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2005

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DECEMBER 2005

China overtakes U.S. as world's leading exporter of information technology goods
12/12/2005 - China overtook the United States in 2004 to become the world's leading exporter of information and communications technology (ICT) goods such as mobile phones, laptop computers and digital cameras, according to OECD data.
China exported USD 180 billion worth of ICT goods in 2004, compared with U.S. exports in the same category valued at USD 149 billion. In 2003, the U.S. led with exports of ICT goods worth USD 137 billion, followed by China with USD 123 billion.
Agreement on Joint Oil Exploitation Inked between DPRK and China
Beijing, December 24 (KCNA) -- An agreement on joint oil exploitation on the sea was signed between the governments of the DPRK and China through friendly negotiations. The signing ceremony took place here today. The agreement was inked by Ro Tu Chol, vice-premier of the Cabinet who is leading the DPRK government delegation on a visit to China, and Zeng Peiyan, vice-premier of the State Council of China.
China Lays Down Gauntlet in Energy War: the geopolitics of oil, Central Asia and the United States
By F William Engdahl
[Japan Focus 26 December 2005]
On December 15, the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) inaugurated an oil pipeline running from Kazakhstan to northwest China. The pipeline will undercut the geopolitical significance of the Washington-backed Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC)oil pipeline which opened this past summer amid big fanfare and support from Washington. The geopolitical chess game for the control of the energy flows of Central Asia and overall of Eurasia from the Atlantic to the China Sea is sharply evident in the latest developments [China confrontation]
India, China and the Global Pursuit of Energy: Coopetition and competition
By Indrajit Basu
[Japan Focus 26 December 2005]
India and China, the most aggressive shoppers for oil and gas assets in the world, and normally archrivals in the race for overseas oilfields, have finally come together to pursue their energy security in the global arena. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the two largest oil companies in the respective countries, announced on December 20 that they had jointly won a bid to acquire 37% of Petro-Canada's stake in Syrian oilfields for US$573 million. ONGC and CNPC, both state-owned, will have equal stakes in the al-Furat oil and gas fields.
North Korea, China to Cooperate in Energy Development
SEOUL (Yonhap) _ China's State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan has stressed the need for close cooperation between China and North Korea in the energy field, the North's media said Sunday. Tang, who served as China's foreign minister in the late 1990s, met with visiting North Korean Deputy Premier Ro Tu-chol in Beijing on Saturday, Radio Pyongyang said in a report, monitored in Seoul. ``The signing of a bilateral agreement on jointly developing crude oil fields shows how close and friendly the two countries are,'' Tang was quoted as saying in the report.
China, N. Korea Ink Oil-Exploration Pact
The Associated Press Saturday, December 24, 2005; 4:43 PM BEIJING -- China and North Korea signed an agreement Saturday to jointly develop offshore oil reserves, the Chinese government said, amid efforts to prod the North to speed up economic reforms. The deal was signed after a meeting in Beijing between North Korean Vice Premier Ro Tu Chol and his Chinese counterpart, Zeng Peiyan, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The report offered no other details. North Korea has begun limited Chinese-style reforms in its decrepit, centrally planned economy. But Beijing is pushing Pyongyang to speed up economic development and has promised aid and advice. Beijing also is under pressure from the United States to use its influence with Pyongyang to push for a settlement to demands that the North give up nuclear weapons. [Media]
Kim Jong Il Expresses Thanks to the Chinese Government and Party
A Ceremony Held to Mark to the Commissioning of the Taean Friendship Glass Factory The Taean Friendship Glass Factory was commissioned on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea. Built with grant-in-aid from the Chinese and government and party, the factory is symbolic of DPRK-China friendship.
The factory is a modern glass producer with a high production capacity as all its main production processes and auxiliary facilities have been finished with up-to-date equipment. The factory will contribute to the DPRK's socialist economic construction and the improvement of the standard of its people's living. At the commissioning ceremony held on Oct. 9, Kim Jong Il, the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the DPRK, attended the ceremony together with Wu Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the C.C. of the Communist Party of China and a vice-premier of the State Council of China.
POSCO Fighting Chinese Stranglehold
By Choi Kyong-ae Staff Reporter Hot-rolled coils are stacked ready for shipments at POSCO's storehouse in Pohang, North Kyongsang Province. POSCO has been forced to cut its domestic steel prices due to a surging influx of cheap Chinese steel. Cheaper Chinese steel has forced South Korean steel maker POSCO to cut domestic prices for its steel products next year to fend off a surge in imports of the Chinese goods. In an effort to fight emerging challenges from China, POSCO which sells about 75 percent of its output at home seemingly had no choice but to lower the price of its steel products by as much as 17 percent. ``POSCO may suffer an unprecedented hardship in 2006 mainly due to indiscriminate exports of Chinese steel makers such as Baoshan Iron & Steel,'' POSCO chairman & CEO Lee Ku-taek said in a recent meeting with affiliate companies. For the first 10 months of this year, China's steel exports to Korea soared 79 percent from a year earlier to 5.8 million tons. In contrast, Korea's steel exports to China fell 5 percent to 4 million tons during the same period.
DPRK Orders and Medals Awarded to Chinese
Many Chinese who contributed to the construction of the Taean Friendship Glass Factory were awarded orders and medals of the DPRK. The medal awarding ceremony took place at the Masudae Assembly Hall on October 10. Present there were Kim Yong Nam, the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK; Ro Tu Chol, the vice-premier of the Cabinet; Rim Kyong Man, the minister of Foreign Trade; Kim Thae Jong, a vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea; Kim Yong Il, the vice-minister of Foreign Affairs; Yun Su Ryong, the vice-minister of Construction and Building Materials Industries; Ri Ryong Nam, the vice-minister of Foreign Trade, and other officials concerned. On hand were members of the Chinese government delegation headed by Wu Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the vice-premier of the State Council of China; Wu Donghe, the Chinese ambassador to the DPRK, and staff members of the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang and Chinese technicians who participated in the construction of the factory.
