Bao Youxiang

Bao Youxiang (Chinese: 鲍有祥; pinyin: Bào Yǒuxiáng), also known by his Wa name Tax Log Pang (Chinese Wa: Dax Lōug Bang) and his Burmese name Pau Yu Chang (Burmese: ပေါက်ယူချန်း Pauk Yu-hkyan), is the current President of Wa State, chairman of the United Wa State Party, and commander-in-chief of the United Wa State Army.[5][6]

Log Pang is a Wa name; the family name is Pang. Tax is an honorific.
Bao Youxiang is a Chinese name of Wa origin; the family name Bao comes from the Wa clan Bang Bla.

Bao Youxiang
Tax Log Pang
President of Wa State
Assumed office
1995
Vice PresidentXiao Minliang[1]
Preceded byZhao Nyi-Lai[2]
Chairman of the UWSP
In office
1995–2005
Preceded byZhao Nyi-Lai
Succeeded byBao Youyi[2]
Personal details
Born1949 (age 71–72)
Kunma, British Burma
Political partyUnited Wa State Party
RelationsBrothers:[2][3][4]
Bao Youyi
Bao Youliang
Bao Youhua
Military service
Allegiance Wa State
Branch/serviceUnited Wa State Army
Years of service1989 (1989)–present
RankCommander in Chief

Early life

Bao Youxiang was born in 1949 to a Wa chieftain in Kunma, a Wa village near Gawng Lang, in northern Shan State. Bao was the second youngest of eight brothers in his family, and did not go further than his village during his childhood. When Bao was 21, he joined and eventually led a Wa guerrilla group that smuggled opium across the China-Myanmar border.[6]

Military career

Communist Party of Burma (1969–89)

Bao joined the armed wing of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) in 1969, and started out as a battalion commander for his home village of Kumna, but gradually became the leader of a brigade operating near the Thai-Myanmar border. Like many Wa villagers in the area at the time, Bao saw the CPB as a source of modern weaponry, combat training, and fraternity.[6]

In 1989, the leadership of the CPB was challenged by several party members, resulting in an internal rebellion that ended with the disbandment of the armed wing of the CPB and the establishment of various new factions, including the United Wa State Army, which Bao would eventually lead.[6]

United Wa State Party/Army (1989–present)

After the fall of the armed wing of the CPB, Bao joined the United Wa State Party (UWSP), and its armed wing, the United Wa State Army (UWSA). In 1995, Bao was elected chairman of the UWSP and commander-in-chief of the UWSA, after Zhao Nyi-Lai, the first and preceding chairman, suffered a stroke. In 2005, Bao's health deteriorated and Bao Youyi, his elder brother, replaced him.

Bao has been the de facto President of Wa State since 1995, an autonomous entity in northern Shan State that runs independently from Myanmar.[5] He has constantly urged the government of Myanmar to give more regional autonomy to ethnic minority groups in Myanmar, in exchange for permanent ceasefire and peace agreements with armed insurgent groups.[7]

See also

References
  1. "A United Wa State Army (UWSA) delegation led by Vice President Xiao Minliang, Bao Youliang and Zhao Guo-ang left Panghsang for Lashio today". Democracy for Burma. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  2. "Jane's World Insurgency and Terrorism: United Wa State Army".
  3. "Wardrums in Myanmar's Wa hills". Asia Times. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  4. "Phoenix TV" (in Chinese).
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-10-13. Retrieved 2015-12-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Quote: "Officially, Bao Youxiang is still the President of the Wa State Government and Commander-in-Chief of the United Wa State Army," said a Thai security officer, a ten-year veteran on the Thai-Burma border
  6. Marshall, Andrew; Davis, Anthony. "Soldiers of Fortune". time.com. TIME magazine. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  7. Bao Youxiang, leader of the United Wa State Army, is seen during a meeting of leaders of Myanmar's ethnic armed groups at the UWSA headquarters in Pansang in Myanmar's northern Shan State Archived December 8, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
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