‘Masters of our destiny’: Myanmar’s 25,000 United Wa State Army rebels in show of force on 30 year anniversary of ceasefire

Foreign media were extended a rare invite by UWSA leader Bao Youxiang to show off their military muscle

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United Wa State Army (UWSA) soldiers participate in a military parade, to commemorate 30 years of a ceasefire signed with the Myanmar military in the Wa State. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:14pm, 17 Apr 2019Updated: 9:13pm, 17 Apr 2019

It has a standing army of 25,000, manufactures its own guns and conscripts at least one member of each household – meet the United Wa State Army: Communist, reclusive, China-backed rebels determined to protect their supremacy over Myanmar’s badland border zone.

Thousands of soldiers, including a company of women and a sniper platoon in combat webbing, marched early Wednesday alongside armoured vehicles in Panghsang, the capital of the ethnic Wa, which borders China’s Yunnan province.

Young female soldiers of UWSA practice the formation for a parade held to mark the 30th anniversary of Wa State in Panghsang, also called Pang Kham of autonomous Wa region. Photo: EPA-EFE

It was a show of force marking 30 years since Communist Wa rebels prodded Myanmar into a ceasefire leading to the establishment of special, semi-autonomous zone, marshalled by Bao Youxiang, chief of one of the world’s largest non-state armies.

This week the normally inscrutable Wa extended a rare invite to foreign media to their isolated territory to show off their military muscle and deliver a defiant message of self-sufficiency within Myanmar’s borders.

“The Wa people are masters of their own destiny,” Bao, flanked by senior Chinese officials, declared in an address to the thousands gathered for the parade.