The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Burma

One of Asia’s longest running communist insurrections ended on the night of April 16, 1989. Its cessation was not the outcome of a successful government offensive or of a generous amnesty policy, but of an all-out mutiny within the rank-and-file of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB). That night, thousands of mutineers stormed the CPB’s headquarters at Panghsang, a small town near the Chinese frontier in the Wa Hills of Burma’s northeastern Shan State. The rebellious troops seized the well-stocked armoury and other buildings, while the CPB’s aging, staunchly Maoist leadership fled headlong across the Nam Hka River into China. For the first time in history, a Communist insurgency had been defeated from within its own ranks. This is the story of the rise and fall of one of Asia’s longest-lasting and most powerful communist insurgencies. The book includes maps and unique photographs as well as charts showing how the CPB was organized before it collapsed in 1989.