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From the Vol.1,No.11 issue of Electronic Intelligence Weekly
Asia News Digest

Korean Business News Interviews LaRouche

On May 7, under the title "To Make Pusan the Asian Hub," the Seoul, Korea daily Maeil Business New published a prominent interview with U.S. Democratic Party Presidential pre-candidate for 2004, Lyndon LaRouche. The interview focussed on the candidate's program for the New Silk Road and Korea's role in this as the "Asian Hub" for Pacific transport and trade.

Asked first about President George W. Bush's "axis of evil" speech, LaRouche is quoted saying that the comment "has no relevance to reality. It is a dangerous thing. I don't believe he created the policy, but that it was created for him ... the complex of advisors around him is dangerous; Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, typifies the danger. But the problem is not just Republicans. We have people on the Democratic side, such as Sen. Joe Lieberman, former Vice President Al Gore, who are just as bad."

Asked what policy is most desirable to tackle the problems of the Korean Peninsula, LaRouche replied, discussing the New Silk Road: "What is needed is a U.S. policy of seeking cooperation especially in Eurasia, from Western Europe, Russia, East and South Asia, to try to find a program of joint interest in economic development throughout that area. For example, from Pusan to Rotterdam, I think we ought to have one corridor of transportation and development. I think that would transform the situation. I think that Korea has great potential and could be rebuilt as an economy. I think that the development of this railway connection into Russia, China, and into Europe, could be the basis for reviving the economy of not only South Korea, but also for a transformation of the economy in North Korea."

LaRouche was then asked about Seoul's idea to promote Korea, which would be an Eastern terminus of the entire Silk Road, as the "Asian Hub." (The South Korean Ministry of Planning and Budget issued a report on Feb. 22 on making Korea into an "Asian Hub" for all transportation between Europe, Asia, and the Pacific, in conjunction with the South-North rail link-up. Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Jin Nyum said this would "revive the Silk Road by linking the country to China and Russia under a long-term plan for an international transportation and distribution hub." ) LaRouche told Maeil Business News that he supports the Korean hub idea, because "Korea has a very special cultural role within Asia," as a country with a mix of cultures within itself, which has the best advantage for communicating with most nations around it. "Koreans have a very positive role to play, as a part of bringing together other nations, in Asia. It is very important as a factor, potentially, for creating the kind of cooperation between China, Russia, and so forth, that is necessary," he said.

In response to a followup question on the cultural conflicts, LaRouche said that the paradoxes provided an advantage: "And therefore the interesting thing is: How do you become universal in this planet with different cultures? Therefore, a culture which recognizes within itself, the experience of that paradox, has a certain advantage in dealing with the world at large. Korea is, with this Western and Oriental background, so-called—its relationship to China; its experience with Japan; the experience with other countries in the region—the very paradoxical character of the modern history of Korea, is a potential advantage for Korea, in its ability to understand how to deal with the impingement of different cultural strains on its [foreign] relations."

LaRouche Associates Score Stunning Victory Against Fascist Laws in Australia

Australia's John Howard government suffered a humiliating defeat when its fascist anti-terrorist laws were pulled from the Senate on May 15, following an intense nationwide mobilization led by LaRouche's Australian associates in the Citizens Electoral Council (CEC). The fight is by no means over, since the bills will be reintroduced on June 17 when Parliament reconvenes, but the immediate runaway-freight-train attempt to ram them through Parliament with no discussion, has been derailed.

In addition to the very widespread circulation of Lyndon LaRouche's May 1 webcast remarks nailing the Privy Council as being behind this atrocity, a CEC statement denouncing the bills as identical to Hitler's Notverordnung decree within one week garnered the signatures of over 100 prominent Australians, representing unions, ethnic groups, refugee activists, academics, and former MPs, including the Deputy Prime Minister under nationalist PM Gough Whitlam (sacked by the Queen in 1975). Many of these people were signing something associated with the "extremely controversial LaRouche" (the controversy thanks to Murdoch, B'nai B'rith, and the whole Privy Council gang) for the first time. This statement was released amidst a CEC-organized mass-lobbying effort of MPs and Senators that, the politicians' offices reported, in some cases got as dense as one e-mail per minute! On average, MPs were being bombarded with 200 e-mails per day, and many more phone calls and faxes.

