PHNOM PENH (Cambodia Herald) - China has begun a new round of joint patrols on the Mekong River with Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, Chinese police authorities were quoted as saying.
Xinhua news agency said the patrols in the Golden Triangle where the Lao, Myanmar and Thai borders meet started Friday and aimed to secure transport and target cross-border crime.
"The patrol fleet of China and Laos will sail along a Laos-managed section of the Mekong River to check ships," the report said. "Police officers will also check key sections on the bank of the river in Laos."
Xinhua noted that the six-day police patrols, the sixth round since December, coincided with a trial in southwest China of six suspects in an attack on the Mekong last year that left 13 Chinese sailors dead.
The report said the number of Chinese vessels using the river had risen from 10 when the first joint patrol was launched in December to 59 when the fifth patrol was held in August.
