Wei Hsueh-kang | |
---|---|
魏學剛 | |
Member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the United Wa State Party | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1945 (age 77–78) Yunnan, Republic of China |
Citizenship | Thailand (1985–2001) |
Political party | United Wa State Party |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Wa State |
Branch/service | United Wa State Army |
Years of service | 1989–present |
Wei Hsueh-kang, [lower-alpha 1] also known by various other names, is a Chinese-born business tycoon and drug trafficker wanted by the United States and Thailand for illegally trafficking drugs in New York and Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle. He is also a regional commander of the United Wa State Army, the armed forces of the de facto independent Wa State in Myanmar.
During his career as a drug trafficker, Wei adopted several pseudonyms to evade capture by authorities. His pseudonyms include U Sein Win, [lower-alpha 2] Prasit Cheewinnitipanya, [lower-alpha 3] Charnchai Cheevinnitipanya, [lower-alpha 4] and Suchat Phanloetkun, [lower-alpha 5] among others.
According to his Thai documents, Wei Hsueh-kang was born in 1945 in Yunnan, China. [3] However, the United States Department of State gives Wei's date of birth as 29 May 1952. [4]
After the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, Wei fled from mainland China to Burma (present-day Myanmar) with his father, who was then a member of the Kuomintang supported by the CIA. Wei helped his father sell opium, in part to fund the Kuomintang's insurgency in mainland China, until his graduation from high school, upon which he joined a militia led by the drug lord Khun Sa. [5] [ full citation needed ]
Wei followed the leadership of Khun Sa for two decades, first as a member of Khun Sa's personal militia and then as a member of the Mong Tai Army (MTA). After falling out of favour with Khun Sa in the mid-1980s, Wei left the MTA and began to work with the Wa military leader Bao Youxiang. Wei and Bao were among the founders of the United Wa State Party (UWSP) in 1989, the latter eventually becoming its leader. Bao subsequently made Wei a regional commander of the party's armed wing, the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
Wei is believed to have remained closely associated with Khun Sa even after he left the MTA, especially during the height of opium production in the Golden Triangle. He is wanted by the United States' Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs for drug offences committed in New York; [6] there is a US$2 million reward for information leading to his capture and arrest. [7] Wei is currently believed to be residing in China and along the Myanmar border. [8]
Although Wei was granted Thai citizenship in 1985, three years later in 1988 he was facing a sentence of life imprisonment by the Thai government. [9] He jumped bail, however, and his Thai citizenship was later revoked in 2001. [10] [11]
Wei has since downsized his involvement in drug trafficking, partly in response to his wanted status by the United States.[ citation needed ]
In 1998, Wei founded the Hong Pang Group with the money he had amassed from his time as a drug trafficker, as well as money he had gained by taking advantage of the privileges offered in the ceasefire deal by General Khin Nyunt. The Hong Pang Group owns and controls a multitude of businesses in agriculture, commerce, construction, distilleries, electronics and communications, mining, and petroleum. The Hong Pang Group is based in Pangkham and has regional offices in Yangon, Mandalay, Lashio, Tachilek, and Mawlamyine. [12]
The group was renamed Thawda Win Co. Ltd in 2012, and it remains involved in several projects in Myanmar, including the Meiktila-Taunggyi-Tachilek road. The company's income also supported the UWSA's operations with truckloads of military hardware and ammunition from China, through Wei's close relationship with Zhou Yongkang. [8]
A fire in Pangkham on 18 April 2009 destroyed the largest petrol station in the city and over 10,000 tons of teak in a warehouse; both buildings belonged to Wei. [13]
Following the 2015 jade mine disaster in Hpakant, Kachin State, the London-based NGO Global Witness accused Wei of exploiting locals and illegally funding mining operations in the area. This claim however, could not be verified or denied by Wei himself, as he was still in hiding. [14]
The Wa people are a Southeast Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in Northern Myanmar, in the northern part of Shan State and the eastern part of Kachin State, near and along Myanmar's border with China, as well as in China's Yunnan Province.
Shan State, also known by the endonym Shanland, is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos to the east, and Thailand to the south, and five administrative divisions of Burma (Myanmar) in the west. The largest of the 14 administrative divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800 km2, almost a quarter of the total area of Myanmar. The state gets its name from Burmese name for the Tai peoples: "Shan people". The Tai (Shan) constitute the majority among several ethnic groups that inhabit the area. Shanland is largely rural, with only three cities of significant size: Lashio, Kengtung, and the capital, Taunggyi. Taunggyi is 150.7 km northeast of the nation's capital Naypyitaw.
Khun Sa was an ethnic Chinese drug lord and warlord. He was born in Hpa Hpeung village, in the Loi Maw ward of Mongyai, Northern Shan State, Burma. Before he assumed the Shan name "Khun Sa" in 1976, he was known primarily by his Chinese name, Zhang Qifu (張奇夫).
