Asia News Digest
ASEAN-China Prepare for World's Largest Trade Accord
Negotiations for a China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA) are set to be completed ahead of schedule in June, after the parties reached a basic consensus to create the world's biggest trade zone, China Daily reported May 21, quoting sources close to the talks. Agriculture, information, and communication technologies, human resource development, investment, and the development of the Mekong River were identified as priorities for cooperation.
However, in the initial stages, ASEAN and China will mainly focus on "freer" trade in goods, covering some 3,000 product items, rather than investment and services. Freer trade on goods will cover the elimination of both tariff and non-tariff barriers, a Thai source close to the process reported.
The pact with the 10-member ASEAN envisions full free trade by 2010, covering 1.7 billion consumers with a combined GDP of $2 trillion. China's trade with ASEAN last year hit a record $78.25 billion, up 42.8% from 2002. China's imports from ASEAN jumped 51.7% for $47.33 billion, for a trade deficit of $16.4 billion.
Manila Prepares To Redeploy Civilian Workers in Iraq
Gen. Roy Cimatu, head of a special Philippines diplomatic team in Iraq, said May 21 that he recommended to Manila to allow Filipino civilian workers to be redeployed in Iraq, but only in select areas where security could be guaranteed, according to the Manila Times May 22. Manila had stopped deployment of civilian workers in Iraq after a Filipino truck driver was killed in a roadside bombing in April, and a worker in Camp Anaconda was killed in an insurgent mortar attack earlier in May. Cimatu called for the lifting of a ban on deployment of Filipino workers in Iraq, and to allow Filipinos to work in the three biggest U.S. military camps, provided that U.S authorities agree to improve security. They would be redeployed to Camp Victory in Baghdad. Camp Anaconda in Balad and Camp Taji, located between the latter two cities, Cimatu said.
Philippines Archbishop Warns of Dangerous Times Ahead
Manila Archbishop Oscar Cruz, the outspoken former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) told the May 24 Philippines Inquirer that "it will be very, very difficult days ahead of us." Referring to the Presidential elections, Cruz said, "If she [President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo] wins and, most probably she will, she'll find it hard to govern because there will always be questions on the credibility of elections."
Asked about allegations of cheating hurled by opposition and administration camps against each other, Cruz said: "Nobody is beyond suspicion."
The government reacted immediately to the Archbishop's statement: "It would be better for people to help the government forge unity, rather than heap more coal into the fire," President Macapagal-Arroyo's campaign spokesman Michael Defensor said.
Thai Paper Invites U.S. Marines into the Straits of Malacca
Just days after receiving a pre-print copy of an article in the May 29 issue of EIR, warning that the terrorist outbreak in southern Thailand may be used by the neo-cons in Washington to push forward their intention to place U.S. military forces in the strategic Straits of Malacca, the editor of the Bangkok daily The Nation, Kavi Chongkittavorn published an apparent response. The editorial calls for Thailand to invite the U.S. Marines to come into both the Andaman Sea, just north of the Straits, and to the Gulf of Thailand on eastern side of the Isthmus of Kra. Kavi, one of Thailand's leading spokesman for the Wall Street interests (The Nation is part-owned by Dow Jones), has had more than one run-in with EIR over his service to the bankers.
Says Kavi: "Given the growing concern over maritime terrorism that can disturb sea lanes in the region, the U.S. government wants to deepen its cooperation with Thailand as part of a broader regional maritime plan, ... having U.S. vessels floating in either the Gulf of Thailand or the Andaman Sea to monitor maritime movement. The U.S. marines would be on hand to fight against potential terrorists who want to use tankers as bombs."
Kavi also takes the opportunity to denounce Thailand's southern neighbors, who have defended their sovereignty. "Last month, Malaysia and Indonesia rejected a U.S plan to deploy U.S patrols in the Malacca Straits as part of the counter-terrorism efforts in the region, while Singapore and Thailand favored the idea. Malaysia fumed at the proposition, suggesting that it did not need U.S. help to safeguard the narrow waterway which separates Malaysia and Singapore from the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Thailand as a non-NATO ally, is eager to contribute to U.S. regional maritime security, following a series of harsh criticisms by U.S. lawmakers against the country's constant violation of human rights and its pro-Burmese junta policy."
Bangkok Post Recalls Negroponte's Ugly Past
Thailand's Bangkok Post reminded its readers on May 23, in the context of reflecting on the torture scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison, that John Negroponte, soon to be the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, served as a political officer at the U.S Embassy in Vietnam from 1964-68 when the infamous "Tiger Force," a unit of the 101st Airborne Division, operated and carried out extrajudicial killings, and rampant human rights abuses.
