Extracts. Fundamental Changes in US-China Ties Debated A month of near-constant turmoil in US-Chinese ties has raised fresh questions about whether President George W. Bush has helped to set in motion a fundamental realignment of the countries' relationship. Some respected American China-watchers are even broaching the idea of fashioning a fourth "communique" -- a formal agreement that would build on, or maybe even replace, three earlier accords that form the basis of modern US-Chinese ties. "The fundamental elements that underlie the three communiques have basically broken down," said Richard Solomon, president of the United States Institute of Peace. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and Taiwan's current status, "the strategic underpinnings of the three communiques no longer exist, and for that reason you need to rethink the basis of the (US-Chinese) relationship to understand its equities and the areas of conflict," he said. Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, an influential Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also sees potential for a formal restructuring of Sino-American ties. The senator said that China would decide who will succeed current President Jiang Zemin in 2002, but once that is settled, "there may be an opportunity for the first step to take place in a updated, more formal relationship that we could move forward on," Hagel said in an interview. Future-oriented Policy Urged Thinking is still evolving on what a new relationship might look like, but Hagel said "it must be relevant to the times, it must be a relationship that draws from the strength and the foundation of what's gone before, it should be one that focuses very much on the future," including China's role in the world. The idea of a fourth US-Chinese communique -- adding to those agreed to in 1972, 1979 and 1982 -- has occasionally been suggested in recent years and rejected. The Bush team has not indicated it is re-examining the idea, but some analysts say it is. US policy is to recognize "one China" and to have formal diplomatic relations with Beijing. But Washington also has "unofficial" ties with Taiwan that Washington has pledged to provide the island with arms to defend itself. Bush campaigned on a platform that put new emphasis on allies Japan and South Korea. But recent weeks have been dominated by China-related decision-making and events. Republicans are split Bush, the leader of a Republican Party that is deeply divided over China, has fomented much debate on the subject since taking office. Some say he has single-handedly altered long-standing US policy -- without a fourth communique. "It's still early to make a judgment, but on the basis of evidence to date ... the administration is reconstructing the relationship with China without renegotiating it," said Kenneth Lieberthal, a former aide to ex-President Bill Clinton. "It has been taking a very wide series of measures that almost certainly are seen by people concerned with security affairs in China as threatening to their vital interests and fundamentally restructuring the relationship in a way that sets aside major previous agreements and understandings and does this on a unilateral basis," he said. "At the same time, it also appears that significant changes are taking place in our policy toward Taiwan," added Lieberthal, a professor at the University of Michigan. Bush's first major foreign policy crisis was thrust on him when a US spy plane with a crew of 24 collided with a Chinese fighter on April 1 and made an emergency landing on Hainan Island. Holding of plane, crew The crew was eventually returned. But because it was detained for 11 days and the plane remains in Chinese custody, the Bush team has taken a harder line toward Beijing. For example, US-Chinese contacts are now being reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The calendar forced Bush to grapple early with some China issues that have increased tensions, including whether to support a UN resolution criticizing China's human rights record and whether to sell weapons again to Taiwan. But Bush made his own contribution to the changing dynamics. He approved the largest arms sale package ever for Taiwan, said he would do "whatever it takes" to defend the island and will apparently allow Taiwan's president to meet congressmen when he crosses the United States on a trip to Central America this month. Bush's decision to move forward with a missile defense system has also worsened relations, although partisans argue that the president's firm stance will make it more likely in the long run that Beijing takes him seriously. When Congress debates the annual renewal of normal trade ties with China in June, the focus will be on economics, where many see more common ground, and then on a scheduled October summit between Bush and Jiang. By then, "I think you'll see a certain natural balance re-establish itself in the relationship," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. **** US-China Relations "Not Business as Usual" US national security advisor Condoleezza Rice said Sunday relations with China were "not business as usual" and defended Washington's review of its contacts with Beijing <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/beijing.html> following the recent standoff over the collision of a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet. "It had always been intended that (Secretary of State Colin) Powell and (Secretary of Defense) Rumsfeld and I, on behalf of other secretaries, would review our contacts with the Chinese for appropriateness," she told Fox News Sunday. "Nobody believes that it's yet business as usual with China, so we wanted to make certain that contacts were appropriate, but there was no blanket suspension," she said. US President George W. Bush said Thursday he may decide to scrap Sino-US military ties that do not enhance the bilateral relationship. "We're going to review all opportunities to interface with the Chinese, and if it enhances our relationship, it might make sense. If it's a useless exercise, and it doesn't make the relationship any better, then we won't do that," Bush said. "Each opportunity will be viewed on a case-by-case basis," the president said a day after the Pentagon retracted a statement that all such ties would be suspended in favor of saying they would be weighed individually. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Sunday acknowledged the embarrassing error. "I made a mistake," he told Face the Nation on CBS. But, he added, the administrations "had been looking at US-Chinese relations" since the new administration took over in late January. The US decision to review the relationship came in response to April 1st Sino-US plane incident. **** New Japanese FM Expounds Japanese-Chinese Relations Japan's new Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka stressed Monday that the Japanese government will seriously take the Chinese side's stance on the issue of the history textbook, and will continue to adhere to the One-China principle, not supporting Taiwan's "independence". Tanaka made the remarks in a phone conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan. She said that the Japanese-Chinese relaion is among the important bilateral relations of Japan, and the Japan-China Joint Statement, which was signed by her father, Kakuei Tanaka, and Chinese leaders, has moralized diplomatic ties and laid a foundation for the relations between the two countries. Both the new Japanese government and Tanaka herself value the relations between the two countries, and would like to make unremitting efforts for the stable development of Japanese-Chinese relations, she added. On the history issue, Tanaka said that Japan has made solemn statements in this regard in the Japan-China Joint Statement and in the talks made by former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on behalf of the Japanese government in 1995, adding that Japan will abide by the statements. Tanaka noted that young people should learn from the disastrous history in the past, and the recent issue of the history textbook has harmed the Japanese-Chinese relations, for which she feels regret. The Japanese side will seriously treat the Chinese side's stance and demands, taking corresponding measures to properly handle the issue, she added. On the Taiwan issue, Tanaka said that the Japanese government will adhere to the One-China stance, not participate in any activity supporting "two Chinas", or "one China, one Taiwan", and will not support Taiwan's "independence". On the issue of Lee Teng-hui's visit to Japan, she said, Japan will deal with it seriously according to the above-mentioned principles. Tang Jiaxuan said that the Chinese government and people value and are ready to develop the long-term and good-neighborly relations with Japan, but the current issues of the history textbook and Lee Teng-hui's Japan tour have harmed the Sino-Japanese relations. He pointed out that the essence of the history textbook issue is whether Japan can have a correct understanding of and deal with its invasion in the history. He voiced the hope that Japan would take practical measures to seriously treat China's demands so as to earn the trust of the Asian people, and stick to peace and development on the basis of learning from the history. Tang noted that the Taiwan issue has relation to the political foundation of the Sino-Japanese relations, and he urged Japan to honor its commitments and do something to safeguard the relations between the two countries. Sharon Orders Launching 3 New Desert Settlements: Official Israel <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/israel.html> i Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered officials to begin planning three new settlements in the Halutza Dunes area of the Western Negev desert in southern Israel, in an effort to foil any future attempt to cede the area to Palestinian control, Army Radio reported Monday. During the administration of Sharon's predecessor Ehud Barak, Israeli and Palestinian officials raised the possibility of trading the unpopulated dunes area to Palestinian control under a deal that would thus allow more Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories to remain in place. Shmulik Hitman, head of Ramat Hanegev Regional Council in southern Israel, told the radio that under plans being formulated, 20,000 Israelis would live in the Halutza bloc by 2010. Barak had vowed to keep 80 percent of Jewish settlements under Israeli sovereignty while indicating willingness to evacuate small and scattered ones. However, Sharon, who took power two months ago, has said that he has no intention whatsoever of evacuating any settlements from the Palestinian land. Israel has built more than 140 settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip since the 1967 Middle East War. The future of the settlements is one of the core issues to be settled in the Israeli-Palestinian final status talks, which also include the status of Jerusalem, border, water resources and the future of Palestinian refugees. **** Palestinian Baby Girl Killed, 25 Injured in Israeli Shelling A Palestinian baby girl was killed and 25 others, mostly children, injured when Israeli troops shelled the Gaza Strip Monday afternoon, said Palestinian medical and security sources. Iman Mustafa Haggo, a 4-month-old baby girl, was hit by shell- fire when Israeli forces struck the Palestinian Khan Yunis refugee camp in southern Gaza Strip. Her mother was seriously wounded, Palestinian medical sources said. Eyewitnesses said that Al-Khalidia Primary School was also shelled in the Israeli attack and several school children were wounded. Two buildings were destroyed and some other houses were damaged in the shelling, they added. Meanwhile, an Israeli army spokesman said that the shelling of Khan Yunis was in retaliation for the firing of four mortar shells at two Jewish settlements in Gush Katif, south of the Gaza Strip, but no casualties or damages were caused. The Palestinian security forces said that a heavy gunfight took place between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen in Khan Yunis and Rafah near the borders with Egypt, but no casualties were reported. **** Tibetan Cultural Delegation Concludes Visits to Latin America The Chinese Tibetan International Cultural Exchange Delegation left Rio de Janeiro for home Sunday at the end of its visits to Chile, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil. Xiao Huaiyuan, head of the delegation, told Xinhua upon his departure that the visits are fruitful. By using solid facts and statistics, the delegation manifested the historic changes brought to the people in Tibet during the past 50 years. Tibet was seen to go from poverty to prosperity, from fatuity to civilization, from feudal isolation to openness after its peaceful liberation. Through various means including seminars, exhibitions, video playing and interviews with the local media, the delegation deepened Latin American people's understanding of such issues as Tibet's relations with the Chinese motherland, its real history and the present situation of the autonomous region. The delegation met with people from all walks of life including political figures, journalists, cultural celebrities and educators during the less than 20 days of visits and realized that Latin American people are eager to know more about China. The fact that the delegation has got warm welcome everywhere in the four countries reflected the Latin American people's hope to enhance communication with China in all respects and to see a strong and united China, "which is very important to the Latin Americans," he added. Xiao said that the delegation disclosed Dalai Lama's attempt to split Tibet from China and helped the people of the four Latin American countries recognize his real nature as a separatist. Brazilian federal delegate and President of the Brazil-China Friendship Parliamentary Group Haroldo Lima said during his meeting with the Tibetan cultural delegation, "We whole-heartedly welcome the cultural exchange delegation to visit our country. However, there is a so-called Tibetan, who spares no effort in carrying out all kinds of conspiracies internationally to split China. That Tibetan is Dalai Lama, and he is unwelcome here. What we want to see is a strong and united China, not a separated one." The Chinese Tibetan International Cultural Exchange Delegation began its visits to the four Latin American countries on April 17 in Chile. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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