Extracts.
Chinese FM Warns Potential Power Vacuum, Social Chaos in Afghanistan. "With the changing situation on the battlefield within Afghanistan, the question of a potential power vacuum has cropped up. There are ever greater dangers of large-scale social chaos in that country", Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan pointed out Tuesday at the United Nations. Power vacuum could lead to social chaos Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said Tuesday at the United Nations that with the changing situation on the battlefield within Afghanistan, a potential power vacuum could lead to social chaos. Addressing the Security Council-host open debate on Afghanistan held on the sideline of the general debate of the 56th U.N. General Assembly, Tang warned that the Afghan crisis, if not properly handled, could become a threat to peace and stability of the whole region. "With the changing situation on the battlefield within Afghanistan, the question of a potential power vacuum has cropped up," he said. "There are ever greater dangers of large-scale social chaos in that country." He urged the international community, the U.N. in particular, to accelerate the process of a political settlement of the Afghan question, including facilitating the establishment of a transitional administration, and set in motion Afghanistan's reconstruction as soon as possible. "At this critical juncture, the U.N should play a leading role and should, together with the international community, provide necessary political, technical and financial assistance to Afghanistan on an urgent basis," he said. "The Chinese Government is willing to, together with all sides, make constructive efforts for the promotion of the comprehensive and political solution to the issue of Afghanistan with the assistance by the United Nations," he concluded. Political Solution to Afghan Problem Tang, who attended a high-ranking international meeting on Afghanistan, called for a political solution to the Afghan issue Monday at the United Nations, "efforts should be made to achieve the political solution to the Afghan problem through negotiation and dialogue". Tang said that China, as a neighboring country of Afghanistan, has always very much concerned over the situation in the country. The meeting is known as "the Six Plus Two" meeting on Afghanistan. The six countries are China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan -- all countries bordering Afghanistan. The two countries are the United States and Russia . The Chinese foreign minister said that under the current situation, the following principles should be honored when efforts are made to properly solve the Afghan problem: First, efforts should be made to safeguard the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan. It is the basic principles of the U.N. Charter and international law that stipulate the respect for sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of a country, he said. Secondly, the Afghan people should be able to decide on the solution to their problem independently, he said. Thirdly, the future Afghan government should be broad-based, represent the interests of all ethnic groups in the country and develop good relations with Afghanistan's neighboring countries, he said. Fourthly, efforts should be made to maintain the peace and stability in the region, he said. Whether the stability can be restored in Afghanistan is associated with the immediate interests of all its neighboring countries, and will affect peace and stability in the region, he added. Last, the United Nations should play a more constructive role in solving the Afghan problem. The process of solving the Afghan problem is very complicated, so the positive role played by the United Nations will be very helpful for most countries and all factions in Afghanistan to reach consensus on relevant issues. Relief Goods to Afghan Refugees in Pakistan The Chinese government has donated relief goods worth 12 million Renminbi yuan for Afghan refugees in Pakistan. A ceremony to sign the handing over certificate was held Tuesday in Islamabad when Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Lu Shulin and Pakistani Minister for Kashmir Affairs, Northern Areas, States and Frontier Regions present signed the documents on behalf of their respective governments. The goods donated by China, including tents, blankets, quilts, tarps and so on, had been transported to Peshawar on November 5, 2001. **** Why China Needs to Participate in a New Round of Negotiation. The ongoing 4th WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha is another dash WTO made toward starting a new round of multilateral trade talks. The failure of the Seattle Conference two years ago is still fresh in people's memory, the information from the WTO Secretariat indicates that fairly big divergence over a variety of questions existed among various members at the current Doha Conference, it is not easy to reach a consensus before the conclusion of the meeting. However, whatever result of the conference may be, the participation of China, as a new WTO member, in the new round of negotiation is unavoidable. The ongoing 4th WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha is another dash WTO made toward starting a new round of multilateral trade talks. The failure of the Seattle Conference two years ago is still fresh in people's memory, the information from the WTO Secretariat indicates that fairly big divergence over a variety of questions existed among various members at the current Doha Conference, it is not easy to reach a consensus before the conclusion of the meeting. However, whatever result of the conference may be, the participation of China, as a new WTO member, in the new round of negotiation is unavoidable. The new round of multilateral trade talks aims mainly to discus the formulation of new game rules, its contents involve the various aspects of the world economy and trade, the agreements reached will have a binding force on various WTO members, it will affect China's major interests, so China must actively cope with and participate in it. Maintaining an open multilateral trading system conforms to China's long-term strategy. Although China has joined the WTO, as a developing country whose overall national strength is not strong enough, it is very hard for China to fully guarantee its interests in dealing single-handedly with developed members, and it will easily be subject to unfair treatment particularly when disputes occur. The WTO is a rules-based organization, its members' promise to open the market and the result achieved in the solution of disputes have legal effects. Relying on a multilateral mechanism