Extracts. US Building Cross-Straits Barriers by Arms Sales Xinhua News Agency published a commentary titled, "Who Is Building Barriers to Peace Across the Straits?" Saturday, condemning the United States for its half- century-long military intervention in and arms sales to the Chinese island province of Taiwan. The United States began putting up a military barrier in the 1950s, when its Seventh Fleet sailed into the Taiwan Straits. Recently, the US government agreed on a billions-US dollars worth package of arms sale to Taiwan, including four Kidd-class destroyers, eight diesel-powered submarines and 12 P-3C submarine-hunting planes. Over the past five decades, the United States has been working hard to erect a dangerous military barrier against peace across the Taiwan Straits, the commentary said. Xinhua criticized the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, saying that it violates international law and agreements made with China. According to the US-China Joint Communique signed on August 17, 1982, the United States was supposed to halt its arms sales to Taiwan long ago, but it sold to Taiwan 150 F-16 fighter jets worth six billion US dollars in September 1992, and advanced weapons worth 1.87 billion US dollars in three batches of arms sales in 2000. The US arms sales to Taiwan over the past five decades are intentionally hostile activities,carried out in the teeth of opposition by China, the commentary stressed. During that period, Taiwan received 95 percent of its new arms from the United States. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties with China 21 years ago, the United States has sold arms to Taiwan in 47 deals with a total value of over 40 billion US dollars. US arms sales indicate that long-term separation and confrontation are part of the US global strategy and complies with its own interests. The US arms sales to Taiwan are neither legal nor reasonable, Xinhua commented, noting that for years the Chinese government and people have been handling Sino-US relations in accordance with international norms and laws, but China's appeals, based on peace, reason and justice, have never met with a reasonable response. China is longing for peace, and the Chinese nation has never been aggressive, the commentary stressed. It explained that the Chinese government's refusal to promise to abandon the use of force is in response to brutal interference by foreign forces. It reiterated the Chinese government's basic policies of " Peaceful Reunification and One Country, Two Systems" and its repetitive calls for holding cross-straits negotiations based on the One-China Principle. The long-time confrontation across the Taiwan Straits has hurt Chinese people on both sides of the Straits, as well as the American people, Xinhua said. The annual Sino-US trade volume has approached 100 billion US dollars-worth, it said. War is a double-edged sword, as anyone who triggers a war will be the greatest loser, the Xinhua commentary warned. **** Bush's Threat to "Defend" Taiwan Is "Very Dangerous" An article of Thursday's Straits Times points out that the US President George W. Bush's vow to "defend" Taiwan is a "very dangerous", with the serious consequences of Taiwan declaring independence or indefinitely extending the danger of separation from China. The article says that Bush recently told ABC and CNN that the US will do its utmost to "defend" Taiwan, a move that indicates that the US government's policy on China has experienced a significant change. It notes that although Bush reiterates the pursuance of the one-China policy and warns Taiwan not to declare independence, his promise is nothing but a disguise to whitewash the change in the US policy concerning China. In his campaign for the US president, Bush announced that if Taiwan was forced to be unified, the US would defend Taiwan. This has always been an important agenda of the right-wing conservative party in the US, it says. "In fact, just before Bush's recent remarks, US Secretary of the State Powell once said in a Congress hearing that the Japan should be invited to defend Taiwan together with the US Therefore, Bush's recent speech is not surprising," it continues. The article emphasizes that if Bush carries out the agenda of the right-wing conservative party in an all-round manner, the trouble will not end there. Bush's new action points to a dangerous possibility, that is, eventually abandon the one-China principle, it adds. During the first 100 days when Bush was in office, the Chinese Government has taken a relatively restrained reaction to the mid-air collision incident and the US arms sales to Taiwan, it continues. But if the US president took China��s restraint for granted, that would be very dangerous, it warns. **** ARATS President Calls for New Cross-Straits Talks Wang Daohan, president of the Association for Relations across the Taiwan <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/taiwan.html> Straits (ARATS), has called for new cross-straits talks based on the consensus of One- China Principle reached in 1992. Wang made the suggestion in the form of an article, published Friday, to mark the eighth anniversary of his talks with Koo Chen- fu, chairman of the board of directors of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), held in Singapore <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/singapore.html> in 1993. In the article, Wang attributed the success of the talks, known as "Wang-Koo Meeting," to the consensus which, he said, is a show of the sense of historical responsibility, sincerity, and goodwill of both sides. The two sides would not have sat together without consensus as the common ground, he stressed. Although the two sides gave different explanations on the political meaning of one China before national reunification is realized, they shared a common view on key issues on the adherence to the One-China Principle and made efforts to seek for national reunification, according to the ARATS president. Wang highlighted the historic importance of the "Wang-Koo Meeting," saying it fully