Kokang ( my,
ကိုးကန့်; ) is a region in
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
(Burma). It is located in the northern part of
Shan State
Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the Endonym and exonym, endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. ...
, with the
Salween River
, ''Mae Nam Salawin'' (
, name_etymology =
, image = Sweet_View_of_Salween_River_in_Tang_Yan_Township,_Shan_State,_Myanmar.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = Salween River in Shan State, Myanmar
, map ...
to its west, and sharing a border with China's
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
Province to the east. Its total land area is around .
[ The capital is ]Laukkai
Laukkai (also known as Laukkaing or Laogai or Laokai; my, လောက်ကိုင်မြို့; ) is the capital of Kokang (also known as Special Region 1) in the northern part of Shan State, Myanmar. It is situated on the Salween River ...
. Kokang is mostly populated by Kokang Chinese
The Kokang Chinese ( or 果敢族 (''Guǒgǎn zú''); my, ကိုးကန့်လူမျိုး) are Mandarin-speaking Han Chinese living in Kokang, Myanmar, administered as the Kokang Self-Administered Zone.
Etymology
The name Kokang ...
, a Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
group living in Myanmar.
Kokang had been historically part of China for several centuries and is still claimed by the Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
to this day, but was largely left alone by successive governments due to its remote location. The region formed a ''de facto'' buffer zone between Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
province and the Shan States
The Shan States (1885–1948) were a collection of minor Shan kingdoms called ''muang'' whose rulers bore the title ''saopha'' in British Burma. They were analogous to the princely states of British India.
The term "Shan States" was firs ...
. The Yang clan, originally Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
loyalists from Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, consolidated the area into a single polity. In 1840, the Yunnan governor granted the Yang clan the hereditary rights as a vassal of the Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
.[ After the British conquest of ]Upper Burma
Upper Myanmar ( my, အထက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Upper Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar, traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery (modern Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway Regions), or more broadly speak ...
in 1885, Kokang was initially placed in China under the 1894 Sino-British boundary convention. It was ceded to British Burma in a supplementary agreement signed in February 1897.
From the 1960s to 1989, the area was controlled by the Communist Party of Burma
The Communist Party of Burma (CPB), also known as the Burma Communist Party (BCP), is a clandestine communist party in Myanmar (Burma). It is the oldest existing political party in the country.
Founded in 1939, the CPB initially fought aga ...
, and after the party's armed wing disbanded in 1989 it became a special region of Myanmar under the control of the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army
, logo = Flag of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.svg
, caption = Flag of the MNDAA
, active= – present
, leader = Peng Daxun
, ideology = Kokang nationalism Separatism
, partof = Myanmar National Truth and Justice Party ...
(MNDAA). Armed conflicts between the MNDAA and the Tatmadaw
Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include th ...
have resulted in the 2009 Kokang incident
The Kokang incident was a violent series of skirmishes that broke out in August 2009 in Kokang in Myanmar's northern Shan State. Several clashes between the Burmese military junta forces (including the Myanmar Armed Forces, also known as Tatma ...
and the 2015 Kokang offensive
The 2015 Kokang offensive was a series of military operations launched by the Myanmar Army in 2015 in Kokang in northern Shan State, Myanmar (Burma). Several clashes between the Myanmar Army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army had take ...
.
Etymology
The name Kokang derives from the Burmese ကိုးကန့်, which itself derives from the Shan ၵဝ်ႈ (kāo, "nine") + ၵူၼ်း (kúun, "family") or ၵၢင် (kǎang, "guard").
Demographics
In 2009, the population was reported to be around 150,000. Of these, around 100,000 people held Burmese nationality, the remainder being from China. Of the Burmese nationality, 90% are ethnic Han-Chinese, with others being Shan, Palaung, Hmong
Hmong may refer to:
* Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand
* Hmong cuisine
* Hmong customs and culture
** Hmong music
** Hmong textile art
* Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...
, Wa, Lisu Lisu may refer to:
*Lisu people, an ethnic group of Southeast Asia
*Lisu language, spoken by the Lisu people
* Old Lisu Alphabet or Fraser Alphabet
*Lisu syllabary
* Lisu (Unicode block), the block of Unicode characters for the Lisu language.
*Lisu ...
, Bai and Bamar
The Bamar (, ; also known as the Burmans) are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group native to Myanmar (formerly Burma) in Southeast Asia. With approximately 35 million people, the Bamar make up the largest ethnic group in Myanmar, constituting 68% of th ...
. The large majority of ethnic Burmans are those dispatched to the region by the central government as military and administrative personnel and their families, primary school teachers, skilled workers, medical workers and other public service personnel. Because of the effective disappearance of the narcotics trade, many have lost their source of income and many local people have left the region.