Booming China promises peace and goodwill
· Policy paper pledges share of bigger markets for all · But wary Japan sees threat from military build-up Justin McCurry in Tokyo Jonathan Watts in Beijing Friday December 23, 2005 The Guardian
The Chinese government yesterday tried to soothe foreign anxieties over its economic expansion and military power by publishing a blueprint for what it called a peaceful future. In what is being seen as a bureaucratic equivalent of a charm offensive, the administration produced a 32-page policy document entitled China's Peaceful Development Road. The document pledged to seek a "harmonious world" where all nations can share in bigger markets without fear or threat. But no sooner had the "white paper" been published than Japan's foreign minister abandoned diplomatic decorum to describe Beijing as a "considerable threat" because of its military build-up and tendency to secrecy. [China Confrontation]
China Vows Peaceful Use Of Its Power
White Paper Tries to Ease Fears of Growing Strength
By Edward Cody Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, December 23, 2005; A14 BEIJING, Dec. 22 -- The Chinese government, responding to doubts in the United States and neighboring Asian countries, made what it called a "solemn promise" Thursday that its growing power will never become a threat to other nations. Instead, the government said in a foreign relations white paper, China's swift economic development over the past 25 years has created a lucrative market of 1.3 billion people for businesses around the world and a source of cheap manufactured goods for U.S., European and other consumers. Everyone, including China, has an interest in keeping this peaceful trade going, the paper said. The declaration, one of a series outlining Beijing's major policies, seemed designed in part to counter suggestions in Washington and elsewhere that China's continued expansion economically, diplomatically and militarily makes conflict more likely. That is a mistaken view, it said, because China needs foreign trade, and thus peaceful international relations, to achieve its goal of economic progress at home. [China confrontation]
Shanghai Commits $1 Billion to Ssangyong
By Kim Yon-se Staff Reporter The Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC) has committed $1 billion to strengthen Ssanyong Motor, in which it has a controlling stake, Ssangyong union leaders and public relations officers said Thursday. During his meeting with the union leaders of Ssangyong in Shanghai last week, Hu Maoyuan, chairman of SAIC Motor and a CEO of the parent SAIC Group, said the Chinese shareholder plans to invest about $1 billion in the Korean subsidiary over the next five years. As Shanghai Automotive, which acquired Ssangyong Motor a year ago, hesitated to unveil its projects to develop the company, the union directly went to China and met the chairman.
China Says It Grew Faster Than First Thought
By DAVID BARBOZA Published: December 20, 2005 SHANGHAI, Tuesday, Dec. 20 - China said on Tuesday that its economy, the fastest growing in the world, is larger than it had previously reported. The government reported this morning that its gross domestic product was nearly $2 trillion in 2004, not $1.6 trillion as it had previously reported, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The nationwide survey suggests that China's economic growth is an even more influential factor in the global markets and that its people are even richer and consume more than previously estimated. The new figures also suggest that China is set to overtake Britain and France to become the world's fourth-largest economy this year, ranking behind the United States, which has a gross domestic product of about $12.6 trillion, Japan and Germany. The government said the census discovered that millions of companies in the service and other sectors had been previously unaccounted for in the nation's economic statistics. Last year, for instance, China said, its economic output was nearly 17 percent, or more than $250 billion, larger than previously reported.
The revisions are certain to result in significant changes in the way economists assess the Chinese economy, investment in the country and perhaps its role in the global markets. Many economists have already praised the figures as a step forward in understanding how the Chinese economy works, and in evaluating investment opportunities. For years, economists have raised doubts about some of China's statistics, and even published their own estimates of the economy and its rate of growth. "It's all good," said Stephen Green, senior economist at Standard Chartered Bank. "A bigger economy means all the dangerous ratios, such as investment as a percentage of G.D.P., all fall. And they are usually cited as showing that the Chinese economy is in danger or headed for a fall." [Statistics] [Evidence]
China raises its stake in North Korea
By Andrei Lankov
SEOUL - North Korea is living through a foreign language boom. Learning languages has always been a good way to secure lucrative and prestigious jobs in the country, but in past one had to specialize in Russian, French or English. These days, Chinese is becoming the most popular choice, more or less equal to English. And it would appear young and ambitious North Koreans are making the right decision.
The Chinese presence in North Korea is growing fast. In 2004, Chinese investment in the economy reached US$50 million. This year, the figure will be $85-90 million. This is remarkable growth: merely two years ago, in 2003, Chinese investment was just $1.1 million.
This year, the trade volume between China and North Korea is expected to reach $1.5 billion. Not a great amount of money by the international standards, perhaps, but it still makes China the largest trade partner of the North. The share of trade with China is likely to reach 48% of all North Korean foreign trade. With the investment, China's share is even higher - some 85%.
China's Envoy Urges US-NK Trust-Building
Welcoming U.S. ambassador: U.S. ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow, second from left, inspects an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony at the headquarters of the United States Forces Korea in Yongsan, central Seoul, Wednesday. /Yonhap SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea and China are taking a very coordinated approach towards the North Korean nuclear crisis, and trust-building between Pyongyang and Washington is a key to resolving the issue, the Chinese ambassador to Seoul said Wednesday. Ning Fukui also said the nuclear issue is gaining urgency but it would take some time to deal with the crisis because of the sophisticated characteristics of multilateral talks aimed at ending it. "The six-party talks are likely to roll on a curve, not on a straight line, as the formula of the discussions is very complicated," the envoy said in a meeting with a group of businessmen in Seoul. Ning is said to be an expert on the North Korean nuclear dispute as he handled the issue while working as Beijing's special envoy for Korean Peninsula affairs for two years from 2003. The diplomat began his stint in Seoul three months ago. "I would like to say that the positions of China and South Korea are very close in dealing with the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula," he said. "The joint statement released at the fourth round of six-way talks is the groundwork for the future of the negotiations."
