China-Burma Border Towns Fall to Ethnic Alliance as Fighting Rages On

Members of ethnic rebel group Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) patrol near Namhsan Township in Myanmar's northern Shan State In this photo taken on March 9, 2023. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Ethnic armed groups in Burma (also known as Myanmar) that make up the Three Brotherhood Alliance have been on the offensive against junta forces in the country’s north-east Shan State since Oct. 27.

The alliance—made up of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and Arakan Army (AA)—has captured more than 100 strongholds from the junta’s armed forces known as the Tatmadaw in the Shan State region of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone that borders China.

Other ethnic armies, such as the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), say they support the operation, which the alliance called “Operation 1027” based on its launch date.

The authorities in the Kokang region, which is controlled by the junta, condemned “the atrocity of the rebels attacking towns and massacring public officials,” on Oct. 28.

Less than a week after the offensive was launched, the junta confirmed on Nov. 2 that three towns in Shan State near the China-Burma border, Chinshwehaw, Pang Hseng, and Hpawng Hseng, which the Tatmadaw controlled, had been lost.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said over 6,200 people were displaced by the fighting in October, with an unconfirmed number of around 500 who had crossed into China for refuge.

Three Brother Alliance has said it aims to unite all resistant efforts against the junta, which overthrew the National League for Democracy-led government and arrested the two principal leaders, state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, in early  2021.

The alliance outlined its offensive goals in a statement on Oct. 27.

“Our primary objectives in launching this operation are multi-faceted and driven by the collective desire to safeguard the lives of civilians, assert our right to self-defence, maintain control over our territory, and respond resolutely to ongoing artillery attacks and airstrikes perpetrated by the State Administration Council (SAC),” the statement said, using the junta’s official name—the SAC.

“Furthermore, we are dedicated to eradicating the oppressive military dictatorship, a shared aspiration of the entire Myanmar populace,” it said.

“Our commitment extends to combating the widespread online gambling fraud that has plagued Myanmar, particularly along the China-Myanmar border. Additionally, we aim to crack down on online gambling companies and the SAC, along with its associated militia groups, that have been involved in these operations,” it added.

This long exposure picture taken late shows a missile fired from a Burma military base in Lashio township, northern Shan State on Oct. 28, 2023. STR/AFP via Getty Images

A total of 14 organizations across Burma have so far declared their support for the Three Brotherhood Alliance, while in neighboring Wa State, the controlling United Wa State Army (UWSA) declared its neutrality.

There are over 100 ethnic groups in Burma, with significant differences in culture, language, religion, and politics. Several larger ethnic groups have established regimes backed by armed forces.

Chinese Telecom Scammers

As per its statement, the alliance promises to rid the country of telecom scam gangs from China who work with the backing of the Burmese military and their allies and local armed groups.

In recent years, large numbers of telecom scam centers have been set up in Southeast Asia, especially in the border areas of northern and eastern Burma.

The Epoch Times has previously reported on how these Chinese-run scam operations are mainly staffed by Chinese, most of whom have been deceived, kidnapped, or trafficked there and forced to work.

According to a United Nations report published in August, at least 120,000 people may be forced to carry out online scams with scamming gangs in Burma.

“They are subject to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, forced labour and other forms of labour exploitation as well as a range of other human rights violations and abuses,” reads the report.

 '4 Great Families’ of Kokang

Kokang, an autonomous region in the Shan State, has an area of about 2,060 square kilometers and a resident population of about 140,000, with a majority being the Kokang ethnic group, which is Han Chinese.

The so-called “four great families”—Bai Suocheng, Wei Chaoren, Liu Guoxi, and Liu Zhengxiang (Liu Abao)—control the region’s telecom scam industry while also being the region’s paramount powers.

Bai Suocheng, Wei Chaoren, and Liu Guoxi were the subordinates of Peng Jiasheng, the leader of the  Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA). Mr. Bai was the deputy commander of Mr. Peng’s army until 2009 when junta troops confronted Mr. Peng’s army in Kokang. Mr. Bai, Mr. Wei, and Mr. Liu joined the junta forces while Mr. Peng fled into the mountains with the remnants of his army.

Ethnic Kokang soldiers of a newly formed Kokang ethnic armed group stand outside a deserted market as a convoy carrying diplomats, and journalists visit the Burma-China border town of Laukkai, the capital of Kokang, on Sept. 8, 2009. Khin Maung Win/AFP via Getty Images

Since then, Kokang has been run by the four great families, including both the underworld and local law enforcement. The four families have their own armed forces and have the Burmese military as backers.

Mr. Peng tried to retake Kokang in 2015 but failed in a fierce battle with junta forces. In 2022, Mr. Peng died, and his eldest son Peng Deren took over as head of the MNDAA, which is now part of the Three Brotherhood Alliance.

CCP-Junta Cooperation

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wields enormous influence in Burma and has long been allied with the country’s military.

Beijing is concerned over the conflict in Kokang as it has oil and gas pipelines running through Shan State as well as a multibillion-dollar rail project that is part of the CCP’s “One Belt, One Road” global infrastructure initiative.

At a press conference by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Oct. 31, spokesman Wang Wenbin called on “all parties to cease fire as soon as possible.”

On the same day, Wang Xiaohong, the CCP’s state councilor and Minister of Public Security, visited Burma’s capital of Naypyidaw to meet with Min Aung Hlaing, chairman of the SAC.

CCP official media Xinhua News Agency reported that Wang Wenbin expressed concern about China’s “Belt and Road” project. He also claimed that the two countries will strengthen cooperation in areas such as combating telecom scammers and terrorism.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin takes a question at the Foreign Ministry briefing in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2020. Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

Under international pressure, the CCP has repeatedly claimed it would crack down on telecom scammers, yet there has been no obvious action so far.

The Chinese run the water, electricity, Internet, telecommunications, and banking systems in the vast majority of Shan State. Locals use RMB and Chinese bank accounts, while Chinese traveling there do not even need to open a “roaming” service for their phones.

Zhao Lanjian, a former Chinese journalist who visited Burma in 2003, told The Epoch Times on Nov. 4 that it would be very easy for the CCP to crackdown on telecom scams in northern Burma if it wanted to.

The CCP’s so-called crackdown on telecom fraud is just a form of propaganda to fool ordinary people, just as they claim to “combat human trafficking,” he said.

As far as Mr. Zhao knew, “all the armed forces in northern Myanmar” had separate, private ties with the CCP, allowing Beijing to have profound control over Burma.

Allowing the telecom scam industry to develop in the country is also one of its means of control, he said.

The CCP sometimes makes ineffective appeals or does selective strikes to delude [the public], yet it is the root cause behind Burma’s backwardness and instability, he said.