is China's best choice, which will enable China, within the framework of the WTO, to promote the formulation of international economic and trade rules to its own advantages, eliminate the discriminatory practices adopted by some members against China and demand that related members abolish the practice contrary to the WTO rules, further open their product and service markets to China, boost the expansion of exports, develop domestic industries of comparative advantage, so that China can better participate in economic globalization. Besides, participation in a new round of negotiation by China as the largest developing country, will enhance the developing countries' collective negotiating capability, making it possible to change, to a certain extent, the balance of force between "North and South" and expedite the solutions of problems such as the unbalanced multilateral trading system, and the ineffective implementation of the Uruguay <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/uruguay.html> Round accords. Meanwhile, when China raises its voice in the new round of negotiation, promises to abide by international rules and relaxes market access will make it easy to get the approval and support of other WTO members, this is conducive to establishing China's international image as an open and responsible country, and constructing a good external environment. Participating in a new round of negotiation is also an excellent opportunity for China to understand and grasp the WTO rules and operational mechanisms, it will help us to grasp the latest WTO movements and development trends, make more flexible and free use of WTO provisions and mechanisms and bring up in practice a batch of professionals familiar with WTO rules and well versed in international trading policies, so that we can perform obligations in a better way and promote what is beneficial and abolish what is detrimental. Of course, participating in a new round of multilateral trade talks will confront us with some unfavorable factors, for instance, conflict of interest between China and the developed members will become more intense, opening of the market will bring new pressure, some new topics for discussion in the negotiations will be disadvantageous to us, etc. This requires that we adopt effective tactics and play our active, constructive role in launching a new round of negotiation, so as to achieve maximum Chinese interests. The stance of the Chinese side is already clear-cut; in the new round of negotiation, we should give full consideration to the developmental level of the related industries of the developing countries and give it special treatment in the aspects of opening degree and speed; we should adopt practical and effective measures to guarantee implementation of Uruguay Round accords and to guarantee the comprehensive and effective participation of the developing members, the determination of topics for negotiation must be based on consultations on an equal footing. Negotiation of a package form will ensure that the result of negotiation embodies the overall balance of the interests of various parties. Although at the current Doha Conference, WTO Director-General Mike Moore and many members cherish high expectations of China in the new round of negotiation, judged from the current situation, however, the role China has to first play is to serve as a bridge between the developed and the developing members, that will be a new subject after China's entry into the WTO. **** Bush, Putin Promise to Reduce Strategic Nuclear Arsenal. U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that their countries will respectively cut the nuclear arsenal. Bush, Putin Promise to Reduce Strategic Nuclear Arsenal U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that their countries will respectively cut the nuclear arsenal. "I have informed President Putin that the United States will reduce our operationally deployed, strategic nuclear warheads to a level between 1,700 to 2,200 within the next decade, a level fully consistent with American security," Bush said at a joint press conference with Putin after their talks at the White House. The resulting force will be "fully consistent with American security," Bush said. Bush said he and Putin retain differing viewpoints on the American plans to develop a missile defense shield, and "we will continue dialogue and discussion" on the subject. He said he and Putin also had agreed to support a United Nations call for a "broadly based and multiethnic" government in Afghanistan to replace the Taliban. "Russia and America share the same threat and share the same resolve" to battle terrorism, he said. "We will fight and defeat terrorist networks wherever" they exist, Bush added. Meanwhile, Putin said that his country will try to respond in kind after Bush said he will cut the U.S. nuclear arsenal. But he gave no precise figures. The United States currently has roughly 7,000 intercontinental nuclear warheads, while Russia has an estimated 5,800. Putin said that he wanted a "reliable and verifiable agreement, " appearing to differ with U.S. views that a complex strategic arms treaty was unnecessary. He also said Russia had not modified its position on the U.S. missile defense program, which Russia opposes, but that talks would continue. **** Korean Talks Break Up as Agreement Unravels. Reconciliation talks between DPRK and South Korea ended in failure on Wednesday after a deal on resuming family exchanges next month unraveled during all-night negotiations. Reconciliation talks between DPRK and South Korea ended in failure on Wednesday after a deal on resuming family exchanges next month unraveled during all-night negotiations. "What both sides had neared an agreement on yesterday came to nothing," a South Korean Unification Ministry official said after the deal foundered over an anti-terrorism alert in the South that the North has said is directed against it. The negotiations at the DPRK resort of Mount Kumgang failed to sew up an agreement to hold a new round of reunions next month for elderly Koreans separated since the early 1950s, as well as further ministerial and economic talks. On Tuesday, South Korea said the two sides had agreed to reunite 100 Koreans from each side with their relatives across the world's most militarized frontier next month at Mount Kumgang. But the talks bogged down over the wording of a statement to mask differences on anti-terrorism that could not be overcome. "The chief delegates had a final meeting," South Korean spokesman Rhee Bong-jo told reporters. "But there was no change in the North's attitude, so we have nothing to tell them any more." The talks were the latest effort by the