In this issue:

First Commercial Shanghai-Taiwan Flight Ends 50-Year Freeze

Indian Minister Says His Country's China Policy Will Be 'Forward-Looking'

'Immense Scope' To Improve Sino-Indian Relations

Myanmar, India Strengthen Ties

New South Korean President: 'Lincoln Is My Inspiration'

Senior Russian Diplomat: North Korea Wants Direct Talks with U.S.

Philippines Vice President Leading Anti-War Movement

Indonesia Muslim Organizations Reject U.S. Congress Invite to National Prayer Breakfast

Indonesia Launches Diplomatic Offensive Against U.S. Threat of War in Iraq

Australian Bishop Says Iraq War Not a 'Just War'

Thailand, Cambodia in Diplomatic Donnybrook

From Volume 2, Issue Number 5 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Feb. 3, 2003
Asia News Digest

First Commercial Shanghai-Taiwan Flight Ends 50-Year Freeze

The first commercial flight from Shanghai to Taiwan has ended a 50-year freeze on flights between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. Although the Taiwan's China Airlines 747, after embarking from Shanghai, must first touch down in Hong Kong before continuing on to Taipei (thus sidestepping some of the thorny issues involved in the negotiations), the flight is recognized as a breakthrough in cross-Straits relations. A total of 16 flights have been approved, to carry families from the mainland to their family homes for the New Year's celebration this past weekend.

Indian Minister Says His Country's China Policy Will Be 'Forward-Looking'

Indian External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha has committed his country to a policy toward China that he described as "forward-looking and infused with a sense of optimism." Speaking at a conference of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis in New Delhi, chaired by EIR's friend Dr. Devendra Kaushik, Sinha referred to those who see Asian developments in terms of antagonism between India and China, and responded: "Let me debunk these theories completely and state with full conviction that India neither pursues nor makes policy towards China based on the belief that conflict between the two is inevitable." Rather, policy is based on "a conviction that a prosperous India is inevitable. So is a strong and prosperous China." He reported on frequent "functional delegations" between the two nations, as well as Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji's visit to India last year and Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee's planned visit to China this year.

India's The Hindu and China's People's Daily reported his comments at some length.

'Immense Scope' To Improve Sino-Indian Relations

There is "immense scope" to improve India's relations to China, which are already warning, Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes said at the concluding session of the New Delhi conference on Asian Security and China 2003-2010, organized by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis.

As reported by China's Xinhua, the Hindustan Times, and the Press Trust of India, Fernandes said that India and China are the "two oldest and largest civilizational states" in the world, which had lived in harmony for more than 2,500 years.

Now, China and India have a common strategic objective, to ensure the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of a billion people in each country, he said. On the economy, "China is a spur which encourages India to match its performance." He said he is "personally very impressed" by the Chinese drive to eradicate poverty.

Fernandes' statements are all the more noteworthy, because he had, after India's nuclear test in May 1998, called China India's "potential number-one enemy." Fernandes and Indian Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee are expected to visit China this year, Fernandes first, around April, and Vajpayee in May or June.

Fernandes also was in Moscow recently.

The two sides are working on the complex boundary and territorial jurisdiction problem in a "mature" and "Asian civilizational" manner, Fernandes told the conference. The two sides had "acquired a certain degree of consensual mutuality" on the border dispute. "We have our differences but we are working on them, though the pace has been referred to as 'glacial.'"

Fernandes said many of his past hostile remarks on China were due to the "democratic process" in India, and urged "our Chinese friends to note this trait of the Indian animal." India expects "China will also discharge its responsibility and accommodate our interests and reciprocate the spirit in which we are conscious of Beijing's sensitivity on certain issues."

The two sides are not a threat to each other, "and this has been reiterated at the highest levels," Fernandes said. After Sept. 11, 2001, there is a different discourse on security. "The Sino-Indian relationship is to be rearranged in this altered context." He also said he would raise issues on China's relation with Pakistan and other countries on India's borders, when he visits Beijing.

Myanmar, India Strengthen Ties

Myanmar (Burma) and India are strengthening ties, contributing to unity between ASEAN and the countries of the Strategic Triangle (Russia, India, China). The Jan. 19-24 visit to India by Foreign Minister Win Aung was the first by a senior Myanmar leader for more than 15 years. Myanmar's isolation has long been responsible for the largest gap in the southern Eurasian Land-Bridge route, and for blocking Indian access to the rest of Southeast Asia.

While in New Delhi, Win Aung met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and held talks with several key Cabinet ministers, including his counterpart, Jaswant Sinha. The two Foreign Ministers signed a protocol which establishes regular bilateral ministerial consultations, agreed to strengthen cooperation on several bilateral infrastructure projects (including a road connecting India with Thailand through Mandalay and Yangon, and a major port facility in Myanmar), and set up a joint Business Council to help encourage greater private Indian investment in Myanmar.

