Extracts. US Newspaper Criticizes Bush's Unilateral Diplomacy The Bush administration's " hostile attitude" in dealing with the rest of the world shows "a sense of arrogance and contempt" for international cooperation which will eventually undermine American interests, said The New York Times, one of the leading newspapers in the United States. The New York Times, in an editorial carried out by the International Herald Tribune on Monday, lashed out at President Bush for turning about from his presidential campaign remarks that a country as powerful as the United States <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/usa.html> should remain "humble" in relations with other countries. Since taking office, the newspaper complained, "Mr. Bush has shown a surprising disdain for the kinds of treaties and international agreements that set the tone for America's engagement with the world and that have figured prominently in Washington's foreign policy for most of the years since World War II." "In January, even before Mr. Bush took office, his spokesmen declared that he would not seek Senate ratification of the treaty creating the International Criminal Court. In March, the White House announced that the United States was withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. In May, Mr. Bush made clear that he was ready to set aside the constraints of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in order to test and build missile defenses," the newspaper noted. "This month, American delegates insisted on diluting a United Nations agreement to reduce illegal trafficking in small arms. Last week, Washington pulled out of long-running efforts to negotiate enforcement provisions for the convention banning biological weapons," it said. "Meanwhile, the administration has indefinitely deferred seeking Senate ratification of the 1996 nuclear test ban treaty and the 1993 nuclear weapons reduction treaty with Russia <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/russia.html> negotiated by Mr. Bush's father," the newspaper said. The New York Times editorial voiced support for preservation or adoption of the treaties that the Bush administration opposes, and insisted that the flaws in imperfect treaties can generally be fixed, whether through further negotiations or in the Senate ratification process. It pointed out that last week representatives of nearly 180 countries met at Bonn and made important changes to address previous American complaints about the Kyoto Protocol. "But instead of engaging in serious negotiations in Bonn, Washington's representative was instructed to stand aside." The newspaper also whacked the Bush administration for having thus far "ignored a useful opportunity to address many of the objections it has raised to the nuclear test ban treaty." "This is not a productive role for the world's leading country.. . Contempt for the concerns of other countries will only erode American influence," The New York Times said. **** China Vows to Build Modern Army The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is speeding up its technological modernization, and remarkable achievements have been attained in this respect, according to a senior army official. Promoting military technologies is the top priority of the military modernization, said Senior Colonel Su Zhirong, who is also a research fellow with the Academy of Military Science of the PLA. China reconstructed its national defense industry in 1999 and established 10 sectors including the nuclear industry, aviation, shipping and weaponry. Around 1000 award-winning scientific breakthroughs have been introduced to the ground forces, greatly promoting their self- defense capabilities and the accuracy of long-distance strike. The navy and air forces have also improved their readiness by employing high-tech systems. The Chinese army is purely to pursue self-defense and will not pose a threat to other countries. "The Chinese army will never take part in any arms race, or will it seek hegemony or external expansion," Su said, quoted by Wednesday's China Daily. Su said the country's military budget has been increasing at 6.2 percent annually for the last decade and a half, even slower than the average yearly inflation of 7.3 percent. To improve the quality of its staff, the army has signed contracts with top universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua University. According to the contracts, the army gives financial aid to university students who in turn agree to serve the army after graduation. **** Party Leadership over Army Never to be Shaken: Chi The 74-year history of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has proved that the absolute leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) over the army should never be shaken at any time or under any circumstances, senior military official Chi Haotian said Tuesday. Speaking at a reception marking the 74th anniversary of the founding of the PLA, Chi, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), defense minister and state councilor, said that the Party's absolute leadership over the army is a "fundamental guarantee" for the army's steady growth and continual success. "It is also the fundamental principle to be followed in building up the PLA in the new era, and a principle that we should never deviate from at any time or under any circumstances," he said. The red-letter day came just after the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, Chi said, noting that, created by the CPC itself, the army has made enduring historic contributions to the founding of the People's Republic, and has also weathered through various severe tests and made remarkable contributions to the defense and development of the New China under the leadership of the CPC. At an rally in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, profoundly expounded the rationale of his important thinking on Party building, Chi said. Jiang's new theory "is a guiding ideology for the building of both our Party and our army," he stressed, pledging that "we must redouble our efforts to improve the political education of our commanders and soldiers so that they will have lofty ideas and firm faith and so that our Party organizations at all levels will increase their cohesiveness and combat capabilities." "In this way," Chi continued, "we will be able to ensure that the entire PLA will be able to ... maintain the authority of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core, and forever obey the command of the Party." In today's world, peace and development remain the main themes of the times, said the military leader, stressing that "conflicts and even local wars caused by various factors have kept cropping up and the world is far from tranquil." "We must size up the situation, heighten our morale and make unremitting efforts for all-round military modernization, so as to effectively take on the historical mission of the new century," he said. On the Taiwan issue, Chi said that "it is in the fundamental interests of the Chinese Nation to solve the Taiwan question and realize China's reunification." "We will persistently stick to the basic principles of ' peaceful reunification' and 