In this issue:

Roh Says Force Not an Option in North Korea Nuclear Issue

Wall Street Journal Blames China for Crisis in Myanmar

Bush Administration To Impose Sanctions on Myanmar

The Dalai Lama Calls for More Contact with Beijing

Indian Deputy PM Advani Meets Rumsfeld in Washington

U.S. Signals Interest in Leasing Military Bases in Thailand

From Volume 2, Issue Number 24 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Tuesday, June. 17, 2003
Asia News Digest

Editor's Note

See our special coverage this week in INDEPTH on the historic breakthrough on the Korean peninsula: the connection of the trans-Korea railway, a major step toward completing the Eurasian Land-Bridge, from Pusan to Rotterdam.

Roh Says Force Not an Option in North Korea Nuclear Issue

South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun declared that force was not an option in dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue. Speaking about his recent trip to Japan, President Roh said on June 11, according to his spokesman Yoon Tai-young: "I conveyed my determination to resolve the NK nuclear issue through dialogue, and rule out the possibility of using force or other means that could destabilize [regional security]."

Foreign Ministry officials also reported that, when South Korea, the U.S., and Japan meet in Hawaii June 12-13 regarding the Korea crisis, they will agree that the next talks should be five-way, with Japan and South Korea joining China, the U.S., and North Korea. State Department official Richard Armitage was quoted as saying that although the North Korean position calls for one-on-one talks with the U.S., Pyongyang is relaxing its demands, and talks may take place within the next month or two. Reuters reported that U.S. envoy Jack Pritchard met North Korean representatives at the UN, arranging for a one-on-one meeting between the U.S. and North Korea in the context of the five-state meeting.

Wall Street Journal Blames China for Crisis in Myanmar

The Wall Street Journal of June 9 editorialized that the junta in Yangon, the capital city of Myanmar, is ignoring the cries from around the world to turn the country over to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, because "the generals know they have a 'fraternal ally' in Beijing," which is the "only supplier of large-scale economic assistance, from telephone exchanges to roads, bridges, and port facilities." Heaven forbid. This has even forced India, they write, supposedly out of fear of China's military presence in the region, to drop its support for Aung San Suu Kyi and back the generals.

Their conclusion: "China's attitude toward Burma [Myanmar] is of a piece with its lack of pressure on North Korea, another rogue regime.... Until it stops protecting tyrants in its neighborhood, China won't be respected as a civilized world power."

Bush Administration To Impose Sanctions on Myanmar

Writing in the June 12 Wall Street Journal, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell supported the extreme measures against Myanmar contained in bills introduced in the U.S. Congress by right-wingers Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), and Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.). He declared that the "thugs who now rule Burma" (the name used for Myanmar by the opposition) have failed to respond to international pressure—despite the partially successful visit this past week by UN special envoy Rizali Ismail, who visited Aung San Suu Kyi in detention, and reported that she was in good health, and that the junta has agreed to release her soon.

Rizali said in a June 11 BBC interview that ASEAN must take the situation in hand and find a solution to move the stalled effort at national reconciliation forward. "This is something that I have noticed for some time: the inability of the region to be able to deal with issues that are important to the region, and this is one of them. It really undermines the credibility of ASEAN by insisting upon non-interference, and, in the process of doing that, perpetuating the status quo, when clearly the people of Myanmar want change."

Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, however, said that it is "not constructive" to apply sanctions, and ASEAN countries generally are opposed to interfering in each other's internal affairs.

Powell said the U.S. Administration was shifting course, by supporting legislation against the regime, calling for freezing financial assets of the junta, banning remittances to Myanmar to cut into their foreign exchange, placing restrictions on "travel-related transactions," and limiting commerce with the country. Powell is attending an ASEAN meeting in Cambodia next week, where he will "press the case."

The Dalai Lama Calls for More Contact with Beijing

In the context of improving ties between China and India, the exiled Tibetan religious leader Dalai Lama said that he wants greater contact between his envoys and the Chinese authorities, following the success of recent meetings, according to the Dalai Lama's spokesman.

A four-member delegation of the Dalai Lama, led by special envoy Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, just spent two weeks in China, the second such extended visit since last September. "His Holiness is particularly pleased the Chinese leadership has a positive assessment of our recent direct contact," Gyari said. "He is encouraged by the development and reiterated the importance for us to continue to make vigorous efforts to advance this process further."

The resolution of tensions over Tibet, could open the way to improved transport and trade between India and China. Access to Tibet is relatively easier from the Indian side.

Indian Deputy PM Advani Meets Rumsfeld in Washington

India's Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani met with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Washington, according to the Times of India June 9. Rumsfeld reportedly came to the Washington hotel where Advani (touted as the next Prime Minister of India by the U.S., the Israelis, and the Pentagon) was staying. The Deputy Prime Minister met all of the top Pentagon personnel, as well as Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Israeli and American expectation of seeing Advani as the next Prime Minister, however, received a major setback recently when the Bharatiya Janata Party president Venkaiah Naidu told the media that the BJP, which leads the governing coalition, would like to see Advani and incumbent Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee as joint leaders in the next general elections in 2004. Seizing the opportunity, Vajpayee immediately responded that he would be more than glad to drop his name from the banner and back Advani as the "sole leader." The trick worked. Immediately an overwhelming response came from the BJP members and activists urging Vajpayee to be the "sole leader." Advani, under pressure, had to come out in public to announce that the BJP has one leader, and that one is Atal Behari Vajpayee.

U.S. Signals Interest in Leasing Military Bases in Thailand

On the eve of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's five-day visit to Washington June 9-13, the Bush Administration leaked that the U.S. is looking to lease land along Thailand's east coast for use as a military "forward positioning" site. The area in question is vacant land near Sattahip naval base and Utapao air base in Chonburi and Rayong provinces. Utapao and Sattahip were major bases for the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Both Thaksin and his Defense Minister have repeatedly denied that Utapao was used by the U.S. in the 1991 Gulf War, or in Afghanistan, or as an interrogation center for al-Qaeda suspects following the war in Afghanistan.

Although Prime Minister Thaksin's trip was never slated to have all the bells and whistles that greeted Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently, it was not even clear if whether Thaksin would meet with President Bush at all, because Thaksin had been lukewarm on support for the Iraq war. However, in the event, Thaksin and Bush met for 45 minutes, and Thaksin was applauded for the arrest of three Muslims from southern Narathiwat province, bordering Malaysia, who are alleged to have links to Jemaah Islamiya. Deputy State Department spokesman Philip Reeker highlighted the arrest in a briefing, calling it "a positive step forward in the global war on terror," and adding that "we commend Thai authorities for their vigilance."

All rights reserved © 2003 EIRNS