China said yesterday that it would support further international efforts to promote dialogue between Myanmar's ruling junta and its opposition, but insisted it was fundamentally an internal matter.
The comments were Beijing's first reaction to the release on Thursday of a statement by the 15 members of the UN Security Council, which "strongly deplored" Myanmar's violent suppression of protests.
"The Myanmar issue should be fundamentally and properly resolved with the efforts of Myanmar's government and people themselves and through consultation," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (劉建超) said in a statement released by Xinhua news agency.
"China is ready to continue to actively promote the proper settlement of the Myanmar issue together with the international community," Liu said.
The council statement urged the Myanmar government and all parties "to work together towards a de-escalation of the situation and a peaceful solution."
The statement also called on the junta to "create the necessary conditions, for a genuine dialogue" with Aung San Suu Kyi, "in order to achieve an inclusive national reconciliation with the direct support of the United Nations."
The Security Council's statement was watered down from its original draft to win the consent of China and Russia, which have previously vetoed resolutions.
The UN said its special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, would fly back to the region next week for consultations with key governments on efforts to promote talks between Myanmar's junta and the opposition.
Gambari will begin his consultations in Thailand on Monday and then travel to Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China and Japan, "with a view to returning to Myanmar shortly thereafter," UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said. She gave no date.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's national airline said yesterday it was halting most of its flights amid a dramatic downturn in visitors.
Myanmar Airways International has suspended flights to Thailand and Malaysia after its London-based insurer halted coverage "due to the recent crisis in Myanmar," the airline said.
Myanmar's junta has said 10 people have been killed and nearly 2,100 arrested, with 700 later released. Diplomats and dissidents say the death toll is likely much higher and up to 6,000 people have been seized.
At least a dozen freed prisoners described brutal treatment at detention centers, including one who said "dozens" of detainees had been killed, the Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based short-wave radio station and Web site run by dissident journalists, said in a report on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Myanmar Prime Minister General Soe Win died yesterday in a military hospital after a long illness, relatives and state media said. He was 59.
The fourth-ranking member of the junta, he had been ailing for months with what relatives said was acute leukemia.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
SHOW OF SUPPORT: Taiwan has been one of the largest buyers of US defense equipment, supporting American businesses and jobs, US lawmakers said Taiwan has been paying for its own defense, a US Department of State official said on Wednesday, adding that purchases of military equipment are important to the US economy and for ensuring regional security. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller was asked at a news conference about comments by former US president Donald Trump, the Republican nominee in November’s US presidential election, who said during an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek that Taiwan should pay Washington for its defense needs. “The purchases that they [Taiwan] have made not only are important, we believe, to regional security, but are important to the United States economy,”