Wa State is an autonomous self-governing polity in Myanmar (Burma). It is de facto independent from the rest of the country and has its own political system, administrative divisions and army. However, the Wa State government recognises Myanmar's sovereignty over all of its territory, and the Burmese government does not consider Wa State's political institutions to be legitimate. The 2008 Constitution of Myanmar officially recognises the northern part of Wa State as the Wa Self-Administered Division of Shan State. As a one-party socialist state ruled by the United Wa State Party (UWSP), which split from the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) in 1989, Wa State is divided into three counties, two special districts, and one economic development zone. The administrative capital is Pangkham, formerly known as Pangsang. The name Wa is derived from the Wa ethnic group, who speak an Austroasiatic language.
The United Wa State Army, abbreviated as the UWSA or the UWS Army, is the military wing of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), the de facto ruling party of Wa State in Myanmar. It is a well-equipped ethnic minority army of an estimated 20,000–30,000 Wa soldiers, led by Bao Youxiang. The UWSA was formed after the collapse of the armed wing of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) in 1989.
The Golden Triangle is the name given to one of Asia's two principal areas of illicit opium production. Its geographical limits are the area in which the borders of Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos meet at the confluence of the Ruak and the Mekong Rivers. The name "Golden Triangle" was coined by the CIA and is commonly used more broadly to refer to an area of approximately 950,000 square kilometres (367,000 sq mi) that overlaps the mountains of the four adjacent countries.
Mong Pawk is a city in the de facto independent Wa State of far eastern Myanmar only 10 kilometres from the border with China. It is just south of Pangkham. It is now the largest city of Wa State.
The Shan State Army – South, also known simply as the Shan State Army, is the armed wing of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and one of the largest insurgent groups in Myanmar (Burma). The SSA-S was led by Lieutenant General Yawd Serk until his resignation on 3 February 2014. Yawd Serk was reelected chairman of the RCSS shortly after his resignation and has remained chairman since.
Hpakant is a town in Hpakant Township, Kachin State of the northernmost part of Myanmar (Burma). It is located on the Uyu River 350 km north of Mandalay. It is famous for its jade mines which produce the world's best quality jadeite.
Tachileik is a border town in Shan State of eastern Myanmar. It is the administrative seat of Tachileik Township and Tachileik District and most populated city in eastern Shan State with 51,553 residents per 2014 census count, ahead of Kyaing Tong, but only 4th statewide. It faces Mae Sai in Thailand, and is home to one of Myanmar's seven official border trade posts with Thailand.
Ban Hin Taek or Baan Hin Taek now renamed Ban Therd Thai, is a village found in the Chiang Rai area in the northern part of Thailand. This village, composed mainly of Akha people, has had a very vivid history involving the drug leader known as Khun Sa. Despite being called Ban Therd Thai, the village will be referred to as Ban Hin Taek which is the name the villagers refer to when talking about their village.
Pangkham, known before 1999 as Pangsang, is a border town in Myanmar's far eastern Shan State. It is situated at a bend on the Hka River near the border with Yunnan Province, China, opposite of the town of Menglian. Pangkham is the main town of Pangsang Township of Matman District of Shan State.
The Chin Haw or Chin Ho, also known locally as Yunnanese, are Chinese people who migrated to Thailand via Myanmar or Laos. Most of them were originally from Yunnan, a southern province of China. They speak Southwestern Mandarin.
The Mong Tai Army, was an insurgent group consisting of soldiers from the Shan minority in Myanmar, founded in 1985 by Khun Sa. It had up to 20,000 armed troops at its peak, and was one of the largest forces opposing the government of Myanmar at its time. It was also involved in drug trafficking in Southeast Asia.
The United Wa State Party (UWSP) is the ruling party of Wa State, an autonomous region in northern Shan State, Myanmar (Burma). It was founded on 3 November 1989 as a merger between the Burma National United Party (BNUP) and several smaller, non-communist Wa groups. Its armed wing is the United Wa State Army (UWSA), and its chairman and commander in chief is Bao Youxiang.
Sai Naw Kham was an ethnic Shan associate of the Chinese drug trafficker Khun Sa who operated in the Golden Triangle, a major drugs-smuggling area where the borders of Burma, Laos and Thailand converge. He was executed for alleged involvement in the killing of 13 Chinese sailors.
The Shan State National Army was a Shan nationalist insurgent group that fought against the then ruling State Peace and Development Council military regime of Myanmar (Burma). The commander of the SSNA was Colonel Kan Yod.
The 1967 Opium War took place in northwestern Laos between February and August 1967; actual fighting took place from 29 July to 1 August 1967. A mule train, led by Burmese militia, carrying 16 tons of opium crossed into Laos to Ban Khwan, where they were attacked by rival drug smugglers from the Chinese Nationalists' Third and Fifth Armies. The intended recipient of the shipment, Royal Lao Army General Ouane Rattikone, bombed both sides while moving in troops to sweep the battlefield. With both Burmese militia and Nationalist Chinese defeated and expelled from Laos, the Lao general confiscated the opium for himself.
Bao Youxiang, also known by his Wa name Tax Log Pang and his Burmese name Pau Yu Chang, is the current president of Wa State people's government, general secretary of the United Wa State Party, and commander-in-chief of the United Wa State Army.
Homein also known as Homong, Homöng, Ho Mong and Wān Ho-möng, is a village in Langkho Township, Langkho District, southern Shan State, Myanmar (Burma).