Asia News Digest
U.S. Military Official Denies U.S. Deployment in Philippines Is Aimed at China
General Richard Myers, head of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Philippines Inquirer, during a trip to Mindanao, that current U.S. military operations in the Philippines are not aimed at China. Myers's response appeared in the April 28 edition, as a denial of the charge as it appeared in the private intelligence newswire Stratfor, which itself merely echoed February 2002 warnings from EIR's Lyndon LaRouche.
Myers told the press in Mindanao: "This is not directed at China. The U.S. has a lot of interests in the Asia-Pacific region.... This is not an issue about China, this is an issue about our presence in the region to promote stability and hopefully ... good commerce." Since his diversionary answer implied the desire for a U.S. base in the region, Myers was forced to deny that as well.
Myers insisted that the reason for the Philippines operation was to be on guard against al-Qaeda moving into the region, as they are, supposedly, being driven out of Afghanistan. The U.S. allges that the Philippines Islamic guerrillas of Abu Sayyaf are linked to al-Qaeda.
The Stratfor article from April 25 pointed out that the small, undeveloped island of Basilon, where the combat with the Abu Sayyaf is taking place, may be better situated as a forward U.S. basing area than General Santos City on the southern shore of Mindanao, despite the modern port and airfield built by the United States in General Santos. Both have the advantage of proximity to the Asian mainland and to Indonesia, which Stratfor suggests are likely next targets for U.S. military operations in Asia. This is the real purpose, charges Stratfor, for the expansion of the U.S. military deployment in Basilonadding 300 Seabees and Marines to construct roads, airstrips, and other militarily necessary infrastructurerather than the professed concern for the well-being of the Basilon residents.
Ramos's Control over Philippines President Out in the Open
The fact that former President Fidel Ramos, a leading asset of Anglo-American financial and strategic interests, is controlling current Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is so public that she has to deny it! EIR has documented over the past year how Ramos, who ran the coups against Presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada on behalf of his American sponsors, has been running an inside-outside operation against Macapagal-Arroyo, threatening coups, while demanding that she accept his direction to retain her position. President Macapagal-Arroyo, in her weekly radio interview, said (according to the April 28 Manila Times): "The premise that Mr. Ramos could be part of the Freedom Force [the group of leading figures from various groups, which last week let it be known they were planning a coup], just because most of his political associates are involved in it, is very wrong." Arroyo was quoted as saying: "First of all, the premise is wrong. Not many of the Ramos boys are involved. In fact, a lot of Ramos boys are in the Cabinet."
Beside keeping President Macapagal-Arroyo tied to IMF dictates for the economy, Ramos has forced through the policy which has allowed the U.S. military to operate within the country, despite the explicit Constitutional ban on such operations.
A Coming Japan-Australia-U.S. Military Agreement?
According to a May 1 report in Stratfor, Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi and Australian Prime Minister John Howard recently met in Australia to discuss the formation of a Japan-Australia-U.S. military agreement. The newsletter also asserted that, despite denials from all parties, such a pact would specifically target China, and secondarily Indonesia.
Koizumi has been campaigning for the past year to establish bilateral free-trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand, and to bring the two "Asian" Anglo-states into the ASEAN+3 alliance. All of these proposals, military and economic, would disrupt the developing, but fragile, unity of purpose of the ASEAN+3 nations. To implement them, Koizumi appears willing to compromise on Japan's fiercely maintained policies regarding the protection of farmers, and the Constitutional restrictions on military operations. Stratfor pointed out that Japan and Australia "share a common bond as key U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific; Japan is the northern anchor of the U.S. defense system, and Australia is the southern anchor."
Stratfor also reported that U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz on April 29 asked Japan to extend its May 19 deadline for logistical support to the U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, and renewed a request (thus far rejected) for Japan to send an Aegis-equipped destroyer to the Indian Ocean. Japan has not yet responded.
U.S. and China Will Reestablish Some Military Relations
According to Zhang Qiyue, the spokeswoman for Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao, speaking May 1 during Hu Jintao's visit to Washington, the U.S. and China will reestablish some military relations which had been suspended by the Bush Administration.
In addition to meeting with President Bush while in Washington, Hu met May 1 with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (who had stopped military-to-military relations with China), and with Vice President Dick Cheney, both of whom accepted Hu's invitation to visit China. On April 30, the American aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and its battle group of four ships docked in Hong Kong, ending the past month's ban on such visits, imposed by China after the visit to the U.S. of the Taiwanese Defense Minister.
Hu spoke at a May 1 Washington dinner hosted by Henry Kissinger and 600 others; he was firm on the importance of the Taiwan issue, but low-key otherwise. He refused to accept a set of letters offered by Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) and Frank Wolf (R-Va), requesting the release of Tibetans arrested under Hu's watch, and other dissidents held in China.
Malaysia's Mahathir Promotes Gold Dinar Among Islamic Countries
Malaysia plans to initially use the gold dinar as a currency for trading with a small group of countries, in the hope it will slowly gain international acceptance, said Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to a Labor Day function in Kuala Lumpur May 1. "We are trying to work it out with three or four countries that we have close ties with," said Dr. Mahathir, who proposed the system in April to reduce the risk of speculation in bilateral trading.
