Asia News Digest
Malaysian Newspaper: No Justification for War on Iraq
"Playing With Bombs" is the headline of the July 18 editorial of the Kuala Lumpur New Straits Times, which serves as the closest thing there is, to an official newspaper of the Malaysian government. The content of the editorial is the harshest criticism of the Bush Administration since Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir's very cordial state visit to Washington in mid-May.
"The flimsy justification for the latest air strikes on Iraq reflects yet again the cowboy mentality behind the U.S. policy towards Baghdad.
"Even if Washington is bent on toppling Saddam Hussein, the bombing of targets in southern Iraq's no-fly zone over the weekend only served to show the deep disregard the U.S. and its close ally Britain have for peace in the Middle East.
"Certainly it complicates the efforts of the international community to find a political and diplomatic solution to the Iraqi problem, and to ease tensions in the Middle East and the Gulf region. Neither does pounding the country have much to do with the U.S. 'war on terror' since Iraq has not (so far, despite repeated attempts) been linked to the Sept. 11 attacks. The concern expressed by Russia over the latest bombings adds to the uneasiness over world peace and stability in general.
"The U.S. is somehow looking at Iraq as its favourite whipping boy.... [D]espite being identified as one of the three members of an 'axis of evil,' it is still far from an established fact that Iraq constitutes an imminent threat.... Without a clearly defined casus belli, any 'preemptive' strike wout a ld have to call on the logic of a John Wayne movie rather than the precepts of international law.
"Perhaps it is more than the ouster of Saddam that Washington is after. As former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark said in the book The Fire This Time, the intent could be simply to debilitate Iraq's independent status: to undermine its civilian infrastructure to the point where it would no longer represent an alternative to dependency on the Western countries. Bringing a country to its knees for the failings of its leadership is wrong and bears the makings of a crime against humanity."
U.S. Protects Sharon, 'Murderer of Innocent People'
Malaysia's Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir has criticized U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell for declaring Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat "persona non grata," and has called Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a "known murderer." As reported in the July 15 New Straits Times of Singapore, in response to news reports of Powell's latest comments about Arafat, Dr. Mahathir told reporters at the opening of a sporting event: "The declaration of other people's leader as persona non grata, when leaders like Ariel Sharon, the murderer of innocent people, are embraced as a 'Man of Peace,' I don't understand the basis for such preferential action.... if Arafat is unacceptable [to the U.S.], then Ariel Sharon should also not be accepted."
Neo-Con Warmongers Carry the Day in Pentagon Report on China
The Pentagon Annual Report to Congress on "The Military Power of the People's Republic of China (PRC)" portrays China as preparing a surprise attack on Taiwan, and possibly the United States. The report, which is the subject of extensive press coverage emphasizing the Chinese missile threat to Taiwan and beyond, was held back from release for some time, which the neo-conservative writers at the Weekly Standard and the Washington Times attribute to opposition to the report from within the military.
The report describes Chinese military policy as secretive; far larger than publicly reported; oriented toward surprise and preemptive assault; and focussed on Taiwan, but with "increasing focus on the U.S. as an adversary." It reports Russian/Chinese cooperation and arms transfers, and states that neither U.S. pressure on Russia nor increased cooperation between the U.S. and Russia is likely to weaken the Russia/Chinese military relationship. It is replete with speculations and presumptions.
Bill Gertz of the Washington Times, who is close to the utopians in the U.S. Department of Defense, chose the following quotes in his July 13 coverage of the report: "China is in the midst of a ballistic-missile modernization program that is improving its force, both qualitatively and quantitatively, in all classes of missiles.... This modernization program will improve both China's nuclear deterrence by increasing the number of warheads that can target the U.S., as well as improving its operational capabilities for contingencies in East Asia."
Some other quotes from the report:
"Chinese secrecy is extensive.... China's defense spending may be some four times larger than its public announcement in March 2002 of a defense budget of about $20 billion....
"Chinese doctrine is moving toward the goal of surprise, deception, and shock effect in the opening phase of a campaign. China is exploring coercive strategies designed to bring Taipei to terms quickly....
"Beijing's military training exercises increasingly focus on the U.S. as an adversary....
