In this issue:

Turkey's Prime Minister Asks Malaysia About the IMF

'Proliferation Security Initiative' Aimed at North Korea.

Chinese and Indian Leaders Prepare Historic Summit

Malaysia Opposes IAEA 'Resolution' To Badger Iran

Musharraf: Afghanistan Descending into Warlordism

Fighting and Chaos Spread in Afghanistan

Iran, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan Sign To Build a Road

China's Infrastructure Investment Rose 35%

Passenger Ships Pass Through Three Gorges Permanent Lock

Malaysian Companies Urged To Switch to Euro

Mahathir Warns of Greatest Threat Since Colonial Era

India and Southeast Asia Plan Infrastructure 'Road Map'

Australian To Testify in Britain About Faking of WMD Intelligence

From Volume 2, Issue Number 25 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published June 24, 2003
Asia News Digest

Turkey's Prime Minister Asks Malaysia About the IMF

"How did you manage to be free of the IMF?" This is the question Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan asked Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on June 17, during his visit to Malaysia. In a meeting which included Turkish Economics Minister Ali Babacan, Prime Minister Erdogan asked Mahathir: "Please explain, so that Ali can know how. Ali, do take some good notes." Impressed with Malaysia's rapid economic recovery after the regional crisis of 1997-98, Erdogan also expressed hope that Kuala Lumpur could help promote better ties between Turkey and other ASEAN members.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar told a press conference that "Turkey also wants to play a role in the Non-Aligned Movement," by becoming an observer. Syed Hamid said Erdogan also stressed that Ankara could offer engineering expertise, particularly in shipbuilding and related heavy industries.

'Proliferation Security Initiative' Aimed at North Korea.

Eleven nations—the U.S., Japan, Canada, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Netherlands, Poland, and Germany—signed a pact in Madrid June 12, for cooperation among the countries to stop the trade in weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and drugs, reported The Australian June 17. The deal does apply to international waters, which would require UN approval, but will allow more cooperation in "searching of transport planes and vessels and tightening relevant domestic and international laws."

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said about the deal: "North Korea must understand that it does have to cease these activities and abandon altogether its nuclear programs." The idea is to try to catch North Korean ships or planes within the territory of one of the 11 nations, and search them. North Korea responded by repeating its declaration that any blockade would be treated as an act of war.

Chinese and Indian Leaders Prepare Historic Summit

The Times of India of June 21 carried an interview with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, while the Chinese press interviewed Indian Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, both indicating the historic significance of Vajpayee's trip to China beginning June 22. Wen told the Times: "China-India relations have maintained a momentum of steady growth in recent years. I am glad to see the positive development of the relationship and have great confidence in the broad prospects of bilateral cooperation." He said that China is ready to speed up the pace of talks on resolving the still-contentious Sino-Indian border, which he described as "a historical burden on our two countries left over by the colonialists."

On Kashmir, Wen Jiabao said: "More than 50 years of India-Pakistan conflict has shown that use of force can get them nowhere. As a neighbor and friend to both India and Pakistan, China has always urged the two countries to seek an effective solution to the Kashmir problem through peaceful dialogue." He pledged China's support to the recent efforts to improve relations between India and Pakistan.

Asked about the alleged "China threat," Wen said that even when China becomes a developed country, "It will not seek hegemony. Rather than posing a threat to any country, China's development will only contribute to the common development of this region." China's need for development, modernization, and national reunification require "a peaceful international environment of long-term stability, particularly a sound environment in its surrounding areas," Wen said, adding that Sino-Russian cooperation is an example of China's policy.

Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee, meanwhile, told the People's Daily that "In recent years, our two countries have launched a process of diversification of bilateral relations.... But, for the two countries which together have one-third of humanity, we have only taken the first few steps. We need to do much more to fulfill the true potential of our partnership—in the search for a multi-polar world order, in fashioning pragmatic responses to the challenges of globalization,and in promoting a climate of peace, stability and development in Asia and in the world.... India and China are among the world's fastest-growing economies. The basic structure of our economies is not dissimilar, though we have chosen different paths towards development. We have complementarities created by our technological development and human resources skills.... During my visit, I will discuss with the Chinese leadership proactive measures to identify and exploit new opportunities for economic and technological cooperation."

Malaysia Opposes IAEA 'Resolution' To Badger Iran

The U.S. failed to force the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to issue a formal "resolution" against Iran, to force its signing of a stiffer nuclear protocol. Russia and other nations have been trying to persuade Iran to sign the resolution voluntarily. On June 18, the New York Times reported that Russian Ambassador to the IAEA, Grigory V. Berdennikov, said, "We think this is not the time to use such an extraordinary step. It is clear there is some cooperation—maybe not 100%. We should encourage cooperation, not turn to confrontation." Malaysia, head of the Non-Aligned Movement, is also opposed to the IAEA taking such a step—not a normal procedure for the IAEA.

Iran is reportedly to be "positively considering" signing the agreement, although they are requesting agreement that there will be no further effort to stop their nuclear energy program in return. On June 20, it was reported that the IAEA issued a "statement," instead of a resolution urging Iran to sign the further protocol.

Musharraf: Afghanistan Descending into Warlordism

Following his meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, visiting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf told reporters June 17 that the security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated rapidly, and that if the international troop forces are not raised to 50,000 strong (present strength is about 15,000), the country may descend into anarchic warlordism. "Things are not going as well as we had expected. There is a vacuum in the countryside that must be filled—if not, it will be filled by forces that are against peace," he said.