History
Chiefdom of Kokang
Yang Xiancai () founded the state Xingdahu () in 1739 in and around Ta Shwe Htan. The name was changed to Kokang by his successors. In 1840, the Yunnan governor granted the Yang clan the hereditary rights as a Tusi
''Tusi'', often translated as "headmen" or "chieftains", were hereditary tribal leaders recognized as imperial officials by the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties of China, and the Later Lê and Nguyễn dynasties of Vietnam. They ruled certain et ...
of the Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
.[ After the British conquest of ]Upper Burma
Upper Myanmar ( my, အထက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Upper Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar, traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery (modern Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway Regions), or more broadly speak ...
in 1885, Kokang was initially placed in China under the 1894 Sino-British boundary convention. It was ceded to British Burma in a supplementary agreement signed in February 1897.
Recent history
After the collapse of the Communist Party of Burma
The Communist Party of Burma (CPB), also known as the Burma Communist Party (BCP), is a clandestine communist party in Myanmar (Burma). It is the oldest existing political party in the country.
Founded in 1939, the CPB initially fought aga ...
in 1989, Kokang was assigned as the autonomous First Special Region of the northern Shan State of Burma.
Peng Jiasheng ruled Kokang since 1989 except he was ousted temporarily by rival Yang Mao-liang
Yang Mao-liang ( my, ရန်မိုးလျံ; zh, 楊茂良; also spelled Yang Mouliang) is a high-ranking member of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA). He was ousted by Peng Jiasheng from MNDAA and Kokang. Yang Mao-Lia ...
in 1992. He regain his power in the same year with the help of juntas but he was ousted again by juntas and replaced with his deputy Bai Xuoqian in 2009.
In 2003, a comprehensive ban on the cultivation of the opium poppy
''Papaver somniferum'', commonly known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is the species of plant from which both opium and poppy seeds are derived and is also a valuable ornamen ...
came into effect. Due to the attendant food shortage, among other things, 2003 also saw a large-scale outbreak of malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
in mountain villages with authorities reporting some 279 deaths. During this time the Chinese government sent mobile medical units and supplies to the region, with the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
World Food Program
The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен ...
also sending disaster relief soon after. In April 2005, the Japan International Cooperation Agency
The is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social growth in developing countries, and the promotion of international co ...
launched a new project to rebuild the lives of farmers in the mountain areas.
The 2008 Myanmar Constitution defines Kokang is a self-administered zone
A self-administered zone is an administrative division, administrative subdivision in Myanmar (Burma). There are five ''self-administered zones'' and one ''self-administered division''.
Self-administered zones and self-administered division
...
. Kongyan Township and Laukkai Township aka Laukkaing Township
Laukkaing Township ( my, လောက်ကိုင်မြို့နယ်) is a township located within Laukkaing District, Shan State, Myanmar. It is also part of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone. The principal town is Laukkai a.k.a. Lauk ...
are grouped together to form Kokang Self-Administered Zone
The Kokang Self-Administered Zone ( my, ကိုးကန့် ကိုယ်ပိုင်အုပ်ချုပ်ခွင့်ရ ဒေသ ), as stipulated by the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar, is a self-administered zone in northern ...
, which replaced the "First Special Region".
2009 Kokang conflict
In August 2009, Kokang was the site of a violent conflict, the Kokang incident
The Kokang incident was a violent series of skirmishes that broke out in August 2009 in Kokang in Myanmar's northern Shan State. Several clashes between the Burmese military junta forces (including the Myanmar Armed Forces, also known as Tatma ...
, between junta forces and various ethnic armies. As a result of the conflict the MNDAA
, logo = Flag of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.svg
, caption = Flag of the MNDAA
, active= – present
, leader = Peng Daxun
, ideology = Kokang nationalism Separatism
, partof = Myanmar National Truth and Justice Party ...
lost control of the area and as many as 30,000 refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. s fled to Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
province in neighboring China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.[47 Myanmar soldiers reported dead in clashes with Kokang rebels]
/ref>
2015 Kokang offensive
On 17 February 2015 Myanmar president Thein Sein
Thein Sein ( my, သိန်းစိန်; IPA: ; born 20 April 1944) is a Burmese politician and retired general in the Myanmar Army who served as the eighth President of Myanmar from 2011 to 2016. He previously served as Prime Minister ...
declared a state of emergency and a three-month period of martial law in Kokang in response to fighting between government troops and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army
, logo = Flag of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.svg
, caption = Flag of the MNDAA
, active= – present
, leader = Peng Daxun
, ideology = Kokang nationalismSeparatism
, partof = Myanmar National Truth and Justice Party
...
, a Kokang insurgent group.
See also
* Burmese Chinese
Chinese Burmese, also Sino-Burmese or Tayoke, are a Burmese citizens of full or partial Chinese ancestry. They are group of overseas Chinese born or raised in Myanmar (Burma). As of 2012, the Burmese Chinese population is estimated to be as h ...
References
External links
Pro-junta government after Aug 8, 2009
Government in exile after Aug 8, 2009
Kokang Celebrate Liberation from Burmese Communists
Chinese Dam Builders Fan Conflict in Burma
{{coord, 23, 42, N, 98, 45, E, source:kolossus-zhwiki, display=title
1739 establishments in Asia
Historical regions