Extracts. More than 30 million university and high school students in China have received military training Since 1985, Chi Haotian, State Councilor and concurrently Defense Minister, said in Tianjing Saturday. During the past 16 years, over 200,000 army officers were sent to schools to give military training, he said, adding that from this year, over 10 million students will receive military trainingeach year. Chi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, said this at a national conference on military training for students. The meeting was held in north China's Tianjin Municipality by the Ministry of Education nd the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA)'s Department of General Staff and the General Department of Politics. Chi called for a complete understanding of the great importance of having military training for students and said it should be regarded as a major issue beneficial to the state and the army. **** Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Friday expressed greetings to his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame over the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationship between the two countries. "On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Rwanda, I wish, on behalf of the Chinese government and people and in my own name, to express my congratulations to you personally and through you to the Rwandan government and people," Jiang said in his congratulatory message. Although the international situation as well as the domestic situations in China and Rwanda have changed a lot during the past 30 years, the two countries still enjoy mutual respect, mutual understanding and mutual trust on the basis of the five principles of peaceful coexistence, Jiang stressed. Besides, the two countries have also fostered fruitful cooperation in a wide range of areas such as politics, economy, trade, culture and health. The Chinese government and people treasure the traditional friendship and cooperation with Rwanda and are willing to make joint efforts with Rwanda to further develop the friendly ties continuously in the 21st century. In his message of congratulations to Jiang, Kagame expressed his "commitment to cement further the friendly relations of cooperation that happily exist between our two countries and peoples." **** Iraq's Oil Ministry has succeeded in manufacturing oil tanks and refiners by itself, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported on Saturday. Twenty-seven oil tanks with different capacity and two oil refiners have been made and installed, and preparations for 10 other refiners are in full swing, an official of the Oil Ministry told INA. The official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, hailed the move as a "success in breaking foreign monopoly" in these aspects. Iraq, which has been under sweeping U.N. economic sanctions after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, says that it would develop its embargo-hit oil industry through self-reliance. Moreover, the ministry has recently stepped up efforts to discover more oil and gas resources. The Iraqi Al-Zawra weekly newspaper reported on Thursday that a large gas field has been discovered in Iraq's western desert with an estimated reserve of more than 60 billion cubic meters. Iraq has the second largest proven oil reserve in the world. **** USS Germantown arrived at the Subic Bay Freeport in the northwestern Philippines on Saturday for a five-day call, two months after the September 11 terror attack in the United States. USS Germantown's Commanding Officer Bradley D. Martin said the ship's visit has nothing to do with the on-going attacks against Afghanistan and the local military operations against the Abu Sayyaf bandits in the Southern Philippines, the Philippine News Agency reported. "Our personnel has enjoyed the freeport's climate and security during their stay here in Subic last year, so we decided to come Manila after our pacific operation in East Timor," Martin was quoted as saying. The local police has reportedly deployed more policeman and sea patrols to ensure the security of some 700 U.S. servicemen during their stay. In June last year, USS Germantown was in the former U.S. naval base with five other U.S. ships for a two-week joint military exercise with the Philippine Navy. Last week, some 10 U.S. F-18 fighter jets and military transport planes stopped in the Philippines to refuel while on route from Japan to an undisclosed destination. Last month, a team of more than 20 U.S. military advisers came to the country to assess the local military operations against the Abu Sayyaf, which allegedly had links with Osama bin Laden. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has promised to give "all-out support" to U.S. military strikes against terrorism and allowed the U.S. military to use the Philippine airspace as well as its airports and seaports as refueling and staging points, including Subic and Clark, two former American military bases in the country. **** Israeli troops arrested 12 Palestinians and demolished two houses after thrusting into two villages near the West Bank city of Jenin early Saturday, Palestinian sources said. The Israeli forces, including at least 11 tanks, penetrated into Araqa and Hashimiya, where a curfew was immediately imposed, the sources added. During the incursion, the Israeli forces demolished two houses in Araqa and a barrier of the Palestinian security forces in Hashimiya, and launched a large-scale arrest campaign, during which 12 Palestinians were detained. Israel has confirmed