Negroponte later served from 1971-73 as Kissinger's officer-in-charge for Vietnam in the Kissinger-led National Security Council and advised him on the Paris Peace Talks.
Indian Minister: Relations with China Are 'Problem Free'
China-India relations are "problem free," except for the boundary question, India's new External Affairs Minister, K. Natwar Singh, said May 25, and a mechanism has been set up to resolve this. Singh said the new Congress-led government, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), would seek to intensify bilateral ties, and that relations between the two countries date back over 2,000 years. Now, bilateral ties are based on "panchsheel," the five principles of peaceful existence, and India looks forward to intensifying relations with China.
As then-Minister of State for External Affairs, Natwar Singh had accompanied Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his breakthrough visit to China in 1988.
On the Chinese side, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said there are opportunities for the two governments to forge a "constructive cooperative relationship" between the two nations.
"We attach importance to friendly relations and cooperation between China and India, and we maintain that bilateral relations between the two countries have entered a new phase of improvement and development," Liu Jianchao said at a regular press conference. "The relationship is also faced with new opportunities for development."
"We appreciate the positive remarks made by Foreign Minister Singh on assuming office," Liu said. "India and China are important neighbors. We hope that the governments of the two countries will make joint efforts to maintain the good momentum of development of bilateral relations and to promote new progress in the building of a constructive cooperative partnership between the two countries. We are willing to work with the Indian government in this regard."
General To Investigation U.S. Jails in Afghanistan
The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan has instructed a fellow general to carry out a "top to bottom" review of American holding facilities across Afghanistan, said U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Tucker Mansager, the Khaleej Times in Kabul reported May 26. In an effort to fend off growing allegations of prisoner abuse, Gen. Charles Jaccobi has been named to handle the investigation into American military jails in Afghanistan, which the U.S. Army has called for.
The appointed general would visit each of the 29 American prisons across the country and report to the Commander, Lt. Gen. David Barno, by mid-June. Portions of the report will be made public, Lt. Col. Mansager said.
Japan Arrests Five Al-Qaeda Suspects
Following raids on 10 homes, five Muslimsthree Bangladeshis, one Indian, and one from Maliwere arrested by Japanese police as al-Qaeda suspects setting up a cell in Japan. The raids followed reports that Lionel Dumont, a Frenchman of Algerian descent, and allegedly linked to the al-Qaeda network, had entered Japan a number of times over the last year holding a false passport. Dumont was arrested in Germany last December, and had been extradited to France earlier this month.
Local media reports indicate that Dumont had lived in Niigata prefecture with his German wife from July 2002 until September 2003. During this period, he had travelled extensively to Malaysia and Germany. Dumont and his Pakistani colleagues sold used cars to Russia and North Korea; he was in contact with the five suspects arrested in Japan, the English-language daily Asahi Shimbun said May 26.
UN Envoy Will Seek China's Assistance for Myanmar
UN Special Envoy to Myanmar, Razali Ismail, said May 26 that he would seek China's support to break the political deadlock in the country over the Constitutional Convention, which was boycotted by the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). Razali was in Myanmar for a visit beginning May 27, as part of the entourage of Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi, the PM's first state visit since becoming Malaysia's head of state.
Razali, a senior Malaysian diplomat, told AFP: "I am going to China to appeal to them to do more than what they have done. I have a feeling the new government of India will be able to help me more. We have to find ways to move forward." Razali played a crucial role in the talks between the ruling military junta and the NLD in October 2000; the talks collapsed after an attack was mounted against NLD chairman Aung San Suu Kyi's entourage during a political tour to the northern town of Depayin in May 2003, in which her vehicle was attacked and a number of people were reported injured or killed. Subsequently she was returned to house arrest at her lakeside residence in Yangon.
In a late-breaking development May 27, online Myanmar website Irrawaddy.org reported that Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt will take an official visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on June 1, where he will meet the Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi, and then travel to Bangkok on June 4 for talks with Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Singapore's Naval Base Spotlights Green Ideology
Singapore's state of the art Changi naval base , strategically located in relation to the Malacca Straits and the South China Sea, opened officially on May 21, is built entirely on reclaimed land, the Straits Times reported May 22. It makes extensive use of information technology and automation in its operations, training, security, and support, said Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Ronnie Tay, and is designed to make the best use of scarce resources, such as land, energy and water. Among the "green friendly" innovations are wind turbines to power lights, rainwater for flushing toilets, use of seawater in air-conditioning systems.
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