Extracts. Russia Not to Conduct Military Cooperation With Taiwan: Official Russia on Wednesday ruled out any possibility of military-technical cooperation with the Chinese province of Taiwan, including cooperation on dual-purpose products. While developing unofficial ties with Taiwan, Russia firmly holds the stand of "no military-technical cooperation," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko told the press here. The statement came after some recent media reports about ongoing secret discussion between Russia and Taiwan on military cooperation. Such reports "that do not correspond to reality" have often been published by mass media in the last years ahead of important Russian-Chinese meetings, he noted. Several days ago, the British and Hong Kong press carried articles alleging that Russia and Taiwan were exploring possibilities of organizing the production of Kilo-type submarines on the island. Yakovenko said that Russia exercises proper state control over the transfer of weapons, military equipment, technology for their production, materials and dual-purpose commodities to other countries, territories, individuals and legal entities. "And of course, this applies to Taiwan as well," which Russia regards as an inseparable part of China, he stressed. **** Official Warns Taiwan Authorities Against Attempt to Change "Passport" The Taiwan authorities should be discreet about the plan to make some unwise changes on its " passport," said Wang Zaixi, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, on Wednesday. Prior to Wang's remark, the Taiwan authorities reportedly planned to add the character of "Taiwan" to the title of original "passport," according to Taiwan media. Wang said at an interview with reporters that if this media report is true, then it is a very risky action. Wang pointed out that any motive to create a split or "Taiwan independence" will of course bring about very serious consequences. The official made the above comments at an interview with journalists from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan in Xianmen in east China's Fujian Province, where he attended a forum to discuss cross-straits relations and related issues. When asked whether Taiwan and the United States are likely to build a military alliance, Wang said the three communiques between China and the United States are the basic rule to adjust the relationship of the two countries, on which no fundamental change will happen, because both share common ideas on major issues. The official said that Chinese government firmly opposes the U. S. government's arm sale to Taiwan and spokespersons of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have reiterated this position many times. Even though diverge and friction remain, the relationship between China and the United States will, in the end, continue to develop in a healthy way, said the official. **** Official on Battles Vs Separatists, Fundamentalists and Terrorists China will closely watch and crack down on the criminal activities of ethnic separatist forces, religious fundamentalist forces and terrorist forces, while severely striking destructive activities by hostile forces, so as to firmly safeguard national security and unity. The authorities will further carry out the Strike-Hard campaign, rectify the economic order and crack down financial crimes, and further combat Falun Gong. State Councilor Luo Gan <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/people/luogan.shtml> made these remarks Thursday in a report to the 14th Session of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Luo is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the secretary of the Committee of Political Science and Law Under the CPC Central Committee. In his report, Luo informed the top political advisors of the security situation in the country and the measures taken by CPC committees and governments at different levels to fight against hostile and separatist forces as well as the Falun Gong cult. The state councilor thanked CPPCC organizations and members at all levels for their attention and support for the political and law work and said he is looking forward to accepting their supervision and hearing their proposals on the issue. The audience included CPPCC National Committee vice chairmen Ye Xuanping, Wang Zhaoguo, Qian Weichang, Ren Jianxin, Song Jian, Li Guixian, Chen Junsheng, Zhang Siqin, Qian Zhengying, Sun Fuling, Ma Man Kei, Zhu Guangya, Wan Guoquan, Hu Qili, Chen Jinhua, Zhao Nanqi, Mao Zhiyong, Bai Lichen, Jing Shuping, Luo Haocai, Zhang Kehui, Zhou Tienong and Wang Wenyuan, and CPPCC National Committee Secretary-General Zheng Wantong. **** Mbeki Vows to Promote African Economic Recovery Program South African President Thabo Mbeki Wednesday vowed to promote the Millennium Africa Recovery Plan (MAP). "We can turn the corner," Mbeki said at a luncheon at the National Press Club here. "The peoples of the African continent have the capacity to do this and must do it." African themselves must take responsibility and make sure that there would be peace and economic development