symbolizes the objective fact that both sides across the Taiwan Straits belong to one China. The ARATS leader recalled that his handshake with his counterpart from Taiwan marked the national identification and feelings. "Wang-Koo Meeting" made it clear that despite the fact that the two sides have not unified, neither China's sovereignty nor its territorial integrity has been separated, he noted. Wang quoted President Jiang Zemin <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/people/jiangzemin.shtml> to reiterate, "Under the prerequisite of one China, everything is negotiable." According to Wang, since last year, Vice Premier Qian Qichen <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/people/qianqichen.shtml> has explained many times, "There is only one China in the world; both the mainland and Taiwan belong to one China; and China's sovereignty and territorial integrity are inseparable." The past eight years has witnessed the adverse current of " state-to-state theory" and the major change in Taiwan's political situation, Wang said. Currently, compatriots from both sides of the straits are strongly demanding for stability and improvement in cross-straits relations, he noted. Like the compatriots living in Taiwan, the mainland sincerely wishes that the ARATS and the SEF could begin new talks based on the consensus of 1992, he said. Wang criticized the new leader of Taiwan Authorities for its refusal to recognize the One-China Principle and the 1992 consensus between the two bodies ever since he took office a year ago. The mainland values the 1992 consensus and wants to resume the talks based on it, without any new demands, he said. Wang criticized Taiwan Authorities' attempts to change the base of "Wang-Koo Meeting" and new talks between the two bodies. What the Taiwan Authorities have done is not to "put aside disputes" and seek for resolution but to make trouble and tension, he noted. If Taiwan Authorities are sincere to hold cross-straits dialogue, they must recognize the One-China Principle and the 1992 consensus as a practical action in efforts to resume the talks, he stressed. **** Taiwan Affairs Office Spokesman on Taiwan Issue Nothing, either "Taiwan <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/taiwan.html> independence" forces, separatist forces or any foreign forces, can stand in the way of China's reunification, said a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council Friday. The Chinese people have never given in before foreign pressure or threats, Zhang Mingqing told a press conference, when answering a question from the press about U.S. President George W. Bush's recent remarks on the Taiwan issue. A reporter asked Zhang to comment on the remarks that the United States <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/usa.html> would help "defend" Taiwan and interfere in the solution of the Taiwan issue with military force. Zhang said that the Taiwan issue is an internal affair of China, adding that "Taiwan, a part of China's territory, is by no means a 'protectorate' of the United States." He noted that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and the erroneous remarks of the U.S. president were a gross interference in China's internal affairs, serious violation of China's sovereignty and an act to obstruct China's peaceful reunification. He said that by purchasing such a large quantity of offensive weaponry, the Taiwan authorities just want to resist reunification with their weapons. This would trigger off a tense situation in the Taiwan Straits and would result in extremely serious consequences, he added. The wrong decision made by the US government on arms sales to Taiwan will certainly seriously harm Sino-US relations, aggravate the tense situation in the Taiwan Straits, and endanger the peace of the Asia-Pacific region, he said. If the Taiwan authorities truly want to guarantee the safety of the Taiwan compatriots, they should recognize the one-China policy and realize the reunification of the motherland. "It is not reliable to depend on foreign weapons or foreigners," Zhang said. "The plot, which is doomed to failure, will only increase tension in the Straits." Zhang reaffirmed that there will be no way to begin negotiations as long as the Taiwan authorities do not accept the one-China policy. **** Thailand, Vietnam to Sign Long-term Cooperation Pact Thailand and Vietnam are expected to sign a 10-year cooperation agreement on August 6, when the two countries celebrate the 25th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, the state-owned TV Channel 3 reported Saturday. The plan was unveiled by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra after he returned from a one-day visit to Vietnam on April 25. Thaksin said the cooperation pact will cover various aspects including agriculture, investment and communications. "As Thailand and Vietnam are world's top rice exporters, both countries agreed to jointly promote the business on a non-rival basis," he said. To strengthen bilateral trade and investment, a road project to link Thailand's Mukdahan province with Danang in Vietnam via Laos will be accelerated while Vietnam's national flag carrier will increase its flight frequency to Thailand. Thaksin also reiterated that Thailand would never allow anyone to use its territory as a base to sabotage Vietnam. **** U.S. Travelers in Transit Through Russia to Need Visas From May 6 Russia is to introduce a visa requirement for U.S. citizens traveling through its territory in transit to other countries as of May 6, the foreign ministry announced Saturday. Officials quoted by the Interfax news agency said the measure had been taken in reprisal for a similar requirement for Russian citizens introduced by the United States on April 6. Foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said earlier this month that Russia "cannot understand the reasons for introducing these new rules." Relations between Russia and the United States have worsened sharply in recent months. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
