A few days ago, Lt. General Gun Maw, Deputy-Chairman (1) of Kachin Independence Council (KIC), made known to the public through his Facebook portal that the negotiation has started between the two ethnic resistance organizations (EROs), the Palaung State Liberation Front/Ta’ang National Liberation Army (PSLF/TNLA) and Kachin Independence Organization/Kachin Independence Army (KIO/KIA) to iron out the constant frictions and conflict that occurred in the aftermath of the Operation 1027, due to territorial ownership dispute and demarcation.
About a month so back, Gun Maw revealed that the local people’s consent in northern Shan State, around northern Shan State, will be asked to find out their opinion and resolve the problem.
The present move may be part of the plan to find a common solution for all concerned.
As it is the forerunner teams on both sides are said to be meeting in preparation for further future negotiations, according to the Kachinwaves report of April 9.
The KIO News and Information Department reported that the KIO and PSLF have held preliminary discussions on the location, time, and groups that should be invited for the meeting. A KIO delegation led by Major General Dashie Brangnan visited the PSLF-controlled area and held negotiations at a border location today (April 9), according to the report. KIC Deputy-Chairman Lt. Gen. Gun Maw also posted on his Facebook account that “preliminary negotiations for the KIO-PSLF talks have begun.” There has been no announcement from the PSLF yet.
KIO meet the people
It is learned that the Möng Mit Sinlee Kachin Sub-State Advisory Group in northern Shan State held a meeting with local residents recently.
“On April 8, the Möng Mit Sinlee Kachin Sub-State Advisory Group met with some of our residents. During the meeting, they explained the current issues with the TNLA, the latest situation regarding the territorial disputes, and that they were preparing to hold an official meeting with officials from the KIA and TNLA. The main thing was to be patient,” a man who attended the meeting told Kachin Sub-State Media (KSSM) today.
The Möng Mit Sinlee Kachin Sub-State Advisory Group was selected by the KIA Southern Central Committee, and it is hoped that the people will present their proposals and hand over responsibility to those elected by the people in the future, the source added.
This is the first time that the Möng Mit Sinlee Kachin Sub-State Consultative Group has met with the Kachin people of northern Shan State, and the meeting was held somewhere in northern Shan State, on the China-Myanmar border, according to a young political activist.
TNLA harassment of the KIA
From early January 2025 to March 23, 2025, TNLA forces have seized (10) camps under military pressure, including the KIO/KIA Kutkai Liaison Office under the Southern Military Command of the KIO government in northern Shan State, and there have been (3) incidents and locations where the TNLA forces have taken down the Kachin national flag. Due to the territorial dispute between the TNLA and KIA in northern Shan State, TNLA soldiers have been repeatedly besieging, beating, arresting and expelling KIA soldiers. After reports emerged that the KIO government would gather the views of the people in northern Shan State, the TNLA forces have been making more military preparations, and local residents are worried that clashes between the KIA and the TNLA will begin.
According to KSSM report of April 6, the TNLA has reportedly held a meeting to expel all Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) and KIA camps in Möng Mit Township, Möng Mit District, northern Shan State. “ On April 5, 2025, a TNLA brigade (3) in Möng Mit met and discussed the withdrawal of all major SSPP and KIA camps,” a TNLA soldier in Möng Mit told KSSM.
A Möng Mit resident also reported that the TNLA will not allow other armed groups to stay in the areas they control.
The territorial dispute between the Northern Alliance groups must be resolved through dialogue at the relevant central levels as soon as possible, otherwise a clash between EROs favored by the military council could erupt, a CDM major suggested.
The KSSM has not yet confirmed the TNLA meeting in Möng Mit yesterday and is still investigating.
Similarly, following reports that MNDAA troops were withdrawing from Lashio, a local resident of Enai village said that Kokang troops arrived at the TNLA troops’ location near Enai village on the Lashio-Namtu road in the morning of April 3, causing clashes.
MNDAA friction with KIA
It is learned that the KIA troops who were providing security on the road to Na Ti village on the Hsenwi-Laukkai road in Hsenwi Township, northern Shan State, were ordered to withdraw by the Kokang or Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), according to KSSM on April 1.
“Today (April 1, 2025) at (11:30 am), some KIO government officials were present in our village, so some KIA soldiers were assigned to provide security on the village road. The Kokang MNDAA side also responded to this by saying that their officials were also on a trip. This is their place. They immediately ordered the KIA soldiers who were providing security to withdraw. After (12) hours, both groups returned to their places. Now, things are back to normal,” a local man from Na Ti told KSSM.
