Asia News Digest
ElBaradei: Include India, Israel, Pakistan in NPT Talks
Addressing a two-day (June 21-22) conference in Washington organized by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director-general Mohamed ElBaradei struck a different tune, urging participation of India, Israel, and Pakistan in future talks to make new adjustments to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) regime.
"Any new adjustment to the regime must include India, Pakistan, and Israel at the negotiating table. Without their inclusion in and commitment to this broad non-proliferation and security reform our efforts will fail," he told a gathering of 600 prominent experts from across the world.
"If you have countrieslike India, like Pakistanout of the system, I don't think that is the right approach. I think you need to get everybody. But, also, it should not be perceived as an 'us against them' approach." None of the three states named by ElBaradei have signed the NPT, and all three are now in possession of nuclear weapons.
ElBaradei said the logical point for bringing India and Pakistan into the arms-control process would be as part of the a global disarmament roadmap.
Israel, he said, could also be brought into this arrangement as part of a new security and disarmament structure in the Middle East that "should and would have to go hand-in-hand with the peace process in the region."
ASEAN, Japan Support One-China Policy
Both the ASEAN nations and Japan would support China in any conflict between China and Taiwan, emphasized speakers on June 21 at a conference of the Singapore East Asian Institute on "Taiwan's New Challenges."
The ASEAN member-nations are committed to the One-China principle and Taiwan would be isolated in East Asia were it to declare independence, Dr. Eric Teo, deputy head of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said on June 21 at the conference.
China has abandoned ideology for "strategic friendship," Teo said. "However, Taiwan's diplomats, on the other hand, are trapped in their own ideology and have to catch up with the sophistication of their Chinese counterparts."
Teo said that, were there to be war between Taiwan and China, ASEAN would remain neutral, since it has gotten closer and closer to China, and more distant from Taiwan. He told Taiwan diplomats at the conference: "You will be standing alone as we will not be standing by you." Since the late 1970s, China "has shown itself to be mindful and sensitive to the feelings of the Asean countries, thus staving off suspicions that its rise could be a threat."
Continuing to counter the American neo-cons' propaganda about the "China threat," Teo said that Taiwan must stop using "Cold War" language calling China a totalitarian country. Taiwan's touting off its "democracy" does not impress in the Asian region, he said.
Japan's UN Ambassador: U.S. Should Be More Civilized
Ambassador Kitaoka Shinichi, speaking at the Brookings Institute in Washington on June 22, was asked by EIR for Japan's view on the current debate in the United Nations over the U.S. request to be exempt from war crimes charges, in light of Japan's having experienced such trials after the Second World War. Shinichi first stated that there should be great care taken in conducting such trials, that while there may be a need to try some people, that reconciliation, rather than retribution, is needed for long-term peace, noting that Japan still suffers from the impact of the World War II tribunals.
"That said," he continued," I have been extremely concerned about the moving of prisoners to Guantanamo, and the suspension of the Geneva Convention in these cases. And, of course, the revelations at Abu Ghraib are very disturbing. I very much hope that in the future the U.S. will act in a more civilized way."
China Announces Advanced Missile System
The Chinese media have reported for the first time, on the Chinese ground-to-air missile regiment, which is equipped with the Russian-made S-300 PMU missile system. These missiles are, as the People's Daily reported May 31, among the most advanced in the world.
China had requested two of these missile systems by 1998, and they made their "debut" in the military parade for the 50th founding anniversary of the People's Republic on Oct. 1, 1999. China has likely acquired another two such systems. The People's Daily article noted that the missile regiment is part of the Nanjing Military Area Command, whose territory includes areas on the Taiwan Straits. The S-300 PMU missiles are much more sophisticated than the U.S. Patriot II missiles which Taiwan has. The Chinese regiments' officers are highly educated.
Call Given for Jihad from Pakistan's Tribal Areas
The "Mujahadin shura" (the council of religious fighters), now under the leadership of Haji Mohammad Omar, in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal areas, has given a call for jihad against the United States.
South Waziristan is now mourning the death of its leader, Nek Mohammad, who was reportedly killed by a Predator attack in his house. Pakistani troops, who were battling the tribals and some "foreign" mercenaries, are under order from Washington to clean out the Tribal Areas of Taliban and al-Qaeda members who live, or frequent, there. 70,000 Pakistani troops had entered the Tribal Areas last March for the first time since Pakistan was formed in 1947. The presence of Pakistani troops, and a general understanding that prevails within the tribal communities that the Pakistani troops are doing their bidding on behalf of the Americans, has led to growing anger. There exists a strong fear with the Pakistani Army that the tribals will launch serious attacks, not only inside the Tribal Areas bordering Afghanistan, but also in some major Pakistani cities.
