-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! FOCUS-Clinton says China no threat in Panama Canal Updated 3:28 PM ET November 30, 1999 By Mark Egan WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - President Clinton Tuesday dismissed the notion that Chinese control of the Panama Canal could hurt national security once the United States cedes control at the end of the year. Hutchison Whampoa, a Hong Kong-based company with ties to Beijing, has won the right to control the ports at both ends of the canal, leading some to fear that the Chinese might abuse their effective control of the 51 mile long canal once the U.S. military pulls out of the area. "I think the Chinese will in fact be bending over backward to make sure that they run it in a competent and able and fair manner," Clinton said at a news briefing. "This is like them -- is like China coming into the World Trade Organization; I'll think they'll want to demonstrate to a distant part of the world that they can be a responsible partner," he said. "I would be very surprised if any adverse consequences flowed from the Chinese running the canal." The Panama Canal will pass to Panamanian from U.S. control Dec. 31, ending a 96-year American military presence in Panama. Earlier this week retired Adm. Thomas Moorer, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said China was plotting to take over the canal once the United States relinquishes control. He suggested China could use the area to launch a nuclear attack on America. White House National Security Council spokesman David Leavy Tuesday also sought to allay those fears. "Responsibility for operation of the canal following the transfer will rest solely with the government of Panama," he said. "The company in question will have no control over, or role in, the operation of the canal." Clinton said he was confident the Panamanian government would run the canal in an appropriate fashion and reiterated his support of the handover. "I think it's the right thing to do," Clinton said. "I think that the new government of Panama is committed to maintaining the canal in an appropriate way and keeping it open and working with us to do so and having good relations." Clinton told reporters his decision not to attend the handover event was due to the number of foreign trips he had already taken this year and not a snub of the event. Former President Jimmy Carter and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will head the U.S. delegation to the ceremony. "The people of Panama should know that this president and our government strongly support both the treaty and the event," Clinton said. State Department spokesman James Rubin said Carter's appearance at the transfer was in recognition of his role in negotiating the transfer. Rubin stressed that Hutchison Whampoa, which controls 10 percent of global maritime container traffic, had contracts to run the ports, not the canal itself. "We have no reason to believe there's any risk of any problem as a result of (Hutchison Whampoa) running the ports," he told a news briefing Tuesday. But U.S. lawmakers have also raised concerns on the issue as the transfer nears. In August Senate Majority leader Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, wrote to Secretary of Defense William Cohen, saying "U.S. naval ships will be at the mercy of Chinese-controlled pilots and could even be denied passage through the canal by Hutchison, an arm of the People's Liberation Army." In October Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican, told a Senate hearing on the issue he believed Hutchison Whampoa's billionaire chairman, Li Ka-shing, was a member of the inner circle of the Chinese leadership. **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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