'one country, two systems,' as well as guidelines set forth by President Jiang and try our best for a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan Question," he noted. He also reiterated China's long-standing stance that "we will never renounce the use of force, nor will we allow any foreign forces to intervene in Taiwan affairs." "All schemes to hinder China's reunification are doomed to fail, " he said. Chi said that China will continue to pursue an independent foreign policy of peace and uphold the five principles of peaceful co-existence. The PLA will actively engage in military exchanges with other countries and work with them for enhanced mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation as well as for continued regional and world peace, stability and development, Chi said. **** No One Allowed to Undertake Espionage Activities in Hong Kong: Official The decision to grant Li Shaomin 's entry status to Hong Kong is made after a very thorough consideration, taking into account what is in the best interests of Hong Kong as well as what is in the best interests of the country as a whole, Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa said Tuesday. Li Shaomin, who was convicted on the mainland of spying for Taiwan, arrived in Hong Kong Monday afternoon. A government spokesman stressed that the HKSAR government will not allow anybody in Hong Kong to undertake espionage activities and jeopardize the interests of Hong Kong and the State. **** No Compromise With US on ABM Treaty: Russian Defence Minister Moscow is not prepared to make any concessions on the Anti-Ballistic Missile accord which bars Washington from building a missile defense shield, Russian Defense minister Sergey Ivanov said Tuesday. Reports in the Russian press last week that Russia was ready to strike a deal with the United States to amend the cornerstone 1972 ABM agreement which both countries signed in 1972 "are not in the least justified," Ivanov told the Interfax news agency. "There exists no agreement between Russia and the United States on anti-missile defense or strategic offensive weapons, since there haven't been any negotiations to speak of so far," Ivanov said. "We are waiting for the United States to tell us what it is they have in mind when they talk about this limited missile defense shield they plan to build," he added. The United States intends to build a national missile defense system (NMD), at odds with the ABM Treaty, which it says would protect it from attacks from so-called "rogue states" , but would not be able to stop Russian missiles. US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was in Moscow last week in a bid to impress on Russia the need to move beyond the ABM agreement. Moscow declared on Friday that Rice had offered no new or convincing arguments in favor of missile defense and that Russia remained strictly opposed to the idea. **** Hamas to Target Israeli Politicians to Retaliate Nablus Killing: Leader The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) warned on Tuesday that it would target Israeli politicians to retaliate the killing of eight Palestinians, including a Hamas leader, in the West Bank city of Nablus. Every politician in the Israeli government and Knesset (parliament) will be targeted by Ezz-Eddin Kassam, the military wing of Hamas, said Abdul-Aziz El-Rantisy, a Hamas leader. Rantisy described Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres as "criminals." The Israeli army shelled the office of Hamas in Nablus earlier in the day, killing eight Palestinians, including Jamal Mansour, 41, a Hamas political leader, and two children. The Palestinian National Authority has held Sharon responsible for the killing, saying that he should be accountable for all the consequences caused by the incident. Hamas, a radical Palestinian group which takes a hard line against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, has masterminded several suicide bombing attacks on Israeli targets. More than 670 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed since the bloody clashes erupted last September between the Palestinians and Israel. **** Vietnamese Defense Minister Visits S. Korea Vietnamese Defense Minister Pham Van Tra arrived in Seoul for a seven-day visit Wednesday at the invitation of South Korean Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin. This is the first time a Vietnamese defense minister has visited Korea since the Vietnam War, in which South Korea fought on the side of the South Vietnam forces. South Korea and Vietnam opened diplomatic relations in 1992. **** Chinese Top Legislator Meets Paraguayan Delegation Chinese Top Legislator Meets Paraguayan Delegation Chinese top legislator Li Peng <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/people/lipeng.shtml> said that China attaches importance to its relations with Paraguay <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/paraguay.html> , the development of Sino-Paraguayan relations is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples and the normalization of bilateral ties is also their common aspiration. Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, made these remarks Monday afternoon in Beidaihe in a meeting with a delegation from the Paraguayan Senate led by its Vice-President Luis M. Guanes Gondra. Extending a welcome to the delegation, Li noted that China and Paraguay, both developing countries, have had similar historical experiences and the two peoples have strived hard for national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. They also face the task of developing their economies, added Li. Reiterating the Chinese government's basic position on the Taiwan <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/taiwan.html> issue, Li expressed his appreciation for the Paraguayan parliamentarians' concerns over and efforts for developing Sino- Paraguayan relations, and the hope that they will, taking the fundamental interests of the two peoples into consideration, continue to make efforts to push forward the normalization of bilateral ties. On China's diplomatic policy, Li noted that China supports the evolution of a multi-polar world, hoping that Latin American countries can play an important role in this process. On China's domestic situation, Li briefed the delegation on China's economic development, the people's congress system, the multi-party cooperation led by the Communist Party of China and the political consultation system. He said he hopes that more Paraguayan parliament members can come to China so as to enhance understanding and friendship. Guanes said that they came afar from Paraguay to China, a great country, with admiration and respect in a bid to learn more about China. He noted that failing to establish and develop relations with such an influential country as China is against the world trend. As parliament members, they bear the responsibility for developing bilateral ties and hope to promote exchanges and cooperation with China, said Guanes. The delegation members are here as guests of the China Zhi Gong Party (Public Interest Party). _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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