Extracts. Israel Breaches Alleged Ceasefire 96 Times: Palestinian Official Director General of Palestinian Public Security in Gaza Major General Abdul-Razzaq Al-Majaida said on Sunday that the Israeli army has breached the ceasefire 96 times since it was announced by Israel last Tuesday. "Since the ceasefire announcement, the Israeli army bombed and opened fire 36 times, killing two Palestinians and injuring 84 others," Majaida said, adding that "several Palestinian houses and police positions were destroyed in Israeli military operations." "The Israeli army intruded the Palestinian self-rule areas in the Gaza Strip 21 times and carried out 28 leveling operations in lands controled by the Palestinian National Authority," he said. Israel made another 11 violations such as blocking main roads, flying military aircraft, checking civil cars and preventing fuel vehicles from reaching the southern Gaza Strip after the ceasefire announcement, according to the Palestinian official. "The Israeli announcement is a lie as the Israeli aggression was intensified instead of ceasing," Majaida said. "The violations of the ceasefire were clear for everybody," he noted. **** Chinese Naval Ships Arrive in Bombay on First Visit to India Two Chinese naval ships arrived in Bombay Sunday for its first visit to India. The naval ships were accorded a grand welcome at a ceremony by the Indian Navy upon arrival. Bombay is India's second largest city and biggest port and naval base. The trip was made in return to a visit by the Indian destroyer "Delhi" to Shanghai last year. **** Venezuelan President Calls for Increasing Economic Cooperation Visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias called in Chengdu Sunday on Chinese business people and experts to take more active part in economic cooperation with his country. Chavez made the call while delivering a speech titled " Promoting Venezuela-China Economic Relations" at the West China Economic and Trade Fair, which opened Friday in this capital of Sichuan Province, southwest China. Chavez said China, and Sichuan Province as well, has scored marked achievements in opening to the outside world and attracted numerous foreign investment. He attributed these to the development strategy China has adopted and the favorable conditions Chinese governments at various levels have provided to investors. This is what Venezuela could learn from, said the Venezuelan president, who arrived here Saturday for a three-day visit to Sichuan Province. Chavez also briefed his audience on his country, and said the Venezuelan government has promulgated and is promulgating a series laws to encourage foreign investment in agriculture, petroleum and natural gas exploration. Venezuela hopes enterprises from all over the world including China to participate in the construction of ports, airports and roads in the country, the president added. Chavez said trade and economic cooperation between Venezuela and China has witnessed smooth progress in recent years. Statistics show that the bilateral trade volume last year hit 351 million U.S. dollars, up 86 percent over the previous year. Venezuela has ranked first in attracting Chinese investment among Latin American countries, said Chavez, who called for more Chinese business people and experts to be involved in bilateral cooperation. Earlier Sunday morning, Chavez went out of Chengdu, the provincial capital, for a trip to Dujiangyan, the world's oldest water conservancy project. He also visited some agricultural projects. **** President Moi Says Destiny of Kenya to Be Decided by Kenyans Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi said in Nairobi on Saturday that Kenyans are intelligent enough to decide the their own destiny. Speaking at a joint press conference after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Moi said that "It is too much to be always trying to undermine the intelligence of the African people." "Those who will decide the destiny of Kenya, for instance, or other people in Africa, will be the people themselves," he said when asked whether there will be a smooth transfer of power in next year's presidential election. Moi said that during his one-hour meeting with Powell, they discussed bilateral and regional issues. He added that the Powell told him that the U.S. government will continue to support Kenya's reform process and its fight against corruption and HIV/AIDS. However, Powell said that Kenya has to make more reforms if it wants money from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. "I candidly mentioned to the president that we need more reform efforts visible before we could expect the World Bank and the IMF to continue the valuable work that they are doing here," Powell said. The IMF and other donors suspended some 300 million U.S. dollars in loans to Kenya late last year, saying that the Kenyan government backtracked on promise of fighting against corruption. Moi said that Kenya will commit to economic, political and constitutional reforms as well as fight against corruption. On compensation for victims of the U.S. embassy bombing in 1998, Powell said that the U.S. had already provided 43 million U.S. dollars in relief assistance, and the process of additional compensation are being dealt with by law court, and that he could not comment on the lawsuits. The blast in Nairobi killed 213 people, including 12 Americans. A near-simultaneous explosion in the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam, the capital of neighboring Tanzania, killed 11 people. While the U.S. government has not paid compensation directly to the victims' relatives and survivors of the bombs, it has funded a number of rehabilitation and health-care projects related to the attack. Those projects have cost the U.S. 43 million dollars so far. Immediately after his meeting with Moi at the State House, Powell held a lengthy meeting with Kenya's parliament members, opposition party leaders and civil dignitaries in a local hotel. Kenya is the third stop of Powell's four-nation African trip. He had already visited Mali and South Africa before arriving here on Saturday. Powell will leave here for Uganda on Sunday. **** Chinese FM Meets Three European Counterparts Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan met Saturday with his counterparts from the Netherlands, Finland and Austria on separate occasions, who attended the third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Foreign Ministers' Meeting, which concluded in Beijing Friday. The foreign ministers from the European countries thanked the Chinese side for its efforts to make the ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting a success. Meeting