There is no question that the victory was secured by LaRouche's associates. All of the so-called mass organizations, such as the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the churches, the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP), the Greens, the Democrats, etc., were doing nothing except making nice-sounding, but impotent statements. The ALP had been planning to make a dirty, backroom deal with PM Howard to pass the laws with a few cosmetic amendments. However, just days before the bills were to go before the Senate, an ALP caucus meeting unexpectedly decided upon a much tougher stance, including amendments to the most draconian aspects of the bills, which broke the deal. A left-wing ALP staffer attributed the shift to the CEC: "We're still not happy, because we'd like to see them dumped altogether, but the new position is much better than it was going to be, thanks to your mobilization."

Following this decision by the ALP, the government was confronted with a revolt by MPs in its own party, which is almost unprecedented. Reportedly, attempts by the Attorney General to broker a compromise to ram the bills through, were met with a "hostile" reaction by his own party members, and the bills were quietly pulled from the Senate schedule. The government plans to use the next month, when Parliament isn't sitting, to broker a quiet compromise with the ALP to pass them in June.

The CEC is is already expanding its mobilization to kill the bills entirely. The incontestably fascist content of the laws can be seen by referring to EIW's edition #8, but the summary of Sydney University Law Professor George Williams makes the point: "Initially I thought this legislation was some sort of hoax, because this bill contains the essential apparatus of a police state."

The Israeli Factor in Indian Subcontinent Terrorism and Instability

Derivative Assassination—Who Killed Indira Gandhi?, the 1985 book by the editors of Executive Intelligence Review, provides fruitful leads in assessing the promotion of a Hindu-Muslim conflict across the India-Pakistan border at the present time. The working hypothesis is that the fascist utopians who are deploying the Sharon/Likud networks for war in the Middle East, are deploying their close allies for a conflagration on the Indian subcontinent.

Back during the 1980s, a gaggle of Israeli Jabotinskyites and U.S.-based neo-conservatives, penetrated into the Reagan-Bush Administration, were at the heart of the networks destabilizing the Indian subcontinent, including those who carried out the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. At the time, the Sikhs were a key capability of this Israeli-linked network, as shown by the role of Sikh extremists in the Gandhi murder. As Derivative Assassination highlighted, a key Reagan-Bush Administration player was Elliott Abrams, who is now back at the George W. Bush National Security Council. Abrams helped the Sikh radicals to establish a base in Ecuador, where they worked directly with Gen. Rehavam Ze'evi (and later Israeli Tourism Minister, assassinated in 2001,), the Israeli mafia figure and fascist who was allied with Sharon and "Dirty" Rafi Eytan. Ze'evi had left the post of Terror Against Terror advisor to Prime Minister Begin, passing the job on to Eytan, in order to run the Latin American drugs-for-guns operations that he and Sharon set up with a 1980 trip to Honduras.

Another leading Mossad link to the Hindu radicals and Sikhs in Canada was Col. Yoram Hamizrahi (IDF-ret.), who had been a key military operative for Sharon in southern Lebanon, and who, after a stint as BBC "reporter" in Lebanon, moved to Winnipeg, Canada, where he was the Israeli handler of the Sikh terror apparatus that ran amok in western Canada in the 1980s. A key figure inside the Indian Armed Forces, who facilitated the Israeli Jabotinskyite penetration of India's security structures, was Gen. J.F.R. Jacob, who became Chief of Staff of the Indian Army. Jacob's family came to India from the Holy Land, right after the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem and drove the Jews out of Judah. He became a pivotal figure in a network, later filled out by the migration of Syrian Jews from Aleppo, including the mob-linked Dwek family. When the Likud came into power in 1977, Jacob and this apparatus arranged a series of secret trips to India by Moshe Dayan, during which deeper Israeli-Indian military-to-military ties were established.

Close military ties between sections of the Indian leadership and the Israelis have continued to the present day, with the palpable result of inflaming the Hindu-Muslim conflict.

Taiwan's President Asserts Independence, in Newsweek

Taiwan President Chen Shui-Bian issued a provocation against China in an interview published in the May 20 issue of Newsweek. "No matter if you agree or not, whether you accept it or not, Taiwan is an independent country," Chen Shui-He said. He praised President Bush for referring to Taiwan as a "country," and calling it the "Republic of Taiwan."

