News Story: China, Laos agree to boost military exchanges, cooperation

VIENTIANE, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- China and Laos have vowed to deepen bilateral high-level military exchanges and cooperation during a visit by Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Chang Wanquan to Laos which concluded on Saturday.

During his four-day visit, Chang met with General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and Lao President Bounnhang Vorachit and held talks with Lao Defense Minister Chansamone Chanyalath.

Chang also co-chaired the first China-Laos high-level frontier meeting between the two armed forces with the Lao defense minister.

The two sides expressed satisfaction with the development of the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries and two militaries, and promised to fully implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and two parties, according to a joint statement issued on Saturday.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Cambodian, Lao PMs agree to expedite negotiations over border row

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith agreed on Friday to speed up their negotiations over border dispute.

The agreement was reached after their meeting at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh.

Speaking at a joint press conference after the meeting, Hun Sen said that he and Thongloun allowed foreign ministers of the two countries to meet in coming days to discuss details of resolution to the border issue.

He added that both sides also agreed to send their respective experts in the Cambodia-Laos Joint Border Committee to work together at disputed border areas and to immediately demarcate any areas where the two sides agree.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Cambodia's minor opposition chief jailed 5 years for inciting army to disobedience

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Cambodian court on Friday convicted a minor opposition chief of inciting soldiers to disobey orders and sentenced him to five years in prison, according to a verdict.

Sourn Serey Ratha, 44, president of the Khmer Power Party, was arrested red-handed on Aug. 13, a day after he posted to his Facebook criticizing the Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen's decision to dispatch troops to confront with Lao troops in a disputed border area.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court said Ratha's comments had affected social security and security of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and charged him with three counts: inciting military personnel to be disobedient, demoralization of military personnel, and provocation to commit crimes.

Read the full story at Xinhua

AUS: (MinDef) Visit to South East Asia

Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, will travel to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam from 21 to 25 August 2017 as part of a South East Asia visit focussed on strengthening defence relationships and promoting regional cooperation.

Minister Payne will travel from Singapore where she attended the tenth Singapore Australia Joint Ministerial Committee (SAJMC) with Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Julie Bishop MP, and Minister for Trade, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, meeting with both the Thai and Vietnamese Prime Ministers and her counterpart Defence Ministers from all three countries. 

“Australia enjoys strong and dynamic defence relationships with Singapore, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, reinforced by the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Thailand and Laos, and the 50th anniversary of ASEAN,” Minister Payne said.

“We will explore opportunities for increased defence engagement activities between our nations, including in maritime security and counter terrorism, share views on the region’s changing dynamics and discuss issues that affect our collective security and prosperity.

“This regional visit comes at a time when the focus of economic and strategic gravity in the world is shifting towards the Indo-Pacific and demonstrates Australia’s commitment to be an enduring, engaged and constructive partner in our region.”

AUS DoD

News Story: Cambodian PM says to set up new brigade, naval base in Stung Treng after border dispute with Laos

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said Wednesday that the country would establish a new intervention brigade and a naval station in northern Stung Treng province bordering Laos.

"All preparation does not intend to wage war with the neighboring country, but aims at defending the nation and people and increasing good relations with the neighboring country," he wrote on his official Facebook page while flying by helicopter to Stung Treng province for a troop visit.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Cambodian PM says all Lao troops withdraw from disputed border areas

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said Monday that dozens of Lao troops had pulled out of disputed border areas in northern Cambodia's Stung Treng province after a deal struck between him and his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith.

"They began to pull back at 12 p.m. and totally withdrew at 4 p.m. on Saturday," Hun Sen said during a university graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh.

He praised Sisoulith's decision to pull back troops from Cambodian territory, saying that the decision had ended tensions between troops of the two countries.

"I thank His Excellency Thongloun Sisoulith for meeting me (in Vientiane on Saturday) and deciding to withdraw troops before the ultimatum of Aug. 17," Hun Sen said.

The Cambodian leader said he also ordered his troops whom he sent to the disputed border areas on Friday to return to their barracks on Saturday.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Laos, Cambodia agree solution to border issue

Vientiane (VNA) – Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen have agreed to withdraw their troops from the border area between Attapu province of Laos and Strung Treng province of Cambodia.

The agreement was reached at a meeting between the two Prime Ministers on August 12 at the Lao Prime Minister Office in Vientiane, according to the Lao state-run news agency KPL.

Speaking at a joint press conference after the meeting, the Lao PM said they agreed that the Lao side will to pull back the remaining troops in the disputed border area and Cambodia will stop building a road at that area, making the situation return to normalcy and restoring belief of the two countries’ people. 

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Report: Rumble in the Jungle? Cambodia Threatens War Over Laos Border Dispute & Laos to Withdraw Troops From Disputed Border Area With Cambodia - PM

Rumble in the Jungle? Cambodia Threatens War Over Laos Border Dispute

A border dispute has the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and Cambodia edging closing to actual hostilities, with the leader of Cambodia giving his neighbor a deadline for removing troops from what he says is Cambodian territory.

