Thai PM eyes boosting ties with China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-30 10:08

BANGKOK -- "I have a Chinese surname -- Li, (and) I am Li Samak," Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej introduced himself to Chinese journalists at Bangkok's Government House in a recent interview ahead of his official visit to China.

The 73-year-old Thai leader, at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao, is scheduled to pay his first official visit to China from June 30 to July 3 since he took office in February.

"It was 227 years ago when my ancestors from China settled down in Thailand, (and) I still keep some family rituals of Chinese tradition like presenting offerings before ancestors' tombs," he told Xinhua.

Historical ties between Thailand and China can be traced back to over 600 years ago, while long-term cooperation and exchanges have become even stronger today, said Samak.

Similar to his own family, Samak said, hundreds of thousands of Chinese from the southern part of China had immigrated to Thailand over the past centuries.

Their descendants now bear Thai names, wear like Thais, and some become prominent figures on the country's business and political arenas, he said.

He said Thais probably know more about China than any other country, citing the example of Princess Sirindhorn, who travels to China almost every year and has a good command of the Chinese language and literature.

"With more and more Thais learning Chinese, the language may soon become the most popular to Thai students as second-foreign language other than English. So you see, between Thailand and China, it is not only trade or cultural exchange. There is no other country in the world like Thailand which has seen the two nations of Thai and Chinese are so melted into each other."

He said he told Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao when they last met at the summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Laos that the Thai people "sincerely welcome more Chinese civil servants, students and entrepreneurs to visit Thailand to have a better understanding of our country and people."

The Thai leader, while recalling vividly a lot of trips he has made to various places in China, said he was impressed by the great changes and achievements China has made since his first Chinese tour more than 20 years ago when China just began to open itself to the outside world.

China's achievements and experience in urban infrastructure construction and many other fields have set good examples for Thailand, said Samak.

During his upcoming China tour, the two countries will discuss details about a project of city light-rail mass transit system in Bangkok, known as Skytrain, in which a Chinese company will be engaged.

He will be accompanied by a delegation composed of such high-profile officials as deputy prime minister on commerce and army commander-in-chief.

His talks with Chinese leaders will be aimed at enhancing bilateral trade and cooperation in Thailand's city infrastructure construction and defense technologies.

One of the topics on the agenda is about a cross-border project. Under the project China will give assistance in building highways and railways to link China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand under the Greater Mekong Sub-region cooperation framework.

China will also offer help to Thailand in advancing the latter's ammunition technologies, while a contract worthy of some 10 billion RMB ($1.43 billion) to import machinery products from China is expected to be signed during his visit.

Thailand will also seek to nail more agreements on exporting Thai fresh fruits to China.

The tariff-free measure under the framework of ASEAN-China free trade zone has resulted in a huge drop in prices of Thai fresh fruits like durian on the Chinese market.

The measure also has allowed Thais to enjoy Chinese gingko nuts and apples in recent years.

Further facilitating such trade benefits both sides, he noted.

Samak also thanked China, whose capital Beijing will host the 2008 Olympics, for giving Bangkok an opportunity to run a leg of the Olympic torch relay.

Thailand plans to send some 40 athletes to participate in the forthcoming Beijing Olympics in August, said Samak.

Both Samak and Princess Sirindhorn will attend the opening ceremony of the event scheduled for August 8.

On the Tibet issue, the Thai leader said it "is China's internal affair, and let the Chinese government solve it."

Voicing his belief that China can manage to deal with it, he also said he opposes any move to politicize the Beijing Olympics or to boycott the event.