Simultaneously, a report issued by the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations and the Asia Society said the United States must increase its political, military, and financial support to the Afghan government to avoid "a major defeat in the U.S.-led war against terrorism." Without greater support for Karzai's transitional government, said the report, "security in Afghanistan will deteriorate further, prospects for economic reconstruction will dim, and Afghanistan will revert to warlord-dominated anarchy."

Fighting and Chaos Spread in Afghanistan

A convoy of U.S. troops was hit by a bomb blast, and then came under fire from a group of gunmen in eastern Afghanistan near Khost on June 19. The Pakistani Daily Times reported June 19 that gunmen of the Taliban and other militant forces have taken shelter all along the Pakistan and Afghanistan border. In the state-level elections in Pakistan last year, two bordering states, Baluchistan and Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), came under the rule of the coalition of Islamic parties known as the Mauttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). There is unanimity within media circles that the MMA is providing full support to the anti-U.S. militants in Afghanistan. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is reported to have no control over this situation.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Mujahideen leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is now based in Baluchistan, according to various reports, has expressed his objection to the Constitution drafted by the Karzai government in Kabul. "The game of Constitution-making by the Afghan puppet government is a joke and farce like the Loya Jirga. Under the Geneva Convention, no occupation force has the right to make changes in textbooks and the Constitution of occupied countries," a statement issued by Hekmatyar said.

Iran, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan Sign To Build a Road

Uzbek President Islam Karimov will be visiting Tehran to sign a joint road-building contract involving Iran, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan, the Washington Post reported June 16. The road will provide the landlocked Central Asian countries an opportunity to have access to the Iranian Gulf coast. The proposed road will travel through the northern part of Afghanistan, although Iran wants the road to cover as little Afghan territory as possible.

China's Infrastructure Investment Rose 35%

Fixed-asset investment—including government and state-owned enterprises' investment—rose 35% from a year ago, to 331 billion yuan ($40 billion), according to the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing. China is spending record amounts on the Three Gorges Dam, the Qinghai-Tibet railroad, and the West-East gas pipeline. Last month, the Ministry of Communications said that the central government plans to invest 100 billion yuan ($12.2 billion) over the next three years to build 176,000 km of roads. In western China, there are still 184 towns and 54,000 villages which have no access to roads.

Passenger Ships Pass Through Three Gorges Permanent Lock

Two passenger ships passed through China's Three Gorges Dam permanent lock just before noon on June 16, said Zhang Qingsong, director of the Three Gorges navigation bureau. This opens a year-long trial navigation in the world's largest dam. The reservoir, now filling up, and will permit oceangoing ships to sail over 1,000 miles inland as part of the Eurasian Land-Bridge.

Continuing the international vilification against the project, articles on CNN and in the London Guardian warned of cracks in the dam—the hairline cracks were repaired—and harped on the hardships for residents displaced by the project.

Malaysian Companies Urged To Switch to Euro

Malaysia's Second Finance Minister Datuk Dr. Jamaludin Mohd Jarjis is urging government agencies and the corporate sector to use the euro as the currency in billing foreign trading partners, in view of its appreciation vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar. Addressing the 2003 RHB Investment Forum in Putrajaya on June 17, Jamaludin said corporations should buy imported products in U.S. dollars, but sell in euros. He maintained that the government has no intention of re-pegging the ringgit from the U.S. dollar to the euro. He said it would only be a cause for concern if Malaysian products lost competitiveness as a result of the link to the dollar. "But now, we are comfortable. There's no need to re-look at the peg," he said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad June 7 urged the Malaysian private sector to switch to the euro for foreign trade.

Mahathir Warns of Greatest Threat Since Colonial Era

Speaking for the last time as Prime Minister to the party he leads, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, who intends to retire in October after leading the country for 22 years, warned that the nation faces great danger: "Many of us think that once we became independent, we will remain independent forever. But today the danger that we face is greater than that which we faced in the middle of the 20th century, when the British tried to seize Malay land to set up the Malayan Union. Today, we see how an attempt was made to make beggars of us by devaluing our ringgit. Today, we see how the big powers attack and take over weak countries. The United Nations Organization is clearly unable to protect anyone. There is no other power prepared to protect us if we become the object of attack. The world that we have to face in the new decades and centuries will see numerous attempts by the Europeans to colonize us either indirectly or directly."

India and Southeast Asia Plan Infrastructure 'Road Map'

Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, and India agreed June 20 to launch a "road map" to define their activities in the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC).

Sorajak Kasemsuwan, assistant to Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, said after the group's third meeting here that the road map would detail cooperation in the next few years. Tourism, transport, and cultural promotion would be among the areas of cooperation. India has pledged to provide U.S.$100,000 to assist cooperative activities in the Mekong-Ganga projects.

The June 20 meeting touched on the tourism promotion for the so-called "Asoke road" or Buddhism road linking India, Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, Sorajak said. The six countries agreed to jointly market and advertise a campaign using Chiang Mai as a common tourist destination. Thailand, as the next MGC chairman, has offered to host the first senior official meeting ahead of a ministerial-level meeting. In addition, the meeting asked Thailand to open a website, while India would provide information technology to promote the road.

Australian To Testify in Britain About Faking of WMD Intelligence

The battle over how intelligence to justify the Iraq war was faked and exaggerated has spread to another member of the "coalition of the willing"—Australia. Andrew Wilkie, an official with the Office of National Assessments (ONA) who resigned in March, before the Iraq war, over the lack of justification for that war, is now in London to testify this week in the Parliament. Wilkie told ABC-TV Australia June 18, that he will testify that Australian intelligence agencies did a good job, but "it was the government who exaggerated those reasonably measured arguments, exaggerated them a great deal in arguing the case for war."

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