"The progress of the talks hinges on how fast North Korea and the U.S. build up mutual trust," the ambassador said. He apparently was referring to the escalating tensions between the two sides over Washington's crackdown on Pyongyang's alleged criminal activities including the counterfeiting of U.S. dollars.
Court May Hear Chinese Detainees
Muslims Lack Country of Refuge
By Josh White Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, December 13, 2005; Page A17 A federal judge in Washington said yesterday that he will consider allowing two detainees in the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to appear before him in court to challenge their confinement, telling lawyers that the ethnic Uighurs who have been cleared for release have been held too long. U.S. District Judge James Robertson said he believes the case of the Uighurs (pronounced wee-gurs ) presents "a genuine dilemma" because the government has determined they are not enemy combatants but has not found a country to accept them. U.S. officials are not willing to send the Uighurs -- Muslims who are seeking their own homeland on what is now part of northwestern China -- to their native country for fear that they would be tortured or killed.
U.S. authorities have tried to persuade nearly two dozen nations to provide refuge for the Uighurs but have refused to allow them into the United States. [China confrontation] [Terrorism] [Double standards]
Protesters Say Police in China Killed Up to 20
By HOWARD W. FRENCH Published: December 10, 2005 SHANGHAI, Dec. 9 - Residents of a fishing village near Hong Kong said Friday that as many as 20 people were killed by the paramilitary police this week, in an unusually violent clash that marked an escalation in the widespread social protests roiling the Chinese countryside. Villagers said as many as 50 other residents remained unaccounted for since the shootings on Tuesday. It was the largest known use of force by security personnel against citizens since the killings around Tiananmen Square in 1989. That death toll is still unknown, but is estimated to have been in the hundreds.
Panel Criticizes China for History Distortion
By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter An ad hoc National Assembly panel Thursday strongly criticized the Chinese government for breaking last year's promise not to distort the history of Koguryo (37 B.C.-668 A.D.), an ancient Korean kingdom, and to protect its relics. South Korea and China suffered a setback last year due to the territorial dispute over Koguryo, which dominated the northern part of the Korean Peninsula and much of what is today Manchuria, in China.
Plan Signed between DPRK and China
Pyongyang, December 5 (KCNA) -- A Juche 95-96 (2006-2007) plan for scientific and technological exchanges between the DPRK Bureau of Earthquake and the Chinese State Seismological Bureau was signed in Beijing on Nov. 25. Present at the signing ceremony were the members of the delegation of the bureau headed by its Director Kang Sin Dong from the DPRK and the director of the bureau and officials concerned from China.
DPRK Delegation Leaves to Attend Ministerial Meeting in China
Pyongyang, December 3 (KCNA) -- A DPRK delegation led by Mun Ung Jo, vice-minister of Agriculture, left here today to participate in the ministerial meeting on coordination and cooperation in the efforts to prevent the spread of bird flu in Asia slated to be held in China. It was seen off at the airport by Kim Hyok Jin, vice-minister of Agriculture, officials concerned and Gu Jinsheng, Chinese economic and commercial councillor here.
India Accelerating
All Roads Lead to Cities, Transforming India
By AMY WALDMAN Published: December 7, 2005 SURAT, India - This western city has at least 300 slum pockets, grimy industry, factory-fouled air and a spiraling crime rate. A 1994 epidemic - reported as pneumonic plague - that originated here caused national panic. It is the kind of place where the body of a woman killed by a passing truck is left in the street because no one knows her.
Articles in this series are examining India's highway modernization, a vast undertaking reflecting the country's overall transformation. The city hardly seems like a beacon, yet for young men across India it shines like one.
Navigating America's China Challenge
By Steven C. Clemons Senior Fellow The Ripon Forum November 17, 2005
When he served as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Harvard President Lawrence Summers frequently stitched into his opening remarks an excessively hubris-laden assessment of American power. At one such speech, he asserted that the "world has never seen a nation such as the United States that possesses such unrivaled economic might...that the world has never seen a country such as the United States of America that had such a degree of global military power and global reach that a serious rival can not even be imagined." Summers believed that a more integrated and efficient Europe as well as a rapidly growing China would become high impact players in the future but that neither would rival the U.S. on any serious front for a very long period. Today, just a short six years after Summers' triumphalist commentary, America's current account balance has rocketed from roughly 2.5% of GDP to nearly 7%, or roughly $700 billion a year or about $3,000 per capita, with the fastest growing and most significant part of that imbalance associated with China specifically and Asia more broadly. In contrast, China now possesses nearly $800 billion in currency reserves, has overtaken the United States as the largest trading partner of key American allies Japan and South Korea, is spawning free-trade agreements with global stakeholders at a faster clip than the U.S., has more than 2 million individuals with wealth greater than $40 million each, and is preparing Beijing to show itself off to the world in the 2008 Olympics. In addition, China is pouring great sums into a modernized and [China confrontation]
NK Defector Captured by Chinese Police
A North Korean woman trying to defect to South Korea was taken into custody by Chinese police in Beijing Friday after repeatedly failing to gain refuge at a South Korean school there, a government official said.
Storm rages over bestselling book on monster Mao
China experts attack biography's 'misleading' sources by Jonathan Fenby Sunday December 4, 2005 The Observer
It was a summer publishing sensation, an 814- page biography of a man the authors depict as the worst mass murderer of the 20th century, with 111 pages of notes and bibliography. Mao: The Unknown Story, by Jung Chang, celebrated author of the world bestseller, Wild Swans, and her husband, historian Jon Halliday, was hailed by reviewers, most of whom were not specialists on China. The book was described as 'a triumph', 'stupendous' and 'awesome' when it was published in Britain. UK sales have reached 60,000.
