Myanmar, Thailand to promote bilateral cooperation in key areas; Philippine President Benigno Aquino III: Philippines will not yield to China on the South China Sea dispute; China approves deployment of garrison of soldiers in South China Sea, Philippines
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Whatsapp
  • Linkedin
  • Print

    • Reports noted that Myanmar and Thailand have agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in four key areas which include: personnel development; Myanmar’s role as ASEAN Chair in 2014; economic and social development; and in the infrastructure. The decision in that regard was taken during a meeting between the Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Myanmar’s President Thein Sein. Thailand has also agreed to support the connecting of Mynamar's Dawei port with Thailand's Laem Chabang port. 1

    In another development, the Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, on July 23, 2012 said that Philippines won’t back down from the South China Sea issue. He added that his country would soon procure dozens of aircrafts and naval ships to boost its defence capabilities; Aquino announced during his annual state of the nation address that more than 40 military aircraft from two newly refurbished C-130 cargo planes to attack helicopters along with other weapons would be delivered in the next two years to bolster Philippine military muscle amid renewed territorial conflicts in the South China Sea. 2
    According to reports, the Central Military Commission of China has approved the deployment of a garrison of soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army to guard islands claimed by China in the South China Sea. It is believed that forty-five legislators elected to govern the 1,100 people who live on the island groups of the Spratlys, the Paracels and the Macclesfield Bank — known in Chinese as the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands — met for the first time on July 23, 2012. It has also been reported that the new legislators would not only govern the island groups, many of them consisting of rocks and atolls, but also two million square km of the South China Sea over which China claims jurisdiction. 3 Philippines slammed China’s decision as it would worsen the situation. 4
    In other developments in the region, according to reports, nine Abu Sayyaf militants and ten soldiers are reported killed, while sixteen wounded during the clash, which happened on July 26, 2012, in jungles of Sumisin town in Basilan province. According to reports, the ground forces had found eight wounded rebels among who was the leader of the group identified as Wyms Wakil who was believed to have led the fighting. 5

    The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on July 27, 2012, called for a “prompt, independent” investigation into the human rights violations in Myanmar’s Arakan (Rakhine) State after ongoing violence between the Buddhist and Muslim communities. Earlier, 58 civil society groups condemned what it said is a “wave of abuse launched by state authorities in Myanmar against the Rohingya community,” in a statement released on July 26, 2012. 6

    Top