Myanmar is a neighbor of our country, bordering Yunnan to the northeast, Thailand to the south, Bangladesh and India to the northwest, and belongs to Southeast Asia geographically. Because of the close distance with China, there are also more exchanges between the two countries, and in recent years, especially various trade exchanges, have become more frequent.
Due to the underdevelopment of Myanmar's industry, China exports various mechanical and electrical products, chemical products and mechanical components to Myanmar. Myanmar's domestic agriculture is relatively developed, so China mainly imports agricultural products and timber from here.
In general, the relations between the two countries are friendly and mutual help.
In fact, Myanmar is not very developed, mainly agriculture, the main reason for which is that the domestic environment is unstable, there is no good development environment, and there are often conflicts between different ethnic groups.
This time, I want to talk about a small ethnic group in Myanmar, although the area is small, Myanmar has not been able to fully control it for decades.
What is the name of this nation? What is its historical origin?
The name of this ethnic group is kokang, which is a state in northern Myanmar.
This state has quite a relationship with our country, because before the Qing Dynasty, it belonged to our administration and was the territory of our country. However, in 1840 AD, the Opium War broke out and China was defeated and forced to sign the Sino-Burmese Boundary Treaty formulated by the colonists.
Kokang was also recognized as Chinese land in this treaty, but after the Sino-Japanese War in 1897, the Annex to the Treaty on the Renewal of the Boundary Affairs of Yunnan and Burma was signed. Burma had been a British colony until then, and the treaty directly assigned the Kokang region to Burma to British ownership. The Han Chinese who survive in this area have also changed their names to kokang.
Later, when the War of Resistance broke out, the Kokang people, with the support of the Kuomintang, organized a self-defense force to fight against the invading enemy. This small force was later absorbed by the Nationalist army, which was a perfect opportunity to recover Kokang, but after the end of the War of Resistance, yang Wenbing, the leader of the Self-Defense Forces, was framed for colluding with the Japanese army, which led to Kokang's loss of trust in the Nationalist army.
In 1947, the representative of the consequences of Burma's independence signed the Panglong Agreement, supporting the federal system of Burma, and officially became one of the states in 1948. Since then, Kokang has officially belonged to Myanmar.
Since this nation has joined Burma, why should it compete with it?
The answer to this question has to do with the fact that the Kokang representative was framed. At the beginning, the Kokang Self-Defense Forces and the Nationalist Army jointly attacked the Japanese army, and they showed great bravery, although they were small but their strength in the war of resistance was not small.
After the victory of the War of Resistance, the Chongqing side also awarded the rank of Yang Wenbing, the leader of the Self-Defense Army. This person's identity is unusual, his family has been the toastmaster of kokang for generations, holding the power here, and can be said to be the supreme leader of kokang. Originally, everything went smoothly after the award of the rank, but Yang Wenbing returned to Kokang on the front foot, and the back foot was framed for colluding with the enemy and also went to court-martial.
This incident broke Kokang's trust in the nationalist army, and he could have returned to China but joined Burma. However, although they joined, kokang people have always looked down on the Burmese themselves, and ethnic conflicts are more serious. This also exists among other surrounding ethnic groups. This is also the main reason why Kokang has been in conflict with Myanmar.
Myanmar is far larger in size and army than Kokang, so why can't it control the region for decades?
This question is the finale of this time. It is true that the military strength of Kokang alone cannot be compared with Burma, but there must be a reason why it can compete with an enemy so many times stronger than itself for so long.
The first reason is that Kokang, despite its small number, is tenacious. Or that the people here are some hard bones, who would rather die than fall, and everyone has the momentum of a death squad. Coupled with the fact that the Burmese army would have to deal with the riots of other ethnic groups and could not drop all its troops to deal with Kokang, this area would not be able to be conquered for a long time.
The second reason is that the terrain here is complex, and the Kokang people live on the mountain, and there are many trees and other plants on the mountain, which are suitable for hiding. This terrain is not suitable for direct entry by troops, and the Burmese army's knowledge of the terrain is certainly not familiar to the locals, and in the words of the soldier's book, this terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The third reason is the Burmese army itself, which is not very effective. There is such an incident in history, in 1949, more than 8,000 Kuomintang remnants fled to Kokang. Fearing that this would make Kokang stronger, the Burmese military sent the Wehrmacht to clear it, but it was defeated. Personally, I believe that it is the low-end combat effectiveness of the Myanmar army that has led to Kokang's dealings with them for so long without their control.