A summit of BIMSTEC (Bangladesh-India-Myanmar-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation) will be held next year.

New South Korean President: 'Lincoln Is My Inspiration'

South Korean President-elect Roh Moo-hyun considers America's great statesman Abraham Lincoln as his personal inspiration and role model, Roh's representative told a Washington conference organized by the utopian Chosun Ilbo and the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Jan. 23. Seoul Congressman Yoo Jay-kun, Special Envoy of the President-elect to Washington, introduced the relatively unknown Roh by saying that Roh had risen from poverty by teaching himself all material necessary to pass the Korean bar exam at the age of 25. Roh did this to act as a lawyer for labor unions and students who were being denied their civil rights in the difficult 1970s South Korean industrialization period. He then suffered many defeats in running for office in the 1980s and 90s.

After one particular electoral defeat in April 2000, when Roh felt his career was over, said Yoo, "then Mr. Roh remembered his childhood hero, Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Roh undertook an intensive study of the life, works, and all the writings of Lincoln, and he wrote a long book to explain the thought of Abraham Lincoln to the Korean people. Mr. Roh felt so close to Lincoln's way of thinking after this study, that I Met Lincoln was the title Mr. Roh gave to his autobiography. This became the founding principle for the new youth movement which Mr. Roh then started, amongst the college students who were tired of 'business as usual' in Korean politics....

"Last year when Mr. Roh's Presidential campaign seemed to hit bottom, some newspapers even wrote disparagingly that 'Roh fancies himself as Korea's Abraham Lincoln.' But despite such comments, in fact it was based on the study of Lincoln, that Mr. Roh decided he had to run for President of Korea. And it may be said of Mr. Roh, as it was said of President Lincoln, that 'his gentleness was combined with an enormous intelligence, and an iron strength of purpose.'

"Like Lincoln, Mr. Roh with his gentleness is determined to 'bind up the nation's wounds' and do all that may achieve a lasting peace amongst ourselves on the Korean peninsula, and with all nations."

Senior Russian Diplomat: North Korea Wants Direct Talks with U.S.

According to the Jan. 25 issue of China's People's Daily, a senior Russian diplomat just returned to Moscow from talks with North Korean leaders in Pyongyang underlined that what the North Korean leaders are looking for is direct talks with the United States. "The task at present for third-party countries, including Russia," said Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksander Losyukov "is to do everything possible so that such a dialogue starts in the near future, maybe in the next few days." Losyukov said that DPRK (North Korean) officials were ready to enter into direct talks with the United States with no preconditions.

In his first detailed account of his visit, Losyukov said that calls for an international forum were doomed to failure. "Above all, what is needed is dialogue between the DPRK and American representatives," he stressed, similar to what former Defense Secretary William Perry said earlier in the week, when he called for "creative diplomacy" from the Bush Administration.

Losyukov also noted that the DPRK had had a "positive reaction" to the Russian three-pronged proposal: nuclear-free status for the Korean peninsula, a security guarantee for the DPRK, and a package of economic and humanitarian aid. He also added that "the issue of raising the question in the Security Council," as U.S. representatives have indicated they might do, "will be considered by the DPRK as an attempt to put further pressure on them. Especially if there is discussion of imposing some kind of economic sanctions, that will be considered an act of war."

Philippines Vice President Leading Anti-War Movement

The Vice President of the Philippines and several Senators are leading anti-war movements in the Philippines, reports the Philippines Inquirer of Jan. 28-29.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has offered Philippine land and air space to U.S. military operations in an Iraq war, but opposition is heating up. Vice President Teofisto Guingona, who was fired as Foreign Minister over his opposition to U.S. military operations in the country, is leading anti-war protests and prayer rallies around the country. Senator Manuel Villar, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned that Philippine participation would "devastate the economy," while Sen. Francis Pangilinan, head of the Justice and Human Rights Committee, said that "Haste on the part of the U.S. in their arrogant resolve to attack Iraq means the wanton waste of human lives. In this case, our interests and that of the U.S. are not compatible."

The Philippines Catholic Bishops Conference also said that they opposed any U.S. strike on Iraq, and urged the government to withdraw its support for Washington. The bishops called on the United States and its allies "not to launch an offensive against Iraq without explicit authorization from the United Nations." President Arroyo has pledged that her government would extend logistical support to any U.S. strike on Iraq, but has called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

Indonesia Muslim Organizations Reject U.S. Congress Invite to National Prayer Breakfast

Indonesia's two largest Muslim organizations have rejected an invitation from the U.S. Congress for their leaders to attend the National Prayer Breakfast. The two organizations, the Nahdlatul Ulama and the Muhammadiyah, representing, respectively, 40 million and 30 million Muslims in Indonesia, acted in protest against the U.S. threat to attack Iraq, according to the Jakarta Post of Jan. 27.