The Taiwan President's increasing aggressivity may have created conditions for a realignment inside Taiwan, that could defeat him. It was announced May 13 that Lien Chan, the head of the Nationalist Party (GMD), has called on James Soong and his People's First Party to run as a coalition, and that "Together we shall prevail." Soong left the GMD when he refused to back Lien Chan as the Presidential candidate. With Lien's mentor, former President Lee Teng-hui, out of the party, running a Taiwan independence movement, it may be possible for Soong to work with Lien Chan, around a common objective of reconciliation with the mainland.

Lawsuit Charging Treason Filed Against Generals Behind Coup Against Estrada

A suit charging treason was filed May 16, against the Philippine generals who carried out the coup against President Joseph Estrada on Jan. 19, 2001. The five who brought the suit are the publishers of the Daily Tribune and the Malaya newspapers, and three journalists.

At the time of the coup, the Supreme Court ruled that the swearing in of then-Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as President was legal (although, in fact, they swore her in only as "acting President"—but that is a separate issue), but the Court did not rule either on the mutiny against the Commander-in-Chief (President Estrada), nor the issue of "mob rule." General Angelo Reyes, then the Chief of Staff and now the Defense Secretary, justified his withdrawal of support for his commander by saying: "Things would have become more uncontrollable if I did not lead the move, so I decided to withdraw support from the former President."

The fact is, to the contrary, that Gen. Reyes was supporting the President until former President Gen. Fidel Ramos, fresh off the plane from Washington, took him in a back room (after telling the press that the Army would soon turn against the President), and gave him his lines, to mutiny against the President/Commander-in-Chief. Army Chief Gen. Diomedio Villanueva was even more defensive in response to the charges: "How could I defend the former President who was no longer acceptable to the people?"

Which people, General? The fact that the suit, which was filed before the Ombudsman, was given prominent press coverage in most of the Philippine press, and around the world, would indicate that the case may not be swept under the rug too easily. Together with the ongoing exposé of the corrupt energy contracts negotiated by Ramos, which EIR exposed in a White Paper last year, Ramos has been placed in a vise.

U.S. Utopian Militarists Move for Asia Expansion

The Singapore Defense Ministry announced May 15 that Singapore will host an "Asian Wehrkunde" Conference May 31-June 2. Sponsored by London's International Institute of Strategic Studies, the meeting will invite Defense Ministers from the Asia Pacific region, and the U.S., Britain, Russia, and Canada. It is reported to be a "supplement" to the ARF (Asian Regional Forum) meeting in Brunei scheduled for July. U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, the Administration's most vocal proponent of the utopian perpetual-warfare doctrine, and British Defense Minister Hoon, are scheduled to attend. Lee Kuan Yew will open the meeting.

The calling of this conference is very much in keeping with the carrot-and-stick approach being used to expand U.S. military deployments in the region. Otherwise, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced the Busb Administration's policy of reopening military ties to Indonesia earlier last week, while the U.S./Thailand/Singapore Cobra Gold exercises are getting underway in Thailand at double their former size, and the United States and India last week held their first joint military exercises in 40 years, in the midst of discussions of closer military ties.

One of the views of the U.S. military expansion in the region, was reflected by Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammad during an interview with CNN May 16. Asked whether the U.S. should maintain a military presence in the region, Dr. Mahathir said:

"I don't believe that having a military presence there is going to help. You are merely going to make the Chinese nervous. You are going to make them feel that they are the future enemy. And when you treat people as your future enemy, they will become your present enemy."

UN Envoy Urges Reconciliation, Not Retribution in Myanmar

According to an extensive article in the Far East Economic Review of May 16, the United Nations' envoy to Myanmar has floated a reconciliation proposal based on the principle of "no retribution." UN envoy and senior Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail hopes to reach a more substantial resolution of relations between the ruling State Peace and Development Council, the opposition National League for Democracy of Aung San Suu Kyi, and ethnic minority groups.

When Aung San Suu Kyi was released from 19 months of house detention on May 6, Razali said the next major hurdle would be a new national election within two to three years. FEER article author Barry Wain points to an intermediate step in that direction, which has important ramifications for any election. Wain indicates that Razali plans to create a regional component in any overall settlement. The nine other ASEAN members could be asked to guarantee a proposal to grant immunity from prosecution to anyone—pro-democracy demonstrators or military—who was involved in the popular uprising in 1988. With senior officers given freedom of movement within ASEAN, they would be less likely to fear retribution after handing over power to a civilian administration.

