Asia News Digest
China and Russia Urge Normalization of U.S.-North Korea Relations
China and Russia will endeavor to push for a dialogue between the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the United States, states the second joint communiqué issued by the Chinese and Russian Foreign Ministers in Beijing, as reported by People's Daily on Feb. 27.
The joint communiqué states that "an equal and constructive dialogue between the United States and the DPRK on the DPRK nuclear issue, will be of great significance to the normalization of relations between the DPRK and the United States. Both China and Russia are ready to actively push for a political solution of the DPRK nuclear issue in the bilateral and multilateral arenas so as to maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region."
Friendship and Cooperation Mark China-Russia Talks
Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Chinese Community Party (CCP) Secretary General Hu Jintao met with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in Beijing on Feb. 27. In a statement reported by the People's Daily, Jiang said that Russia-China relations had "progressed to a new height," possessing two "magic weapons": their strategic partnership of cooperation, and their "Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation."
Jiang added that in the context of the current "volatile international situation," the two nations must increase cooperation, and called for more economic cooperation, especially in the energy field.
Ivanov responded that, "in the current circumstances, it was in the interests of both sides and of international stability, for the two countries to maintain close ties and work for a new international order and a multipolarized world."
Powell Fails To Win Washington Agenda in China
In his emergency visit to Asia (which also included South Korea and Japan) U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell failed to win China to the Washington agenda on Iraq and North Korea, when he visited Beijing on Feb. 24.
Instead, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan addressed the issues as follows: First, Tang was emphatic that the United States must begin "talks on an equal footing as soon as possible" with North Korea, as the only way to break the current deadlock and ease tensions. The U.S. has refused to do so, and is instead trying to pressure China and Russia to "mediate" for U.S. ends against North Korea. Tang told Powell that China supports non-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and "insists on maintaining peace, stability and security on the peninsula." The issue of North Korean nuclear capabilities "should be settled peacefully through dialogue and consultation."
Powell got just as little satisfaction on Iraq. Tang told Powell that China "hopes all parties concerned will try every possible means to avoid war in Iraq and seek a political solution" in the UN framework. This is in the interests of all the parties concerned. He expressed the wish that all such parties would keep in close contact, continue to work for a political solution and do everything possible to avoid war.
Even more, Tang told Powell that "most members of the international community, including China, believed it was imperative now to continue weapons inspection in Iraq to find out the truth," rather than working on a new UN resolution on Iraq.
Afghanistan Disintegrating; Russian, Indian Ministers Express Concern
Despite the rosy picture presented in Washington, D.C. this week by the beleaguered President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, the country is disintegrating. EIR's Ramtanu Maitra presents an comprehensive report on the crisis in this week's INDEPTH, in an article titled, "Anti-U.S. Taliban Ready To Strike." It also includes a profile of former-U.S./British intelligence asset former Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyr, who has just been placed on the State Department's list of international terrorists. Maitra writes:
"The death of Afghanistan's Minister for Mines and Industries, Juma Muhammad Muhammadi, in an air crash on Feb. 24 off Pakistan's coast after taking off from Karachi, typifies the problems that beset the Afghan transition government under President Hamid Karzai. It also warns of the inability of the United States troops and allied forces to restore security in Afghanistan.
"Juma Muhammad Muhammadi, a World Bank official and an American citizen, is the third high-ranking Minister killed in the last year since the U.S.-backed Karzai government took control of Kabul after the withdrawal of the Taliban forces from the Afghan capital. In February 2002, Karzai's Tourism Minister, Abdul Rehman, was assassinated at Kabul Airport. In July, Haji Abdul Qadir, the Vice President, was shot dead in an ambush in Kabul."
Veiled Warning: U.S. Losing Patience with Musharraf
On Feb. 25, the Washington Post delivered a veiled warning in its lead editorial, lashing out against Pakistan and "Gen. Pervez Musharraf" (the Post declined to use the title "President"), ostensibly for the failure to curb the rise of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The editorial pointed out that during his recent trip to Washington, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri had asked the United States to withdraw its troops from the rural bases in southeast Afghanistan, which the Post interpreted as Islamabad's complicity in allowing the Taliban and the al-Qaeda "to move in without opposition." In other words: the Post claims that Islamabad is backing the growth of the Taliban and the al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Oodles of reports have appearedfor many monthswhich indicate that U.S. troops, and U.S. allies, are on the defensive and the Taliban/al-Qaeda combo are on the rise. But, since the war on Afghanistan began in October 2001, the Washington Post has never written an editorialforget a lead editorialon this problem. Then, why now a lead editorial?
Really, the editorial is to warn Musharraf that if Pakistan, which is now a temporary member of the UN Security Council, does not vote along with the United States at the UNSC, Washington will pull the rug out from under him. There is no question that Washington can do it, and may do it. At this point, Musharraf could manage to keep a large number of agitators off the street, because of the foreign exchange pouring in, thanks to the United States. Musharraf is using that money to keep things under control in a very dicey situation. The Post is reminding Musharraf that if Pakistan does not back the United States on the Iraq war, his end is in sight.
Trade and Investment 'Boom' Between China and ASEAN
Cooperation between China and the ASEAN nations is now seeing a "boom in mutual investment and large-scale cargo and service trade," reported the People's Daily on Feb. 25.
