In this issue:

Positive Approach to Resolve India-China Border Dispute

High-Level Delegations Exchange Visits in India, China

Is Patten A Stalking Horse for the Tamil Tigers?

EU Pressures India To Lower Tariffs

Myanmar Releases Five Top Pro-Democracy Leaders from House Arrest

Thai Military Leaders in Myanmar and Laos

Leading Philippines Political Figure Fears 'Total Collapse'

Malaysia Mends Fences with Saudi Arabia

From Volume 2, Issue Number 48 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Dec. 2, 2003

Asia News Digest

Positive Approach to Resolve India-China Border Dispute

Following the first round of discussions between the Special Representatives of India and China at the end of October, it is evident that the two countries have taken positive steps to resolve their age-old border dispute. India's National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra and Chinese Senior Vice Minister Dai Bingguo were given specific instructions to negotiate the framework of a boundary settlement from a political perspective.

On Nov. 1, a few days after the first round of discussions, the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, speaking to the Indian military commanders, said resolution of the boundary problem with China would release India's "military and financial resources," and was therefore a "strategic objective."

Vajpayee also suggested that India must be prepared to take "pragmatic decisions." The use of the phrase "pragmatic decisions" by the Prime Minister has been widely interpreted in New Delhi to mean that India is prepared to make concessions on the dispute.

On Nov. 22, addressing the Admiral R.D. Katari Memorial Lecture in New Delhi, India's External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said the two countries should finally resolve the border question and resolve all outstanding bilateral disputes "without postponing the tough decisions for the next generation."

Sinha pointed out that "the relationship has reached a level of greater sense of urgency." This updated paradigm of our relationship is both desirable and sustainable."

Sinha added that the resolution of the border dispute "will also send a powerful signal to the rest of the world that India and China have broken out of the shackles of the past."

High-Level Delegations Exchange Visits in India, China

Indicating the growing interest, in both India and China, in strengthening bilateral relations, was a number exchanges of visitors and delegations.

A high-level, six-member Indian army delegation, led by Lt. Gen. Mohinder Singh, commander of India's Tezpur-based 4th Corps, made a week-long visit to China. This was the first Indian military delegation to visit Tibet; they also visited the National Defense University and People's Liberation Army Facilities in Chengdu in southwest China.

On Nov. 24, Jia Qinglin, the visiting chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee (CPPCC), met with Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee at New Delhi.

Another Chinese delegation representing the Yunnan province is now visiting Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. Their objective is to expand business ties and "restore the glory days of the ancient Silk Route."

According to the head of the delegation, Yang Jiannong of the Yunan Development Research Center, relations with Yunnan would be of great importance to West Bengal. There are plans to build a "grand international corridor" between Eastern South Asia and Southern Asia by 2020.

Is Patten A Stalking Horse for the Tamil Tigers?

EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten visit to Sri Lanka for two-days (Nov. 25-26) was greeted by public protests and media attacks there. During his visit, he met President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickeremesinghe. However, it was his announced meeting with the Tamil Tiger leader V. Pirbhakaran that drew the public wrath.

Patten's visit was also criticized because it took place at a time when President Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe were in the process of working out a solution after a power struggle between the two had broken out on Nov. 4. The subject of the power struggle, among other things, was their conflict over the way the government's peace talks with the Tamil Tigers were progressing. Patten's visit followed the Norwegian peace-broker Erik Solheim's visit. Sri Lankan media claims that both visitors were urging the President to allow the peace talks to continue. President Kumaratunga is convinced that the talks were leading towards the formation of a Tamil Nation within Sri Lanka.

Prior to Patten's arrival, in a resolution passed on Nov. 20, the EU Parliament expressed "deep concern" about recent developments in Sri Lanka, including the sacking of the three Cabinet Ministers and the suspension of the parliament by President Kaumaratunga. As a direct interference on behalf of the Tamil Tigers, who have been identified as a terrorist group by India, Britain, and the United States, and who were involved in the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa, among others, the EU resolution said: "The House urges the President to work together with the democratically elected Parliament and the Prime Minister."

Following Patten's meeting with Pirbhakaran, the Tamil Tiger supremo raised the slogan for seceding from Sri Lanka and accused divided Sri Lankan politics of carrying out an "absurd drama." He alleged that "Sinhala racism" that "has been denying the rights of the Tamils."

EU Pressures India To Lower Tariffs

During the Fourth India-European Union Business Summit at New Delhi, the EU Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten said on Nov. 27 that India retains the reputation of a hard country in which to do business. He criticized excessive red tape, poor infrastructure, and rigid labor laws as the reasons why the EU finds it difficult to increase business with India.

Subsequently, Patten urged the Indians to lower tariffs to make the Indian market more attractive to the EU. "The European Union is one of the most open markets to Indian goods in the world. Out of a total of some 10,300 tariff lines, Indian exports are subject to either zero or reduced tariffs on 9,100 lines," Patten told the Business Summit. "European exporters to India, however, do not find trade as easy. India retains the reputation of a hard country to do business with. This is largely due to tariffs ... still high by international standards," Patten added.

