Chronologies
China - Southeast Asia
Chronology from Oct 2001 to Dec 2001
: China signs an Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation with Cambodia providing for an interest-free loan of $9.67 million over five years, starting Jan. 1, 2002.
: Xiong Guangkai, deputy chief of the PLA General Staff, meets in Beijing with a delegation led by Nguyen Khac Nghien, commander of Vietnam’s first military region.
: CPC Standing Committee member Wei Jianxing visits Phnom Penh and meets with PM Hun Sen. Wei also meets with Norodom Ranariddh, president of the Cambodian National Assembly and chairman of the FUNCINPEC (Sihanoukist) party.
: The Central Bank of Thailand and the People’s Bank of China sign a currency swap agreement that would provide a credit of up to $2 billion, if necessary to help Thailand out of a foreign exchange payments crisis. It is the first such agreement under the “Chiang Mai initiative” of 1998, proposed by China and approved by the 10 ASEAN states.
: China delivers a high-resolution satellite ground station to Myanmar’s Ministry of Transport for use in improving its meteorological services. China has provided weather forecasting equipment to Myanmar’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology in the past.
: King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia, with Queen Monineath, arrives in Beijing for “a routine checkup and recuperation.”
: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila announces a new 10-year strategy for increasing cooperation among the six Mekong riparian states, adopted by China’s Yunnan Province and Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. The ADB said the new Mekong strategy would involve 10 flagship projects requiring $900 billion in investment.
: Wei Jianxing, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, making the rounds in Southeast Asia, meets with Jose Ma A. Rufino, the national executive director of the ruling Lakas-National Union of Christian Democrats-United Muslim Democrats party. He calls for expanded party-to-party exchanges as a means of strengthening China-Philippines relations.
: Xinhua reports that China broke up a “cross-border terrorist gang” belonging to the Myanmar Democratic Allied Army, operating in both northern Myanmar and Yunnan Province of China. Six persons were sentenced to jail terms.
: At a meeting with Chinese Economic and Trade Commission Deputy Chairman Zhang Zhigang, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai says trade between the two countries will reach $3 billion in 2001 and calls for more Chinese investment.
: China’s Defense Minister Chi Haotian meets with Chea Sar Ren, deputy commander of the Cambodian armed forces. The Cambodian commander tells Chi that the PLA serves as a model for the Cambodian armed forces.
: A Chinese delegation led by Vice Foreign Minister Wang Ye visits Vientiane and reaches agreements with the Lao Foreign Ministry on enhancing cooperation between the two ministries in preparation for a forthcoming visit to China by Lao Prime Minister Bounnhang Vorachit.
: Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen tells a delegation led by Sukamdani Sahid Gitosardjono, general chairman of the Association of the Indonesia-China Economic Social and Cultural Cooperation, that China attaches great importance to developing bilateral relations with Indonesia.
: Chen Jinhua, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and president of the China Economic and Social Council, begins a visit to Indonesia.
: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen meets with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji in Beijing.
: Vietnam hosts a seminar on relations with China, marking the 10th anniversary of the normalization of Vietnam-China relations.
: A delegation of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party led by Bouasone Bouphavanh, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and director of the party’s General Office, meets with Zeng Qinghong, alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.
: Abu Sayyaf guerrillas release Chinese national Zhang Zhongyi, who was kidnapped with three compatriots Aug. 12.
: President Jiang Zemin meets with Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri in Shanghai on the sidelines of the APEC Leaders’ Meeting.
: Xinhua reports that Vietnam Airlines will open new routes from Beijing to Saigon and from Kunming to Hanoi in response to growing tourist traffic between the two countries.
: Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Cong Tan and a delegation including officials and entrepreneurs visit China’s Hainan Province. Vietnam is now Hainan’s fifth largest trading partner.