WESTERN EUROPEAN NEWS DIGEST
Germany's Schroeder to China To Ride on World's First Commercial Maglev
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will travel on the maiden trip of the world's first commercial maglev (magnetically levitated train) in Shanghai on Dec. 31, in the company of Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji. The Magnetic Levitation Transportation Development Co. Ltd in Shanghai has confirmed that the trip will definitely take place; it will take seven minutes to travel the 31 kilometers of the maglev line. The joint Chinese-German maglev project is the first of its kind, and will be used for further "business" cooperation internationally, wrote the People's Daily Dec. 23. "There is no doubt that German Chancellor Schroeder will not come here alone"; he is leading an economic delegation of 100 people on the Dec. 29-Jan. 1.
The most difficult technical task for building the maglev, has been to make the train "float up" steadily over the rail, People's Daily reported. To ensure this worked, the Chinese side specially invited the German maglev (TVE) expert to Shanghai to preside over the experimental work. The train is now approaching being able to travel at its top speed, 430 kph. When the German side examined the maglev, they expressed great satisfaction with the "very good quality of the project."
The Shanghai maglev "will be an important model for other planned high-speed railway lines in China." Chinese Minister of Railways Fu Zhihuan said on Dec. 20 at a press conference that either traditional tracks or maglev methods can be chosen for a planned Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway. The results of the Shanghai project will be very important in determining that decision, which has yet to be made, he said.
People's Daily also, in reporting on the venture, noted that China represents a "ray of hope" for the sluggish Germany economy. Most important is the export of German machines to China. Despite the overall stagnation of global machinery exports during the first nine months in 2002, exports of German machines to China increased 30%, the Federation of German Machine-Building Industry has announced.
German Chancellor Schroeder is using his visit to China to expand German machinery exports to Chinaincluding more maglevs. "Exports are going well. The companies have shown that they are entering new markets [in China] and can win market shares and bolster the whole [German] economy, " said Eckhard Wurzel, an leading official of the German branch of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
German Intelligence: German Troops in Afghanistan Will Become Target of More Attacks
German Foreign Intelligence is warning that German soldiers in Afghanistan will become the target of increased attacks. The heavy helicopter crash that killed seven German soldiers near their military base at Kabul airport on Dec. 21, underlines the Germans' increasing exposure to casualties. Although the cause of the CH-53 helicopter's crashmetal fatigue, technical failure, or attackhas not been determined, German military commanders in Kabul as well as the foreign intelligence agency, BND, have pointed out in recent days that the pattern of guerrilla attacks and of broader rebel Afghan military attacks is visibly increasing. Moreover, the attacks are becoming more precise, as three recent incidents involving targets of the ISAF (peacekeeping force) in Kabul have illustrated. The BND also warns that in connection with the official change in ISAF command to the Germans and Dutch next February, German troops are expected to become a more prominent target of attacks, and more casualties have to be expected.
Bundeswehr spokesmen have also pointed out that their equipment in Afghanistan is insufficient and outdated, so that the job of ISAF commanding force cannot really be met. If the government at home keeps the troops badly supplied, it will cost soldiers their lives, they have warned.
Vatican Foreign Minister: U.S. Must Respect UN Decisions on War
Archbishop Jean-Luis Tauran, the Vatican Foreign Minister, recently gave an interview to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica in which he said that "a preemptive war is not foreseen in the United Nations charter." "It is important," Tauran said, "that Iraq's responsibles be able to rule their political action according to the code of behavior imposed by their membership in the UN community. But nothing must be decided independently from the concert of nations and international institutions."
Tauran revealed that "already two months ago, I stressed in Washington the necessity of dialogue," and that it is not the case that "a member of the community can decide: I do this and you help me or otherwise you stay home. If it were so, the whole system of international rules would crash. We would be in a jungle."
On first use of nuclear weapons, Tauran comments: "It would be better not to even echo such an hypothesis, because it seems to me a monstrous one."
