A peace delegation from the United Wa State Party (UWSP) met with General Min Aung Hlaing, the Chairman of the State Administration Council (SAC), in Naypyitaw on 30 May.

The Wa delegation was led by the UWSP Vice-Chairman U Lau Yaku.

At the meeting he stated that UWSP will not cooperate with either the Military Council or the National Unity Government (NUG) because it does not want any more conflict in Wa State.

He also said that the UWSP wants a self-governing Wa State but that it has no plan to secede from the state and will continue to abide by the state and union level peace agreements that it signed with U Thein Sein’s government, so as to avoid conflict between the two sides, maintain peace between them and facilitate future peace talks.

Other topics discussed at the meeting were current peace issues, education, health and regional development.

The United Wa State Army/United Wa State Party (UWSA/UWSP) signed ceasefire agreements at the state and union levels under the U Thein Sein administration in September and December 2011, but was not among the ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) that signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

However, the UWSP participated in the Union Peace Conference convened in January 2016, before the end of the U Thein Sein’s term, where they called for Wa State to become a self-governing state.