Chinese loggers look out from the bus window after being freed from Myitgyina Jail, July 30, 2015. The Myanmar government on Thursday granted an amnesty to 6,966 prisoners including 155 detained Chinese loggers. (Xinhua/Myitkyinabrang)
Myanmar Thursday granted an amnesty to 6,966 prisoners including 155 detained Chinese loggers, an act warmly welcomed by China, which stressed such cases should be handled in a lawful and sensible way.
According to the Chinese embassy in Myanmar, China has lodged representations with the Myanmar side when a district court in northern Myanmar last Wednesday sentenced 155 Chinese loggers to 10-35 year prison terms for violating a 1963 law against destroying public property.
Regarding its neighbors as a foreign policy priority, China has been striving for years to achieve common development in the region. China respects the laws and customs of other countries and always asks its nationals not to break local laws when they stay abroad.
However, it is notable that those Chinese nationals, arrested in raids on illegal logging that began earlier this year in Myanmar's conflict-stricken northern Kachin State, may not have known that their activities were illegal before being brought to the country.
As those people might have been duped and misled into coming to the country for illegal logging, the indictment against them should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.
The abrupt sentence on the Chinese loggers has raised concerns from China both at the state level and in Chinese society. China maintained close communication with the Myanmar side on the handing over of these people after the court made the judgement on July 22.
It is a relief to know that the 155 Chinese workers have been freed in Myanmar under the massive presidential pardon, to which, as Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei had given it, China attached high importance.
But it is also hoped that the Myanmar authorities will take every factor into account to protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign workers, including Chinese nationals, and ensure no such incident occurs in the future.