"The Arab and Gulf states ... maybe they'll accept it," he told reporters. Some Islamic countries have proposed using the dinar, which is a gold-backed standard, in international trade instead of the U.S. dollar.
The Prime Minister, who recently visited Libya, Bahrain, and Morocco, said the three countries had responded enthusiastically to the plan. He said, however, that no deadline had been set for the launch. "We have to solve the problems first.
"There will be lots of problems," he continued, adding that Malaysia intends to host an international conference on the subject, entitled "The Islamic DinarTowards Economic Unity of Muslim Communities," organized by Ikim on June 25-26. That seminar will discuss theoretical working of the dinar system, the role of government and the central bank in regulating the system, its modus operandi, how it contributes towards economic unity among Muslim communities, its viability and challenges. Dr. Mahathir said gold was also open to some risk of speculation, but was safer than conventional currency, which has no intrinsic value and can be manipulated indefinitely. "You cannot speculate too much in the price of gold. You cannot say the price of gold today is 10 cents, because nobody is going to sell you gold at 10 cents."
China Facing Its Most Serious Unemployment Problem Ever
In the next four years, China will face the most serious unemployment problem it has ever had, said Wang Dongjin, the Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Security, speaking at a Labor Ministry meeting in Beijing April 27. Unemployment could rise to more than 20 million, he added. China has a "serious oversupply" of labor, with 12-13 million new workers coming into the labor market every year for the next few years. At the same time, 5 million workers have been laid off by state-owned enterprises, and there were 6.8 million registered unemployed at the end of 2001.
In addition, there are about 150 million "surplus" rural workers (unofficial figures say 200 million or even more), who are flooding into the cities looking for jobs.
"But it is estimated that only 8 million jobs can be generated annually over this period, even with the country's current economic growth rate," Wang said, a situation that could undermine social stability. One serious aspect of the problem, is the fact that the masses of unemployed are badly educated, and have low skills. Those who have been laid off, worked in traditional sectors such as coal, textile, and machinery industries, where the technology has changed, and their skills are outmoded.
Unemployment could be aggravated by China's entry into the World Trade Organization, Wang admitted. A particular problem is the increasing number of "surplus" rural workers due to WTO pressures on Chinese agriculture, and the worsening world economic situation after Sept. 11.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Meets in Moscow
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization foreign ministers met in Moscow April 26-27, in preparation for the SCO summit on June 7 in St. Petersburg (the SCO includes China, Russia, and four Central Asian Republics).
An article on the "Eurasianet" April 30 by Sergei Blagov said that the "SCO's self-perception and its potential value to other nations have both sharpened since the U.S.-led war on terrorism began.... Its identity as a regional counterweight to American interests seems to be solidifying."
In the context of the intensive diplomacy in Central Asia by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Iranian President Khatami, and others, both Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said to the press in Moscow April 26, that the June SCO Summit would "achieve international significance." The Russian news agency RIA quoted Tang Jiaxuan saying that the SCO is not "a club for empty discussions, but a viable institution capable of making an important contribution to the international war on terror."
Ivanov stated that "we want the SCO to become a modern organization of a new type in line with the demands of multi-polar world."
East Timor's New President Puts Social Justice Before Trials
East Timor's newly elected President Xanana Gusmao, speaking in Jakarta, said that social justice for his people is more important than a human rights tribunal. In Jakarta, where he had been held in prison for seven years for his leadership of the Fretelin independence movement in East Timor, Gusmao hand-delivered an invitation to Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri to attend the celebration of East Timor's statehood on May 19.
Gusmao has increasingly departed from Fretelin, from Nobel Peace Prize fraud Ramos-Horta, and from the Human Rights mafia, by arguing for a Peace of Westphalia approach to dealing with the huge crisis facing the mini-state: "I believe if we talk about justice we see a few people to be judged, to be tried. But if we talk about social justice, we have all our people to gain," Gusmao told a press conference on May 3. "I am not saying I don't agree with justice. Justice, yes justice, but what is my priority? Social justice. We suffered and died for what? To try other people or to receive benefit from independence?"
Gusmao has been advocating amnesties, after trial, for pro-Jakarta East Timorese involved in the campaign of violence and destruction surrounding the territory's overwhelming vote for independence from Indonesia in 1999. He has also been spearheading a campaign to reconcile pro-independence East Timorese and their pro-Indonesian compatriots. Gusmao has travelled to Indonesian-ruled West Timor to appeal personally to pro-Jakarta East Timorese living there to return home, including militiamen who laid waste to the territory.
Gusmao said the majority of East Timorese were living on less than 50 cents a day. "Our people are dying because of famine, because of disease. Women are dying, many children are dying, our elderly people are living in a very bad condition. It is a question of balancing the importance of issues," he said.
"You know what our problems are, social, economic problems, health, education, infrastructure. Many things to do. Independence is not [only about] having a flag ... having a President. It is useless if we don't make efforts to better the living standards of our people."
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