Extracts. Arafat to Visit China At the invitation of Chinese President Jiang Zemin, President of the State of Palestine and Chairman of the Palestinian National Authority Yasser Arafat will come to China on a working visit from August 23. During his visit, Arafat will brief Chinese leaders on the current situations of the Middle East, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sun Yuxi said Tuesday in Beijing. The trip was announced shortly after Arafat agreed earlier in the day to meet Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in Berlin in an effort to quell the violence. Sadi Jaber, the Palestinian diplomatic representative in Beijing, said Arafat would likely leave China on Saturday. He said Arafat would be pushing for continued Chinese support for a Palestinian demand for international peacekeepers to be sent to the Middle East to "protect the Palestinians". "This invitation came from the Chinese side. It is to discuss the situation in Palestine and the violence in Palestine," he told reporters. Arafat last visited China in August last year, just days before Peres. A senior Beijing-based Western diplomat said Arafat's visit to China would be part of an Asian tour that would also include India. "His purpose is like he's doing in the last 10 months -- to mobilize international support for the Palestinian position," said the diplomat. **** Arafat Is Ready to Hold Truce Talks in Berlin Amid frantic diplomatic efforts to bring an end to nearly 11 months of violence in the Middle East, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat Aug.21 said he was ready to meet Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in Berlin. Speaking at a news conference after meeting with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer in the West Bank city of Ramallah today, Arafat acknowledged Germany's recent efforts to establish cease-fire talks between the two sides. "I welcome your [Fischer's] good ideas and I welcome meeting ... Shimon Peres in your office in Berlin," Arafat said. Reacting to Arafat's call during an official visit to East Europe today, Peres said he would discuss details of a possible meeting when he returned home. However Israeli radio Aug.21 reported the meeting would take place early next week. The latest moves to hold truce talks came amid a flurry of diplomatic activity by Fischer this week. Hours after holding talks with Arafat, the German foreign minister met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Aug.21, in an attempt to bring an end to the current stalemate. Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Fischer, Sharon said he had asked the Fischer to help bring an end to the violence. He made no reference to a likely Peres-Arafat meeting. **** U.S. Backs Israel at U.N. Meeting Siding with Israel, the United States made clear Monday it would not support Arab efforts to get Security Council endorsement for a resolution dealing with the Middle East crisis. Without backing from the United States �� a veto-wielding member of the council �� it was unlikely that a draft resolution circulated by the Palestinians last week would go for a vote in the council. The draft, backed by Arab and Muslim states, calls for an end to the Israeli takeover of Orient House �� the unofficial Palestinian headquarters in east Jerusalem �� an immediate cessation of violence, and the creation of a ``monitoring mechanism,'' which Israeli opposes. Acting U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham said the gravity of events on the ground led the United States to ``question the appropriateness and effectiveness of any action here in New York.'' ``What is required now is not rhetoric, not debate that polarizes an already volatile situation, and certainly not an effort to condemn one side with unbalanced charges or to impose unworkable ideas that will not change the reality on the ground,'' Cunningham said. Security Council meetings are normally reserved for its 15 members, but at the request of Arab states, Monday's session was open to any representative �� including Israel and the Palestinians. Palestinian representative Nasser al-Kidwa and Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Lancry sat at opposite ends of the Security Council table Monday exchanging blame for 11 months of bloodshed. Lancry lamented the ``lost language of peace,'' and said Israel remained opposed to monitors that he argued would be ``totally ineffective in preventing terror attacks.'' Al-Kidwa said ``there is no other mechanism or organized and sustained efforts to halt the violence.'' council will be able to fulfill its duties and adopt the resolution,'' he said. The draft provides for monitors to help both sides take the steps to peace recommended by an international commission headed by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell. Those recommendations include a cooling-off period, confidence-building measures, and a resumption of peace talks. The four other veto-wielding council members �� Russia, China, France and Britain �� all refrained Monday from discussing the resolution. Monday's debate was suspended at 7 p.m. and will resume Tuesday afternoon. Outside U.N. headquarters Monday, New York Sen. Hilary Rodham-Clinton joined American Jewish leaders in a rally to support Israel, calling on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to take immediate action to end the violence. ``He must end incitement, stop the violence and do far more to crack down on terrorists,'' said Clinton, who was flanked by Shmuel Greenbaum, whose pregnant wife, Judith, was among 15 people killed in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem on Aug. 12. **** PLA Combined Military Exercise Kicked off Today The four-month-long PLA's military exercise of mixed striking forces will begin to see mixed drills on Dongshan and Shaoan Islands Tuesday after last divided drill held at Zhangpu Monday. Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po said the military drill, the largest and the longest since birth of the PLA has involved an unprecedented number of PLA soldiers and most sophisticated weaponry. On August 17, two US air carriers held a short military exercise on the South China Sea. An official with the Taiwan authorities is quoted as saying that when PLA tests its new type missiles on Dongshan Island, the US nuclear submarine "Los Angels" passed periphery waters of Taiwan, and the moment is fairly sensitive. The Paper noted that the US has always interfered in China's internal affairs like the Taiwan issue and has the indulgece to send its air carriers to this sea area. However, China has made various preparations to deal with possible US intervention and Taiwan army's sabotage and the wargames in Dongshan have included the subject on air carriers striking. Hi-tech Enhances PLA's Combat Capability, Dongshan Drill to Enter New Stage On the occasion of the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Xinhua reported Tuesday that PLA has introduced a large number of latest technologies in its training to have substantially improved its overall combat capability. A series of new facilities, technologies and strategies with latest high-tech achievements like electronic system, intelligent disturbance and deceiving, and precision strike have been adopted by the PLA in an effort to shift traditional combat methods to modern methods. **** China "Distressed" at Hostage Killings in Philippines China is "shocked and distressed" at the killings of two Chinese hostages in the Philippines, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said Monday. Sun said this when asked to comment on the reported killings of two Chinese men held hostage by kidnappers in the Philippines. On August 19, in a gunbattle between the Philippine government troops and the kidnappers, two of the four Chinese men held hostage by the kidnappers were killed, one was rescued and the fourth man is still missing, Sun said. The four Chinese men were kidnapped in the Philippines on June 20, and the Chinese government has shown serious concern over the issue ever since, Sun said. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines have made a series of efforts and repeated representations with the Philippine government and people concerned, urging the Philippine side to ensure the hostages' safety, and with their safety as precondition, to promote their early release, Sun stressed. The Philippine side has also promised many times that they would ensure the hostages' safety, and solve the crisis through peaceful negotiations, Sun noted. After the disaster, China has requested the Philippine government to give a full account of the matter, and strongly demanded the Philippine side to take measures necessary to ensure the absolute safety of the Chinese citizens in that country, and properly deal with the aftermath of the killings. Philippine President Regrets Killing Philippine Presidential Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regrets the killing of two of the four Chinese hostages Sunday when government troops engaged their captors, presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said Monday. The government has already informed the Chinese Embassy on the incident and that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) are now condoling with the families of the victims, Tiglao said at a press briefing here. The Chinese Embassy, expressing shock and pain at the deaths of the hostages Sunday and requested an immediate explanation of the incident from the Philippine government. It also strongly demanded that the Philippine government take all necessary measures to safeguard the lives of the hostages still alive and those of all Chinese citizens in the country. According to the military, government soldiers engaged about 60 kidnap gang members Sunday morning in Colombio town in the southern province of Sultan Kudarat. During the fire fight, two of the Chinese hostages, Zhang Zhongyi and Xue Xing, tried to flee but were immediately shot dead by their captors while a third, Wang Shengli, managed to escape and was recovered. The three Chinese nationals, together with a Filipino Chinese, Edwin Lim, were seized in Sultan Kudarat's neighboring province of Maguindanao on August 12 while reportedly delivering ransom money for the release of Zhang Zhongqiang, Zhang Zhongyi's brother. The four Chinese nationals are employees of the