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http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/110302/dLFOR36.asp China condemns US global military expansion following Sept 11 AFP Beijing, March 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- China on Monday broke with its policy of refusing to condemn the increased US global military presence following September 11, saying the expansion of Washington's "so-called security interests" presented a threat to the world. The criticism, in a scathing report assessing the United States' record on human rights, marks a rare note of discord from China's general support for the US-led military response to the terrorist attacks six months ago. "The United States has built many military bases all over the world, where it has stationed hundreds of thousands of troops, violating human rights everywhere in the world," said the lengthy document, issued Monday by China's cabinet, the State Council. "Today, the United States has expanded its so-called security interests to almost every corner of the world," it continued. China has previously been at pains to avoid commenting on the US's deployment of troops following September 11 to Central Asian countries on its own borders such as Afghanistan. The "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2001" -- a riposte to recent US State Department condemnations of China's record -- contains an entire section lambasting US military might. It is the third year in the row Beijing has countered American criticisms by taking the United States to task for its own internal problems, but the first time this has been extended to include US military actions. Using language reminiscent of turbulent Sino-US ties before September 11, the chapter says the United States "ranks first in the world in wantonly infringing upon the sovereignty of, and human rights in, other countries". Evidence cited for this ranged from the scale of American military spending to the use of depleted uranium weapons and alleged crimes committed by US servicemen abroad. The section also resurrected the collision last April between a US surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea, in which a Chinese pilot died, saying this "aroused great indignation" within the country. Relations between Beijing and Washington dipped to a low point in the aftermath of the collision. They have improved following China's support for the response to US September 11 and two subsequent visits to China by US President George W. Bush, with both countries seemingly keen to gloss over traditional irritants such as human rights. However, Monday's report is a clear sign that below the surface, Washington's criticisms still rankle greatly. The document, using a broad definition of human rights to include such things as racism, poverty, crime and violence portrayed in the media, is clearly aimed as a response to the US criticisms of China earlier this month. The report "urges the United States to give up its hegemonic practice of creating confrontation and interfering in the internal affairs of others by exploiting the human rights issue," a report by the state Xinhua news agency said. The US document concluded that China committed "numerous and serious abuses" of human rights in 2001, including arbitrary arrest, torture and the repression of religion and of minorities in Tibet and the Muslim-majority Xinjiang region. China's human rights record "remained poor", the State Department concluded in a scathing 70,000-word catalogue of abuses, immediately rejected as "unreasonable" by Beijing. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
