Thai premier to visit China

Mon, 27 Aug 2001 | Source: AP

BANGKOK (AP): Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra begins a three-day visit to China Monday, with topics ranging from satellites to drug trafficking on the agenda.

Accompanied by several ministers and business executives, Thaksin will meet with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, who visited Thailand in May. The two countries enjoy close ties.

The Nation newspaper said Sunday that Thaksin, who made his fortune in telecommunications, will seek a compromise on the positioning of Thailand's iPSTAR communications satellite and China's AsiaSat 4 satellite.

The Thai satellite, which will go into commercial service in 2003, is a project of Shin Satellite, in which Thaksin's son is the major shareholder.

The Nation said the Chinese side will be asked to back down to resolve the issue of orbits. AsiaSat has been awarded what iPSTAR regards as the optimal slot for its satellite.

Thaksin will pay courtesy calls on President Jiang Zemin and Li Peng, chairman of the National People's Congress during his visit.

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