in Africa, he said. "We cannot continue to sustain an image of the African continent, an image of conflict, wars, refugees, military governments, dictatorship, absence of human rights, general regression, further entrenchment of poverty," he said. "We needed to change these things." The economic recovery plan, drafted jointly by Mbeki and the leaders of Algeria and Nigeria, is aimed at spurring economic growth and promoting stability in the region. "It's my belief that really what we need to do now is to pay a lot of attention to matters of implementation, the translation of policy into something actual, whether we're talking about integrated schools, whether we're talking about housing for people, water, roads, electricity and health," he said. Mbeki said he was "greatly encouraged" by the positive response from the U.S. and the European Union to MAP. He said that the Group of Eight industrialized nations, which are meeting in Genoa, Italy, next month, have got the matter of African recovery program on the agenda. Mbeki, who was in Washington in part to promote MAP, met with President George W. Bush at the White House Tuesday and asked the U.S. to support Africa's efforts to deal with violence, poverty and diseases like HIV/AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa is a region with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS. In South Africa alone, over 4 million people, or one tenth of the total population, live with the disease. **** China to Help Myanmar, Laos Dredge Mekong River The Chinese government will invest more than 42 million yuan (5.06 million U.S. dollars) to help Myanmar and Laos dredge a navigation section on the Mekong River, sources with the Yunnan Provincial Navigation Administration said. The 331-kilometer-long section to be dredged runs from the No. 243 demarcation stone between China and Myanmar to Houayxay in Laos. The project is expected to start in December this year after approval by the governments of China, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, according to sources. The section to be dredged, a border river between Myanmar and Laos, is part of the Lancang-Mekong River course which opened to commercial navigation in China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand Tuesday. Shipping vehicles now can navigate unrestricted on the waterway from Simao Port in Yunnan Province, southwest China, to Louang Prabang Port in Laos with a total length of 886 kilometers. Experts from the four countries have carried out a series of on- the-spot investigations at the Myanmar-Laos border river and the river course is expected to allow passage of 100-ton ships all the year round upon completion of the dredging project, said Liu Daqing, a leading technician in charge of the project. By 2007, 300-ton ships are expected to pass through the section even in dry seasons with further improvement to the course of the river in the coming years. Currently, the annual navigation capacity of the Lancang-Mekong River is 4 million tons and it is expected to reach 10 million tons by 2007. *** Chinese Military Leader Meets Cuban Guests China implements an independent foreign policy of peace and a defensive policy of national defense, and is ready to promote regional and world peace and stability, said Zhuang Wannian, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. Zhang told visiting Alvaro Lopez Miera, chief of the general staff of Cuban armed forces, that the international situation currently tends to ease, but hegemonism and power politics has turned out new development. On Sino-Cuban relations, Zhang said Cuba is the first Latin American country to forge diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China, and the two countries have shared common interests and similar viewpoints. He noted that bilateral ties between China and Cuba have enjoyed all-round development in recent years, as the exchange of visits are frequent and the cooperation in all fields is expanding. On this basis, he said, Sino-Cuban military relations have developed satisfactorily. He noted that Chinese government and armed forces, as they have always did, will promote long-term, stable and healthy relations with Cuban counterparts. Lopez said the visit by Chinese President Jiang Zemin to Cuba has promoted the bilateral ties to a historical level, and Cuba is ready to continue its friendly relations with China. **** Fidel Castro Talks About His Succession Speaking for the first time about a possible successor since his fainting spell last weekend, Fidel Castro told NBC in an interview Thursday night that his brother Raul remains his likely replacement. "Raul is very healthy ... undoubtedly, he's the comrade who has the most authority after me," Castro said in the report aired on NBC's Nightly News. "And he has the most experience," Castro said. "Therefore I think he has the capacity to succeed me." Castro, who will turn 75 in August, has been in power since the Cuban revolution's triumph on Jan. 1, 1959. Raul Castro, Cuba's defense minister, is 70. During the Communist Party's Fifth Congress in 