Extracts.
Chinese Diplomats Arrive in Kabul. A group of Chinese diplomats, led by senior official Zhang Min, on Wednesday arrived at Bagram air base, about 50 kilometers north of the Afghan capital of Kabul. They are scheduled to inspect the Chinese embassy in Kabul and take part in the power-transfer ceremony on December 22. Chinese diplomats will hold a flag raising ceremony and replace the old national flag. Zhang Min told the journalist that they are scheduled to inspect the Chinese embassy in Kabul and take part in the power-transfer ceremony on December 22, during which Northern Alliance chief Burhanuddin Rabbani will hand over the power to the head of the interim government Hamid Karzai. "China closed its embassy in Kabul in 1993 for security reasons, and this time, we are planning to inspect our embassy buildings and try to resume our diplomatic mission at proper time," Zhang said. "We will also hold a flag raising ceremony and replace the old national flag which has been flaunting there for more than eight years," he said. Replying to a question on post-war reconstruction of Afghanistan, Zhang said China deeply sympathizes with the Afghan people in their sufferings and will try its best to take an active part in the reconstruction of Afghanistan as well as continue to provide humanitarian aid to Afghan refugees. **** Spokeswoman on ABM Treaty, Early-warning Radar System and India-Pak Relation. Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty views were exchanged when Vice-Foreign Minister Qiao Zonghuai and officials with the Department of Arms Control and Disarmament met with a US delegation, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said Tuesday. Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty views were exchanged when Vice-Foreign Minister Qiao Zonghuai and officials with the Department of Arms Control and Disarmament met with a US delegation, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said Tuesday. Led by Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Avis Bohlen, the US delegation reached Beijing <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/beijing.html> on Sunday to explain Bush's decision to pull out of the 1972 ABM Treaty. During their meeting, Chinese officials reiterated China's stance on the ABM treaty, emphasizing the importance of maintaining international arms control, disarmament and world stability, Zhang said. Both sides agreed to continue dialogues on keeping strategic stability, she added. Also on Sunday, Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Guangya held a fourth diplomatic consultation with his Russian counterpart Georgy Mamedov, in Moscow, exchanging in-depth opinions on topics involving the international security situation, arms control and disarmament issues, she said. The two sides stressed global strategic balance and stability are vital to international peace and safety, agreeing to conduct close consultations on the above issues in the future, she added. Commenting on reports that China and Israel conducted negotiations on Sunday on the issue of Israel's cancellation of its sale of the early-warning radar system to China, Zhang said China's stance is consistent, and hopes the "relevant sides'' take responsibility and find an early, satisfactory solution to avoid undermining bilateral relations. "It is a basic principle of state-to-state relations that agreements and understandings between them should be honoured,'' said Zhang. Israel decided to cave in to US pressure and scrap its plan to sell China a US$250 million early-warning radar system last year. Meanwhile, the Chinese Government also expressed sympathy and condolence to the families of the victims that were killed during a gunshot accident in the congress building of India <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/india.html> on December 13, the spokeswoman said. "We hope India and Pakistan -- important countries in the South Asia -- show restraint to maintain the regional peace and stability in mind without causing new tension,'' she said. She noted that China and Pakistan are busy with the preparation for the important visit by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to China, starting on tomorrow. Sino-Pakistani ties are developing, and the visit will enhance this dedication into the new century, she added. When answering an inquiry on the trade row between China and Japan, Zhang said: "We hope both sides can exercise prudence and solve the dispute calmly through friendly negotiations.'' **** Musharraf Hopes Further Cooperation with China. "I am looking forward to my visit to China as it would afford us an opportunity to review our bilateral relations with a view to further deepening and intensifying them," Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said in an interview with Chinese journalists in Islamabad on the eve of his visit to China beginning December 20. Pakistan <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/pakistan.html> -China Friendship "Pakistan-China friendship is based on shared interests in regional stability, UN Charter and the five principles of Peaceful Co-existance. We consider our time-tested ties with China as cornerstone of our foreign policy and China as our most important and trusted friend," He said. "While we are resolved to further strengthen our multi-dimensional cooperation in the new century, Pakistan-China friendship is not directed against any third country. It is an important factor for peace and stability in south Asia and has assumed greater significance in the changing regional