DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Principal suspect of Mekong River attack pleads guilty” plus 2 more

KUNMING, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Naw Kham, principal suspect for the murders of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River last year, pleaded guilty Friday evening when he and five other people were standing trial in southwest China.

The trial, which opened Thursday morning at the Intermediate People's Court of Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, ended on Friday, one day ahead of schedule.

Naw Kham, the head of an armed drug gang from Myanmar, expressed his penitence to the victims and their families in court, hoping for leniency.

The court will pick a date for sentencing following a review of the case by a collegiate bench.

Naw Kham denied plotting the attack on Thursday. However, the five other defendants on trial all testified in court that Naw Kham was the gang's ringleader who masterminded the attack.

The six suspects were charged with intentional homicide, drug trafficking, kidnapping and hijacking by the Kunming People's Procuratorate.

Prosecutors showed irrefutable and sufficient evidence of the criminal offences, including the six defendants' confessions, witness testimonies, DNA test results, and autopsy reports.

Thirteen witnesses from Laos and Thailand testified in the trial on the basis of bilateral judicial assistance treaties between China and the two counties respectively. They were protected by the court according to China's law and international practice.

All six defendants who were foreigners answered questions raised by the chief justice, judges, prosecutors, victims' relatives and lawyers during the trial, aided by translators.

Relatives of the 13 Chinese victims, embassy personnel of the related countries, Chinese legislators, political advisors, experts and representatives of local residents and media were present at the court during the two-day trial.

The court also heard the trial of the incidental civil action of the case on Friday.

Victims wanted civil compensation of tens of millions yuan but the court did not reveal the exact figures.

Naw Kham did not deny the evidence provided by the prosecutors on Friday. He said he was willing to pay compensation, adding that he had 30 million baht (about 6 million yuan or 951,139 U.S. dollars).

Begging for lighter punishment, the other five defendants also pleaded guilty in court but said they had no money for compensation.

Nie Tao, a Chinese police officer with the special task force of the case, said police from both China and Thailand exchanged views on the nine Thai soldiers who were allegedly involved in the case on Friday afternoon.

Chinese police will continue to cooperate with the Thai police in the investigation into and prosecution of the nine Thai soldiers, Nie said.

The Naw Kham crime ring was busted earlier this year in a joint operation by police from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand after the brutal murders of the Chinese sailors triggered an outcry in China last year.

The 13 Chinese sailors were confirmed dead after two cargo ships, the Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8, were hijacked on Oct. 5, 2011 on the Mekong River.

With a length of almost 5,000 km, the Mekong River, known in China as the Lancang River, is one of the most important waterways in Southeast Asia, linking the countries of China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It plays a crucial economic role among the Greater Mekong Sub-region countries.

NANNING, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- China and ASEAN nations have strategic importance to deepening economic ties and should resolve disputes through negotiations, Vice President Xi Jinping said on Friday in southwest China, where the ninth China-Asean Expo opened on Friday morning.

Xi made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the ninth China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit and the 2012 Forum on China-ASEAN Free Trade Area in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

China and the ASEAN must work more vigorously to advance connectivity. This is a measure of strategic importance that will promote intra-regional economic integration and enhance regional competitiveness, thus contributing to a sustained and steady growth in the regional economy, Xi said.

"China is ready to establish all-dimensional, in-depth and strategic connectivity with the ASEAN. Currently, we are actively preparing for the establishment of the Chinese Committee on China-ASEAN Connectivity and will in due course set up interaction and institutionalized exchanges with relevant ASEAN agencies," according to the vice president.

With a theme of "Win-win cooperation for common development," the expo is set to draw more than 2,000 domestic and overseas enterprises, and consolidate its place as an important platform to promote China-ASEAN trade. China is the largest trading partner of the ASEAN, while the ASEAN ranks as China's third-largest trading partner. Bilateral trade surged from 7 billion U.S. dollars in the early days of dialogue relations to 362.8 billion last year, registering an average annual growth of over 20 percent.

In 2010, China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA) was launched. Covering a total population of 1.9 billion, it is the world's largest FTA zone of developing countries.

Myanmar's President, U Thein Sein, said, "As our economies are connected to each other, we are happy to see a healthy economy growing in China. The ASEAN welcomes the robust economic partnership with China.

"The market of the ASEAN and China is indeed a huge one. We both have our own distinguished characteristics and are endowed with natural and human resources."

China and ASEAN nations have not only developed robust trade relations, but also seen two-way investment growing steadily, with investment between the two sides totaling nearly 100 billion U.S. dollars by the end of July this year.

Xi pointed out that China has provided financial support to the ASEAN to the best of its abilities by setting up the China-ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund and making concessional loans, facilitating economic development in ASEAN countries.

Despite the booming trade ties, disputes between China and some ASEAN countries remain. Xi reiterated that China hopes to resolve differences with neighbors concerning territorial land, territorial sea and maritime rights and interests peacefully through friendly negotiations.

"We are firm in safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity and are committed to resolving differences with neighbors concerning territorial and maritime rights and interests peacefully through friendly negotiations," said the vice president.

"We will never seek hegemony, nor behave in a hegemonic manner," he vowed, adding, "By peaceful development, we mean to develop ourselves by upholding world peace and upholding world peace through our own development."

U Thein Sein noted that China and ASEAN nations are situated in a rapidly growing Asia-Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific region has become the center of gravity in international relations and trade. Hence, it is important to work together to promote peace and development in the region.

Lu Jianren, of the Asia-Pacific research institution of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the ASEAN is crucial to China, and individual member state's disputes could not affect the relationship between the two sides.

It is so important that China and the ASEAN join hands to strengthen cooperation and create a win-win situation under current international circumstances, he added.

The ASEAN is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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