China offers more mine clearing support for cms countries

China has pledged more support in humanitarian clearance of land mines and unexploded ordnances (UXO) in the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (cms) at a high-level forum held recently in Nanjing, the capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province.

The High-level Regional Dialogue of the cms Regional Mine Action Center was held in Nanjing from Thursday to Saturday.

At the forum themed with "Enhancing Regional Cooperation and Resource Mobilization in Mine/ERW (enhanced radiation warheads) Action in cms, Executive Director of the cms Regional Mine Action Center Prum Suonpraseth and the representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar conducted in-depth discussions on progress, challenges, the financing plan, and future supporting actions of humanitarian mine clearance in AESAN countries.

"This is a very important forum for our region, because there are several countries that are affected by land mines and UXO (unexploded ordnance). It is really important for us to continue to have this kind of dialog to establish a kind of cooperation. You seem have done a lot in terms of regional cooperation. So, I really want to encourage more regional cooperation supported by countries like China, and this is very important," said Oum Phumro, the director-general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center.

During the forum, the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the cms Regional Mine Action Center signed a partnership agreement on comprehensively enhancing cms's regional cooperation and resource allocation capabilities in mine clearance.

Half of the cms countries, including Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines still haven't completely freed themselves from the threat of land mines and explosive remnants of war, said Ma Shengkun, the deputy director-general of the arms control department of China's foreign ministry.

"The successful holding of the forum fully reflects the sincerity and determination of China and the cms to work together to eliminate mine hazards and promote regional peace and development, and it is also a vivid portrayal of China and the cms joining hands to build a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home together," said Ma.