Four nations join to patrol Mekong in wake of ambush
By Wang Qingchu |
December 10, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
JOINT police patrols by four countries along the Mekong River will kick off today to restore security to the region after 13 Chinese sailors were killed in a deadly ambush in Thailand in October.
A ceremony was held at Guanlei Port in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna in southwestern China's Yunnan Province yesterday to unveil the headquarters of the joint task force, Xinhua news agency reported.
Soldiers from Yunnan Border Control Corps will join troops from Laos, Thailand and Myanmar today in their maiden voyage from Guanlei Port to launch the coordinated river patrol, Xinhua said. The joint operations will take Chinese vessels downstream over the border, a first for Chinese border police.
The Chinese sailors were killed in attacks on two cargo ships in early October in the Thai section of the river in the lawless Golden Triangle region. Their bodies were found and salvaged from the river. Nine Thai soldiers turned themselves in but their motives are unknown as the investigation is still proceeding.
Meng Hongwei, vice minister of the Ministry of Public Security, said at the ceremony that patrolling is one of the most important methods to tackle security issues along the Mekong, which is plagued by drug and arms trafficking and other transnational crimes, Xinhua reported.
Meng said authorities from the four countries vowed to coordinate efforts and exchange intelligence to restore safe shipping in the area.
The Chinese force is made up of more than 200 officers and men drawn from border patrol units along China's coast and major rivers. They will sail in 11 converted flat-bottomed passenger and cargo ships based in Guanlei on China's border with Myanmar.
State broadcaster CCTV ran footage on its main noon broadcast showing the troops drilling on board ship with the latest models of Chinese assault rifles.
"It's the first time in the history of Chinese border guarding to go abroad to another country to jointly enforce the law. This is a ground breaking model of a police cooperation mechanism," the force's political commissar, Liu Jianhong, told CCTV.
Sailors shipping goods and agriculture produce down river have long complained of armed gangs that loot their boats or demand cash.
A ceremony was held at Guanlei Port in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna in southwestern China's Yunnan Province yesterday to unveil the headquarters of the joint task force, Xinhua news agency reported.
Soldiers from Yunnan Border Control Corps will join troops from Laos, Thailand and Myanmar today in their maiden voyage from Guanlei Port to launch the coordinated river patrol, Xinhua said. The joint operations will take Chinese vessels downstream over the border, a first for Chinese border police.
The Chinese sailors were killed in attacks on two cargo ships in early October in the Thai section of the river in the lawless Golden Triangle region. Their bodies were found and salvaged from the river. Nine Thai soldiers turned themselves in but their motives are unknown as the investigation is still proceeding.
Meng Hongwei, vice minister of the Ministry of Public Security, said at the ceremony that patrolling is one of the most important methods to tackle security issues along the Mekong, which is plagued by drug and arms trafficking and other transnational crimes, Xinhua reported.
Meng said authorities from the four countries vowed to coordinate efforts and exchange intelligence to restore safe shipping in the area.
The Chinese force is made up of more than 200 officers and men drawn from border patrol units along China's coast and major rivers. They will sail in 11 converted flat-bottomed passenger and cargo ships based in Guanlei on China's border with Myanmar.
State broadcaster CCTV ran footage on its main noon broadcast showing the troops drilling on board ship with the latest models of Chinese assault rifles.
"It's the first time in the history of Chinese border guarding to go abroad to another country to jointly enforce the law. This is a ground breaking model of a police cooperation mechanism," the force's political commissar, Liu Jianhong, told CCTV.
Sailors shipping goods and agriculture produce down river have long complained of armed gangs that loot their boats or demand cash.
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