Chinese premier Wen meets Myanmar leader

Описание: (9 Sep 2010)
1. Wide of Ziguange Pavilion with car parked in front with Myanmar flag
2. Sign on building
3. Myanmar leader General Than Shwe walking to shake hands with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
4. Close of handshake
5. Various of Wen shaking hands with Myanmar officials
6. Pan from camera to meeting between Than Shwe and Wen
7. Wen speaking
8. Wen and Than Shwe
9. Close of Than Shwe listening
10. Myanmar officials
11. Than Shwe speaking
12. Wide of Wen and Than Shwe
13. Wen listening
14. Cutaway of Chinese officials
15. Wide of meeting
STORYLINE:
Myanmar leader General Than Shwe met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing, Thursday, on the third day of his five-day visit to the country.
Than Shwe's visit comes three months after Wen went to Myanmar, the first trip by a Chinese leader since 2001.
Following that meeting Wen signed 15 agreements on cooperation in areas including a natural gas pipeline, hydropower station and development assistance, according to official news agency Xinhua.
Chinese President Hu Jintao welcomed the leader of Myanmar's ruling junta on Wednesday with a red carpet and a military band, pageantry that underscores China's strong support for its resource-rich neighbour where Beijing has made huge investments.
General Than Shwe, who arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, is seeking backing from his country's strongest ally for November elections that mark the first nationwide balloting in two decades.
The junta has called the elections a key step in shifting to civilian rule after decades of military domination, but critics have derided them as a sham, saying the junta is unlikely to relinquish control.
China has long been Myanmar's lone source of diplomatic and economic support, shrugging off international criticism over its pariah status to maintain and even deepen ties with the ruling regime.
Some analysts see the visit as a signal that Beijing is drawing even closer to its neighbour, hoping to cement its long-term influence in Myanmar, which is largely impoverished but rich in natural resources, including timber, minerals and oil and gas deposits.
Than Shwe is accompanied on the visit by a large delegation, including several former military leaders who have apparently stepped down from their posts in order to run as civilians in the upcoming election.
On Tuesday, China's Foreign Ministry defended the upcoming elections as Myanmar's internal affair and urged other countries not to interfere.
China is Myanmar's third-largest trading partner and investor after Thailand and Singapore.
The two countries have generally enjoyed strong ties in recent years, though there was some friction when fighting between government forces and ethnic groups sent tens of thousands of Myanmar refugees across the Chinese border last summer, resulting in a rare warning from Beijing.
Than Shwe will fly to the Shanghai Expo and the manufacturing hub of Shenzhen in southern Guangdong province before he departs on Saturday.


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