But now the authors find themselves in a bitter battle with some of the world's leading China experts, who have united to unleash a barrage of criticism of the book in general, and, in particular, of its sourcing - the subject of a ten-point reply from the authors in the forthcoming edition of the London Review of Books.
Taiwan Opposition Wins Local Elections
By STEPHAN GRAUWELS The Associated Press Saturday, December 3, 2005; 9:56 AM
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party won an overwhelming victory in island-wide municipal elections Saturday, putting it in position to push its agenda of reunification with China during the 2008 presidential campaign. With more than 97 percent of the votes counted, Nationalist candidates or Nationalist allies won 17 of the 23 constituencies, while candidates of President Chen Shui-bian's ruling Democratic Progressive Party were assured of victory in six, according to results from the Central Election Commission.
The Nationalists' policy is eventual reunification with rival China, from which Taiwan split in 1949.
Hu Jintao's Strategy for Handling Chinese Dissent and U.S. Pressure
By Tanaka Sakai
[Japan Focus, 21 November 2005]
It is said that the number of demonstrations against government mismanagement and corruption in China is rising. Since late last year, the media in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Europe, Japan, and the United States has frequently reported protests erupting at city offices and other public sites across the country.
"There were 58,000 protests that involved over 100 people throughout China two years ago. Last year the number rose to 74,000, and a total of 3.8 million people participated in these demonstrations." This announcement in August 2004 by Zhou Yongkang , Minister of the Public Security Bureau, alerted the world to the country's heightened unrest. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/sep2005/chin-s06.shtml The news of 74,000 protests caught the attention of reporters throughout the world. Soon many commentators in the West and Japan were speculating that the Chinese regime might be on the verge of collapse. http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/19/news/china.php Yet even as people throughout the world were reading these reports, one was forced to wonder why the Chinese government was making a point of communicating to the outside world that demonstrations were on the rise. [China confrontation] [Media] [Camouflage]

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NOVEMBER 2005

Star Rises in Fight Against Bird Flu
Demand for a Chinese Fruit Skyrockets By Peter S. Goodman Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, November 18, 2005; Page D01
With its semi-tropical climate and crowded cities and villages chockablock with pork and poultry farms, southern China is believed to be the source of the H5N1 avian influenza, which has been blamed for the deaths of at least 64 people in Asia since 2003. Now the very same area may hold the antidote as well. It literally grows on trees. Dried star anise -- or bajiao , as it is called in Mandarin Chinese -- is a spice found in many Chinese kitchens, imparting a licorice-like taste to stewed meats. For as long as anyone can remember, Chinese doctors have prescribed bajiao to treat colic in babies, as well as headaches, abdominal pain and intestinal distress in adults.
Taiwan Seeks Resolution With China
By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter Lin Hsin-i delivers a speech during the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Pusan, Thursday. /Yonhap PUSAN _ A Taiwanese top politician said Thursday that his country wants to resolve the dispute with China over its sovereignty in a peaceful manner, using the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Lin Hsin-i, a senior adviser to Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, also stressed the ``competitive but cooperative'' relationship between South Korea and Taiwan, particularly in the sector of economy.
China websites
List of websites on China distributed by US embassy, Wellington
Hu, in Seoul, gets a trade concession
November 17, 2005 ? The Korean government designated China as a market economy at yesterday's meeting of President Roh Moo-hyun and China's president, Hu Jintao. The two men issued a seven-point joint declaration after their meeting at the Blue House two days before the leaders' meeting in Busan of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation member economies
Korea, China Agree to Double Trade by 2012
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter President Roh Moo-hyun, right, shakes hands with Chinese President Hu Jintao, prior to a summit meeting at Chong Wa Dae in Seoul, Wednesday. /Yonhap South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed Wednesday to expand bilateral economic cooperation and increase joint efforts for a peaceful resolution to the North Korean nuclear standoff. In a joint statement issued at the end of a summit at Chong Wa Dae in Seoul, Roh and Hu reaffirmed a ``comprehensive cooperative partnership,'' through which the two neighboring nations aim to double their bilateral trade _ currently at less than $100 billion _ by 2012. Roh expressed gratitude to Hu for Beijing's active role in the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, while the Chinese leader praised Seoul's peace and prosperity policy toward the North.
Ssangyong workers issue strike threat
November 16, 2005 ? Unionized workers at Ssangyong Motors Co., Korea's fourth-largest carmaker, said they will go on strike if the company's largest shareholder reneges on a pledge to invest in the company's domestic factory. Ssangyong Motors' workers want Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. to invest $1 billion in Korea, fulfilling a 2004 pledge made when the Chinese company bought 48.9 percent of Ssangyong for $500 million. The workers oppose Shanghai Auto's plan to build Ssangyong Kyron sport utility vehicles in China. "The union took a vote and 79 percent of the workers were in favor of the strike," said Cho Young-jin, spokesman for Ssangyong's union. "We won't stage a strike immediately but wait to see what Shanghai Auto does."
China's Search for Stability With America
Wang Jisi From Foreign Affairs, September/October 2005
Summary: No country can affect China's fortunes more directly than the United States. Many potential flashpoints -- such as Taiwan, Japan, and North Korea -- remain, and true friendship between Washington and Beijing is unlikely. But their interests have grown so intertwined that cooperation is the best way to serve both countries. WANG JISI is Dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University and Director of the Institute of International Strategic Studies at the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China. This essay is an expanded and revised version of an article originally published in Zhongguo Dangzheng Ganbu Luntan, a journal of the Central Party School. [China confrontation]
India Abandons Global Nuclear Disarmament
By Praful Bidwai
[Japan Focus 14 November 2006]
NEW DELHI - Seven years after blasting its way into the world's 'nuclear club', India has executed a major shift in its policy stance by jettisoning its long-standing advocacy of global nuclear disarmament in favour of nuclear non-proliferation. On Monday, the country's Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran enunciated a new doctrinal orientation: India will now be "part of" a "new global onsensus on non-proliferation". The new stance is in line with a far-reaching agreement on nuclear weapons and atomic power signed between India and the United States in July.
