VANGUARD - Expressing the viewpoint of the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)
For National Independence and Socialism • www.cpaml.org
More information is coming to light about the people's war in Burma. Together with the Burmese People's Liberation Army under the leadership of the Communist Party of Burma, armies representing various minority nationalities are also confronting the Burmese miliary regime. The Communist Party of Burma celebrated its 86th anniversary on August 25 and the Central Committee released the following statement - eds.
Message from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Burma on the 86th anniversary of its founding
August 15, 2025
Today marks the 86th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Burma.
Today, I am happy to join the commemoration with the commanders and soldiers of the People's Liberation Army who are fighting in armed struggle from various parts of the Communist Party of Burma. I pay tribute to all the comrades. I would like to say that I bow my head and pay my respects to all the comrades who have fallen in the struggle for the people and the party since the establishment of the party.
The party's history has seen ups and downs, both as an underground party and as an armed struggle party. Today, the party is struggling in both forms, both as an underground party and as an armed struggle party.
In 1990, the Communist Party of Burma (CBP) fought the People's Democratic Revolution in Burma as an underground party. While preparing for armed struggle as an underground party, it faced the rising tide of the popular anti-military revolution in 2021, known as the Spring Revolution.
With the tide of this revolution, the People's Liberation Army, the armed wing of the party, was able to re-establish itself and enter the struggle. This achievement will be recorded in history as a great event of great pride and joy in the history of the party.
We must honour and praise the comrades who have worked tirelessly to establish and fight as the People's Liberation Army, and we must also recognize and thank all the friends and allies who have worked hard and provided assistance in all aspects of our efforts to establish the People's Liberation Army.
The current situation in Burma is that it is still under the rule of the military junta, and the majority of the people, various political forces, and various ethnic armed groups are overwhelmingly engaged in armed struggle against this military junta's rule.
The people's democratic armed revolution that has been going on since 2021 has been going on for four years, and in these four years, we have gained a lot of revolutionary experience, both good and bad, and we have reached a certain maturity. During these four years, the armed resistance of the revolutionary forces has achieved great victories. Especially during the 1027 (One Zero Year) campaign, when the ethnic armed forces and the democratic revolutionary forces were able to fight together, we achieved many victories. The success of capturing some cities and many military positions and seizing a large amount of weapons and ammunition has brought great support and benefits to the democratic revolution. The People's Liberation Army has gained combat experience during the 1027 (One Zero Year) campaign, and has also acquired weapons and ammunition, expanded and built troops. The victory in the Battle of Kan Daung has already proven that we have the ability to expand and attack in many regions. We must continue to build on this foundation and strive to develop further.
Today, the enemy has been able to rebuild its strength and regain some territory. Since August 1, 2025, the new military junta of Min Aung Hlaing has been formed, continuing to hold elections under the 2008 constitution, and has been trying to establish a new government. On the one hand, it has expanded its military operations to gain territory where elections can be held, and on the other hand, it is trying to regain some towns through dialogue. However, due to the discontent of the generals who were removed due to new factions during the establishment of the new generation of military junta of Min Aung Hlaing, the unity within the military junta has been weakened. On the other hand, it has forcibly recruited young people who are dissatisfied with the military coup in 2021 and have anti-military junta sentiments, and since the enemy is conducting operations using troops composed of mostly new recruits, the enemy’s operations are inactive operations. We are in a situation where they are having poor operations and are using a lot of air support to capture a position.
So today's situation is that the enemy is attacking in some places, and the revolutionary forces are on the defensive in some places. Looking at the whole country, the war front is wide and the enemy is still attacking in some places and on the defensive in others. The revolutionary forces are still able to continue to fight battles that can capture enemy positions by combining guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare.
Although the progress of this armed revolution has been uneven and has fluctuated, the fighting spirit of the revolutionary forces in various places is high and they are striving to continue to achieve victories. I am also happy to see that they are trying to reduce the effectiveness of the enemy's air superiority and to make greater use of their powerful fighting methods to further destroy the enemy.
The People's Liberation Army is also fighting in these military conditions, so it can be said that they are facing and overcoming similar situations. I am also happy to see that they are trying to best prepare for these changes in the situation and respond to the enemy in the best possible way before entering the battle.
The 50th anniversary of the Communist Party of Burma was celebrated in 1989, when the North-Eastern Party Central Committee was dissolved and the Party Central Committee was based in the (101) Military Region. I remember that the Party Chairman Thakin Ba Thein Tin celebrated the Party’s birthday in Panwa, where he was, and Comrade Htun Ka Kan Paing Ti, who was with the newly formed troops, celebrated it. At that time, the Chairman gave a speech commemorating the (50) anniversary. I remember that in his speech, “The 50-year history of the Communist Party of Burma is a history of successive generations of marching and fighting in a system of one army and one army to raise the banner of the proletarian party and the flag of the people’s democratic armed struggle.” However, within the next (1) year, due to the need to act in accordance with the great changes in the situation, the Party’s branch was dissolved, and the Party Central Committee was transformed into an underground party. Our branch was not in a position to implement what the Chairman had said.
The current party's People's Liberation Army is now able to establish itself locally and has been able to gain and organize the support of the people in the areas where it is based. Therefore, I believe and hope that the next generation will be able to proudly raise the flag of the party's armed resistance, as Chairman Thakin Ba Thein Tin said, and will continue to raise it high, he concluded.
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See also our January 2025 report on developments in Burma.