Myanmar Releases Five Top Pro-Democracy Leaders from House Arrest

Five senior members of Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party have been released after nearly six months under house arrest, Myanmar's military government said.

A junta official told AFP that four members of the National League for Democracy (NLD)—Hla Pe, Nyunt Wai, Than Tun and Soe Myint—were freed on Nov. 23, while the fifth, Lun Tin, was released on Nov. 24.

Aung San Suu Kyi and all members of her party's decision-making Central Executive Committee (CEC) were detained after May 30 clashes between NLD supporters and a pro-junta gang in northern Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest along with the NLD chairman Aung Shwe and secretary U Lwin while the party's vice-president Tin Oo is in jail near the Indian border. Apart from Aung San Suu Kyi, who is 58, all the NLD top leaders are in their 70s and 80s.

The five were released as a six-month deadline approaches under which the junta is required by law to either renew the restrictions for another six months, or set them free.

The United Nations' human rights envoy to Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, earlier this month had demanded the junta release some 1,300 political prisoners, particularly the elderly and infirm. "These old gentlemen, their place is not prison," Pinheiro said after his sixth mission to the military-run nation.

Thai Military Leaders in Myanmar and Laos

Thai Defense Minister Gen. Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhya made a three-day visit to Myanmar Nov. 26-28. "The military must also revise its strategy if it wants to help bring peace and economic growth in the area. This is in line with the Pagan Declaration," Said the Thai Minister. The Pagan Declaration was endorsed on Nov. 12 by the leaders of Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.

At the same time, a team of 15 senior officers of the Thai army is visiting Laos to solidify cooperation in developing border villages and tackling drug problems along the border areas.

Meanwhile, the proposal to build a northern road link between Thailand and Laos is still on the table. Vientiane has requested more time to study the loan conditions before progressing with the construction. Under the proposed deal, Thailand would provide Laos with a 252-million-baht grant, covering approximately one-third of the estimated construction cost. The rest would be provided by Thailand as low interest loans.

The 49-kilometer road will run from the Huay Kon checkpoint in Nan's Chalem Prakiat district to Pak Baeng, a small town by the Mekong river in the northern Lao province of Oudomsay. Traders and officials have been pushing for the link road for the past year. The road would open up their province to trade and tourism with landlocked areas.

Reports indicate the Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has directed the foreign ministry to try and clear all problems that concern the loan.

Leading Philippines Political Figure Fears 'Total Collapse'

Speaking to EIR, a former member of the Philippines Congress, who is now involved in an effort to unite the opposition behind a single candidate for the May Presidential elections, said that he fears the nation is heading for a financial and social collapse. The resignation of Finance Minister Jose Camacho was recently tied to the impending bankruptcy of the military pension fund. This has been followed by reports that the government's cash position is so bad that all maintenance operations have been suspended. With the national debt climbing at record rates, and the steady devaluation of the Philippine peso, the cost of servicing the foreign debt has increased significantly. As a result, the potential for national bankruptcy is growing. With military pensions, and perhaps even salaries, threatened, the potential for a military coup in the coup-ridden Philippines is also great, he pointed out.

Reports are circulating that Camacho has been warned not to talk about the economic mess, or face prosecution over past accusation against him about corruption.

At the same time, the chronic kidnapping problem—mostly of Chinese-Filipinos—has reached a new peak, with a new victim every three days. Some of these kidnappings are ending up with murder of the victim. Opposition candidate Ping Lacson, a former chief of police, has blamed President Arroyo's suspension of the death penalty for the increase in crime, rather than the economic crisis that the country faces.

The source pointed out that the institutions of government, especially the Supreme Court, are discredited as corrupt. This includes the electoral structure, leaving little confidence that there will be fair elections, and thus encouraging those who prefer extra-legal methods of "regime change."

Malaysia Mends Fences with Saudi Arabia

Following protests in Saudi Arabia over an article published on Nov. 12 in Malaysia's New Straits Times, which ostensibly called for the overthrow of the Saudi regime, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar has informed Riyadh that the New Straits Times article did not reflect the official views of the Malaysian government and was only a personal view of the writer. Meanwhile, the Times' editor-in-chief Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmed has been sacked.

The article, "Freeing the Prophet's Land," criticized the conservative brand of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia, and urged reform of the absolute monarchy. The article provoked an immediate protest from the Saudi government, which was sent to Kuala Lumpur as a formal note of protest. On Nov. 22, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi announced that Tan Sri Abduallah has been sacked.

Talking to the reporters, the Malaysian Foreign Minister said Malaysia considers the matter closed, and he hopes that ties with Saudi Arabia would not be affected by the matter. Syed Hamid Albar also said that he hopes to go to Saudi Arabia soon to continue discussing issues like the one about Malaysian pilgrim going to Hajj to the holy land.

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