Villagers deny taking hostages
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Villagers near the disputed Letpadauntaung copper mine area have denied taking two Chinese workers hostage as was claimed by state media.
At a press briefing held at the Myanmar Journalist Network office, they said they only followed the two Wanbao workers to a school to ask them some questions and discuss the land problem.
“We saw them working in the farmland between the Sete and Ton villages and we asked what they were doing and told them to communicate with their superiors by phone. By 1pm, noone from the company appeared and it was very hot.
“The administrator of Phaungkatar village thus requested the villagers to move to the primary school in the Sete village. We just wanted to discuss land problems. It was absolutely not a hostage taking,” said villager Mar Mar Shwe.
The two workers were reportedly kidnapped on May 18 before the release a day later on the condition that Wanbao would not put up barbed wire fences on land that had not been compensated and to permit villagers to plough on the land.
Advocate Kyi Myint clarified that if the villagers inflicted no harm on the two Chinese, they cannot be charged with Section 368.
Chinese Navy ships on visit to country
The Chinese Navy’s training vessel Zheng He and missile frigate Wei Fang is on a friendly five-day visit to Myanmar.
The ships are on a goodwill visit to India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
“We have come to Myanmar with three objectives. Firstly, we intend to foster good relations between Myanmar and the Chinese armies. Secondly, we want to inform people about our policy to make peace on maritime issues. Thirdly, we want the Myanmar people and Myanmar Army officers to know about the Chinese Navy,” said one of the ship’s captains.
The Chinese naval delegation is meeting with Yangon Region Chief Minister Myint Swe and visiting Ayeyawady Navy Region command headquarters. The commanders of the vessels will also meet the Ayeyawaddy region naval commander and head to Nay Pyi Taw, where they will call on Myanmar’s navy chief.
Besides launching joint naval exercise with the Myanmar Navy, the Chinese naval vessels will carry out cultural exchanges with the Myanmar side and open the ships to the public.
The visiting Chinese navy vessels carry 563 members, including 171 trainees from China, while 11 others are maritime students from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh and South Korea.
Two Chinese Navy ships last visited Myanmar in 2010 and a military hospital ship arrived last year, the Chinese captain said.
A number of naval ships from neighbouring countries have paid a visit to Myanmar this year. In April, three ships from India arrived. An Australian ship came on January 20 for a five-day visit and three ships from Royal Thai Navy visited the country on February 19.
Bus death toll rises to 16
Two more passengers on the YarZar Min bus succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll to 16.
The bus plunged off the Pyinmana-Taungdwingyi fly-over on the Yangon-Mandalay highway on May 12, instantly killing 14 and injuring about 30.
Police have formed an investigation team to look into the case, said Police Colonel Nay Win.