Koreas, still technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended without a formal peace treaty, to implement agreements set after a landmark summit in the North's capital Pyongyang in June 2000 but since stalled. **** Iranian Interior Minister Leaves for Pakistan on Afghan Crisis. Iranian Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari left Tehran Tuesday on a four-day visit to Pakistan to coordinate their stance on the ongoing Afghan crisis. Iranian Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari left Tehran Tuesday on a four-day visit to Pakistan to coordinate their stance on the ongoing Afghan crisis. Lari said before his departure that during the visit, he will discuss with Pakistani officials issues of mutual interest and regional developments. Lari is leading a political and security delegation to visit Pakistan at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart Moinuddin Haider. The Iranian minister said that he will try to bring closer the two sides' stances on regional issues, particularly those on the Afghan crisis, adding that the two sides are scheduled to review ways of implementing security pacts signed by the two countries earlier. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf made a brief stopover in Tehran last Wednesday on his way to New York for the U.N. General Assembly. The Shiite Iran does not recognize Afghanistan's ruling Taliban and has strongly criticized Pakistan for its previous backing of the Sunni fundamentalist militia. Iran has condemned the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, but opposed the U.S.-led military campaign against Afghanistan accused of harboring Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect of the terror attacks. For its part, Pakistan has firmly supported the U.S.-led military action on Afghanistan. **** UN Delivers First Political Blueprint for Afghan Future as US Maintains Military Assault. Lakhdar Brahimi, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy for Afghanistan, presented a plan on Tuesday for a two-year transitional government to bring the country's ethnic groups under one umbrella and establish a multinational security force to guard them. Lakhdar Brahimi, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy for Afghanistan, presented a plan on Tuesday for a two-year transitional government to bring the country's ethnic groups under one umbrella and establish a multinational security force to guard them. On Wednesday, the UN Security Council considers a British and French drafted resolution that would support Brahimi's efforts and takes a step toward approing the force. The document would "encourage" countries to help "ensure the safety and security of areas of Afghanistan no longer under Taliban control." Diplomats said no particular security arrangement was authorized because plans were not yet firm. The draft resolution says "the United Nations should play a central role in supporting the efforts of the Afghan people to establish urgently" a new, broad-based transitional government. Brahimi said he preferred an all-Afghan force to provide security for any transitional government in areas where the Taliban no longer ruled, particularly the capital Kabul. But he said this would take too long to organize as would a traditional UN peacekeeping force. Instead he suggested a "coalition of the willing" of multinational troops, which diplomats said could include Turkey, Jordan and Malaysia, along with European nations. Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem told Reuters in an interview in New York that Ankara was willing to send troops to Afghanistan but must have a say in the political process. Brahimi also gave a dour prediction of the food supplies in Afghanistan where an estimated six million people could face starvation. Even if progress is maintained, there will still be "a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan," he said. The United States as well as many other governments have pushed the United Nations to the foreground in organizing a broad-based government in Afghanistan that would have global legitimacy rather than one imposed by Washington alone. MILITARY MOVES OUTPACE POLITICAL MANEUVERS But with Kabul as well as Mazar-i-Sharif to the north having fallen swiftly to the US-backed Northern Alliance, the military campaign appears to have outpaced political maneuvers, despite worldwide calls for a UN presence in Afghanistan. Brahimi, who was given the task to organize a government only within the last month, has to cope with competing goals of the Pashtuns, who dominate the south of the country and make up most of the Taliban supporters. The Northern Alliance is composed largely of ethnic Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaara, and is known for as many human rights abuses as the Taliban. But Brahimi made clear that the United Nations would not "parachute in" officials to set up a protectorate as in East Timor or Kosovo but invite Afghans, whether at home, in exile, or in refugee camps in Pakistan and Iran, to take the lead. He said his deputy, now in Islamabad, would go to Kabul as soon as possible. At the same time, he said he was organizing a meeting of all Afghan factions as soon as possible, hopefully within a week. The United States was reported to prefer the United Arab Emirates, which until recently backed the Taliban, as a site for the meeting. But diplomats said Iran was raising objections and the session might be held in Geneva. Specifically, Brahimi said the first meeting of all factions should discuss steps to convene a provisional council, reflecting various Afghan groups. It should be chaired by "an individual recognized as a symbol of national unity," an apparent reference to Afghanistan's 87-year old exiled king, Mohammad Zaher Shah, living in Rome. The provisional council would plan a transitional administration that would run the country for up to two years. At the same time, an emergency Loya Jirga, or grand assembly of tribal elders, would convene to approve security arrangements and help write a constitution. A second Loya Jirga would approve the constitution to create a government for Afghanistan, Brahimi said. "The processes being proposed are not perfect," Brahimi said. The proposed institution "will not include everyone who should be there and it may include some whose credentials many in Afghanistan may have doubt about," he said. But he appealed to the the UN council to "remember that what is hopefully to be achieved is the elusive peace the people of Afghanistan have been longing for for so long." _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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