Hun Sen, prime minister of Cambodia, has demanded that Laos withdraw all troops from Cambodian land, threatening war to "protect our territory" if Laos does not pull back posthaste. 

Hun spoke during the nomination ceremony of the president of the Royal Academy of Cambodia. "If necessary, I will [fly] to talk about this with my Lao counterpart [Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith], but Laos have to withdraw from Cambodia's territory. Cambodia doesn't want war, but Cambodia has to protect our territory." 

About 30 Laotian soldiers entered Cambodia, according to Hun, to prevent Cambodia from building a road in Stung Treng, a northeastern province of Cambodia that borders Laos. Laotian soldiers claimed that the road would run through disputed territory.

News Story: Lao senior military officer visits Vietnam to boost defense partnership

Hanoi (VNA) – The ongoing official visit to Vietnam by Director of the General Department of Politics of the Lao People’s Army Vilay Lakhamphong will contribute to enhancing the special relations between the two countries, particularly the bilateral defense cooperation, for the benefits of their people.

Senior Lieutenant General Luong Cuong, Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army, made the statement during talks with the Lao officer in Hanoi on August 2.

Cuong hailed the two countries’ advisory bodies for proactively implementing activities to celebrate the Vietnam-Laos and Laos-Vietnam Year of Solidarity and Friendship 2017, especially the successful organisation of meetings in Laos for ex-Lao military trainees in Vietnam, a military youth festival in the north-western province of Dien Bien, a culture-art campaign on the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia fighting solidarity, and a border friendship exchange programme.

Such activities are politically significant as they help increase mutual trust and educate young generations on the traditional friendship and special solidarity between the Vietnamese and Lao Parties, States and people, he added.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Story: Laos calls for enhanced int'l cooperation to eradicate UXO

VIENTIANE, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Some 23 people have been injured or killed as a result of exploding unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Laos so far in 2017, government officials said here Monday while calling for enhanced international efforts.

In 2016 the number was 59, the Lao government said ahead of the seventh anniversary of the Entry into Force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which falls on Tuesday.

Up to 30 percent of the total 270 million cluster munitions dropped on Laos during the Vietnam War did not detonate, according to a report by Lao state-run media Vientiane Times.

Around 80 million bomblets remained scattered and buried over much of the country's landmass, and it is not clear how many of these remain a live threat, the report said.

The hazards of UXO correlate to poverty levels, with the most contaminated districts in the country often also being among the poorest, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Khampheng Saysompheng said at a ceremony marking the Convention.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Defence ties key to Vietnam – Laos cooperation

Hanoi (VNA) – Defence cooperation is an importance pillar in Vietnam-Laos relations, stated Luong Cuong, head of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army.

He made the remark while visiting the Laos Embassy in Hanoi on July 17.

The two armies’ fine connection would consolidate mutual trust and comprehensive partnership between the two countries’ Parties, governments and people, he added.

Speaking highly of the thriving bilateral ties in all fields, Cuong stressed the significant meaning of the Vietnam-Laos Solidarity and Friendship Year 2017, the 55th diplomatic relations anniversary (September 5) and 44 years of the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (July 18).

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Story: Laos, UNDP sign new support project on unexploded ordnance

VIENTIANE, July 7 (Xinhua) ---- The Lao government and the United Nations Development Program on Friday signed a new support project on unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the Lao capital Vientiane, Lao News Agency reported.

The project, comprising a financial envelope by UNDP to Laos of 84 million U.S. dollars, will focus on enhanced support to livelihood activities for affected populations, improved efficiency of clearance operations and progress in the effort to establish a national baseline of UXO contamination, among others, the report said, quoting Lao Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Khampheng Xaysompheng.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Senior Chinese military official calls for jointly safeguarding Asia-Pacific security

SINGAPORE, June 2 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese military official called for peaceful coexistence among countries and jointly safeguarding Asia-Pacific security on Friday, reiterating that China will always follow the path of peaceful development.

Lieutenant General He Lei, vice president of the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, made the remarks here at a press briefing after attending a reception and opening dinner held for participants of the 16th Shangri-La Dialogue.

"China always adheres to the path of peaceful development, and believes that all countries, big or small, strong or weak, should be equal, coexist peacefully and jointly safeguard security in the Asia-Pacific region," He Lei said.

He Lei, who heads the Chinese delegation to the ongoing Shangri-La Dialogue, said the Chinese delegation will expound on China's foreign policy of peace as well as its defensive national defense policy, particularly against the backdrop of various security risks and challenges in the international situation.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: India, China Struggle to Complete OBOR-Like Project in Southeast Asia

After announcing the highly ambitious Southeast Asian connectivity project in 2002, India has once again promised to expedite the India-Myanmar-Thailand project which was once touted as a rival to China's One Belt, One Road.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — India's Minister of Road Transport & Highway Nitin Gadkari has said the government will begin work on the highway from the northeastern state of Meghalaya to Myanmar under the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral pact from next month. The project will connect Moreh in India to Mae Sot in Thailand.

