Asia News Digest
UN Security Council Takes No Action Against North Korea
China has blocked a U.S. proposal that the UN Security Council issue a statement from its April 9 meeting, condemning North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, South Korea's Radio Korea International reported April 9. Following the UNSC meeting, Council president Aguilar Zinser (the Mexican envoy) announced that members had only "expressed their concern and the Council will continue to follow up developments on this matter."
"Everyone has been trying to ensure that [the issue] is dealt with peacefully," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, noting that the next step is to "find a format acceptable to both parties [Washington and Pyongyang] and bring them to the table." This strongly implies UN talks will be off for awhile. Maurice Strong, an adviser to Annan, urged the UN take no action. "If they take the tack of escalating the confrontational nature of this, that will be a problem," Strong told reporters.
China's Ambassador to the UN, Wang Yingfan, said China rejected the idea of the Security Council taking up the North Korean nuclear issue. "We think intervention by the [UNSC] is not appropriate, and cannot now help resolve the North Korean nuclear issue," Liu Jianchao, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said April 9 in Beijing.
In Moscow, Alexander Losyukov, the Foreign Ministry's curator of Asian affairs, said urgent measures were needed to cool off the situation. "Otherwise, the UN Security Council discussion could, instead, become a launching pad for a further unravelling of relations," Losyukov said.
Officials in Tokyo said Japan, which is not a member of the Security Council, was firmly against sanctions at present. "It is not the right time to take any measures against North Korea or put too much pressure on North Korea now," a Foreign Ministry official said.
Even South Korea, angry over the North's cancellation of economic talks for last week, suggested that a meeting of countries in the region would be the best way to bring the North's nuclear program under control. "We can resolve North Korea's nuclear issues without going through the official channel of the UN," said Yoon Young Kwan, South Korea's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, before leaving for Beijing.
Mahathir: Greater NAM Unity Needed To Address War, Economy
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Bin Mohammad, who is serving as the chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM,) was interviewed by Al-Jazeera; where he called on countries "in the north," to join with NAM, and for regime change in Washington. Quotes from the interview follow:
"The war in Iraq is already wreaking havoc to the world economy.... The United States and even countries far from the scene of the war were suffering economically. Whether they win or lose the war, the problem is not how to revive the Iraqi economy but the world's economy. Then, it is going to take a very long time because there will be no confidence, people will always live in fear of new terrorist attacks....
"We know most of the U.S. airlines have been bankrupted, most European airlines are in trouble and when the airlines fail, other (related) industries like hotel, travel agencies and tourism will fail. These are very big contributors to the economy of Europe, the U.S. and the world. The economy of the world is going to be so bad that talking about rebuilding would be a hypocrisy because nobody can rebuild Iraq, just like they cannot rebuild Afghanistan....
"Our hopes lie in cooperating with countries in the North that are against the war, and we want to restore good international behavior, respect for international law and the UN.... We do not know whether Pakistan and Syria will be the next target for the same reason that these countries are a threat to the United States. So many countries, including Iran, will not feel safe.... The new government to be installed in Iraq is bound to fail.
"The only way to stop the war is for the Americans to replace their [own] government.
"The Non-Aligned Movement countries can do more for the war than demonstrating and collecting money. There are other things we can do but because we are not united, it is not possible."
India Asserts Right of Preemptive Strike in Wake of Iraq War
A senior official of the U.S. State Department told The Dawn newspaper of Pakistan on April 8, that the U.S. is worried, and has taken "seriously" India's assertion that it has a right to launch a preemptive strike against Pakistan-held areas in disputed Kashmir, for harboring terrorists. The cause of concern is a recent statement by Indian External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, who drew a parallel between Iraq, and Jammu and Kashmir. Sinha asserted that India has every right, as the U.S. did in Iraq, to launch a preemptive strike against the Pakistan-held part of Jammu and Kashmir.
The State Department official also told The Dawn that "we recognize the very serious nature of the situation in Kashmir, as our recent joint statement with Britain made clear, but the two situations are not comparable." Elaborating the U.S. point of view, he said, "Iraq invaded, occupied, and brutalized Kuwait in 1990." After that the international community came together to drive Iraq out of Kuwait the following year. "A decade earlier Iraq attacked another neighbor, Iran, and used chemical weapons against it, and against thousands of its own citizens," he added.
India Parliamentary House Votes Against Iraq War
India's Lower House of Parliament, the Lok Sabha, unanimously passed a resolution on April 9, calling for an immediate end to the war against Iraq, and for a quick withdrawal of coalition troops. There had been a long debate on the issue, with the opposition Congress forcing a recession of the Parliament two days ago, because of demands for a strongly worded resolution.
The resolution said it is expressing "national sentiments," and that military action with a view to regime change in Iraq is "not acceptable." It noted that the war was launched without the permission of the UN, and demanded that the reconstruction of Iraq take place under UN supervision, and that Iraq's sovereignty be ensured.