Seoul Intends to Recognize China's Market Economy Status
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Pusan _ South Korea is in a final phase of drafting a memorandum of understanding with China as a step toward recognizing China as a full market economy, a high-ranking South Korean official said on Sunday.
CHINA AND THE GEOPOLITICS OF OIL IN THE ASIAN PACIFIC REGION
(WP) WP 38/2005 (Translated from Spanish) -- Documentos Pablo Bustelo ( 5/9/2005 )
Contents Summary Introduction (1) Energy in China: a voracious appetite (2) Oil in China: a growing dependence on imports (3) Chinese energy security in the oil sector: a serious concern (4) China and the geopolitics of oil geopolitics in the Asian Pacific region: the Chinese factor Conclusions References
Summary China's growing demand for oil is significantly changing the international geopolitics of energy, especially in the Asian Pacific region. The recent growth in oil consumption, combined with forecasts of increased oil imports (especially from the Middle East), have led to deep concern among Chinese leaders regarding their country's energy security. They are responding in a number of different ways. In particular, they are determined to increase the security and reliability of oil imports by searching for new sources of supply, and to control purchases and transport lanes, while boosting national production at any cost. This is already causing tension and could lead to further disputes with the US and other big oil consumers, such as Japan and India, as well as with other Asian Pacific countries. However, enhanced cooperation among the big East Asian economies (China, Japan and South Korea) is also a possibility. [Energy security] [China confrontation]
Is US reconsidering India's UNSC bid?
29 October 2005 Islamabad : Applying the carrot and stick principle, the United States is believed to have told India that it may drop its opposition to New Delhi's bid for UNSC permanent seat, if the latter votes against Iran in next month's crucial IAEA resolution on Tehran's uranium enrichment programme. Pakistan, according to a report in The Nation, has expressed concern over this unexpected development. Diplomatic sources were quoted by the paper as saying that as a close ally of Washington in the global war on terror, Islamabad would be irritated by the move. Pakistan, which was an active member of the "Uniting for Consensus Group" in the United Nation had opposed increasing permanent seats of top world body. Pakistan will raise this issue soon with the United States on a plea that major shift in the policy of world sole super power would create an imbalance in the UNSC. The Bush Administration wants India to move away from the G-4 that presently includes Japan, Germany and Brazil and New Delhi, all of whom are UNSC permanent seat aspirants. India is to vote at the next IAEA meeting on November 24. If it choses to vote against Tehran, it could lead to a snapping of bilateral ties and a closer shift towards the U.S., say the sources.

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OCTOBER 2005

Hu goes to the Hermit Kingdom
By Jing-dong Yuan MONTEREY, California - Hu Jintao, Chinese president and Communist Party general secretary, will visit North Korea for a three-day visit starting on Friday, his first official visit since assuming office in 2002 and more than four years since Hu's predecessor, Jiang Zemin, made his call on the Hermit Kingdom.
. China's Hu visits here before APEC summit
October 26, 2005 ? The Blue House announced yesterday that President Roh Moo-hyun will receive his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, for talks on Nov. 16. Mr. Hu will stop in Seoul on his way to Busan for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting beginning Nov. 18. This will be the first visit by a Chinese leader since Jiang Zemin was here in 1995.
Anniversary of CPV's Entry into Korean Front Observed
Pyongyang, October 25 (KCNA) -- Pyongyang-based papers today editorially observe the 55th anniversary of the entry of the Chinese People's Volunteers into the Korean front. Rodong Sinmun says the servicepersons of the People's Army and people of the DPRK send militant salute to the fraternal servicepersons of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and people of China and pay high tribute to the CPV martyrs. [Korean War events]
Kimchi frenzy irritates China
October 25, 2005 ? In apparent retaliation for the furor in Korea about the safety of imported Chinese food products, Beijing has asked for proof of the safety of Korean personal deodorants exported to China. The Korea Food and Drug Administration said yesterday it had received the request for safety information from China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. Trade sources here said the timing of the request suggested a tit-for-tat response to the allegations that Chinese kimchi, eels and other food products imported here were hazardous to health. But whether a shot across Korea's bow or true concerns for safety, the Chinese action was probably based on a close reading of the Korean press. In September, the Korean Women's Environmental Network, a civic group, said it had found hazardous substances in six domestic deodorant brands.
'China Is Important, Not Threat'
By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung, right, and his Chinese counterpart Cao Gangchuan inspect an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing. Yoon made a four-day visit to China from March 30 to April 2. Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung dismissed a notion that China's rapid military buildup poses a threat to the regional balance of power, calling for a European Union (EU)-style multinational cooperation framework in Northeast Asia
Canada's Smiles for Camera Mask Chill in Ties With U.S.
By JOEL BRINKLEY Published: October 25, 2005 OTTAWA, Oct. 24 - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived here on Monday evening for meetings with Prime Minister Paul Martin, who has been inveighing against the United States in recent days, saying it is making a "mockery" of trade rules, angering and humiliating Canada. Perceived slights and misunderstandings are normal features of the United States' relationship with Canada. But Canadians and outside experts say Ottawa's view of Washington now is as strained and combative as anyone can remember.
Partly as a result, Canada is working hard to build up its relationship with China, whose president, Hu Jintao, visited here last month. Some officials are saying Canada may shift a significant portion of its trade, particularly oil, from the United States to China.