1997, Fidel Castro described his younger brother as his "relevo" �� a Spanish military term for changing of the guard. "It is not something that I'm worried about, succession," Castro said in the NBC interview. The Cuban nation was stunned on Saturday morning when the elder Castro appeared to faint two hours into a live televised speech given under a sweltering sun before a crowd of about 60,000 people. **** Li Peng Meets President of Vietnam News Agency Li Peng Meets President of Vietnam News Agency ------------------------------------------------------------------------Li Peng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, met Thursday with Ho Tien Nghi, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and president of the Vietnam News Agency. Li, also chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, noted that China-Vietnam relations have had a rapid recovery and development, overall, after the two sides normalized their relations. The guideline for bilateral relations set by top leaders of the two countries in 1999, namely, "building a future-oriented relationship of long-term stability, good-neighborliness and all- round cooperation," marks that Sino-Vietnamese relations entered a new stage of development, Li said. The chairman noted that the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, held not long ago, elected new party leadership and upheld its reform and opening policy as well as the socialist road. He believes that Vietnam will stride forward on the road of socialism of Vietnamese characteristics, and push forward China-Vietnam relations to a higher level. Li stressed that China attaches importance to developing relations with Vietnam. As the two countries signed a series of treaties and agreements concerning land border, demarcation of the Beibu Bay and fishing affairs, Li said, the two countries should further expand the areas of cooperation and diversify its way of cooperation. Ho said his current visit coincides with the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. He said China has had great changes in politics, economy, culture and foreign affairs and many other areas. He said he admires these changes. Ho said his news agency also hopes to strengthen cooperation with China's Xinhua News Agency. The Vietnamese president are here as guest of the Xinhua News Agency. Xinhua News Agency President Tian Congming attended the meeting. **** Milosevic's Extradition Splits Government: Analysis The extradition of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic to a UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague Thursday has further divided the federal government and triggered massive protests in Belgrade. President Vojislav Kostunica was quoted as saying later Thursday that the handover was "illegal." Spokesman of the presidential office said they were not consulted over the extradition and learned about it only through the media. Momir Bulatovic, president of the Socialist People's Party (SNP) of Montenegro, a major partner in the ruling coalition, announced that Prime Minister Zoran Zizic and six ministers, all from the SNP, would quit the federal government. Zvadin Jovanocich, SNP vice president, told the media that the Serbian government's decision to hand over Milosevic in defiance of the federal Constitutional Court's ruling amounted to a coup. Meanwhile, thousands of Milosevic's supporters gathered at the Republic Square in central Belgrade in protest of the extradition. The angry demonstrators chanted "Betrayal" and "Uprising." Milosevic was reportedly brought to Belgrade airport from the city's central prison Thursday afternoon. He was taken early Friday to a prison in The Hague hours after he was handed over to the U.N. tribunal, a tribunal source said. Milosevic's handover came just hours after judges of the Constitutional Court indefinitely suspended a government decree that allows his extradition to The Hague tribunal, ruling that the Court needed more time to consider the government decree. Kostunica stressed earlier that the government decree should not take effect until the Constitutional Court gives its ruling, and that the government must go about its cooperation with The Hague tribunal within the framework of law. However, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindijic told a press conference Thursday night that the his government had decided to take over the jurisdiction of federal authorities in accordance with the Serbian constitution. He said the judges of the Constitutional Court had no right to rule whether the government decree as unconstitutional, slamming them for cheating in elections and bringing the country to near collapse. He said the decree had resulted in the participation of Western countries in the donor conference scheduled for Friday in Brussels, arguing that failure to cooperate with The Hague tribunal would leave Yugoslavia in the cold at the conference. The Constitutional Court's decision to suspend indefinitely the extradition would ruin the future of Serbia, he added. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