the military operation, saying that one of the two houses was owned by Nazer Muhamad Gamad, an activist of the Palestinian mainstream Fatah movement. Israel has accused Gamad of opening fire in October at passers-by near a bus station in Afula, a town close to Jenin, killing an Israeli soldier and wounding two civilians. It also suspects the 12 Palestinians of involvement in violent acts. Israel's military operation came as a response to the killing of an Israeli woman on Friday near the Palestinian self-rule community of Yabed, near Jenin, by members of Fatah's military wing, Israeli sources said. **** Visiting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Salem al-Sabah stressed on Sunday the necessity of fighting terrorism without harming the civilians. The two leaders, who reaffirmed the above position during their talks on Sunday, also expressed their hope that the current war against Afghanistan will not be extended to include the Arab and Islamic states. In a statement to reporters upon the departure of Mubarak after a short visit, Egyptian Information Minister Safwat el-Sherif said that talks between Mubarak and Sheikh Saad also included means to crystallize an Arab vision towards the current international conditions and their impact on the Arab region. Regarding the issue of the Middle East, el-Sherif said that both sides urged the international community to "move and hold responsibility towards what the Palestinian people are being subjected to." He said that the two leaders also called for " joint Arab coordinated effort to halt the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians. " Both sides stressed the importance of "guaranteeing the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian lands and liftingthe siege imposed in the Palestinian cities," el-Sherif added. "Without a comprehensive and just peace in the region, escalating situation will remain to affect the security and stability of the whole world," the Egyptian minister said. Last week, Mubarak, who has reaffirmed his committment to restarting stalled Middle East peace efforts, told a joint session of parliament in Cairo that Israeli policies were undermining hopes for regional reconciliation. Mubarak arrived in Kuwait City earlier Sunday from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he held talks with his UAE counterpart Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan on the situation in Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories. **** Australian Prime Minister John Howard won the general election Saturday night thanks to the waves of Asylum seekers and international terrorism. Before the Tampa crisis late August, his Liberal-National Coalition was clearly underdog in rivaling the Opposition Labor Party. The Australian average people were almost casting him aside due to the 10 percent consumption tax his government introduced last year. Understanding the serious situation, he resorted to throwing bounty but failed to harvest apparent results. At this moment, a wonderful chance fell from the heaven. The Norwegian cargo Tampa rescued 433 boatpeople heading for Australia. As a canny politician, Howard seized the opportunity and refused Tampa to enter the country's waters and created a storm in a tea cup. He managed to set up "boatpeople colonies" in the Pacific nations and the navy intercepted and drove back all people smuggling boats. Public opinion polls showed the action won the support from more than 70 percent of Australians. On September 11, terrorist attacks occurred in the United States killing around 5,000 people. It shocked the world. Australians were thrown into extreme panic. People reviewed the Tampa crisis and believed Howard did correctly and timely. Howard fanned the flame saying that "You don't know who's coming and you don't know whether they do have terrorist links or not." He promised voters a live in the secure hands and said he had the capability to see the nation through the difficult time. The election history in the country showed that in times of trouble, voters usually inclined to avoid from changing a ruler. However, there were unspoken factors behind the victory of the Coalition. According to the fragment comments by the local media, in the society there are sentiments of insularism, isolationism or even racialism, more or less. They are remnants of the white Australia policy, which was repealed only about 30 years ago. However senior political commentator Paul Kelly named it cautiously "protectionist nationalism." In 1998, the One Nation Party arose and in this year's election it captured about one million votes from the Coalition. The party is seen a semi-racialist political group. It attacked bluntly the Asian immigrants and opposed aid to Asian countries and the economic globalization. Mainly because of its racialist color, the party fell quickly from its peak. The Howard government's policy seems much more acceptable though the One Nation Party leader Pauline Hanson cried out that Howard stole her policy. Last night a defeated One Nation candidate in Western Australia blamed a flow of Pauline Hanson votes back to the coalition for his failure to secure a senate position in Western Australia. He was quoted by the Australian Associated Press as saying that "I think in parts Howard had adopted some of our policy and people thought: 'Oh, the Liberal Party's woken up, we'll go back to them'." There are concerns that Australia is becoming more insular and whiter. But the protectionist nationalism sounds more appropriate. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
