FM calls on Myanmar to handle case in 'reasonable' way
Relatives of 155 detained Chinese loggers on Thursday gathered outside the local government of Tengchong county, Southwest China's Yunnan Province to demand information on the return of their family members after a court in Myanmar on Wednesday sentenced them to up to 35 years in prison for illegal logging.
Duan Liying, whose husband is among the jailed loggers, told the Global Times that some 90 people gathered outside the government building but no officials had turned up to handle the situation.
The 155 Chinese nationals were sentenced to up to 35 years in prison for illegal logging, including two 17-year-olds who were handed 10-year jail terms, a local court in Myitkyina district in Kachin state announced Wednesday.
"We have been repeatedly told by Tengchong government to wait for more information since the arrest. I feel the decision is unfair, but nobody seems to know what to do," Duan said, adding that she does not plan to appeal.
Li Cailiang, 42, who managed to escape from arrest by the Myanmar army, said that four of his fellow workers were sentenced at the trial, including his brother. He insisted that he and another 80 loggers had gained official travel documents through their wood business company before heading to Myanmar.
Myanmar's government considers timber or mineral resources contracts between ethnic governments and foreign companies illegal, a policy many Chinese loggers were not aware of.
Years of battles between government army and ethnic forces have rendered Myanmar central authorities with little influence in ethnic group-controlled border regions. Many local leaders have issued logging passes on their own terms.
Extreme concern
China's foreign ministry said late Wednesday that it was "extremely concerned" about the decision and had lodged "multiple representations on different levels and through various channels" with Myanmar.
The ministry called on Myanmar to consider the actual conditions of those Chinese nationals, deal with the case in a lawful, reasonable and justified manner so as to conclude the case properly and return those people to China as soon as possible.
However, a Myanmar government spokesperson said the Myanmar government would not interfere in the judicial process.
"When our citizens break the law in other countries, [they] face sentence by those country's laws. We cannot use diplomacy to intervene. I think China will understand," government spokesman Ye Htut told AFP.
U Khin Maung, a lawyer who represented the loggers, was quoted as saying by Myanmar-based newspaper Daily Eleven that "There is no news about an appeal. We have 60 days to lodge a complaint with the state-level court. Their relatives were not allowed to attend the trial."
Too harsh
Analysts urged Myanmar to handle the trial in a fair, just and unpoliticized way, while both countries should join hands to solve the lurking problems that affected Sino-Myanmar relations.
"The loggers have done something wrong but this punishment for illegal logging is clearly too harsh. China may handle the case through diplomatic negotiation or help find capable lawyers for the loggers' families," said Zhu Zhenming, director of the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies of Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences.
Myitkyina district judge U Myint Swe told reporters after the trial that he gave the heaviest possible punishment to set an example to those who want to extract natural resources illegally, reported the Myanmar Times.
Xu Liping, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the Myanmar government may be targeting the ethnic forces in its crackdown on the illegal timber business, which is a key financial resource for the rebels.
Xu said that Myanmar's ruling party could also be winning public support for the general election in November as the decision showcased the authorities' determination and correctness in law enforcement.
In June, Aye Myint Maung, a deputy environment minister, told parliament that 10,000 tons of timber had been seized from illegal loggers since January, most of it from Kachin state, Reuters reported.
Police Colonel Myint Htoo from Kachin state police said there is no law pertaining to the repatriation of prisoners, as Myanmar has not signed deals with other states, reported Daily Eleven.
Conflicts between Myanmar army and ethnic groups began to spill over to Chinese border cities since the beginning of this year.
On March 13, a bomb dropped by a Myanmar warplane killed five Chinese people working in a sugar cane field in the border city of Lincang in Yunnan Province.
The bombing also injured eight others.
