China raises representation with Myanmar over sentences on its nationals

The loggers were sentenced under a 1963 law calling for jail terms of 10 years to life for anyone who steals or otherwise misuses or abuses public property.

The individuals were arrested in January in a crackdown on the country’s lucrative illegal logging and timber trade launched by the military, police and forestry department.

BEIJING: China’s media regulator will ban “vulgar and damaging” reality television shows and order them to promote decent Chinese values, state news agency Xinhua said on Wednesday.

“Right after the Myanmar side arrested and detained some Chinese engaged in illegal logging in Myanmar early this year, the Chinese side has lodged multiple representations on different levels and through various channels”, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement on the ministry’s website. Officials from the Chinese Embassy in Yangon were not immediately available for comment.

The state-run Beijing Times newspaper quotes a Chinese Embassy official as saying Beijing is concerned about the verdicts and is discussing the matter with Myanmar’s foreign ministry. The countries share a border to China’s southwest.

The Mekong region-consisting of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar-has historically been China’s supply base for Hongmu and has been most affected by the surge in demand over the past decade, EIA said, accounting for almost half of the imports since 2000 at a value of almost US $2.4 billion. But some shows do not reach these high standards, it said.

“We stay committed to cracking down on these kinds of illegal activities, preserving natural resources and safeguarding stability of border areas with our neighbors including Myanmar through strengthened cooperation”, she said at the time. Much of Myanmar’s jade is also believed to be illegally smuggled into China. Chinese economic penetration is big and highly visible in northern Myanmar, and some large infrastructure and mining projects have drawn charges of being insensitive to environmental issue and local residents’ concerns. Translated by Khet March Written in English by Joshua Lipes.