China Electric Power Technology Import and Export Corp. working on an irrigation project in North Cotabato province. Zhang Zhongqiang was kidnapped in Maguindanao on June 20 while returning to the project site from a shopping trip. Tiglao said the military will continue its operations against the abductors. The military are hoping that their pursuit operations "could yield results in the next few days," he added. AFP spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan said earlier Monday that the remaining hostages are believed to be held by their captors somewhere in areas straddling Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao and North Cotabato. **** NGO Aims to Promote Disarmament, Arms Control China's first non-governmental organization for disarmament, which was founded here Tuesday, vows to contribute due effort for the arms control and disarmament process in China and the world at large. The China Arms Control and Disarmament Association (CACDA), is composed of key research institutions in the field and renowned experts and scholars from around China. Chinese Vice-Premier Qian Qichen, Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission Chi Haotian, Vice-Chairwomen of the National People's Congress Standing Committee He Luli, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Zhu Guangya, among others, attended the meeting to mark the establishment of the association. Qian said that a variety of NGOs have developed rapidly around the world to play an important part in political, economic, military, cultural and social areas in the international stage, becoming a voice that "no one can afford to ignore." Arms control and disarmament affairs have been a focus of NGOs for many years and NGOs have inserted their influence in the arms control and disarmament process and relevant policy making and implementation, Qian said. He also spoke highly of the efforts made by Chinese non-governmental experts in their study and introduction of China's principled stance and policy in this regard to the outside world. The establishment of the association is conducive to optimizing resources and promoting the development of arms control and disarmament research in the non-governmental sector, he said. Qian said he hopes that the association will be a good think tank and called on all members to make efforts to promote China's international image. Chi, who is also a state councilor and the defense minister, described the association as "a venue" for all to get information, develop exchanges and strengthen cooperation. The organ can play a part to "increase the communication and coordination between government departments and relevant research institutions and scholars," he said. Li Daoyu, former Chinese ambassador to the United States, assumed the presidency of the association. The CACDA plans to carry out research projects in arms control, disarmament and international security, organize exchange activities between Chinese and foreign research institutions and sponsor seminars. China Arms Control and Disarmament Association The CACDA, aiming to push forward the international arms control and disarmament process, is to carry out research projects concerning arms control, disarmament and international security, to promote exchanges between domestic and foreign institutions and individual experts in this regard and to hold seminars on arms control. China's Institute of International Studies, Chinese People's Association for Peace and Disarmament, China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, Institute for International Strategic Studies and the Foundation for International Strategic Studies, together with other national institutes on arms control and security issues, are organization members of the CACDA. The association is also composed of well-known experts, scholars, professors and scientists on arms research and development, and retired diplomats and high level military officers. Li Daoyu, former Chinese ambassador to the United States, assumes the presidency of the association. China's Institute of International Studies is the working site for the CACDA secretariat. **** S. Korea Arrest 16 People Back From Pyongyang The National Police Office and National Intelligence Service announced Tuesday that 16 people who had attended the joint Liberation Day celebration in Pyongyang had been taken in for questioning with regard to their activities there. The Seoul District Prosecutors Office said that several of the 16 are suspected of participating in various prohibited events on the orders of North Korea, prior to their departure there. Chun Sung-kwan of the SDPO's Public Security Department said that it had been confirmed that five members of "Beom Min Nyeon" (the Pan Korean Alliance for Reunification), a pro North organization, met with their North Korean and overseas' counterparts to revise their joint charters. Chung said that this was not mentioned when they applied to go the North and so it was highly likely that this illegal meeting had been planned beforehand. The delegation arrived at Gimpo Airport from Pyongyang at 2:15pm on two Asiana flights and father Kim Jeong-su, nominally in charge of the group read