Similarly, at 11:20 am. this morning, TNLA police officers stopped MNDAA troops from collecting donations for earthquake victims in Kutkai, and a fight broke out between the two forces, according to local residents, resulting in some TNLA police officers suffering serious injuries, with injuries to their heads.
In northern Shan State, the military council that has been illegally seizing power and committing war crimes in Hsenwi Township, Kutkai Township, Mantong Township, Möng Mit Township, and Namkham Township has been frequently involved in territorial disputes between the Northern Alliance forces.
Historical Backdrop of Kachin Sub State
According to Sai Kham Mong, “Kachin sub-state in northern Shan State was officially approved by Shan State government after independence. Although Shan, Palaung, local Chinese and Kachin can be found in Kutkai area, Kachin is the majority group in that area. The Kachin people are originated from Kachin State which was formed in 1948 by merging the districts of Bhamo and Myitkyina in northern Burma. There are many Kachin settlements in northern Shan State particularly in the Myanmar-China frontier areas of North Hsenwi, Möng Mit and Tawgpeng States, providing the rationale for forming a Kachin sub-state. In 1947, the Kachin elders in the areas requested the Frontier Administration for creation of a Kachin sub-state for the following reasons.”
- To have a Kachin Minister representative for the Frontier Areas Administration
- Kachin language to be used as official in the area
- Kachin Customary Law be applied in the area
- Right to correspond directly with the Minister for Frontier Areas Administration or the Counselor and
- Right to elect the Kachin representative in the election on population basis.
“Kachin sub-state came into existence by the notification of the Shan State government issued on 6 July 1948. The newly formed part of the State of North Hsenwi would be called “North Hsenwi Kachin Sub-State”. The administrative headquarter of the sub-state was located at Kutkai under an Assistant Resident with Councilors and elders of the sub-state.”
“However, this Kachin sub-state administrative system was dismantled by Ne Win in the 1970s. Although Kachin sub-state is no longer in existence today, many Kachin population continue to live in northern Shan State especially in the Kutkai area.”
Sai Kham Mong earned an M.A. in history from the University of Mandalay and was a lecturer for many years in the departments of history in Mandalay and Yangon Universities. He specializes in the history of the Shan in Myanmar.
Analysis
Looking at the present ERO conflict in northern Shan State, involving mainly between the TNLA and KIA and to a lesser extent, the SSPP and MNDAA, including frictions among each other, the lack of historical background knowledge may be one of the main factor.
This leads to the false and wrong mindset attitude opting for confrontation, rather than handling the conflict within the mold of political dialogue and negotiated settlement.
Perhaps, lacking broad worldly vision of some stakeholders may also be the case.
Thus, all parties should indulge in some theoretical thinking on how they should go about to avoid inter-ethnic conflict among various multi-ethnic groups within northern Shan State and beyond.
Firstly, the EROs’ mindset need to be free of narrow, aggressive, ethno-nationalism and racial supremacy doctrine, including “might is right” and territorial expansionism urge, at expense of the local population.
They wouldn’t like to act like warmongers on their own ethnic brethren to take away their rights of sovereignty and self-determination and equally, they shouldn’t behave like the Bamar military dictatorship implementing racial supremacy doctrine which they also hated to the core and professed to be fighting against it. Otherwise, what is the use of fighting for their rights if they can’t be noble and different than their oppressors?
Secondly, they should accept new political mapping in the aftermath of military junta disappearance is a necessity. As such, all have to play by the rules. Chief among them is to agree upon the criteria of new federal constituent units creation according to the agreed constitutional guidelines and agreement, which is to be worked out together among them. Patience is the name of the game and all know, they need to push out the military dictatorship system first before they can embark wholeheartedly to transform the political system and societies, according to their aspirations.
Thirdly, during the transitional and transformation revolutionary period, all EROs and anti-junta ethnic-democratic forces should take the local people’s needs and values into account earnestly and work with them hand-in-hand as partners and not as master or overlord, to implement the bottom up democracy and federalization. After all, the people are the real owner of the sovereignty and not any armed groups, including Myanmar Army.
It will do good to all, especially the KIA, TNLA, MNDAA, SSPP, Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and United Wa State Army (UWSA), if they could adhere to the above said principles and guidelines in general, they will be able to resolve the problem and live in harmony. The catchword is to see the bigger picture of harmonious living together, in a “unity in diversity” mode in a collective ownership of the multi-ethnic state.
NOTE: For further reading on “Creation of New Constituent Units in the Myanmar Context” please go to:
https://www.tni.org/en/article/the-creation-of-new-constituent-units-in-the-myanmar-context
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