Wa people(Part 2)

British rule and enduring prejudices Wa headmen in British Burma. Very little has been written about the Wa people except in the Chinese language. The area where they live had been traditionally administered by a Saopha, a Shan hereditary chief. In the second half of the 19th century, the British authorities in Burma judged the Wa territory remote and of difficult access. Thus, excepting Mang Lon where the Saopha resided, the British left the Wa State without administration, its border with China undefined. That situation suited the Wa well, for throughout their history they had consistently preferred being left alone. The Wa were largely portrayed by colonial administrators as wild and dirty people owing to their practice of headhunting. However, Chinese documents written prior to the twentieth century rarely mentioned the Wa as headhunters and yet it is this aspect of Wa culture that has been cited more than any other in order to emphasize the primitiveness of the Wa. The prejudice continues in modern times when the Wa, who are economically not that different from other ethnic hill tribes in the area such as the Lahu people, are largely known for their rebel army and as being involved in drug trafficking, overshadowing other aspects of their culture. Post World War II Wa woman feeding a little girl The international border that had been defined between Burma and China made that the Wa people were divided between the two countries. The Wa regions in Burma were largely left alone until the 1950s, when remnants of Chiang Kai-shek's National Revolutionary Army fled the 1949 Chinese Communist Revolution. A decade and a half later, the region was under the influence of the Communist Party of Burma, which was very active in the area. During that time opium cultivation and sales grew and the ancient traditional life became disrupted, but also an administrative system that collected revenue and maintained a significant armed force, as well as a rudimentary infrastructure, ushered the Wa region into the modern era. In 1989 the Wa authorities expelled the Burma Communist Party and negotiated a cease-fire with the then leader of Burma's military junta Khin Nyunt. They founded the United Wa State Army and United Wa State Party with a centralized command. In return for agreeing to the ban of poppy cultivation and opium production the region experienced a massive influx of international development aid. The Wa Special Region 2 was created within the northeastern Shan State, with its de facto capital in Pangkham. Military activity and drug production The United Wa State Army was one of the world's largest narco-armies, with up to 10,000 men under arms.[4] Until 1996 the UWSA was involved in a conflict against the Mong Tai Army which suited the objectives of the Tatmadaw in the area. During this conflict the Wa army occupied areas close to the Thai border, ending up with the control of two separate swathes of territory north and south of Kengtung. In 1999 when the Burmese military requested the Wa fighters to return to the northern area the UWSA refused. During the 1990s the areas controlled by the UWSA were involved in heroin production. During the 2000s, the United Wa State Army shifted focus into amphetamine production. Records of official seizures compiled by the United Nations suggest that in 2006 Myanmar was the source of half of Asia's methamphetamine, known in Thailand as yaba, and some experts believe that most drug labs are in areas under Wa control. The land where the Wa have been traditionally living is divided between Burma and China. The international border cuts the ancestral Wa region roughly in half. Further information: Awa mountain China The Wa are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by China. In China, the Wa live in compact communities in the Ximeng Va Autonomous County (in Wa: Mēng Ka or Si Moung), Cangyuan Va Autonomous County, Menglian Dai, Lahu and Va Autonomous County (Gaeng Līam), Gengma Dai and Va Autonomous County (Gaeng Mīex or Gaeng Māx), Lincang (Mēng Lām), Shuangjiang Lahu, Va, Blang and Dai Autonomous County (Si Nblāeng or Mēng Mēng), Zhenkang County, and Yongde County in southwestern Yunnan. Their population in China is estimated at around 400,000. Benren The "Benren" (本人) of Yongde County and Zhenkang County, Yunnan are officially classified as Wa by the Chinese government, but consider themselves to be a separate ethnicity from the Wa.[29] Their autonym is "Siwa" (斯佤). The Benren are distributed in: Menggong Township 勐汞佤族乡 (recently incorporated into Dedang Town 德党镇), Yongde County:[30] in Menggong 勐汞, Daba 大坝, Songlin 松林, Dapingzhang 大平掌, Hunai 户乃, Xiaodifang 小地方, Lielie 列列. There are 10,289 Benren in the township as of 2010. Desili Township 德思里彝族佤族乡, Fengqing County Mangka Township 芒卡镇, Cangyuan Va Autonomous County Burma Cicadas caught by Wa people in order to crush them with chilies in a mixture similar to the Thai Nam phrik The Wa are one of the 135 officially recognized ethnic groups of Myanmar. Their proportion to Myanmar's total population is 0.16. Although little is known about the ancient history of the Wa, they are acknowledged by other dominant ethnic groups in Shan State, such as the Tai Yai, to be the original inhabitants of the area. In Burma, the Wa live mostly in small villages near Kengtung and north and northeastwards close to the Chinese border, as well as a small area east of Tachileik. The Wa Special Region 2 of the Northern Shan State or Wa State was formed by the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the remains of the former Burmese Communist Party rebel group that collapsed in 1989. The Wa State and the UWSA are in a fragile cease-fire agreement with the Burmese military government. They have been accused by Western governments of involvement in drug trafficking but have banned opium production since 2005 and have received United Nations aid in improving legitimate agriculture. As stipulated by the 2008 Burmese Constitution, on 20 August 2010 the Wa Self-Administered Division has been established. It is set to be administered by the Wa people and its territory is between the gorges of the Mekong and Salween, in the east part of the Shan State, near the border with the Chinese province of Yunnan. Thailand In recent times some Wa communities from Burma have crossed the border and settled in Thailand, where they have no official status as a Hill Tribe. The Wa live mainly in the Mae Sai District and Mae Yao subdistrict of Chiang Rai Province, as well as in Wiang Pa Pao District in southern Chiang Rai Province and Chiang Dao District in Chiang Mai Province. In Thailand the Wa having come recently from Burma are often referred to as 'Lawa', although they do not strictly belong to the latter ethnic subgroup.