China Monday suspended shipping on
the Mekong after 11 sailors were killed on two cargo ships attacked last week
in the Golden Triangle where the river runs through China, Myanmar, Thailand
and Laos.
The halt in boat traffic was announced by the ministry of
foreign affairs and reported by the official Xinhua news agency, citing
maritime officials in southwest China's Yunnan province.
Two Chinese sailors remain missing after the cargo ships
"Hua Ping" and "Yu Xing 8" were attacked on October 5,
foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at a regular press briefing.
However, Xinhua reported that all 13 Chinese crewmen were
dead, citing Thai authorities who identified their killers as members of a drug
trafficking ring operating on the Mekong.
The Mekong, known in China as the Lancang River, rises on the
Qinghai-Tibet plateau and flows through southwest China's Yunnan province,
Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to the South China Sea.
Out of 130 ships engaged in international shipping on the
Mekong, 116 are operated by Chinese companies, according to the Lancang River
Maritime Affairs Bureau, Xinhua reported.
Some Chinese ship operators have asked their Chinese crew to
return to China overland from Thailand despite pending deliveries.
Maritime officials in Yunnan have begun to help Chinese
crewmen return home safely and have adopted "proper measures to protect
Chinese ships on the Mekong River", Xinhua said.
Source : AFP
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