Commenting on Razali's role as UN envoy, Junta spokesman Col. Hla Min said, "He has been very helpful in giving his thoughts and opinions on what is going on in the world and what should happen. He has done it in such a friendly way that both sides could be receptive to his advice."

Razali had the full support from both UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir, with aid from Japan. On May 10, Japan pledged $4.91 million in grant aid to Myanmar to restore six power turbines in the Baluchaung hydroelectric power station in Kayah State, which provides 30% of the country's power supply. Japan's Ambassador Shigeru Tsumori met with Suu Kyi the same day to brief her on Japan's aid policy. In April, Japan had pledge $6.2 million to upgrade medical equipment in three hospitals in the capital, Yangon.

Nepal Bloodshed Continues After Bush Pledges Anti-Terrorism Support

Reports of May 14 from Kathmandu say that an estimated 500 Maoists stormed the Mahendra Sanskrit University in Dang, West Nepal, setting fire to the building and destroying office records. No injuries were reported. This report only says that the Maoists oppose the teaching of Sanskrit. This incident occurred while Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was still out of the country, on an international tour that hit Washington, and London (see EIW #8).

While Prime Mininster Deuba got promises of $20 million in aid and "advisors" from Washington, British Prime Minister Tony Blair offered no clear aid or arms to Nepal. Blair spent only a few minutes with Prime Minister Deuba, leaving the tougher talks to Overseas Aid Minister Clare Short and Junior Defense Minister Adam Ingram. Short's only comment on the meeting was that the talks had focused on reforms, better spending, and the need for "more effective military, but less repression." After this cautious reception, a Downing Street spokesman delivered the message that Blair's government "welcomed the excellent security relationship between the two countries, and agreed on the urgent need to tackle Maoist insurgency in Nepal."

Cooperation Surrounds Visit by South Korean Leader to Seoul

Representative Park Geun-Hye, eldest daughter of the late South Korean President Park Chung-Hee, went to Pyongyang, North Korea, and it is coming out that the North Korean leadership, including National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il, "privately admire what Park accomplished," South Korea's Yonhap News said May 13. President Park, who ruled South Korea during 1963-79, is reviled from the Korean left to the center, not to mention in Pyongyang, as a brutal dictator, which he was. Park, however, also turned South Korea from a mud-rut rubblefield with a living standard below that of most of Africa, into the world's 11th industrial power, in under 15 years. Many in South Korea, even on the left, believe that Park was assassinated in 1979 by KCIA agents on orders from the Carter Administration, to halt his policy to build dozens of nuclear power plants, to gain Korea energy independence from the oil cartel.

In the North Korean Grand Encyclopedia, Park is described as a "pro-U.S., pro-Japan traitor and President of a puppet South Korean government" and "the most vicious anti-unification madman out of all South Korean rulers." However, North Korean Chairman Kim in late 2000 told editors of major South Korean media, "The future generation, not the current one, should judge President Park." During a meeting with the late Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung in October 1999, Chairman Kim also said, "President Park paved the way for economic development," following which the North Korean news media's criticism of Park stopped suddenly.

Park's daughter, chairman of the new Korea Coalition for the Future, a political party she is seeking to launch, met the North Korean leader in her capacity as a board member of the EU-Korea Foundation, a group of diplomats stationed in Seoul from 24 EU countries and some 600 European businessmen. Given all this, it is hard to believe that the Iron Silk Road from Korea to Europe will not be central to the discussions. If Park does run for President in the December elections, her third-party candidacy could prove decisive to determining the outcome. Upon her return to South Korea, Park reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has reaffirmed his willingness to make a return visit to South Korea. "Although no specific dates were mentioned, the North's leader said he would keep his promise," Park told the press.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization Defense Ministers Meet

Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian was in Moscow on May 13-16, meeting his counterparts from four other nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which also includes Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakstan. Uzbekistan, also a member, was not represented.

It should be noted that Uzbekistan has the closest relations with the United States of the Central Asian republics, and is a key base for U.S. and allies' "war on terrorism" operations into southern Eurasia.

On May 14, the ministers signed a joint communiqué on military cooperation. They decided to establish a senior defense commission, and to hold joint anti-terrorist training in Central Asia.

Chi met in Moscow with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, to discuss deepening military bilateral relations, and safeguarding international strategic stability.

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