Sea of Confrontation: Japan-China Territorial and Gas Dispute Intensifies
By J Sean Curtin [Japan Focus 24 October 2005]
Japan and China appear headed for a showdown over natural gas exploration and drilling in the East China Sea. Up until Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro on Monday visited a controversial shrine to his country's war dead, it was hoped the showdown might occur at the negotiating table. But the visit, his fifth since 2001, once again infuriated China, as well as other Asian nations, putting the status of a wide range of talks between the two countries in jeopardy. Among them was this week's hoped-for decisive round on East China Sea gas. Japan had hoped that a final make-or-break round of negotiations on the gas-deposit issue would commence on Wednesday in Beijing, but that looks increasing unlikely in the wake of the shrine visit. "No date and time have been set yet," Japan's Vice Trade Minister Sugiyama Hideji said. China has already canceled Japanese Foreign Minister Machimura Nobutaka's scheduled Sunday visit to Beijing. The East China Sea situation is becoming increasingly volatile. Tensions have been high since last month when a Chinese Navy destroyer aimed its guns at a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force P3-C surveillance plane near the disputed waters of the Chunxiao gas field in the East China Sea. Five Chinese Navy warships have also recently been observed prowling in the same area. [China confrontation] [Energy security]
India Bids to Rule the Waves: from the Bay of Bengal to the Malacca Strait
By Ramtanu Maitra [Japan Focus 24 October 2005]
After years of hesitancy, India has now firmly acknowledged the strategic importance of the Andaman Sea. The Indian Navy is setting up a Far Eastern Naval Command (FENC) off Port Blair on the Andaman Islands - also known as the Bay Islands - located midway between the Bay of Bengal and the Malacca Strait - to give it "blue-water" status. It is evident New Delhi believes that the new strategic command will remain vulnerable unless the entire Andaman Sea is brought under the full control of the Indian Navy. A variety of factors led to New Delhi's full realization of the Andaman Sea's importance for overall regional security. To begin with, the US's recent invitation to the Indian Navy to help patrol the Malacca Strait must have been viewed as an open US affirmation of its intent to bring India into the naval big league. [China confrontation]
India Suborned: The Global South and the Geopolitics of India's Vote Against Iran*
By Ravi Palat [Japan Focus 24 October 2005]
Ironically, in the very year when the fiftieth anniversary of the Bandung Conference is being commemorated, the Manmohan Singh government unceremoniously dumped India's long espousal of independence in international affairs and voted with the United States and the European Union to censure Iran for allegedly violating its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Safeguards Agreement. The vote, at a meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 22 September 2005, was doubly incongruous as the Indian Ministry of External Affairs' website clearly recognizes that these allegations were "not justified" and that it would "not be accurate to characterize the current situation as a threat to international peace and stability"[1]. Moreover, as Praful Bidwai has noted, the Manmohan Singh government's position is hypocritical because India has been the most prominent 'proliferator' of nuclear weapons: if India had not detonated a nuclear device in 1974 or nuclear weapons in 1998, it is unlikely that Pakistan would have followed suit. Moreover, since India has not signed the NPT-indeed had condemned it as 'nuclear apartheid,' the very phrase invoked by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his speech to the UN General Assembly-the Indian government has no grounds to accuse Tehran of not living up to its NPT obligations [2]. [China confrontation] [NPT] [Iran]
The view downhill
Hong Kong was once the strangest place on earth, a fantastical mix of colonial style and rampant materialism. But as China's new cities steal its gloss, has it lost its way? In the first of an occasional series of dispatches from abroad, Jan Morris reports on a jaded city Monday October 24, 2005 The Guardian
Not long ago Hong Kong was one of travel's absolutes - history's absolutes, too. A city- state like no other, spectacularly unique, with the tallest buildings, the most extravagant shops, the grandest hotels, the busiest port and the most terrific airport - a marvellous anomaly, a historical epitome, a boast, a marvel and a show, whirling away night and day in the South China Sea. Traveller, just look . at it now!
. Wreaths Laid before CPV Martyrs Cemetery
Pyongyang, October 23 (KCNA) -- Wreaths were laid before the grave of Mao Anying and the Cemetery of Martyrs of the Chinese People's Volunteers in Hoechang County, South Phyongan Province on Sunday on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the CPV's entry into the Korean front. Present there were leading officials of the party and power bodies and working people's organization, working people in the county and Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Wu Donghe and staff members of the embassy. Placed there amid the playing of the wreath- laying music were wreaths in the name of the above-said bodies, organizations and embassy. The participants observed a moment's silence in memory of the CVP martyrs.
Chinese President Hu Jintao to Visit DPRK
Pyongyang, October 21 (KCNA) -- Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and president of the People's Republic of China, will pay an official goodwill visit to the DPRK from Oct. 28 to 30 at the invitation of Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK.
Chinese head to visit Kim in Pyongyang next week
October 22, 2005 ? Amid a series of international news reports that North Korea is ready to return to the six-party nuclear disarmament talks, Beijing and Pyongyang announced yesterday that President Hu Jintao of China will visit the North next week, Mr. Hu will visit Pyongyang at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il from Oct. 28 to 30, the North's state-run Korea Central Broadcasting said yesterday. China's Communist Party also announced the scheduled goodwill visit, but neither side elaborated on the specifics of Mr. Hu's planned activities in the North. The visit to the North will be the first in four years by a Chinese president. Mr. Hu previously visited the North in 1993 before becoming president, and this time is expected to discuss with Mr. Kim bilateral economic cooperation and security issues, including efforts to end Pyongyang's nuclear aspirations.
