Olive Yang
| Olive Yang | |
|---|---|
| Born |
24 June 1927 northern Shan States, British Burma |
| Died | 13 July 2017 (aged 90) Muse Township, Shan State, Myanmar |
| Nationality | Burmese |
| Other names | Yang Kyin Hsiu (Yang Jinxiu) |
| Education | Guardian Angel's Convent School |
| Known for | Opium trafficking |
| Criminal charge | 1962 |
| Criminal penalty | Prison |
| Criminal status | Released (1968) |
| Spouse(s) | Twan Sao Wen (1948-1950) |
| Children | Duan Jipu (段吉卜) |
Olive Yang (Chinese: 楊金秀; pinyin: Yáng Jīnxiù; also known as Yang Kyin Hsiu, nicknamed Miss Hairy Legs) was the half-sister of Sao Edward Yang Kyein Tsai, the saopha (chief) of Kokang, a state in post-independent Burma from 1949 to 1959. She received an education at Lashio's Guardian Angel's Convent School. 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. She dominated Kokang's opium trade from the end of World War II to the early 1960s. 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).
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.
From the 1950s to the mid-1960s, she was the commander of the Kokang Kakweye (People's Defense Forces). She was a prominent figure in opium trafficking and gold trading. 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. 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). In the late 1980s, she was recruited by Khin Nyunt to help broker ceasefires in Burma with ethnic rebel groups.
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