"We will probably start work on Meghalaya to Myanmar project from next month. The cost of the project is approximately $750 million," Gadkari said on Tuesday in Mumbai.

The 1360-kilometer-long project was kicked off in 2005 with the ambition of boosting trade, business, health and tourism among them. It has 69 dilapidated road bridges en route which is a crucial part of the Moreh-Mae Sot highway.

News Story: North Korea seeks ASEAN help in row with US

MANILA, Philippines - North Korea has appealed to Southeast Asian countries for support in its row with the United States to prevent what it warned could be a “nuclear holocaust,” according to a letter obtained by AFP.

In the letter to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ secretary general, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho warned the situation on the Korean Peninsula was “reaching the brink of war” because of Washington’s actions.

He urged the ASEAN chief to inform the 10-nation organization’s foreign ministers “about the grave situation” on the peninsula “and give them a proper proposal,” while criticizing at length US-South Korean military exercises.

Tensions have soared in the region in recent weeks in the wake of a series of North Korean missile tests and tough rhetoric from Washington on the isolated nation’s rogue weapons program.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: Laos to make great efforts to achieve UXO clearance goals

Vientiane (VNA) - Laos will focus on reaching all expected goals on unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance, especially the implementation of non-technical surveys for more than 3,800 UXO-affected villages in 2017, according the Lao News Agency (KPL).

The plan is to look for evidence of UXOs using non-technical surveys to facilitate clearance in focal development areas, developing projects and agricultural areas.

“We will continue conducting a public campaign on UXO awareness, intending to reduce the number of UXO victims to fewer than 40 people annually and providing assistance, medical treatment, health rehabilitation and creating vocations for 1,500 UXO-affected victims,” Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Khamxay Xaysompheng said early this month to mark the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action 2017.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Story: Chinese embassy presents office equipment to Lao defense ministry

VIENTIANE, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in Laos presented office equipment to Lao Ministry of Defense on Tuesday.

A ceremony was held in Lao capital Vientiane with the participation of Zhao Chenggang, Charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Laos and Lao Deputy Minister of Defense Onsy.

Speaking at the ceremony, Zhao reviewed the development of friendly relations between the two armies and spoke highly of the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: UXO tragedies still a headache for Laos decades after war

by Zhang Jianhua

VIENTIANE, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Three big bombs each weighing more than 113 kilograms have been found over the past two weeks in Lao's northern Luang Prabang province.

One was found and reported to the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Program (UXO Lao) team in the province by villagers from the Houay Lo in Pak-Ou district. The two other bombs were found and reported by construction companies while they were working on road projects in Phone Ngarm and Kok Muang villages in the Luang Prabang district, Lao state-run news agency KPL said Thursday.

In 2016, three large bombs were previously found in the northern province. A total of 100,434 unexploded ordinances (UXO) were found and destroyed across the Southeast Asian country last year.

Laos is deemed the worst UXO-affected country in the world, with UXOs scattered over one-third of the country, according to a 1996 survey by Handicap International.

Statistics show that over the past four decades since the war ended in 1975, UXOs have killed and maimed tens of thousands of civilians in Laos.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: 14th ASEAN-Russia senior officials' meeting held in Lao capital

VIENTIANE, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the 14th ASEAN-Russia Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) on Wednesday in capital Vientiane to review recent cooperation.

The meeting was co-chaired by Lao Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Laos' ASEAN SOM Leader Thongphane Savanphet, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and SOM Leader of the Russian Federation Igor V. Morgulov.

The meeting reviewed the cooperation between ASEAN and Russia over the past year, especially in following up on the outcomes of the ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit to mark the 20th Anniversary of ASEAN-Russia Dialogue Relations held in March last year in Sochi, Russia, Lao News Agency (KPL) reported.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: ASEAN Countries to Boost Military Cooperation in Region - Russian MoD

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday that countries from The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will boost military cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) defense ministers and dialogue partners (ADMM-plus) confirmed their commitment to further develop military cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region during a session held on March 2-3 in the Philippines, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.

"All delegates confirmed the interest of member countries in further increase of cooperation between military departments in the ADMM-plus format for strengthening security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region," the ministry said in a statement.

The projects of the ASEAN Defense Senior Officials Meeting Working Group for 2017-2020 were considered as well, the Russian ministry added. Russia and Laos presented their plan to carry out joint exercises on demining, the ministry noted, adding that the training is expected to be conducted in 2019 in Russia.

The participants of the session discussed the fourth ADMM-plus session, scheduled for October.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.