Hostage shootings row deepens over 'insulting' Hong Kong letter
Hong Kong - Diplomatic relations between Hong Kong and Manila over the August 23 hostage shootings worsened Friday after the Philippine president complained of an "insulting letter."
Benigno Aquino III did not name the sender in a televised interview Thursday but news reports said Friday he was referring to an August 26 letter from Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang.
Aquino said he would not respond to the letter but had conveyed his displeasure to Chinese government officials, the South China Morning Post reported.
The row over the letter is the latest episode in a diplomatic row between Hong Kong and Manila over the killing of eight Hong Kong tourists held hostage on a tour bus by a sacked policeman demanding his job back.
Tsang complained the day after the killings that he tried to phone Aquino on the night of the hostage drama but was unable to get through to the president and his calls were not returned.
Philippines officials have dealt directly with Chinese diplomats since the hostage crisis, bypassing officials from Hong Kong which is a special administrative region of China.
Tsang's office confirmed to newspapers Friday he had written to Aquino on August 26 in what was described as a "respectful and polite manner" outlining issues Hong Kong wanted addressed.
In his interview, however, Aquino said of the letter, "We were being told, in very minute detail, what we were supposed to do."
Describing the letter as "insulting" he said, "I conveyed through the People's Republic of China government that maybe sending that letter to me was not right. I did not like its tone."
The content of the letter has not been released by either side but Hong Kong government sources told the South China Morning Post it was more than a page long and contained certain "demands."
Hong Kong has imposed a blanket ban on tours to the Philippines since the shootings, in which eight tourists died when armed police stormed the bus where former cop Rolando del Rosario Mendoza had held the hostages for 11 hours.
Thai navy joins battle against Somali pirates
Bangkok - Two Royal Thai Navy boats manned by 300 officers and sailors departed Friday for Somalia to join the international fight against pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
"We are 100 per cent ready," said Rear-Admiral Chaiyoth Suntornnak, head of the Pirate Suppression Mission. "Although Thailand is only a small country, we can still play a role in cooperating with the world community," he added.
The Pattani frigate and Similan supply ship departed from Sattahip Naval Base, 125 kilometres south-east of Bangkok, for its seven-day journey to the Gulf of Aden.
A Buddhist ceremony was conducted the bless the 98-day mission, the base's spokesman Commander Suranat Jiamjit said.
The cabinet last month approved a budget of 270 million baht (8.4 million dollars) for the operation.
Pirate attacks on ships in the busy shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia have increased in recent years, prompting coordinated international efforts against them.
One Thai-owned vessel, mistaken for a pirate ship, was sunk by the Indian Navy in Somali waters two years ago.
Human rights activist freed in China
His wife was under surveillance and house arrest while Cheng was in jail and the authorities intend to continue this treatment on his return home, Human Rights Watch said, citing local officials.
Cheng, 38, was convicted of intentional damage of public property and gathering people to block traffic.
He was sentenced to four years and three months in jail in 2006 after filing a lawsuit against Linyi city over forced abortions and sterilizations used in implementing the country's one-child policy.
He also helped farmers and other disabled people in their legal cases.
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