When some Lok Sabha members expressed concern that India could itself become a possible target of the U.S., External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha responded that "anybody seeking to subdue the country was living in a dreamland."
In an April 4, exclusive interview with the Press Trust of India (PTI), Yashwant Sinha also said that India would calibrate its position as, and when, it becomes necessary, but feels that under no circumstances should Iraq's sovereignty be disturbed. He said that New Delhi is aware of the unilateralism touted by the U.S.-led coalition in waging war against Iraq, bypassing the UN.
Reacting to criticism of the Vajpeyee government for adopting a "middle path" on the Iraq war, Sinha said: "We have never supported the war. We still stand by our position that unilateral action was not warranted and whatever has to be done should be done through the UN, and that war is not a preferred solution."
India Defense Minister To Go to China
Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes will go to Beijing later in April for a week-long visit, reported the Financial Express on April 4. He will meet the new Chinese President, Hu Jintao, and begin preparations for the visit of Prime Minister B.J. Vajpayee later this year.
Vajpayee had sent a very warm congratulatory note to the new Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, in March, in which he said: "In this new century, we seek to build a long-term, constructive and cooperative relationship based on the principles of Panchsheelmutual sensitivity to each other's concerns and equality.... This will be to mutual benefit and in the interest of peace and stability in Asia and in the world."
India Formally Invited To Join South Asia Gas Pipeline Project
Petroleum Ministers from Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan signed a joint invitation to India to participate in a proposed $2.5-billion gas pipeline project which would bring the Turkmen gas to the Indian subcontinent. The joint invitation was signed at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) office in Manila. ADB officials said the ministers wanted India to participate both as a potential investor and as a major purchaser of gas.
Rumsfeld Tries Troop Blackmail Against South Korea
U.S. Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for East Asia Richard Lawless arrived in Seoul for April 7-9 talks on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's threats to start unilaterally moving U.S. troops stationed in South Korea away from the war zone and possibly out of Korea altogether. The Seoul Cabinet on April 4 passed a resolution asking the U.S. to reconsider, because "no troops should be moved right in the middle of the security crisis on the peninsula." Lawless will announce that the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division is to be removed from the Demilitarized Zone, to a point much further south. He will also discuss relocation of the giant Yongsan U.S. military base in central Seoula relocation the South Korean government has requested for years, since it's a major hazard to civilians. However, the base is also relatively near the DMZ, and moving it just at this time is provocative.
Japan's Asahi News editorialized April 1 that "concerned American experts on Korea" are warning that Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz plan a "surgical procedure" against North Korea after the Iraq war. "Hard-liners are calling for the removal of U.S. military bases farther south of the 38th parallel (the DMZ), to 'liberate' U.S. soldiers held as North Korea's virtual hostages," Asahi warnedto get U.S. troops out of the line of preemptive utopian fire. Lawless will also raise the issue of transferring to South Korea the wartime command of Korea's armed forces, which are now under the control of the commander of the U.S.-led United Nations Command if martial law is declared.
China, Russia, Japan and South Korea Urge Six-Power Talks
China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea have all agreed to try to persuade North Korea to join six-way multilateral talks, and to hold bilateral talks with the U.S. within that framework, South Korean and Japanese diplomats stressed to EIR. "While we realize that Pyongyang wants bilateral talks with the U.S. to assure that it is treated as an independent sovereign nation," one Japanese diplomat said, "in fact, North Korea's best guarantee of proper treatment will be if all the neighboring countries with their own strong desire for peace in the region are involved."
The U.S. has refused the initial North Korean demand for bilateral talks, and has insisted on a multilateral forum.
China and Japan agreed formally at a meeting in Beijing to jointly urge North Korea to the multilateral dialogue to resolve the nuclear issues peacefully, said Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and Chinese counterpart Li Zaoshing on April 6. China originally leaned toward respecting Pyongyang's desire for bilateral talks, but has changed to opting for six-way talks since March. Li said that he would cooperate with Japan, but stressed that it is important to respect North Korean sovereignty.
China Warns U.S. Against Military Action Against North Korea
South Korean state radio reported on April 9 that Tang Jaoshien, a Chinese Council member and former Foreign Minister, said in Beijing April 8 that there must be no more war on the Korean Peninsula. While meeting with visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, Tang also said that there must be no nuclear weapons on the peninsula. Tang's statement is seen as Beijing's effort to keep in check any U.S. military action vis-à-vis North Korea.
U.S. Bombing Kills Civilians in Afghanistan
Channel NewsAsia:Kabul on April 9 reported that U.S. military spokesman Douglas Lefforge told newsmen that a bomb dropped by coalition aircraft landed in a house on the outskirts of Shkin in eastern Afghanistan, adjacent to the Pakistani border, and killed 11 civilians. "The tragic incident occurred when enemy forces attacked an Afghan military post checkpoint that was providing security near the Shkin firebase, just before midnight last night," said Lefforge.
