On April 4, 2010, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao met with Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and Vietnamese Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen who were attending the first Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand.
When meeting with Kasit, Song said that China and Thailand are friendly neighbors. China attaches great importance to developing friendship with Thailand. This year marks the 35th anniversary of China-Thailand diplomatic ties. China is willing to join hands with Thailand to promote the development of bilateral strategic cooperation. China and countries in the Mekong River Basin are linked by common mountains and rivers and share identical interest. The scientific, reasonable and orderly development of Lancangjiang River-Mekong River resources serves the entire interest of Mekong Sub-region countries. China is willing to strengthen communications and cooperation with Thailand to push forward the Sub-region cooperation.
Kasit noted that Thailand and China enjoy a long-term friendship and the Thai government is actively developing relations with China. The two countries have maintained close cooperation, supported each other in bilateral and multilateral affairs and enhanced mutual trust since the establishment of diplomatic ties 35 years ago. China-Thailand relationship is a model of relations between developing countries. Thailand is willing to step up cooperation with China in promoting connectivity, supporting the cooperation of SMEs and increasing R&D and academic exchanges. It will continue to reinforce communications and cooperation with China to push forward the economic and social development of the Greater Mekong Sub-region.
During the meeting with Pham Khoi Nguyen, Song made positive comments on the development of China-Vietnam relations. He said that the two countries maintain frequent high-level contacts, the China-Vietnam friendship year activities move forward steadily and the all-round strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries continues to go deeper. The upstream and downstream countries of Lancangjiang River and Mekong River share the same interest. China is willing to lift communications and cooperation with Vietnam in order to promote the economic and social progress of the Sub-region.
Pham Khoi Nguyen noted that Vietnam attaches great importance to the development of all-round strategic cooperative partnership with China. The 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries is approaching. Vietnam hopes to strengthen cooperation with China and raise the bilateral relations to a higher level. It appreciates China’s provision of emergency hydrologic data for the MRC and is ready to make concerted efforts with China to accelerate the development cooperation in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.