Extracts. NMD System to Trigger New Arms Race Chinese military experts have warned that US plans to deploy a national missile defence (NMD) system will lead to a new arms race, including one in outer-space. China has noticed the US has made it clear that it intends to deploy its missile defence system, said Yao Yunzhu, deputy director of the Asia-Pacific Office of the Department of Foreign Military Studies, in the Academy of Military Science of the People's Liberation Army. "The consequence will be a dangerous arms race in space," Yao said. At the Munich Conference on Security Policy, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reiterated Washington's intention to deploy a missile shield despite objections from its European allies, Russia, China and other countries. Yao, who studies US defence and security policies, noted that the recent US 'war games', simulating military confrontations in outer-space, signals US attempts to dominate space operations and the beginning of the militarization of space. On January 22 more than 250 US military personnel and technical specialists took part in a five-day military exercise in Colorado Springs. The exercise, set in 2017, had China as the "Red Team", the assumed enemy. It is the first time for a war game to have outer-space as a major theatre of war. Moreover, the exercise is thought to be only the first in a series that the US Space Command hopes to run every 18 months to examine space operational doctrine, the utility of space systems and the integration of space and terrestrial systems, according to Rob Hegstrom, chief of modeling and simulation at the US Space Command's Space Warfare Centre. "We can not help but be worried about the negative impact and the chain reaction likely to be caused by such an ill-thought-out scenario," said Yao. Teng Jianqun, chief editor of "World Military Review," warned that the recent US moves would upset the whole structure of strategic balance and create prerequisites for a new arms race. The US development of an NMD project would require amendments to the Anti-ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty it signed with the former Soviet Union in 1972, which allows each country to have only one local missile defence system. However, with an NMD system in place, the US could be more inclined to launch a first strike against other country while avoiding or reducing the risks of retaliatory strikes. Undoubtedly, this alteration of the ABM Treaty will encourage more countries to update and expand their own missile capability to compensate for their perceived strategic disadvantages, said Teng. "Seeking absolute superiority with military means is sure to deteriorate regional security and damage the interests of all parties," he said. Meanwhile, Chinese military experts pointed out that the US Government should base their NMD decisions on whether the deployment is politically sound, militarily effective and cost-effective in economic terms. Even in the US, most people remain uninformed about the costs and potential risks involved in the deployment of a missile defence system, which is why the Administration is still debating the decision. Although the US Government has made it clear that an NMD system is what the country needs, it has to decide what particular system to deploy -- will it be sea-based, land-based, space-based or all three, nor does the US identify the scale it intends to apply. Teng said the political implications of the deployment are clear -- to contain the "peer competitors" with the US -- China and Russia. China maintains the demilitarization of outer space and does not want to be in an arms race of any form. However, Teng said, when any country is taking China as a potential enemy and is preparing a military confrontation with China in outer-space, we have to pay close attention to and prepare for what would happen. **** APEC SOM I Unveils APEC Annual Meetings A series of activities of Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) for the year 2001 were unveiled Monday in Beijing, with the opening of the first Senior Officials Meeting (SOM I) of the 13th Ministerial Conference of APEC. According to sources with SOM I, about 20 APEC meetings or activities with diverse focuses are scheduled within this year. Following SOM I, another three SOMs will be held in May, August and October, respectively, in Shenzhen, Dalian and Shanghai. A high-level meeting on human capacity building is scheduled for Beijing in May. While the meeting of APEC trade ministers and that of APEC ministers of small and medium enterprises are due in Shanghai in June and August respectively, an APEC finance ministers meeting will be convened in September in Suzhou. At the same time, various special meetings or expositions will also be held. The 9th APEC informal leadership meeting scheduled for Shanghai late October is expected to bring about a climax, at which leaders or participants from the 21 economies of APEC will discuss about issues like free trade and economic and technical cooperation in the region. Prior to the leadership meeting, October will also see the convening of the APEC ministerial meeting, the CEO summit, and the APEC Business Advisory Council meeting. Founded in 1989, APEC stands as the highest level economic cooperation forum of the Asia-Pacific region, covering cooperative fields such as free trade and investment, economic and technical cooperation, dialogue on macro-economic policies. The organization so far has 21 members -- Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. **** Comment on US Double Standards for Heresies The crazy Falun Gong followers' tragic suicidal blaze in Tiananmen Square has torn off the last fig-leaf of the Falun Gong cult. Falun Gong's lie about "truthfulness, benevolence and tolerance" has unveiled its evil heretic nature in the crazy Falun Gong followers' suicidal blaze. The evil of heresies, besides misleading the public by evil doctrine, exercising spiritual control, deifying the founder of a religion, forming an association surreptitiously, illegally accumulating wealth and antagonizing society, has a distinct characteristic, that is, adopting the extreme method of roping crazy followers into collective suicidal blaze and thus ruining their lives. **** China Says Big Oil Field Possible Under Yellow Sea Chinese geologists have for the first time found evidence that the southern part of the Yellow Sea may contain a large quantity of oil and gas. According to the latest research findings made by the Guangzhou Marine Geologist Investigation Institute, scientists estimated that the oil and gas there will amount to 2 to 2.8 billion tons. The Yellow Sea is one of China's continental seas. It has a total area of about 400,000 sq. km. **** Mubarak Holds Talks with Arafat on Mideast Peace Process Egypt <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/egypt.html> ian President Hosni Mubarak met on Monday with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to discuss the Mideast peace process following Israel <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/Israel.html> 's hardliner Ariel Sharon's election as prime minister. Mubarak and Arafat are expected to coordinate stances in the light of the latest developments and discuss prospects of the peace process, Egypt's state-run MENA news agency reported. Arafat would update Mubarak on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories after Sharon's election and review the outcome of contacts between the Palestinians and the Israeli prime minister-elect, MENA quoted an aide to Arafat as saying. Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa has said that "our policy dealing with Sharon depends on his attitude towards the peace process," adding that Arab countries would keep their ties with the Jewish state if this could serve the peace process. "We are working on getting Israel to withdraw from the occupied Arab lands," Moussa said, adding that "wise" policies were being followed to achieve the goal. Sharon, leader of Israel's right-wing Likud party, won a crushing victory over incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in last Tuesday's prime ministerial election, casting a shadow over the future of the Mideast peace process. Sharon has said that he would not abide by the commitments made by Barak's government, a stance which has been dismissed by Moussa as "unacceptable." Arafat, a frequent visitor to Egypt, arrived in Cairo Sunday night for talks with Mubarak, who has been playing a key mediating role in the Middle East peace process. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