The incident in Afghanistan adds further complications for the U.S. Iraq war debacle, where the "Utopian" chickenhawks, led by Donald Rumsfeld, promised a war that was a "cakewalk," underdeployed the number of troops and logistics, and blindly declared the Afghanistan situation to be a military and political victory. In reality, the Taliban is regrouping in south Afghanistan and on eastern border with Pakistan, where the intensity of attacks by U.S.-led coalition troops against Taliban have increased manifold. In order to protect the Karzai regime from collapsing, the U.S.-led troops and the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) have intensified attacks on anti-Karzai rebels this area. Kabul fears a major Taliban offensive surging northward from the south this spring.
Overstretched? Taliban Returning in Afghanistan
The Taliban are now in control of the Naubahar and Shinkai districts in the province of Zabul, for the first time since the Taliban militia were ousted by the U.S. and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) more than a year ago, reports a Pakistan-based daily, The News. A Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Mukhtar Mujahid, told The News April 7 that their fighters evicted the Afghan government officials from their offices on April 6.
Sporadic fighting is taking place between the Taliban militia and the U.S. troops in parts of Uruzgan province in central Afghanistan. Meanwhile, attacks on U.S.-led coalition troops have increased in the wake of the invasion of Iraq. In recent days, two U.S. soldiers were killed and a third injured in an ambush in Gereshk in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, while an expatriate engineer working with the Red Cross was killed in Uruzgan. Bomb explosions in the border town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar province killed two Afghan militiamen and injured four others. Another bomb blast in a garrison in Jalalabad also wounded some Afghan soldiers. The ISAF headquarters in Kabul and U.S. military outposts in Kunar, Khost, Paktia, Paktika and Kandahar were also rocketed.
In a major incident April 3, President Hamid Karzai's close ally Haji Gilani and his nephew were gunned down in their home at night in the town of Deh Rawood in Uruzgan province. Karzai also comes from that province and it was Haji Gilani who had provided shelter to him in October 2001, when Afghanistan was under Taliban control, and the Americans sent Karzai secretly into Afghanistan with a handful of supporters, to generate support against the Taliban in Uruzgan. The killing of Haji Gilani is seen as a clear signal that Kabul is about to lose control of southern Afghanistan.
'Who Lost Afghanistan?'
Appealing to the Bush Administration to stop its neglect of Afghanistan, Mahmood Karzai, the restaurateur brother of President Hamid Karzai, and Hamed Wardak, brother of Afghan Vice-President Taj Mohammad Wardak (a former California resident), have jointly penned an op-ed with former GOP Congressman Jack Kemp. They pointed out that the Karzai government has not performed well during its year in office, and to make matters worse, the U.S.-financed warlords are threatening that government. "Unfortunately, the reemergence of these warlords is directly related to U.S. financial and military support, which is the sole source of their power ... cooperation with the warlords serves to alienate the common Afghan citizen. A worst-case scenario is that Afghans will associate the U.S. involvement with tyranny and become vulnerable to political manipulation by the Taliban and al-Qaeda." The authors conclude: "America's failure to give its unambiguous support to Hamid Karzai at this critical time in Afghan history could result in the question: Who lost Afghanistan?"
U.S. Troop Deployment in Philippines Restored After Cancellation
Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo confirmed that the next phase of joint U.S.-Filipino "shoulder to shoulder" exercises, aka "Balikatan 03-1" exercises, will take place on Sulu island, an outpost of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom gang. The announcement was reported April 9, despite the huge outcry only a few weeks ago that forced cancellation of the combat deployment. The presence of foreign troops for combat missions is against the Philippines Constitution. At least for the volatile Sulu region, President Arroyo declared the decision on the exercises was "final."
Newly appointed head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Gen. Narciso Abaya said the exercises would take place in May or June and last for six months. He made his remarks following a meeting in Okinawa, Japan with Gen. Joel Weber, commander of U.S. Marines in Okinawa. Abaya said the Balikatan 03-1 would be a "bigger exercise" than last year's, but also said U.S. troops would not be "embedded" with Filipino troops, leaving the exact role of U.S. forces inadequately defined.
China Strategic Expert: 'Axis of Restraint' Needed
On April 6, Agence France Presse reported that China's Tang Shi Ping, deputy director of the Center for Regional Security Studies at the Beijing Academy of Social Science, called for an "axis of restraint" against U.S. global power. The commentary was published in the Singapore Straits Times last month, where Tang Shi Ping wrote that China, Russia, and other nations, "must form an axis of restraint" that could support Iran, including militarily, to check U.S. control of the Persian Gulf. "The purpose of restraining the U.S. is not to isolate it, but to bring it back in line with the international norms it long cherished," Tang wrote.
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