A call for Chinese to take up arms in Burma

Kokang: an ethnic Chinese-inhabited region in northern Burma

In the late 1960s, when the frenzy whipped up by the Cultural Revolution hit its peak, thousands of young Chinese crossed the border to join Burmese Communist Party guerillas. Indoctrinated with Maoist ideology, they believed they were fighting for a global communist revolution.

With Burma communists losing ground in the civil war, China shifted its foreign policy from support for the BCP to recognition of the military junta. Most of the Chinese “internationalist fighters,” by then war-weary and disillusioned, repatriated or emigrated to a third country.

But others who were the backbone of the BCP’s armed forces chose to stay. Ironically, those former overzealous communists also played a key role in the 1989 mutiny that brought about the BCP’s collapse. Some of them even became drug lords who lived off heroin trafficking.

From the former bases of the BCP rose four self-administering zones. One of them, Kokang, is inhabited largely by ethnic Chinese and has maintained close ties with China. In late August, when clashes between Burmese government troops and Kokang forces broke out, it also caused great concern on the other side of the border.

Since the incident, a mass email has been circulating on the Internet. Reflecting on history, the letter, signed by an organization called the Global Chinese-Kokang United Alliance, calls for the Chinese volunteers to follow earlier generations in taking up arms to save Kokang from the brutal rule of Burmese government:

Dear compatriots:

Global Chinese-Kokang United Alliance is urgently seeking help and support from all Chinese people of the world! Please forward this letter to any Chinese compatriots that you can contact.

The Burmese government has been enforcing an anti-Chinese policy. This is what the Chinese volunteers who went to Burma in the 60s fought against. It is the blood of tens of thousands of them that ensures the existence of self-governance for the Chinese community in northern Burma.

As you read this letter, Chinese people are being raped and killed. The Burmese government has violated international law and sent out death squads manned by large number of condemned criminals, using Chinese civilians as human shields. This provocation has compelled Chinese forces to fight back.

The Chinese are a peace-loving people who want to live peacefully. However, all our goodwill offerings are met with nothing but a hail of stones. The 1998 Indonesia massacre targeting the Chinese is an example of how being soft and compromising only leads to foreign peoples trampling upon you, and we will not allow this kind of organized killing to happen again.

Only the strong are respected! The ultimate means of preserving peace is to end war with war, to meet violence with more violence. To avoid the mutilation, killing, and rape that the Chinese living in Burma face, we plead with all Chinese individuals and organizations to declare war against the Burmese junta.

Global Chinese-Kokang United Alliance is currently building a Chinese volunteer force of 100,000 strong to engage the Burmese government troops in ground battles around the Burmese-Chinese border. Please contact soldiers, veterans, police officers, People’s Armed Police members, military reserve members, private security companies and everyone else that has the training of fighting, especially fighting in jungles.

Every one who want to join us can start now, to go to the border and wait for further orders. Here is a list of people with special knowledge that we badly need.

# 60/100 mm mortar sight setters;

# machine gun operators, scouts (perfectly corporal-level veterans), snipers;

# 40mm gun operators;

# 82 recoilless gun operators and people with other military training.

The Alliance is also receiving military resources and money donations. Details will be released through huaguo.org.

The border has been closed so here are a few things that you should know:

1. First you need to go to Yunnan. Avoid big cities. Choose counties instead. The big cities are more controlled. Research on the Internet before you start. Avoid talking with strangers because your accents may raise suspicion. The comrade who was arrested by the plain-clothed policemen is an example. If you want to go with a partner, find someone that you know. You can take care of each other after you enter the Wa State.

2. You can also enter the Wa State through Lao and Thailand.

3. Don’t use any public communication tools, such as mobiles, fixed telephones, QQ, Tom-modified Skype (the original English version is fine), and all free domestic email services as well as Yahoo’s mail service.

4. Use Gmail and Hotmail. MSN should be used with caution. Since Google made the promise of Do No Evil, we can trust it as long as it holds that promise.

5. There are plenty of weapons. International arms merchants keep the supply flowing. In terms of logistics and supplies, the Alliance is seeking contributions from the International Chinese community. During the Anti-Japanese War, Chinese people donated fighter planes; now if all the Chinese hold on to each other, we can eliminate the dictatorship of the military junta and open a new era for Chinese in Northern Burma.

6. Keep in touch with the Alliance. Send an email to the address you subscribed to when you have a problem. Don’t release your contact to anyone, including the Alliance. Email only, please.

Send this email to others as fast as you can!