Haji Omar called the BBC Pushtu service on June 20 and said he was in charge of the tribal army. When asked whether the tribals will launch an attack on the Pakistani troops soon, he said: "We are still in a state of mourning." Nek Mohammad was killed on June 18.
Afghan Army Beheads Four Taliban Suspects
Afghan soldiers, trained by the United States, beheaded four suspected Taliban fighters, after guerrillas had cut off the heads of an Afghan interpreter of the U.S.-led troops and an Afghan soldier on June 21, a government spokesman told the reporters. The interpreter and the soldiers were beheaded after becoming separated from a patrol of Afghan and U.S-led foreign troops in the Arghandab district of Zabul province in central Afghanistan. Zabul has remained highly volatile and it seems from the frequency of incidents in recent weeks, the anti-Kabul, anti-U.S. forces within Afghanistan have gained a strong foothold in that province.
It is evident that the United States will soon be under serious attack over the prisoner-abuse issue in Afghanistan. An in-depth investigation by Britain's Guardian Unlimited, including interviews conducted with former Bagram Air Base prisoners, senior U.S. military sources and human rights monitors in Afghanistan, has uncovered widespread evidence of detainees facing beatings, sexual humiliation, and being kept for long periods in painful positions. Five detainees have died in custody, three of them in suspicious circumstances.
Admiral Fargo Discussed Straits of Malacca with Malaysia
U.S. Admiral Thomas Fargo held a direct meeting with Malaysia's Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on June 21, in which the Admiral clarified statements he was said to have made before a Congressional hearing in March, which caused friction, as Fargo was said to have proposed U.S. deployment of special forces and Marines in the Straits of Malacca.
In the meeting between Admiral Fargo and Defense Minister Najib Razak, Fargo conveyed that the United States respects Malaysia's territorial integrity over the Straits of Malacca, and has never intended for U.S security forces to patrol the waterway, Najib Razak reported. He added that Fargo acknowledged that Malaysia was doing its best in maintaining security along the strait and had shown political commitment to acting cooperatively with other countries for similar purposes.
Najib Razak reported: "Admiral Fargo is pleased with the level of commitment shown by Malaysia to check the threat of terrorism internally, and also with the fact that we are doing our level best to ensure maritime security." Najib reported Fargo saying: "The U.S will always respect our position on the issue of the Straits of Malacca, that was the purpose of his visit." Najib Razak added Malaysia agreed with a US proposal on the exchange of intelligence information, and capacity and technical upgrading of Malaysia's security forces to guarantee maritime security.
He said that Fargo had told him that, as a soldier, he fully understood the need to always respect the integrity and sovereignty of a nation. Najib Razak pointed out that here would be no U.S-Malasyia joint patrol, but that there could be some bilateral exercises to increase Malaysia's capacity to deal with problem of maritime security. Najib Razak also reiterated Malaysia's position against conducting joint patrols with Indonesia and Singapore.
More Sophisticated Bombs Used in Southern Thailand
A bomb that injured four policemen in the southern Thai province of Yala on June 19 used a new type of explosive gel, which is not detected by trained police dogs, and was detonated remotely by an operator nearby, a security officer said June 20. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officer said terrorists in the deep south were increasingly turning to radio-controlled devices to attack officials lured to the scene by decoy explosion.
The source said the Thai military does not have this kind of explosive, which may have been imported, possibly from Indonesia. Whoever planted the bomb had to be an expert in electronics. Police report five officers were killed in such attacks between June 13-19. Royal Thai Police announced that 75 police officers had been killed by terrorists since June 4.
China, India Have 'Identical Views' on All Issues
China and India had "identical views" on all issues discussed between their foreign ministers at the Qingdao Asian summit, on June 21. After their 35-minute closed-door meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told the press: "We have identical views on all issues. We will work together for further promotion and enhancement of good relations and cooperation between our two good neighbours [India and Pakistan] and two good peoples." Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh "fully reciprocated" Li's views. He said he had requested Li "to visit India at his earliest convenience."
Singapore and Malaysia Open Derivatives Market
Singapore and Malaysia announced on June 18 that the two countries plan to link their financial markets, allowing each country to trade shares in the other through derivative trading.
The tie-up is projected to be in place by the end of 2005, but represents a stunning reversal of the very painful lessons Malaysia learned in the Asian financial crisis of 1998, when the now-retired Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohammad boldly defended his country by slapping on fixed exchange controls (and closed down a Singapore market trading in Malaysian stocks). This brought on denunciations from financial speculators, while Presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche and EIR organized international support, motivating widespread support for a return to the Bretton Woods financial system.
The Singapore exchange already has a two-way trading tie-up with Australia, which covers shares in the largest companies, but so far, perhaps thanks to that previous painful experience, trading has not been a big draw.
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