Chronologies
China - Southeast Asia
Chronology from Jan 2006 to Mar 2006
: The Indonesian House of Representatives agrees to enact the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between Indonesia and China.
: Hanoi approves agreement between Vietnam and China on building a bridge over the Red River to facilitate transport of passengers and goods.
: Jia Qinglin, chairman of CPPCC and member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, visits Vietnam, meets Nong Duc Manh, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and makes five proposals on reinforcing and developing China-Vietnam relations.
: Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai says at the 7th Meeting of China-ASEAN Joint Cooperation Committee that the China-ASEAN Commemorative Summit will be held in Nanning in October.
: China’s Ministry of Commerce announces that trade between China and ASEAN showed year-on-year growth of 28.2 percent in the first two months of 2006.
: A six-person delegation of Chinese journalists arrives in Myanmar for a goodwill visit.
: The seventh meeting of the China-ASEAN Joint Cooperation Committee is held in Nanning. Participants agree that their bilateral strategic partnership oriented to peace and prosperity has continued to advance.
: Gen. Wang Zhiyuan, deputy director of the Science and Technology Commission of the PLA General Armament Department discloses to Hong Kong Wen Wei Po newspaper, “The Chinese army will conduct research and build aircraft carriers on its own, and develop its carrier fleet.” Related research and a development program are under way.
: Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak says that Asian countries should look at China’s development in a more positive perspective, at the opening ceremony of the “Malaysia and East Asia” seminar in Kuala Lumpur.
: Thai News Agency says that Thailand’s caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and Chinese government officials have agreed to expand bilateral trade to reach $50 billion annually by 2010.
: Spokesman for the National People’s Congress reveals prior to the opening of the annual session that China’s 2006 defense budget will be 283.8 billion yuan, an increase of 14.7 percent over last year’s budget.
: Vietnam News Agency reports that a 110-kV transmission line, linking Vietnam’s Tuyen Quang province with China’s Yunnan province, is launched to help Vietnam import more electricity from China.
: Wang Zhaoguo, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), says that the NPC is willing to strengthen communications with the Thai National Assembly, as well as exchanges and cooperation between subcommittees of the two parliaments, when meeting with First Deputy Speaker of the Senate of the Thai National Assembly, Nipon Wisityuthasart.
: Thai and Chinese military delegations exchange views during three days of meetings in China. Both sides pledge to increase military exchanges and work towards advancing closer mil-mil relations. Thai delegation consists of 69 members from the country’s Defense College.
: Law enforcement from China, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand jointly raid a transnational drug ring, arresting 70 people involved in the ring and seizing 762.8kg of heroin, and foreign currencies (yuan, Hong Kong dollars, and Thai baht).
: Cambodian PM Hun Sen, Vietnam Foreign Ministry Spokesman Le Dung, and Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman reiterate their countries’ stand on the one China policy when asked to comment on remarks by Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian for the abolishment of the National Unification Council and the National Unification Guidelines.
: China is to strengthen its support for anti-drug operations in Laos following Laotian PM Bounnhang Vorachith’s declaration that Laos will end its 200-year old poppy cultivating history.
: Myanmar PM Soe Win visits China to discuss bilateral economic agreements. Soe visits Beijing, Shanxi, and Guangdong.
: Li Jinjun, Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, and Alberto Romulo, Philippine foreign secretary, exchange bilateral extradition treaty documents. The extradition treaty will help existing bilateral cooperation on law enforcement and judicial matters, particularly drug trafficking and transnational crimes.
: China-ASEAN joint working group holds second meeting on implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in South China Sea at Sanya, Hainan.
: Chinese government provides 60 million RMB ($7.5 million) to build 700 houses for tsunami survivors in Indonesia’s Aceh province under a friendship village program.
: China’s Ministry of Commerce website reports that China customs statistics show that bilateral trade between China and Vietnam recorded a 21.6 percent increase to $8.2 billion in 2005.
: Cambodian PM Hun Sen remarks that a powerful China offers more opportunities to the region and international cooperation, during his meeting with China’s new ambassador to Cambodia, Zhang Jinfeng.
: The Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines says that the Philippine Embassy in Beijing will launch a book, entitled Philippines-China Agreements (1975-2005): Bridges towards the Golden Age of Partnership, on official agreements signed between the Philippines and China since 1975, when the two countries established diplomatic relations.
: Vietnam News reports that the Trade Ministry says that Vietnam expects exports to China to post an annual growth rate of 13-14 percent in the next five years.
: Environmentalists report that illegal logging of Myanmar’s forests on the part of China resumed following a four-month hiatus brought on in part by a critical report published by the NGO Global Witness.
: China sends over $1.5 million worth of free military equipment to the Philippine military. The aid is to upgrade the military’s civil construction capability and to help the fight against “communist rebels.”
: Local customs statistics show that Shenzhen has become the largest importer of goods from ASEAN in China since the country and ASEAN began building a Free Trade Zone a year ago. Shenzhen imported $176 million worth of ASEAN goods in the past year under the Sino-ASEAN preferential tariff agreement, constituting 13 percent of the country’s total import of ASEAN goods.
: Top-level party, state, government, and legislative leaders of Vietnam and China exchange greeting messages on the 56th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
: The China-ASEAN Association holds the third session of its first executive council in Beijing. Gu Xiulian, chairwoman of the China-ASEAN Association and vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, says China expects to enhance ties with ASEAN.
: Yi Xiaozhun, vice minister of Commerce, announces that trade between China and ASEAN rose to $130.4 billion in 2005, up 23.1 percent on a year-on-year basis.
: A trade zone in Myanmar’s border town of Muse linking China’s Ruili in Yunnan Province will open before February. In a press briefing, a Myanmese official in Muse states that the border trade zone, known as the Muse 105 Mile Zone, will increase between the two countries.
: Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, meets former Thai Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh.
: Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan tells media that the People’s Liberation Army is looking to increase mil-mil ties with Thailand.
: Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Guan Mu encourages Chinese youth volunteers visiting Myanmar to serve their best to enhance friendly relations and raise Myanmar’s agrotech and sports level.
: According to the Information Office of China’s Ministry of Commerce, China and ASEAN have further developed cooperation in trade, investment, and economic development in 2005.
: Vietnam’s northern province Cao Bang approves an investment of $215.2 million to develop its infrastructure and industries in 2006-2010 to tap trade potential with Guangxi.
: China Business Weekly, published by China Daily, is published in Thailand in an arrangement with The Nation newspaper.
: The first expressway uniting China and ASEAN opens to traffic. The expressway is 180 km long, starting from Nanning, Guangxi, and leading to the Friendship Pass at the Sino-Vietnamese border.