According to Aung Kyaw Zaw, Burmese military watcher on the Sino-Burmese border, the visit to Kengtung last Saturday, 6 October of Vice Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing to meet Wa and Mongla leaders, might be more about the Burma Army’s military objectives than just drugs.

He thinks it was part of the Burmese military’s overall plan to destroy the armed opposition. “It is not working for peace,” he told SHAN yesterday “(Min Aung Hlaing) didn’t want the Wa to have anything to do with the KIA (Kachin Independence Army) and the SSA (Shan State Army “North”)… Closer military ties with the United State also seem to be directed at the Wa.”

The United Wa State Army (UWSA) and Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), whose territories share border with China’s Yunnan province, are long regarded as Beijing’s proteges.

Other sources however told SHAN Min Aung Hlaing dwelt very little on political and military matters during the meeting. “Drugs are rampant in our country. We are always asked about the drug situation whenever we meet the Thais, Chinese and Americans,” he was reported as saying. “When you have a bad reputation, it also hurt us. We therefore want your areas to be free of drugs after 2015.”

Lt-Gen Ko Ko, head of the country’s drug enforcement agency, Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC), announced on 5 October, a day before Min Aung Hlaing’s Kengtung visit, that the drug-free deadline has been extended from 2014 to 2019.

The UWSA is reputed to be the major drug producer and Mongla the transit point for drugs.

A senior Wa leader however had played down the meeting as one between long time friends. Min Aung Hlaing had served as the regional commander in eastern Shan State from 2005-2008.

Meanwhile, Aung Kyaw Zaw warns those who believe the country is moving past the point of no return. “Real changes can take place, only if the military changes first. The fundamental changes involve two major factors: the military’s assumption that it is the savior of the country and its (mis) understanding of federalism. Only when there is educative reforms on both, can we be assured of real change. What are considered changes today can always take a U-turn any time, if the military refuses to change. Because the military is above the 2008 constitution, not under it.”