Than Shwe

Visiting Myanmar's leader Than Shwe holds talks with Chinese president

• Report rights infringement
• published: 28 Jul 2015
• views: 3741

1. Wide of Myanmar General Than Shwe and Chinese President Hu Jintao walking to dais for welcome ceremony 2. Mid of Than Shwe and Hu on the dais 3. Close of Than Shwe and pan to Hu 4. Mid of military band playing 5. Wide pan of hall during welcome ceremony 6. Mid of Hu and Than Shwe walking to Honour Guard 7. Military standing to attention 8. Various of the two leaders inspecting troops 9. Wide of meeting between the two leaders and their delegations 10. Mid of Hu 11. Than Shwe 12. Wide of meeting 13. SOUNDBITE (Burmese): Than Shwe, Myanmar leader: "The main purpose of my visit to China is to further promote the mutual trust and understanding, and bilateral cooperation and friendly neighbouring relationship between the two countries." 14. Wide of meeting STORYLINE: Military-run Myanmar's top leader General Than Shwe was in China on Wednesday for a state visit to his country's closest ally ahead of contentious national elections this autumn. Than Shwe held talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao in the capital Beijing after an official welcome ceremony, and spoke of the desire to further enhance bilateral relations. China strongly backs Myanmar internationally and provides it with key economic and diplomatic support. Myanmar's ruling junta has been largely shunned by the West because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to the opposition party that won elections two decades ago. Than Shwe was expected to seek China's support for plans to hold nationwide elections in early November that the junta is portraying as a key step in shifting to civilian rule after five decades of military domination. Critics have called them a sham and say the military shows little sign of relinquishing control. The Myanmar leader will also meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and other senior Chinese officials in Beijing during his visit. He's scheduled to visit the Shanghai Expo and the manufacturing hub of Shenzhen in southern Guangdong province before he leaves on Saturday. Though no details have been released about their agenda, the talks are expected to centre on the forthcoming elections, as well as economic deals signed by Wen earlier this year. Chen Bingde, chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, called on Wednesday for further military cooperation between Myanmar and China, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The two countries have generally enjoyed strong relations in recent years, though there was some friction when factional fighting sent tens of thousands of Burmese refugees across the Chinese border last summer. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference on Tuesday that the election was Myanmar's internal affair. Than Shwe's visit comes three months after Wen went to Myanmar - the first trip by a Chinese leader since 2001. Wen signed 15 agreements on cooperation in areas including a natural gas pipeline, hydropower station and development assistance, the official Xinhua News Agency said. China is Myanmar's third-largest trading partner and investor after Thailand and Singapore. In 2009, bilateral trade totalled 2.9 (b) billion US dollars, Xinhua said. By January 2010, China's investment in Myanmar amounted to 1.8 (b)billion US dollars, accounting for 11.5 percent of Myanmar's then total foreign investment. But this May, China made huge investments in hydropower, oil and gas, totalling 8.17 (b) billion US dollars, Xinhua said, quoting Myanmar government statistics. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/aa0810bc35bf9d8736655e704049c09b Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork