three homeguard battalions as demanded by Naypyitaw, according to sources from the Sino-Burma border.

It is yet to be decided when the meeting will be reconvened. According to Naypyitaw, the deadline for ceasefire armies to convert themselves into Burmese Army-controlled paramilitary forces was extended from October to the end of December.

The meeting was called after a complaint from Naypyitaw that the group with an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 strength, was able to name only about 200 fighters willing to become junta-supported militiamen.

The meeting was divided into two opposing camps, according to one officer who asked not to be identified:
•    “Those who believe, ‘ If we continue to hold the stick, the dog will bite; the only way to escape the risk is to drop the stick’
•    Those who believe, ‘If we continue to hold the stick, the dog will just go on barking; but if we drop it, the dog will bite’”

Another officer, obviously from the second camp, reportedly warned the leadership: “We can never accept either the BGF (Border Guard Force) or the militia programme. We don’t want you (the leaders) to yield to pressure from anyone to accept it either. And if you are going to accept it, you are no longer fit to lead us.”

Which compares with what a political party senior member recently told another ceasefire group: “We don’t have guns, but we’re not afraid. You have guns, so what are you afraid of?”

Only a minority, all sources agree, was in favour of accepting the BGF.

Naypyitaw appears to be “planning to settle with the SSA ‘North’ and Mongla first before settling with us,” according to a Wa source.

The United Wa State Army (UWSA), purportedly the strongest among the six ceasefire groups that are resisting the BGF issue, is bordered by Kokang (occupied by the Burmese Army in August) in the north, China in the east, Mongla in the southeast, Burmese Army forces in the south and the SSA ‘North’ in the west.

The SSA North has three brigades (1,3,and 7), one border force and one HQ Security Force. The First Brigade is the strongest with approximately 2,500 armed men. It is led by Maj-Gen Loimao. Its paramount leader Maj Gen Hso Ten is serving a 106 year jail sentence in Khamti.