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Alliance with the Ka Kwa Ye
From the beginning of March, the S.S.A. unit near Namlau was in constant touch with most of the Tangyan Ka Kwa Ye, but they played for time by surrendering some of their older weapons to the Burmese.
a.
b.
a
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Law Hsin Han then arrived in Wan Nawng at the end of April and formed an alliance with the S.S.A. to fight the Burmese for the independence of Shan State. (See Appendix M Minutes of the Meeting.) By this treaty the S.S.A. agreed that any Ka Kwa Ye that joined the Resistance could continue trading аб separate division of the S.S.. if they first co-operated in an attempt to find a solution to the opium problem. If these negotiations failed, then the S.S.A. would raise no further objections to opium trading. As we were at this Wan Nawng meeting, we were asked to help with the proposals and to deliver them to the U.S. Narcotics Bureau or to any other organisation which might be interested.
C. Law Hsin Han and some Shan officers then went to Loi Sae, and a similar agreement (Appendix N Minutes of Meeting) was made with the Ka Kwa Ye groups of Bo Lai Oo, Vingngun, Ai Sao Shir, Loi Sae and Sao Hin bao Hpa. The S.U.. were also at the meeting and agreed to the proposals, but the Taiwan Talookungzaw batallion there as well was not included. The joint Ka Kwa Ye then held off a Burmese attack for 4 days and claimed 600 Burmese casualties against 100 of their own.
a.
In June, Law Hsin Han moved south, followed separately by a Vingngun force under Mahasang. Our film unit had already gone ahead with an S.S.A. batallion under Lt. Col. Pan Aung.
e.
In July a final conference was held in which Law Hsin Han said that if the proposals were accepted, he could for the first year only guarantee to deliver 100 tons of opium (in 3 separate convoys). He would try to improve on this, but the other hundred tons that his group handled in 1972 was collected by merchants and he could not promise their support until he had discussed it with them. There was a similar situation with the Tangyan Ka Kwa Ye. They had also escorted about 200 tons in 1972, but they could guarantee less than 100 tons. During this meeting the Kengtung Ka Kwa Ye groups of Yang San and Shi Kya Chi cabled their support.
Accuracy of Information
All our information was collected while we were with the S.S.A. so it must be slanted from their point of view.
Until March, however, they had no idea that the opium trade would fall into their hands, and as the K.M.T., Ka Kwa Ye and Law Hsin Han were their enemies, they told us as much as they could about opium, and helped us hire agents to find out more. On most other matters, the S.S.A. felt that the truth would help rather than harm them.
Many S.S.A. and S.U.A. leaders speak English. Discussions with villagers were through an interpreter in Shan or a tribal language but we knew enough Shan to notice when facts were occasionally 'improved'.