----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2000 3:52 PM Subject: [STOPNATO] China greets Cohen with blast STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.COM ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb
Tuesday July 11 5:15 AM ET China Greets Cohen with Anti-Missile Blast By Paul Eckert BEIJING (Reuters) - China greeted the arrival of Defense Secretary William Cohen on Tuesday by urging Washington to drop plans to build anti-missile defense systems that have united China and Russia in opposition. ``We urge the United States to drop as soon as possible this plan, which does not serve its interest and harms that of others,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi told a news conference. China is bitterly opposed to plans to build a National Missile Defense (NMD) system to protect vulnerable parts of the United States from missile attacks and a Theater Missile Defense system (TMD) to shelter U.S. and allied troops in Asia. Beijing fears such an umbrella could cover Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province that must be re-united with the mainland, and says the system would spark an arms race in Asia. Beijing got no comfort on the TMD issue last weekend, when a senior U.S. arms negotiator said the United States had not ruled out sheltering Taiwan under the Asian missile defense umbrella. ``We don't rule out the possibility that some time in the future Taiwan may have TMD capabilities,'' U.S. arms control adviser John Holum said after two days of talks in Beijing. Holum spoke to reporters on Saturday after the first arms control talks in more than a year between the United States and China, during which a U.S. test of the proposed NMD system failed. Cohen Undaunted By Test Failure The timing of the much-anticipated test added insult to injury for the worried Chinese. The test failed because the so-called ``kill vehicle'' did not separate from its booster rocket. The trial never progressed to testing whether the weapon could find a dummy warhead in space and smash it out of the sky. Cohen, in his first public response to the failed test, told reporters on his way to China the failure did not automatically mean he would recommend against moving forward with the system. He must make a recommendation to President Clinton in four weeks on whether to go ahead with the NMD system. ``What I have to do is to await the full report, all of the analysis ... So at this point I'm just going to withhold any judgement,'' Cohen told reporters traveling with him. Russia and China are adamantly opposed to the system, which is aimed at shielding the United States from attacks from states like North Korea, Iran and Iraq. U.S. allies in Europe are worried it could lead to a renewed arms race. ``No matter what the United States says, it will not change China's opposition to the anti-missile defense program,'' said Chinese spokesman Sun. China Fears Global Balance Upset Asked about reports China's senior arms negotiator said NMD would force Beijing to change its policy on nuclear disarmament, Sun said: ``We will determine our disarmament policy in accordance with the development of the anti-missile system.'' The Guangzhou Daily quoted China's top disarmament diplomat, Sha Zukang, on Tuesday as saying the NMD meant that ``China could not help but take a more cautious approach toward joining nuclear disarmament efforts.'' Development of the missile defense system is being tied to a deadline of 2005, when U.S. intelligence estimates North Korea will have a missile capable of hitting U.S. soil. China has said it fears the NMD system would upset the global strategic balance and reduce the value of its modest nuclear deterrent capability. Cohen planned to broach the issue of missile technology proliferation with Chinese leaders, including U.S. suspicions that China is sending technology to Pakistan -- an accusation both countries deny. ``Just generally speaking we are concerned about the transfer of (missile) technology to Middle East countries and to Iran specifically,'' he said, adding he was not accusing China of currently supplying Iran with technology. Holum said he failed to bridge gaps with China over alleged Chinese sales of missile technology to Pakistan. The New York Times said last week China had stepped up shipment of special steels, guidance systems and technical expertise to Pakistan. Bruce K. Gagnon Coordinator Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space PO Box 90083 Gainesville, FL. 32607 (352) 337-9274 http://www.globenet.free-online.co.uk [EMAIL PROTECTED]