"China has about 350 short-range ballistic missiles already in its deployed inventory, increasing at about 50 missiles per year.... The PLA is developing variants of the CSS-6 that enable attacks against Okinawa when forward-deployed or against Taiwan when deployed further inland....
"China's electronic warfare efforts are focused on technology and design development, accomplished mainly through cooperation with Western companies and by reverse engineering....
"China is pursuing a robust research and development program for laser weapons. In 1999 the Chinese displayed a probable laser-based, anti-tank guided missile countermeasure in its Type 90-II tanks.
"Chinese scientists have written about, and China probably has in place, a program to develop explosively driven radio-frequency weapons technology that potentially could be used in missile warheads or aircraft bombs.
"Beijing may have acquired high-energy laser equipment that could be used in the development of ground-based anti-satellite weapons.
"In July 2001, Moscow and Beijing signed a five-year space cooperation agreement pursuant to which: China and Russia will establish special departments on joint development of a regional missile defense system; China and Russia will set up cooperation organs to develop a new generation of high-tech weapons and equipment with funding up to $500 million....
"These principled themes ["peace and development, non-use of force, non-intervention, defensive nature, no-first-use of nuclear weapons," etc.] should not, however, obscure the ambitious nature of China's national development program and the nature of China's approach to the use of force, which is contingent, rather than inherently passive or defensive, as Chinese commentators often vigorously assert. In particular, Beijing probably calculates that ambiguity in international discourse helps to buy time in developing its national power....
"China's more forward-looking strategists note the Persian Gulf War's role in bringing the emerging revolution in military affairs (RMA) into sharp focus for the PLA. In particular, PLA observers witnessed how quickly the force, equipped with high-tech weapons systems, defeated the Iraqi force that resembled the PLA in many ways.... At the same time, however..., Beijing perceives certain weaknesses in the U.S. over-reliance on the advances offered by the RMA. Consequently, revised PLA doctrine, rather than seeking to capture and pursue RMA advances, emphasizes measures to target and exploit its weaknesses.... The Serbs' survival in a modern battlefield against a superior force reportedly impressed PLA observers."
People's Daily Denounces Motives of Pentagon Report
On July 16, the official Chinese People's Daily said that the Pentagon report on "The Military Power of the People's Republic of China," was impeding bilateral relations and had ulterior motives. The Pentagon greatly exaggerated the increase in China's military capabilities, said that Daily, noting that China's defense budget for 2002 is less than U.S.$20 billion. That $20 billion represents a full 18% increase. In contrast, the U.S. defense budget for 2002 was $350 billionfor a population not even 25% of China'sand was hiked by $48 billion for 2003.
"For a large country like China, which has 1.2 billion population and long land borders, such a budget only meets the basic need of maintaining security," said the article. The Pentagon claimed Chinese defense spending was as high as U.S.$65 billion, which People's Daily called "groundless."
There is a tendency to use "Cold War thinking" to influence the Bush Administration's China policy through the report, and to use wrong estimates of China's military growth, as an excuse for the U.S. to sell more weapons to Taiwan, the People's Daily noted.
More important, the article emphasized the economic realities of the situation. "Still being a developing country, China's per capita GDP is listed at the 127th place in the world," People's Daily noted. "Therefore, China's key task is to create peace, an international environment favorable to economic development, and improve the people's living standards."
It also stresses that good U.S.-Sino bilateral relations are important to China, the U.S., and the world situation.
Defense Expert Says China Missiles Are Old News
News that China has received and tested Russian AA-12 missiles "is just a footnote, not front-page news," stated Robert Karniol, Asia-Pacific editor of Jane's Defence Weekly, earlier this week. Karniol was reacting to the hyperventilations of U.S. media about this and other alleged "China threats," in tandem with the release of the Pentagon report on the PRC military capabilities.
Russia had agreed to sell these missiles to China back in 1999, as part of a package of Su-30 fighter jets, and does not represent any accelerated "arms race" with Taiwan. Desite that, the anti-China lobby in the U.S. is demanding that Washington deliver AM-120 AMRAAM missiles already sold to Taiwan, but still kept in the United States, for fear of sparking an arms race.
"Every China-watching analyst around knew three years ago in 1999 that the Russians had agreed to sell China a wide range of advanced missiles as part of the Su-30 deal, and that included the AA-12," Robert Karniol was quoted as saying. "That they've received the AA-12 and tested them is interesting but it's essentially a two-sentence footnote, not front-page news." The news was already reported by Jane's Defence Weekly in 2000.
