KMT Forces Once Operated Out of Burma

After the Chinese civil war, about 12 thousand Kuomintang (KMT) soldiers found refuge across the border in Burma, where they were beyond the reach of the shaky, post-independence Burmese government.

Apparently, these soldiers continued to fight the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as guerrillas, and grew further in strength by recruiting local bandit groups. They also made repeated forays into China's Yunnan (云南) Province, killing CCP cadres and clashing with Chinese military forces. Unsurprisingly, these guerrillas were supported by both Taiwan and the United States.

According to Denny Roy, the Burmese government knew that the U.S. was involved and hence appealed to Washington to remove the guerrillas from Burmese territory. But the initial U.S. response was that "it had no influence over KMT remnants in Burma."

But after Burma appealed to the United Nations for help in 1953, the new Eisenhower administration began pressuring Taipei to withdraw these soldiers to Taiwan.