U-TAPAO

BEIJING : China was not worried about Nasa's now-cancelled weather research project but more concerned about the US request to use U-tapao airport as a centre for its regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) project, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul says.

Mr Surapong said he discussed the two issues with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi during a working lunch meeting yesterday.

While some in Thailand believed China was worried about Nasa's request to use the Thai naval air base to research weather conditions over Southeast Asia, Beijing, in fact, voiced more concern about the US request to use the base for the HADR project, he said.

Mr Surapong did not elaborate on why Beijing was worried about the use of U-tapao as an HADR centre, saying he would reveal more details when he speaks to the media at the Foreign Ministry tomorrow.

"Everything will be clear that day. Those who do not understand the issues and try to mix them together will know that they, in fact, do not know anything. I believe the opposition party which opposed the Nasa project will be lost by the facts if they learn them from me," Mr Surapong said.

Nasa scrapped the project to conduct the climate study using U-tapao airport as a base after the cabinet decided to forward the issue to parliament for a joint debate next month.

The US request to use U-tapao airport for HADR has not been finalised, pending talks between Bangkok and Washington.

The US government would like to use U-tapao airport because it is centrally located for use in helping other countries in the region.

Former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva proposed at the Asean-UN Summit in 2010 that U-tapao airport be used as a base for HADR as Southeast Asia had experienced natural disasters more frequently in recent years.

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