Japan-China Oil Dispute Escalates
Relations Already Uneasy as Tokyo Accuses Beijing of Tapping Disputed Fields By Anthony Faiola Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, October 22, 2005; Page A17
TOKYO, Oct. 21 -- China has completed at least one new drilling platform in the East China Sea and may already be tapping into hotly contested natural gas and oil fields, escalating a dispute with Japan over the rights to billions of dollars worth of underwater energy reserves, according to Japanese reconnaissance data. The Chinese action, Japanese officials charge, has aggravated a potential flash point in East Asia even as diplomatic relations between Tokyo and Beijing languish. The increasingly uneasy relationship between East Asia's two dominant countries also includes territorial disputes and a heated row over Japan's perceived lack of repentance for World War II-era aggression.
China is rapidly growing into an economic superpower and is hungry for sources of energy and raw materials. Economic ties have grown tremendously between the two nations in recent years, but they remain in fierce regional competition. Both, for instance, are courting Russia in the hopes of securing an advantageous route for a new trans-Siberian pipeline to the Pacific, and they are locked in a battle for diplomatic and economic influence over a host of Southeast Asian nations [China confrontation] [Energy security]
China's President to Visit North Korea
By STEPHANIE HOO The Associated Press Friday, October 21, 2005; 10:57 PM
BEIJING -- President Hu Jintao will visit North Korea next week amid U.S. pressure for Beijing to do more to convince its communist ally to stop developing nuclear weapons, China said Friday. Hu's visit to North Korea on Oct. 28 would be the first by a top Chinese leader since 2001.
India, Iran, & the United States
By Conn Hallinan | October 19, 2005 Editor: John Gershman, IRC Foreign Policy In Focus www.fpif.org This is a tale about a vote, a strike, and a sleight of hand. For the past six months the United States and the European Union (EU) have led a full court press to haul Iran before the UN Security Council for violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT) by supposedly concealing a nuclear weapons program. Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted to declare Iran in "non-compliance" with the Treaty, but deferred a decision on referral to the Security Council until Nov. 25
In 1974, using enriched uranium secretly gleaned from a Canadian- and U.S.-supplied civilian reactor, India set off an atomic bomb. New Delhi was subsequently cut off from international uranium supplies and had to fall back on its own rather thin domestic sources. Yet another set of barriers was erected following India's 1998 nuclear blasts.
But the Bush administration realized that if it wanted India to play spear bearer for the United States, the Indians would need to expand and modernize their nuclear weapons program, an almost impossible task if they couldn't purchase uranium supplies abroad. India produces about 300 tons of uranium a year, but the bulk of that goes to civilian power plants.
According to the 2005 edition of "Deadly Arsenals," India presently has between 70 and 110 nuclear weapons, plus 400 to 500 kilograms of weapons grade uranium on hand. Given India's present level of technology, a stockpile of that size can produce about 100 atomic weapons.
Those weapons, however, are fairly unsophisticated, and too big and clunky for long-range missiles. Nor are Indian missiles yet capable of reaching targets all over China , although the Agni III, with a range of 2,000, miles is getting close.
So here comes the sleight of hand. On June 28, Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee met with Rumsfeld to sign the U.S.-India Defense Relationship Agreement, which gives India access to sophisticated missile technology under the guise of aiding its space program. [China confrontation] [Rocketry] [Double standards]
Roh, Hu to Hold Summit
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Chinese President Hu Jintao will visit South Korea on Nov. 16-19, the Seoul government said Wednesday. After holding a summit with President Roh Moo- hyun upon his arrival, Hu plans to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Pusan on Nov. 18-19. ``President Hu plans to make a state visit to South Korea,'' Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon said at a forum in Seoul. ``A welcoming ceremony will be held.''
Ban made the remarks in response to a question on Hu's possible cancellation of his participation in the APEC summit as a sign of protest against Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's controversial visit to a shrine in Tokyo. [Yasukuni]
Rumsfeld Warns Young Chinese on Isolationism
By THOM SHANKER t valid. Published: October 19, 2005 BEIJING, Wednesday, Oct. 19 - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld urged the next generation of China's Communist leadership on Wednesday to become "a major player" in the global economy by taking steps to strengthen the system and not just reap the financial rewards, and he warned against erecting "another type of Great Wall" restricting free expression and choice.
In a speech to mid-career Communist Party officials preparing for senior leadership positions, Mr. Rumsfeld also criticized Beijing's military expansion, saying it had prompted "questions whether China will make the right choices - choices that will serve the world's real interests in regional peace and stability." Mr. Rumsfeld delivered carefully phrased comments that balanced an invitation to build a political, economic and security partnership with the United States against a complaint that China hides its increases in military spending and has not explained a worrisome arms buildup. [Double standards] [China confrontation]
Revered author Ba Jin dies aged 100
Jonathan Watts in Beijing Tuesday October 18, 2005 The Guardian
Ba Jin, the Chinese anarchist intellectual who became one of the 20th century's great authors, died yesterday in Shanghai, aged 100. From the 1931 publication of his most celebrated work, Family, the story of a disintegrating feudal household, Ba Jin rose to prominence as a critic of the injustice of the pre-revolutionary era. Although associated most with the turbulent period of 1930 to 1950, he remained a leading force. He had Parkinson's disease and cancer.
Seoul May Not Allow Taiwan at APEC
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea is unlikely to accept Taiwan's bid to send its parliamentary speaker to this year's summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum because of opposition by China, a government source said Sunday. ``We expect Taiwan to send people in economic affairs, not political ones, to the APEC meeting,'' the source said on condition of anonymity. The source declined to elaborate further. Over the past few months, Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian expressed his hope to join the APEC meeting in November, but South Korea turned down his request. Instead, Taiwan decided to send the its parliamentary speaker, Wang Jin-pyng, to the summit.
