Olive Yang

Olive Yang (Chinese: 楊金秀; pinyin: Yáng Jīnxiù; also known as Yang Kyin Hsiu, nicknamed Miss Hairy Legs) was a prominent opium warlord and the sister of Sao Edward Yang Kyein Tsai, the saopha (chief) of Kokang, a state in post-independent Burma from 1949 to 1959.

Olive Yang
Born(1927-06-24)24 June 1927[1]
northern Shan States, British Burma
Died13 July 2017(2017-07-13) (aged 90)
Muse Township, Shan State, Myanmar
NationalityBurmese
Other namesYang Kyin Hsiu (Yang Jinxiu)
EducationGuardian Angel's Convent School
Known forOpium trafficking
Criminal charge(s)1962
Criminal penaltyPrison
Criminal statusReleased (1968)
Spouse(s)Twan Sao Wen (1948-1950)
ChildrenDuan Jipu (段吉卜)

Biography

Olive Yang was born on 24 June 1927 in northern Shan States, British Burma. She received an education at Lashio's Guardian Angel's Convent School.[2] At the age of 19, she organized ethnic Kokang forces, nicknamed the Olive's Boys, an army of over a thousand soldiers and consolidated control of opium trade routes from the highlands to lowlands.[3] She dominated Kokang's opium trade from the end of World War II to the early 1960s.[4] In the 1950s, after the Nationalist defeat and their subsequent expulsion from mainland China, she partnered with the Kuomintang to establish opium trade routes along the Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia).[5]

From 1948 to 1950, she was married to Twan Sao Wen, the son of Tamaing's chieftain, and had a son, Duan Jipu (段吉卜), in 1950. Her son is a teacher in Chiang Mai, Thailand.[1]

From the 1950s to the mid-1960s, she was the commander of the Kokang Kakweye (People's Defense Forces).[6] She was a prominent figure in opium trafficking and gold trading.[6] She was arrested in 1962, along with her brother Jimmy, a member of parliament in Yangon, by Burmese authorities, to remove them from power and place Kokang territory under Burmese administration.[4][7] She was imprisoned at Insein Prison and released in 1968.

Yang was known to be a bisexual woman who carried on affairs with film actresses and singers, including Wah Wah Win Shwe (ဝါဝါဝင်းရွှေ).[2][6] In the late 1980s, she was recruited by Khin Nyunt to help broker ceasefires in Burma with ethnic rebel groups.[8]

After her release, she reportedly spent her final years as a nun.[3] In 2003, after a period of chronic illness, she returned to Kokang, where she lived until her death at the age of 90.[9]

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References
  1. 赖骏. "悄然隐退的女毒王杨二小姐". 北京市禁毒委员会 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2 July 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  2. Thant Myint-U (8 January 2008). The River of Lost Footsteps. Macmillan. pp. 298–299.
  3. Borgenicht, David; Turk Regan (2 April 2008). The Worst-Case Scenario Almanac. Chronicle Books. pp. 146. ISBN 9780811863216.
  4. Chouvy, Pierre-Arnaud (2009). Opium: uncovering the politics of the poppy. Harvard University Press. p. 24. ISBN 9780674051348.
  5. Lintner, Bertil (March 2000). "The Golden Triangle Opium Trade: An Overview" (PDF). Asia Pacific Media Services: 7. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. Tzang, Yawnghwe (1987). The Shan of Burma: memoirs of a Shan exile. Institute of Southeast Asian. ISBN 9789971988623.
  7. James, Helen (1 November 2006). Security and sustainable development in Myanmar. Psychology Press. p. 88. ISBN 9780415355599.
  8. Thant Myint-U (13 September 2011). Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia. Macmillan. ISBN 9781466801271.
  9. "Kokang 'Warlady' Olive Yang Dies at 91". The Irrawaddy. 2017-07-17. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
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