Chinese not Wa who are producing drugs

Chinese not Wa who are producing drugs, said Wa leader

A non-ceasefire Wa leader said yesterday the general assumption that Wa equals drugs is untrue. 

During a meeting of non-Burman leaders, Mahasang, former prince of Wiang-ngern, a Wa principality near the Chinese border and leader of the Wa National Organization, said, "It is the ethnic Chinese not Wa who are causing all the trouble. Only a handful of Wa benefit from the drug business." 

The notorious Wei brothers: Hsiao-long, Hsiao-kang and Hsiao-ying all came from China, he said. The three are wanted in Thailand and Wei Hsiaokang, the second brother, has a $ 2 million price offered by the United States "for information leading to his capture." 

"It was also the same with Shans. The Chinese got rich but the Shans were left with a bad name," he commented. "Look who's going to inherit that name when the Wa are gone, because whoever comes up strong, the Chinese will move there" 

Mahasang, 54, is also Vice President of the National Democratic Front, an umbrella organization of non-Burman armed movements.