Thai supremo visits China

Thai supremo visits China

BANGKOK (AFP): Thai armed forces supreme commander Gen. Wattanachai Wuthisiri left Bangkok yesterday for Beijing on a courtesy visit, official sources said.

No details were given about the 48-hour trip by Wattanachai, who was appointed military supremo last October. But Chinese sources said he would meet People's Liberation Army Commander Gen. Zhang Wannian who invited him.

Relations between China and Thailand improved in 1979 when Beijing agreed to end backing for the Thai Communist Party in exchange for Bangkok's support for the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, overthrown that year by the Vietnamese army.

The Thai army, which gets most of its arms from the United States, began purchasing Chinese weapons in 1986. It has since become one of Beijing's leading customers for armored vehicles, artillery and has bought six frigates.