Pianma Incident Explained

The Pianma Incident began in 1910, from a dispute in the Pianma Kachin Chiefdom under Qing China suzerainty, between Pianma's Tusi (indigenous governments) and other local leaders, and the subsequent British Burman occupation of the Qing Empire's territories.

Two headmen raised their grievances against Tusi to the Qing Government. However, when the Qing government rejected them, they petitioned the British to recognize Pianma under British domain.^[1] The British accepted their request,^[1] tried to induce Tusi to switch allegiance from Qing Dynasty to British Crown and deployed troops to occupy the region.^[2] Britain subsequently forced emerging Republican China (ROC) to give up another portion of territory, Jiangxinpo, in what is now Northern Kachin state of Burma in 1926–27,^[2] as well as some part of the Wa states in 1940.^[2]

People's Republic of China (PRC) and Burma signed a border treaty in 1960, with the PRC recognizing most of these disputed territories as belonging to Burma,^[3] with the exception of Burma relinquishing a small amount of that territory,^[4] namely Hpimaw (Pianma) and adjacent Gawlam^[3] (Gulang)^[5] and Kangfang to the PRC.

The Republic of China (now Taiwan) did not recognize the British seizure of these territories nor the said PRC-Burma agreement ever since.^[3]

See also

• Jiangxinpo
• Kachin Hills
• Former Yunnan Province, Republic of China

Notes and References

1. Web site: Transformations of Lisu Social Structure Under Opium Control and Watershed Conservation in Northern Thailand. https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060513/evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10524/1545/gillogly_dissertation.pdf?sequence=1. Gillogly . Kathleen. 2006 . evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu . . PDF. 2020-09-13. 2013-09-21. ... two headmen in a tusi domain who were both Han but had been brought up in Kachin society complained of the tusi to Chinese authorities. When their case failed, they petitioned the British authorities to recognize Pianma as being under British jurisdiction. The British accepted and sent troops to protect the village...British troops occupied the territory and stationed garrisons....
2. Web site: Yunnan | province, China. Encyclopedia Britannica. In 1910 the British, then established in Burma, induced the tusi of Pianma (Hpimau) to defect from the central Chinese government, and they then occupied his territory in northwestern Yunnan. Britain also forced China to give up a tract of territory in what is now the Kachin state of Myanmar (1926–27), as well as the territory in the Wa states (1940).. 2023-10-30.
3. Web site: International Boundary Study No. 42 – Burma-China Boundary . https://web.archive.org/web/20200131143304/https://fall.law.fsu.edu/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS042.pdf . US DOS . 30 November 1964. 17 September 2020. 31 January 2020. deviated. 11. 1961 agreements remove the causes of boundary friction between Burma and the Communist regime on the Chinese mainland. They do not eliminate the dispute between Burma and the Republic of China.
4. Web site: International Boundary Study No. 42 – Burma-China Boundary . https://web.archive.org/web/20200131143304/https://fall.law.fsu.edu/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS042.pdf . . 30 November 1964. 17 September 2020. 31 January 2020. deviated. Agreement on the Question of the Boundary signed on January 28, 1960...(b) the villages of Hpimaw, Gawlum, and Kangfang would be Chinese;...(d) the Panhung-Panlao tribal area would be exchanged (for Namwan); and (e) with the exception of d, the 1941 boundary in the Wa states would be accepted....
5. Web site: Lúshuǐ Xiàn Piànmǎ Zhèn Gǔlàng Cūnwěihuì . zh:泸水县片马镇古浪村委会 . Gulang Village Committee, Pianma Town, Lushui County . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150403052350/http://www.ynszxc.gov.cn/villagePage/vIndex.aspx?departmentid=57070 . 2015-04-03 . ynszxc.gov.cn . zh.