CrazyExpat Posted February 8, 2015 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 Thailand's junta — smarting over U.S. criticism of last year's coup that ousted an elected government — has announced that it will strengthen military ties with China over the next five years.An agreement with Beijing was announced during a two-day visit to Bangkok by China's defense minister, Chang Wanquan, reports Michael Sullivan. The two sides say they'll increase cooperation in intelligence-gathering and fighting transnational crime.The Bangkok Post says: "China's Defense Minister Chang Wanquan also took pains to stress that Beijing has no plans to 'interfere' with Thailand's military regime, something the Thai government feels its long-time ally, the United States, did last month during the visit of a high-ranking diplomat."The high-ranking diplomat in question, Daniel Russel, is the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs. Russel sparked the ire of Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha's government last month with a speech at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University that criticized the government's crackdown on free expression and called for an end to martial law, which has been in force since the May coup."I'll be blunt here," Russel told the audience at Chulalongkorn, one of Thailand's most prestigious universities. "When an elected leader is deposed, impeached by the authorities that implemented the coup, and then targeted with criminal charges while basic democratic processes and institutions are interrupted, the international community is left with the impression that these steps could be politically driven." http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/06/384306120/thailands-military-moves-closer-to-china Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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