China’s Financial Blockade: Influential Group in Myanmar Pulls Back from Anti-Junta Armed Struggle

One of the largest armed groups in Myanmar’s anti-junta conflict is the United Wa State Army (UWSA). In recent years, this group, based in Shan State in northern Myanmar, has provided weapons, funding, and safe haven to various ethnic armed organizations and resistance forces. Its support extended to the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and even the Arakan Army (AA). After the 2021 military coup, the UWSA also supported several smaller units formed under the Spring Revolution.