The Wa of Myanmar and China’s Quest for Global Dominance

The United Wa State Army (UWSA) is a nonstate armed group that administers an autonomous zone in the difficult-to-reach Wa Hills of eastern Myanmar. As China expands its geopolitical interests across Asia through the Belt and Road Initiative, the Wa have come to play a pivotal role in Beijing's efforts to extend its influence in Myanmar. In a book relevant to current debates about geopolitics in Asia, the illicit drug trade, Myanmar's decades-long civil wars, and ongoing efforts to negotiate a settlement, Bertil Lintner, the only foreign journalist to visit the Wa areas when they were controlled by the Communist Party of Burma, traces the history of the Wa Hills and the struggles of its people, providing a rare look at the UWSA. The United Wa State Army (UWSA) is a non-state armed group that administers an autonomous zone in the difficult to reach Wa Hills of northeastern Myanmar. The UWSA was formed in 1989 after the hilltribe rank-and-file of the insurgent Communist Party of Burma (CPB) expelled its mostly Burman leadership as part of mutiny. The group has grown into the largest and best-equipped military non-state actor in the Asia-Pacific region. As China expands its geopolitical interests across Asia through the Belt and Road Initiative, the Wa have come to play a pivotal role in Beijing's current efforts to extend its influence in Myanmar. In The Wa of Myanmar and China's Quest for Global Dominance Lintner provides a rare, close-up look of a little-known people. He was the only foreign journalist to visit the Wa areas when controlled by the CPB and has returned there since. In a book relevant to current debates about geopolitics in Asia, the illicit drug trade, Myanmar's decades-long civil wars and ongoing efforts to negotiate a settlement, Lintner traces the history of the Wa Hills and the struggles of its people