Editing Wa people (section)

=== Post World War II ===
[[File:Wa5364.JPG|thumb|Wa woman feeding a little girl]]
The international border that had been defined between Burma and China made that the Wa people were divided between the two countries. The Wa regions in Burma were largely left alone until the 1950s, when remnants of [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s [[National Revolutionary Army]] fled the 1949 [[Chinese Communist Revolution]]. A decade and a half later, the region was under the influence of the [[Communist Party of Burma]], which was very active in the area. During that time opium cultivation and sales grew and the ancient traditional life became disrupted, but also an administrative system that collected revenue and maintained a significant armed force, as well as a rudimentary infrastructure, ushered the Wa region into the modern era.<ref name="ReferenceB">Ronald D. Renard, ''The Wa Authority and Good Governance, 1989 – 2007''</ref>

In 1989 the Wa authorities expelled the Burma Communist Party and negotiated a cease-fire with the then leader of Burma's military junta [[Khin Nyunt]]. They founded the [[United Wa State Army]] and [[United Wa State Party]] with a centralized command. In return for agreeing to the ban of poppy cultivation and opium production the region experienced a massive influx of international development aid. The [[Wa State|Wa Special Region 2]] was created within the northeastern Shan State, with its de facto capital in [[Pangkham]].<ref name="ReferenceB"/>