ABSTRACT
Myanmar is currently witnessing a tumultuous domestic political transition. A national election is planned in the later of part of 2010 — the first in two decades — under the auspices of a new Constitution approved in a referendum in the midst of the devastating Cyclone Nargis that hit the country in May 2008. The Sino–Myanmar border region had experienced relative peace for about two decades until mid-2009, when tension rose between government troops and ethnic armed groups over the Border Guard Force (BGF) proposal that stipulates transforming ethnic armed groups into a border force under the Tatmadaw command. While the government seems to be determined to go ahead with the planned elections, uncertainties continue to loom large with the biggest opposition group, the National League Democracy (NLD), deciding to stay out of the elections and major ethnic armed groups continuing to maintain their stances in rejecting the government’s BGF plan.
