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23 July 2025

The United Wa State Party: Myanmar’s Most Powerful Ethnic Army


The United Wa State Party, also known as the UWSP, is the ruling party of the autonomous Wa state – a region in northeast Myanmar. 

The UWSP was founded on 3 November 1989 as a merger of the Burma National United Party (BNUP) and several smaller organised non-communist Wa groups.

The Wa people are an ethnic group which live in Northern Myanmar and also along the China-Myanmar border and in the Chinese Yunnan province. 

The UWSP’s armed wing, known as the United Wa State Army, effectively operates as a Wa ethnic militia group with numbers of around 30,000 organised and well-equipped fighters.

Significant efforts have been made by the UWSP to combat the flourishing drug trade in Southeast Asia.

Specifically, the focus lies on tackling methamphetamine production and the regional opium trade. 

The UWSP maintains close ties with China, and from which the group receives equipment and military assistance. 

Its organisational structure is based on that of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which has allowed the group to operate the part of the Wa state under a one-party communist system. .

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