The reports in the Washington Times and Pentagon responses, that it might release the AIM-120 to Taiwan"This is where the Washington politics comes in," Karniol said. "That's the whole point of the leak, to put pressure on the Administration to release the AIM-120."
"It's not a matter of China getting some advanced kit and Taiwan being desperate to match it," said Karniol. "It's the other way round. Taiwan already had this capability. China is seeking to match it."
Profile: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam New President Of India
Avul Pakir Jainulabideen Abdul Kalam, better known as "Father of India's Missile Program," has been elected by India's Legislatures as the next President of India. He replaces President K.R. Narayanan, whose term ended this June.
Kalam, son of a fisherman in Tamil Nadu, is 71 years old and an aeronautical engineer from the Madras Institute of Technology. He played a crucial role in the evolution of India's space research, helping develop a series of India's satellite launch vehicles.
As the satellite launch technology evolved into a missile development program, Abdul Kalam formulated a step-by-step Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) and developed an array of missiles including short-range, medium-range, and ballistic. He also played a very important role in India's 1998 nuclear tests.
In 1999, he retired and became Principal Science Adviser to Prime Minister Vajpayee, with the rank of a Cabinet Minister. In 2001, he became the Professor Emeritus to guide research and developmental activities in Anna University in Chennai (née Madras). Abdul Kalam's stated goal in Anna University was to bring 100,000 young Indians into the scientific community by 2020. He is involved in establishing a brain research center for mentally challenged children, and the use of electronic and information technology to benefit hearing-impaired children.
His book, Vision 2020, speaks of building an economically and technologically powerful India by the year 2020.
Terrorists Kill 27 Impoverished People in Jammu
The terrorist killing of 27 people over the weekend of June 14 in the poorer section of the city of Jammu has raised fresh anger against Pakistan, on the issue of cross-border terrorism. Indian Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani was in Jammu to share the people's grief. He was loudly heckled by the slum-dwellers for his failure to protect their lives.
In an op ed in The Hindu, C. Raja Mohan, a journalist close to both the British Foreign Office and the U.S. State Department, said the credibility of the Anglo-Americans is at stake over the killings. When British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrive in India next week, New Delhi will tell them that if Washington and London cannot ensure an end to the cross-border terrorism, New Delhi will have to rethink its military and political strategy toward Islamabad. New Delhi will definitely question the ability of Washington and London to hold Pakistan President Musharraf's feet to the fire.
New Delhi had already reported that Pakistan had increased cross-border infiltration in June, after halting it for most of May. New Delhi will be particularly tough on both Straw and Powell, since both London and Washington have allowed Pakistani President Gen. Musharraf to consolidate all the powers around him. Earlier, the standard excuse of the Anglo-Americans was that Musharraf was not in control of the situation. New Delhi insists that there is nothing in the world that prevents President Musharraf from disbanding the training camps for terrorists in the Pakistani-held part of Jammu and Kashmir.
Cholera Epidemic Follows in Wake of War in Afghanistan
According to reports coming in from Kabul, from BBC and other international sourcs, a cholera epidemic has broken out in the Afghan capital, and some 6,000 patients have been admitted to Kabul hospitals in the past three weeks with diarrhea-related diseases.
As of July 15, three had died, and Loretto Girardet, the World Health Organization representative in Kabul, said, "Cholera can spread like wildfire if control measures are not urgently implemented." The only measure taken so far is to pump extra chlorine into Kabul's water supply system. However, less than 25% of Kabul's population has access to the war-ravaged sanitation system. Others collect water from wherever they can.
This outbreak is directly related to the U.S. decision to start a war, without any intention of dealing with the economic, humanitarian, or social consequences.
In fact, foreign "donors" shy away from Afghanistan. The brave words of the developed nations do not match their deeds, and it is not the first time that donors have not delivered on their promised contributions. Afghan Reconstruction Minister Amin Fahang told Agence France Presse that the Afghans "were promised $1.8 billion this year, but half the year is nearly gone and we have only received around $80 to $90 million." The interim Hamid Karzai Administration was promised $4.5 billion over five years at an international donors' conference in Tokyo last January, $1.8 billion of which was due this year.
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