a statement apologizing for the behavior of some of the party, in participating in prohibited events. However, he added that there had been some positive achievements from the exchange. At the airport some 300 members of "Han Chon Nyeon," a pro North Korean student body clashed with 700 veterans protesting the delegation's actions, while 2,600 police stood guard. **** Iraq Accuses US, Britain of Trying to Politicalize Kuwaiti MIAs Iraq has argued that the issue of Kuwaiti Missings in Action (MIAs) since the 1991 Gulf War should be handled by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) rather than by the United Nations Security Council, and accused the United States and Britain of trying to politicalize the matter. The official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported Tuesday that Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri Ahmed, in a letter to U.S. Secretary- General Kofi Annan, said Iraq has been focusing on the Kuwaiti MIAs since 1991 and has presented the Kuwaiti side all the evidences concerning the Kuwaiti MIAs. Ahmed said that the Kuwaiti MIAs, as a "humanitarian" issue, should be handled by the ICRC, but not by the U.N. Security Council, which is a "political body." However, the U.S. and Britain have insisted that the U.N. Security Council should deal with the issue, the Iraqi foreign minister said, adding that by doing so, the U.S. and Britain tried to use the issue as a tool "to politically pressure Iraq because it rejects the U.S. policy of arrogance and genocide represented by the perpetuation of the embargo and daily attacks." Iraq has been under a sweeping embargo since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the U.S. and Britain, the major forces behind the continuation of the 11-year-old embargo, have launched frequent air strikes on the two no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq to keep Iraqi President Saddam Hussein at bay. Ahmed expressed readiness to cooperate with the ICRC on the Kuwaiti MIAs and demanded the U.S. and Britain "to stop using the humanitarian matter to achieve political ends," the INA said. The letter followed a statement by the Iraqi foreign minister on Monday saying that it was ready to cooperate with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia on the fate of the Kuwaiti MIAs. "Iraq is ready to exert efforts and engage in direct cooperation with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to search for the MIAs and close up this dossier," he said. More than 10 years after the Gulf War that evicted Iraqi troops out of Kuwait after a seven-month occupation, the issue of Kuwaiti MIAs remains unresolved. Kuwait has repeatedly demanded Iraq to account for the fate of some 600 Kuwaitis and other nationals who have been missing since the war, while Iraq admits that it did take prisoners of war after its troops withdrew from the small emirate, but says it lost track of them during an uprising in southern Iraq in the wake of the Gulf War. Meanwhile, Iraq accuses of the Kuwaiti authorities of concealing the truth over the fate of 1,150 missing Iraqis. Security Council Urges Iraq to Cooperate on Issue of Missing Kuwaitis Expressing "deep concern" at the continuing plight of missing Kuwaitis and nationals of other countries in Iraq following the Gulf war, members of the U.N. Security Council urged Baghdad on Tuesday to cooperate with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's high-level envoy to resolve the issue. The council president for the month of August, Alfonso Valdivieso of Colombia, told reporters here that council members expressed their hope that the issue would continue to be dealt with by all sides strictly as a "humanitarian one" and be resolved urgently. They also expressed their unanimous support for the work of the secretary-general's high-level coordinator, Yuli Vorontsov, and his efforts to bring the matter to a "satisfactory conclusion," Valdivieso said. Earlier Tuesday, Vorontsov briefed the 15-nation council on Annan's latest report on missing Kuwaitis and third-country nationals, which detailed the lack of progress due to the continued Iraqi refusal to cooperate on this issue. In his report, Annan had expressed regret that the Iraqi government remained unwilling to cooperate with Vorontsov to resolve the issue on the grounds that it rejected Security Council resolution 1284, which calls for Iraqi elimination of weapons of mass destruction. Annan, in his report, said he was firmly convinced that cooperation between the government of Iraq and Ambassador Vorontsov could constitute the beginning of a dialogue aimed at resolving the issue of repatriation or return of all Kuwaitis and third-country nationals or their remains. Also on Tuesday, the Office of the Iraq Program (OIP), the U.N. office that administers the humanitarian "oil-for-food" program, said here in its weekly update that Iraq's oil exports remained constant at 13.9 million barrels, the same as the previous week's total. The current phase of the oil-for-food program, which ends on November 30, has so far earned Iraq an estimated 1.6 billion U.S. dollars in revenue from oil sales. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