Hasyim Muzadi, leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, told reporters Jan. 27 that the prayer breakfast, which aimed at developing peace on Earth, is meaningless due to the attack plan. Muzadi said he attended last year, but not this year, because he sees no relevance in a pretense at peace building, particularly if the U.S. plans to attack Iraq.

His determination was also related to the U.S. decision to require that all males 16 and older who are visiting the U.S. from 25 countries including Indonesia, register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Hayim said Syafi'i Ma'arif, leader of Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim organizations in the country, also declined the invitation.

Indonesia Launches Diplomatic Offensive Against U.S. Threat of War in Iraq

Agence France Presse reported Jan. 31 that Indonesia is launching an international diplomatic offensive against the U.S. threat of war in Iraq and what Indonesia considers U.S. provocations in Korea. The government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri announced the formation of two teams, headed by veteran diplomats Ali Alatas (who was called back to service last month to revive Indonesia's role in ASEAN, NAM, and other international forums) and Nana Sutresna. They will lobby in Europe, Australia, and among the Non-Aligned Nations, which will meet in Kuala Lumpur Feb. 15. A group of inter-faith leaders will simultaneously travel through the Mideast, addressing both Iraq and the Palestinian crisis.

Indonesia has also deployed an envoy to North and South Korea, at North Korea's request, to help solve that crisis.

Leaders of the Muslim organization Muhammadiyah warned that an Iraq war "will not only radicalize Indonesians, but also people in the Middle East or even in France and Germany."

Meanwhile, Indonesian political leader Dewi Fortuna Anwar has warned that the United Nations will "lose its credibility if Washington decides to scoff at international law and attacks Iraq." Dewi, former top adviser to President Habibi, also warned that the Security Council members are aware of this problem, and may therefore "cave in to Washington's pressure." She said that a unilateral U.S. strike would be "a clear violation to international law, the UN principles," but that even if the UN now submits to the U.S. war plan, UN credibility would be severely damaged.

Australian Bishop Says Iraq War Not a 'Just War'

War on Iraq is not a "just war," declared Ian George, Anglican Archbishop of Adelaide, South Australia, criticizing the "sabre rattling" leading up to conflict with Iraq.

The Archbishop, who has previously been critical of the stand of Australia's John Howard government on the "stolen generations" of aborigine children and treatment of asylum seekers, said he was surprised by the support he had received for his Australia Day sermon on Iraq. He said he could not understand why Australia was uncritically and hastily responsive to the United States.

"I want answers from the government, I think the Australian populace is asking most of these questions," he said Jan. 27. "I think the key question for me is what's really behind this, what are the real reasons for sending these troops to the Middle East? What are Australia and the U.S. and Britain sharing? Do they have a body of knowledge which justifies this which they are not revealing to the public?"

He challenged the Howard government's claim that there was no choice in sending Australian troops: "In fact, it's the first time Australia has ever acted in a bellicose way without reference to the principles of just war. It would take an extraordinarily courageous government to now say we have decided not to be part of any campaign against Iraq and we're going to bring our troops home. I hope they do decide that."

Thailand, Cambodia in Diplomatic Donnybrook

Last week, relations between Thailand and Cambodia were broken off, after the Thai embassy in Cambodia was almost totally destroyed. The violence that erupted against the Thai embassy and other Thai properties in Cambodia came as a shock, as the two nations have enjoyed increasingly warm relations in recent years.

Last week, a Thai soap opera star allegedly said Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temple complex should be returned to Thailand. The actress denies having said this, claiming that the statement was a line from a two-year-old TV script. However, the quote or misquote fuelled protest demonstrations in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital. The Thai embassy and its fleet of 20 vehicles were destroyed; the ambassador escaped over the embassy wall to be rescued by a boat on the Mekong River; and several Thai-owned properties were attacked, including the telecom company owned by the family of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

During the day Jan. 29, the number of protesters at the Thai embassy rose from 50 to over 1,000. By midnight, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin was considering deploying Thai commandos to the scene, but changed his mind, fortunately.

The Thai Army Commander's chief of staff, Gen. Vichit Yathip, and Cambodian Defense Minister Gen. Tea Banh indicated that the protesters who set fire to the embassy were students and members of the Cambodian opposition parties, possibly suggesting those allied with Project Democracy's Cambodian poster boy, Sam Rainsy. Cambodia's political scene is heating up on many fronts in advance of general elections in July.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has offered an official apology to Thailand, and has pledged to compensate its neighbor. Nonetheless, Thailand initiated an airlift to repatriate 511 of its citizens Jan. 30, and official relations are broken off.

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