Meanwhile, in an article appearing in the Dec. 24 issue of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Milan Archbishop Dionigi Cardinal Tettamanzi recalled that Christmas teaches a lesson on the real way to peace. Today, he wrote "We cannot avoid feeling the full dissonance of many ways which presently want to be smuggled as ways to peace, even by some who profess to be Christians. Peace born out of threatening skies, skies of preventive wars, cannot be confused with peace born out of an open sky, without threats: a sky of forgiveness."
German Churches Also Mobilize Against War Danger
The lead article in the Dec. 27 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is entitled "The Pope Calls for Preventing War against Iraq." It reports that the Vatican has launched a "peace offensive" which began with the Pope's Christmas message, and is continuing through several initiatives. Curia sources report that Vatican diplomats are being deployed to bring this messagewhich will include the Pope's Jan. 1 World Peace Day speech.
The Pope had issued a "dramatic appeal" to all cardinals and bishops in the Curia, saying, "The Church does not cease to raise its voice, regarding the conflicts that are drowning so many regions of the world in blood; regarding the no less terrible 'forgotten' wars; and regarding terrorism."
Among the other statements issued by leading clergymen, as de facto part of this peace initiative, are the following: The head of the Council of the Evangelical (Protestant) Churches in Germany, Kock, called for "standing up" against an Iraq war. In "contrast to words of hatred and saber-rattling," he said, the church should spread the word of Christ. Cardinal Lehmann of Mainz said that through the Incarnation, God demonstrated "what human friendliness is." German Curia member Cardinal Kasper said that an aggressive war against Iraq "is not justifiable in any way." Berlin Bishop Huber warned against war; the Hesse-Nassau Church President Steinacker called on Christians "not to give up on the hope for peaceful conflict resolution."
French Troops Prevent Rebel Advance on Abidjan
French troops prevented the rebels advance on Abidjan, as the UN Security Council condemned the resort to arms by the Ivory Coast's rebels. French forces used tank-mounted cannons near the town of Duekoue on Dec. 21 to stop the advance of rebels moving from Ivory Coast's west toward Abidjan, according to Associated Press. The French have been building up their forces in the country to the level of 2,500 troops in recent days, despite the plan for their replacement by peacekeepers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The plan for ECOWAS peacekeepers is going forward, but more slowly than intended.
AP states, "With so much at stake for the region if Ivory Coast falls into chaos, the French decided to take up their largest military role in years in their former colonial empire."
The UN Security Council broke its silence on the warfare in Ivory Coast for the first time on Dec. 20, in a condemnation of "attempts to use force to influence the political situation and overthrow the elected government." The Security Council went on to praise the role being played by France.
The Security Council statement welcomed "the commitment by the President of Ivory Coast to submit in the coming days a comprehensive plan to end the crisis."
European Stock Markets, Like American, Were Battered in 2002
Like the American, the European stock market's performance in December, according to U.S. and British news coverage, was the worst December since 1931, at the onset of the Great Depression. Analysts are projecting further losses in 2003. In Britain, the FTSI 100 index is expected to close the year having lost more than 25% of its total valuea loss of 300 billion pounds-sterling. The index is down by almost 50% from its peak on the last trading day of 1999, for a total loss of more than 650 billion pounds. Jeff Walker, publisher of the Walker Market Letter, told Reuters that anyone who predicts a market comeback in 2003, simply based on the presumption that the market cannot fall for four consecutive years, is crazy. "Last year the market experienced a larger loss than in 2000 and this year's decline was even bigger. At this rate, pessimists might expect the market to melt down to zero in no time at all."
According to Reuters, the Standard & Poors 500 index lost more than 10% in 2000, 13% in 2001, and will post a 2002 loss greater than 20%, perhaps surpassing the 29.7% fall of 1974. The last time the S&P 500 posted three consecutive years of double-digit losses was 1930-32. And, to quote Reuters, "The Nasdaq index has been a basket case for the last three years, crashing more than 20% each year. In 2002, the tech-laced index plummeted nearly 30%."
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