Kokang had been historically part of China for several centuries and is still claimed by the Republic of China 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 province and the Shan States.[2] The Yang clan, originally Ming loyalists from Nanjing, 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.[2] After the British conquest of Upper Burma 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.[3]
The name Kokang derives from the Burmese ကိုးကန့်, which itself derives from the Shanၵဝ်ႈ (kāo, "nine") + ၵူၼ်း (kúun, "family") or ၵၢင် (kǎang, "guard").
Demographics
In 2009, the population was reported to be around 150,000.[1] Of these, around 100,000 people held Burmese nationality, the remainder being from China. Of the Burmese nationality, 90% are ethnic Han-Chinese.[4]
Yang Xiancai (simplified Chinese: 杨献才; traditional Chinese: 楊獻才; pinyin: Yáng Xiàncái) founded the state Xingdahu (simplified Chinese: 兴达户; traditional Chinese: 興達戶; pinyin: Xīng Dáhù) 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 of the Qing dynasty.[2] After the British conquest of Upper Burma 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.[3]
Recent history
After the collapse of the Communist Party of Burma in 1989, Peng Jiasheng's Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) took control of the region. A ceasefire between the group and the Tatmadaw was signed in the same year, the area controlled by MNDAA was assigned as the autonomous "First Special Region" of Shan State (Chinese: 缅甸掸邦第一特区; Burmese: မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်အထူးဒေသ (၁)). However, in 2009, the Tatmadaw asked that the group become a border guard under the army's direction. The MNDAA refused, and the armed forces ousted the group and took over the region.[5]
In August 2009, Kokang was the site of a violent conflict, the Kokang incident, between junta forces and various ethnic armies.[8] As a result of the conflict the MNDAA lost control of the area and as many as 30,000 refugees fled to Yunnan province in neighboring China.[9]
On 17 February 2015 Myanmar president Thein Sein 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 (MNDAA), a Kokang insurgent group.[10]
The MNDAA successfully encircled and captured Laukkai, the capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, with key victories in Chinshwehaw and other strategic border towns, leading to the surrender of the Tatmadaw's military and Border Guard Forces in Laukkai by December 26, ultimately securing control of the city by December 28.[12]
