Chinese president visits Laos, talk of rift denied

November 13, 2000
Web posted at: 10:05 AM HKT (0205 GMT)

VIENTIANE, Laos (Reuters) -- Officials accompanying Chinese President Jiang Zemin on a state visit to Laos dismissed suggestions on Sunday that there was a rift in the Laotian government between pro-China and pro-Vietnam factions.

Jiang arrived on Saturday on the first visit by a Chinese president to Laos. He is due to leave for Cambodia on Monday.

An explosion at Vientiane's airport, one of a spate of unexplained bomb attacks in the capital this year, injured at least three people on Thursday and raised security fears ahead of Jiang's visit.

The communist government has blamed the attacks on anti-government elements within the Hmong, an ethnic group spread across highland regions in several countries of Southeast Asia. Hmong tribesmen joined undercover U.S. and Thai forces fighting Laotian communist guerillas during the Indochina War 25 years ago. The Hmong have denied responsibility.

Some analysts say the blasts may reflect a split in the Laos government between factions favouring China and those favouring Vietnam, seen as the main powers vying for influence in southeast Asia.

Chinese spokesman Zhu Bang-zao told a news conference on Sunday that he did not believe there was such a rift.

"During the talks in the morning, President Jiang...positively assessed the achievement Laos has made in successfully maintaining its stability," he said.

"In this regard, I don't think that such kind of fingerpointing at China is suitable. If some observers tend to think that way, I have no comment on that."

Economic pacts

Zhu said Jiang had a fruitful meeting with Lao President Khamtay Siphandone, and would sign pacts including agreements on economic, social and agricultural assistance for Laos.

China's Xinhua news agency hailed the visit as "a great event in the history of Lao-Chinese ties."

Laos, an impoverished, landlocked nation of 5.1 million people wedged between China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Burma, remains a puzzle to many outside observers.

Speculation about a rift also has been fuelled by the disappearance this year of a cabinet minister, Khamsay Souphanouvong, granted asylum in New Zealand this month.

The bombs also raised security fears about a summit of foreign ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations and the European Union in Vientiane next month.

A Vietnamese diplomat in Vientiane dismissed suggestions of a rift in Laos. "I don't think any personal conflict of ideas among the leadership in Laos would lead to such bomb sabotages," he told Reuters.

"I believe the Lao authorities' explanation that the explosives were planted by people paid by a network of bad guys outside Laos."

According to figures from the Committee for Lao-Chinese Cooperation, Chinese firms invested in 74 Lao projects with a total value of $997 million from 1989 to September 2000.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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