and international situation," Musharraf stressed. Further Cooperation Musharraf said, "The trade and economic ties between our two countries are important part of our bilateral cooperation. However, we feel that considerable potential for enhancing further collaboration in these fields exists. We need to bring them at par with our remarkably strong political and strategic cooperation." Open All Sectors of Economy to China Musharraf said that Pakistan's policy is being further liberalized to open all sectors of the economy, agriculture, services infrastructure, and social services to foreign direct investment, as Chinese companies can benefit from these opportunities by investing in Pakistan. He said that he believed that his visit to China would help build upon the foundation of economic cooperation laid earlier this year by Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji 's visit to Pakistan. **** India, Pakistan in Gunbattle Over Kashmir Border. Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fire over their disputed border in Kashmir overnight in the first such clash since New Delhi accused Islamabad of instigating last week's attack on the Indian Parliament, an army spokesman said on Wednesday. Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fire over their disputed border in Kashmir overnight in the first such clash since New Delhi accused Islamabad of instigating last week's attack on the Indian Parliament, an army spokesman said on Wednesday. The spokesman accused Pakistani troops of opening heavy mortar and machine-gun fire at Indian positions, causing panic among nearby residents, along the Line of Control (LoC) -- the de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Indian troops returned fire from their position in Nowshera, 420 km south-west of Indian Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar. The spokesman said the Indian side suffered no casualties and that casualties among the Pakistanis could not be ascertained because it was night-time. He said: 'The guns fell silent shortly before day break, and the calm is still prevailing along the LoC.' **** Motorola Cuts More Jobs. Motorola is cutting another 9,400 jobs, or more than 8% of its work force, in a push to return to profitability in 2002. Motorola is cutting another 9,400 jobs, or more than 8% of its work force, in a push to return to profitability in 2002. The cell phone and semiconductor maker has now shrunk its work force by 32% �� 42,900 jobs through layoffs and 5,500 through sales of businesses �� since it stood at 150,000 worldwide in August 2000. The long-troubled tech giant said Tuesday it remains on track to achieve the fourth-quarter results it forecast two months ago, but said its loss will be greater than expected in the first quarter of next year. The latest round of job cuts, to be made over the course of the next year, include 4,000 from its semiconductor operations, 1,300 from its equipment manufacturing businesses and another 4,100 distributed companywide. Company spokesman Scott Wyman said they will take place across all Motorola's businesses and most geographic regions where it operates, including its headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill. He declined to be more specific. Motorola, the world's No. 2 cell phone manufacturer and a leading computer chip maker, disclosed the cuts while confirming it is headed toward a fourth straight quarter in the red in the current three-month period, with operating losses about the same as estimated in October. **** Iran to Host International Conference on Caspian Sea. An international conference will open in Iran on Saturday to deal with challenges on the land-locked Caspian Sea with rich oil and gas resources, the official IRNA news agency reported Tuesday. An international conference will open in Iran on Saturday to deal with challenges on the land-locked Caspian Sea with rich oil and gas resources, the official IRNA news agency reported Tuesday. Sadeq Kharazi, Iranian deputy foreign minister for Education and Research, told IRNA that the two-day gathering will touch upon Caspian Sea's legal regime, recent developments in the region as well as geopolitics, economic cooperation and cultural-social- indigenous problems related to the sea. The conference will be attended by experts and researchers from 20 countries, including five littoral states -- Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, as well as Armenia , Belgium, Canada, Egypt, Italy, Japan and the United States. Kharazi said that 90 articles have so far been submitted to the conference's secretariat, two thirds of which belong to foreign intellectuals, and 65 of the total have been selected for presentations at the conference. On the sidelines of the conference, deputy foreign ministers and representatives of the littoral states will also hold a meeting to exchange views on the policies of their own governments on Caspian Sea, he said. The Caspian Sea is estimated to contain the world's third largest reserves of oil and gas after the Persian Gulf and Siberia. Among the five littoral states, Iran and Turkmenistan have pushed for dividing the sea into five equal sectors, while Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia contend that the sea floor should be divided into national sectors. Because of the long-standing differences, a summit meeting on the division of the sea has been postponed for several times. Meanwhile, the five countries have also worried about Western interference in the Caspian issue. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