with Foreign Minister of the Netherlands Jozias Van Aartsen, Tang said that in recent years Sino-Netherlands friendly relations have kept developing and their cooperation in various fields has scored remarkable achievements. The two sides should continue to tap the potential to promote their relations to a higher level, Tang said. Tang welcomed Van Aartsen to pay an official visit to China later this year, and Van Aartsen expressed his gratitude for the invitation. Van Aartsen said Asian and European countries are playing an increasingly important role in the international political and economic arenas, and it is important for them to strengthen contacts. He added that the Netherlands government attaches importance to relations with China, and is ready to continue to promote bilateral relations. During his meeting with Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, Tang said that Finland is an important country in Europe, and the two countries have always enjoyed very good relations. China is willing to join efforts with Finland to further develop the two countries' relations, Tang said. Tuomioja said the exchange of visits in various fields between Finland and China has been frequent, and bilateral trade volume has increased rapidly. Finland is ready to work with China to further the two countries' cooperation, Tuomioja said. Tuomioja said that Finland supports China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) at an early date. Meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Tang expressed satisfaction with the development of Sino-Austrian relations since the two countries established diplomatic ties 30 years ago. He said China has always valued its relations with Austria, and hopes that Sino-Austrian friendly cooperation would be enhanced in the new century. Waldner spoke highly of China's role in international affairs, and expressed hope to further the cooperation with China in the economic and trade, cultural and environmental protection fields. Prior to the meeting, the two foreign ministers attended a ceremony to issue an envelope marking the 30th anniversary of Sino- Austrian diplomatic relations. **** Roundup: Li Peng's Tour of Three Asian Nations Successful Chinese top legislator Li Peng's official goodwill visit to Cambodia, Brunei and South Korea has achieved the goal of deepening friendship, increasing mutual-understanding and strengthening cooperation between China and the three nations. Li Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) wound up his 10-day trip and returned home Sunday. Maintaining an independent and peaceful diplomatic policy and strengthening friendly relations with neighboring countries is vital and significant for China to enjoy a peaceful environment for its economic and social development. China has traditional friendship with the three countries. To consolidate and strengthen good neighborly and friendly relations with them is an important part of China's diplomacy in the 21st century. During the trip, Li met top leaders of parliaments, governments, political parties and business communities and discussed with them ways of enhancing exchanges and cooperation in the new century, and issues of common concern. The leaders of the three nations, who attach great importance to expanding their countries' ties with China, have accorded Li grand and cordial reception. They reached consensus on many bilateral, regional and international issues in talks with Li Peng. The leaders said Li's trip to their countries will further strengthen the friendly cooperation, and deepen the traditional friendship between their countries and China. China boasts traditional friendship with Cambodia since the ancient times. In recent years, the Sino-Cambodian ties have gained momentum of further development due to frequent exchanges of visits by high-ranking officials between the two nations. During Li's Cambodian visit, the two sides pledged to sincerely implement a Chinese-Cambodian joint statement issued last November when Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited Cambodia, and to further boost economic and trade cooperation and coordination in regional and international affairs. At the time of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brunei this year, the Sino-Brunei relationship has reached a new high. The bilateral relations have developed smoothly and friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two Asian nations have been expanded to all sectors. In Brunei, Li reiterated that all countries, big or small, are equal in the international community and China will advance its good neighborly, friendly and cooperative relations with Brunei on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence. Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said Brunei and China should work together to consolidate the existing bilateral relations and to make contributions to peace and development in East Asia and Southeast Asia. China and South Korea are not only close in geography, but also similar in culture and psychology. The Sino-South Korean ties have smoothly grown and great achievements have been made in all fields since the two nations established diplomatic ties in 1992. During Li's visit to South Korea, leaders of the two sides spoke highly of the bilateral ties, and vowed to push the cooperative partnership onto a new stage featuring all-round cooperation. In Seoul, Li Peng also praised the Kim Dae-jung government's reconciliation policy, hoping that the inter-Korean reconciliation could be further promoted. South Korean leaders commended China's constructive role in the inter-Korean reconciliation process and expressed their hope that China will continue to play its important role in the realization of independent and peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula. During the trip, Li and the leaders of the three countries have reached common grounds on many issues. They have promised to further cooperate and coordinate with China in regional and international affairs. The leaders said the existing friendly and good-neighborly ties between their nations and China will develop further in the new century. After ending his 10-day trip, Li Peng said he had been deeply impressed with the three nations' enthusiasm and friendship toward China. Leaders of China and the three countries are confident that through joint efforts, China will always be good neighbors and good friends of Cambodia, Brunei and South Korea and they will work together to make new contributions to promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Asian region, said the NPC chairman. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
