Silence on Coup Makes Strategic Sense for Myanmar’s Wa
Silence on Coup Makes Strategic Sense for Myanmar’s Wa
UWSA chair Bao Youxiang attends an event marking the 30th anniversary of the founding of the group. / The Irrawaddy
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By Bertil Lintner 12 July 2021
While the whole country has risen in revolt against the Feb. 1 coup at first peacefully and then more violently when the military began to open fire on the protesters there is one part of Myanmar that appears to be unaffected by the nationwide turmoil: the Wa Hills of northeastern Shan State. Ethnic groups like the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) have provided shelter to activists who have fled urban areas and even trained some of them in guerrilla warfare. Other ethnic rebels have at least issued statements condemning Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s power grab, often working together with civil society organizations. Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic army, the 20,000-