China-ASEAN trade was worth US$54.77 billion in 2002, an increase of 31.7%, year on year. ASEAN is now China's fifth largest trading partner, and China is ASEAN's sixth.
Trade has developed from "border barter trade" to "much higher-level economic cooperation," a "milestone" for China-ASEAN cooperation, People's Daily quoted a member of the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences as saying at a recent forum on the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area. Cooperation will focus on farming, information technology, human resources, and exploration of the Mekong River Valley.
China To Fulfill Indonesia's Power Needs
In yet another case of China's crucial intervention in Indonesia, China Huadian Engineering Company (CHEC) signed an agreement on Feb. 24 with local companies PT Dana Mulia Sukses and PT Radu Pratama to construct power plants in Indonesia. This comes as the IMF crowd has squeezed Indonesia almost to social chaos, demanding increased fuel prices to entice Western power companies to come in and make sweetheart deals for desperately needed power plants.
The planned Chinese power projects may include coal-fired, hydro, combined cycle, geothermal, and gas-fired power plants. CHEC Vice President Xu Bo said in a press conference that the main target would be to fulfill power demand in Java, which made up 75% of the total power demand in Indonesia. "We will concentrate on establishing about 30 power plants in Java, starting this year," he told reporters through an interpreter. "We plan to put emphasis on the development of hydro power, which is more environmentally friendly, and the fact that Indonesia has so much water reserves," he added. However, the company refused to reveal the value of the contract because further negotiations are still needed. "The contract value will depend on the kind of power plants to be developed," he said.
There have been fears that Java and other areas in Indonesia would suffer a power crisis in the next two or three years because of fast-growing electricity demand. Xu was optimistic his company could meet Indonesia's demand for electricity because of CHEC's extensive experience in the sector. He pointed out that CHEC operated 60 coal-fired and hydro power projects in China, the U.S., Chile, Argentina, and Sudan. "At the moment, the political and economic relationship between China and Indonesia is good and we see it as being opportune to begin the (power project) collaboration," he said, when asked whether he was concerned about the uncertainties plaguing the local power sector.
CHEC is a subsidiary of the state-owned China Huadian Corporation. Currently, CHEC is one of the largest general contractors in China's power sector, and owns 116 power plants, with a combined power capacity of 31,090 megawatts. "We plan to add between 4,000 and 5,000 megawatts per year worldwide, with Indonesia receiving a big portion of this," Xu said.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Korea Hits Bush on North Korea
Former U.S. Ambassador to Korea James Laney hit President Bush's Korea policy in the Council on Foreign Relations' Foreign Affairs, March/April issues. What Laney proposes as the solution, in an article written with Jason Shaplen, who has served as an adviser on Korea affairs, is expanding the deal between the U.S. and the North struck in 1994, under President Clinton.
Laney, who was Ambassador under Clinton from 1993-97, says that the situation in Korea is worsening daily under the Bush Administration's refusal to talk, but the crisis is also an opportunity to expand on the positive aspects of the 1994 accord with North Korea. He notes the significant economic development in the South in the absence of conflict since 1994, and the absence of approximately 30 nuclear weapons which could have been built if the North had not shut its uranium facility. Before the current crisis, Laney notes, there was support from Colin Powell for infrastructure development in the region, including the rail and road projects connecting South and North Korea, and beyond. But he also warns that the North Korean people's loyalty to either the country or to Kim Jong-Il should not be underestimated.
Laney's plan calls for an immediate pledge of security by the U.S., Russia, Japan, and China, which would not be seen as "rewarding bad behavior," since all four countries have already agreed in some form that there will be no military action. Then negotiations can proceed, aimed at ending all nuclear weapons programs, with intrusive inspections, in exchange for normalizing Japanese and U.S. relations with the North in phases, Japanese reparations as aid, nuclear plants and oil (as in the 1994 deal), and lifting sanctions.
Powell Downplays Danger of Korea Missile Test
North Korea tested a missile on Feb. 24, the day before the inauguration of the new South Korean President, but U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, visiting Seoul for the inauguration, dismissed the action, saying the missile in question was an old, short-range missile, and the test was "fairly innocuous."
Powell also said that North Korea's plutonium reprocessing facility at the Yongbyon nuclear center had not been reactivated, and that "I think that's a wise choice, if it's a conscious choice." North Korea's reopening of the nuclear power plant itself, however, was the subject of much invective in the Western press.
Washington Post Compelled To Apologize to Indonesian Military
The Washington Post published a prominent retraction on Feb. 24, of an article originally published Nov. 3, 2002, by journalists Ellen Nakashima and Alan Sipress, concerning the Indonesia military. The Nov. 3 article claimed that "Senior Indonesian military officials discussed an operation" against Freeport McMoran, the world's biggest gold/copper mine in Papua, which discussion, the Post said, included the commander in chief of the Indonesian Army, Gen. Endriartono Sutarto. General Sutarto has vehemently denied that he or any other top military officers discussed any operation targetting Freeport. An ambush on Aug. 31, 2002 led to the deaths of two American teachers and an Indonesian employed by Freeport.
Indonesian military lawyers and Gen. Sutarto sued the Post, whose Feb. 24 retraction states: "As a result of the general's denial, The Post investigated the matter further. The reporting has revealed no substantiation that Sutarto or other high-ranking Indonesian military officers were involved in any discussion or planning of the attack. The Post regrets publication of this report."
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