Michael Sainsbury; 2/9/09
Over 500 people may have been killed in the first flair up of violence between the Burma¿s ruling military junta and the Kokang ethnic minority – hundreds more than official estimates – with Chinese people who fled last week unable to adopted country facing the loss of their livlihooods as attacks against Chinese people rise. The situation in the Burmese northern Shan state remains incredibly volatile with thousands of Burmese troops streaming into the area with large numbers stationed at the border of Wa territory, the region’s best armed minority which boasts as many as 30,000 armed troops and who are regularly named as the area’s biggest drug producers. The Burmese are focusing a possible attack on the United Wa Army on the town on Mending which has a population of about 10,000 and is only 30 minutes drive from the Chinese border town of Qingshiu tjhat serves as the primary crossing point for the Wa.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26015836-2703,00.html