Chinese Leader Cables Kim Jong-il
SEOUL (Yonhap) _ Chinese President Hu Jintao has sent a telegram to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to pledge continued cooperation between the two countries, the North's Radio Pyongyang reported Saturday. In the telegram sent Thursday to Kim and other North Korean leaders, Hu said, ``China will continue strengthening the bilateral friendly cooperative relationship between the (communist) parties, governments and peoples of the two countries under the spirit of maintaining tradition, seeking future-oriented relationship and enhancing friendly cooperation.'' Hu sent the telegram in response to Kim's congratulatory telegram on the occasion of the Oct. 10 national holiday of China. {sic]
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Institutionalization, Cooperation and Rivalry
By Chien-peng Chung
{Japan Focus 17 October 2005} The third annual head-of-state summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Moscow on May 20, 2003, may be considered a minor water-shed in the life of the organization, made up of Russia, China, and the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
First, the meeting implemented concrete measures to institutionalize the organization, by mandating the creation of two permanent offices and attendant staff-an SCO Secretariat, and a Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS). Second, China has since emerged as the first among equals of the players in the SCO in terms of influence and benefits, when it was decided that Beijing would be the site of the proposed SCO Secretariat, subsequently inaugurated on January 15, 2004, and that its first Secretary-General would be the former Chinese Vice-Foreign Minster and Ambassador to Russia, Zhang Deguang. Third, although cooperation among governments of member states against terrorism, religious fundamentalism, and separatism has remained the focus of the SCO, the summit expanded its purview to the economic sphere by encouraging trade, investment and infrastructural development among member states. Lastly, by creating the RATS in Uzbekistan's capital of Tashkent after protracted discussion, Russia and China demonstrated that they have recovered sufficiently from the shock and numbness of the introduction of United States soldiers and weaponry into Afghanistan and Central Asia to frame their own approach to regional security within the rubric of the SCO.
Chien-peng Chung teaches at Lingnan University, Hong Kong [China confrontation] [China-Russia relations]
A Story of Leaders, Partners, and Clients
By Zia Mian | September 27, 2005 Foreign Policy In Focus
The past few months have seen important developments in relations between the United States and India. Much of the commentary has focused resolutely and rightly on the wisdom and possible consequences of the new agreements on military and nuclear policy and programs. But these recent agreements need also to be seen in the light of the more than 50 years of U.S. efforts to have India become a part of American political, strategic, and economic plans for Asia. What becomes clear is how difficult this proved to be over the years. It begs the question why Indian leaders have finally started to fall in step so easily in the past few years. [China confrontation] {India} [Nuclear weapons]
Education Ministry Delegation Leaves for China
Pyongyang, October 12 (KCNA) -- A delegation of the Ministry of Education headed by its Minister Kim Yong Jin Wednesday left here for China to participate in the 2nd Asian Educational Forum to be held in Beijing. The delegation was seen off at the airport by Jon Kuk Man, vice-minister of Education, and Wu Donghe, Chinese ambassador to the DPRK.
US Accuses China of Rapatriating NK Refugees
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- A U.S. congressional commission accused China of continuing to repatriate North Korean escapees and urged the administration to press Beijing to abide by its international obligations to help the refugees. [Double standards] Human rights] [China confrontation]
New defectors at China school receive asylum
October 12, 2005 ? Just a day after it was forced to announce its failure to stop China from returning would-be North Korean asylum- seekers to their homeland, the Foreign Ministry was confronted with a nearly identical problem ? and a different outcome. A group of eight North Korean women entered another Korean international school in China yesterday morning, this time in Qingdao, asking for asylum and passage to South Korea. The defection attempt was announced by a civic group in Seoul, and after hearing the news, the ministry moved quickly to help.
China Hands Over 8 NK Refugees
One Day After Seoul's Protest Over Beijing's Repatriation of Defectors to Pyongyang By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki- moon appears perplexed as lawmakers criticize him for his negligence in preventing Beijing's recent arbitrary repatriation of seven North Korean refugees to Pyongyang during a parliamentary inspection of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Tuesday. /Korea Times The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade brought eight people believed to be North Korean refugees to its consulate in Qingdao, a city of eastern China, after consultations with its Chinese counterparts on Tuesday
China changes tack on asylum
October 11, 2005 ? Repeated pleas by the South Korean government to Beijing not to deport seven North Koreans who sought asylum at a Korean international school in Yentai in August have proven futile. The Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that it had learned on Thursday that the would-be defectors had been deported back to their homeland a month after they made their asylum bid at the school. Police entered the school grounds and arrested the North Koreans shortly after South Korean diplomats asked Chinese authorities to transfer them to embassy custody. Although international schools have no extraterritorial standing as embassy facilities do, North Korean defectors have been successful for most of the past two years in seeking sanctuary there. News reports have said that well over 100 persons have bid for asylum at schools in China. Until this latest incident, the first at a Korean school, all were successful in making it to South Korea. Despite Beijing's repeated assertions that it would deal with refugees using international humanitarian standards, it began warning a year ago that it would punish people who assisted would-be North Korean defectors. The first warnings came after it arrested two South Koreans accompanying a group of North Koreans seeking asylum. A Foreign Ministry official said the deportation probably was a policy change stemming from Chinese irritation over repeated asylum-seeking attempts by North Koreans at international schools.
Pak Pong Ju Meets Chinese Government Delegation
Pyongyang, October 8 (KCNA) -- Pak Pong Ju, premier of the DPRK Cabinet, met and had a talk with the Chinese government delegation led by Wu Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and vice-premier of the State Council of China, in a friendly atmosphere at the Mansudae Assembly Hall today. On hand were Ro Tu Chol, vice-premier of the Cabinet, Rim Kyong Man, minister of Foreign Trade, Kim Yong Il, vice- minister of Foreign Affairs, Yun Su Ryong, vice- minister of Construction and Building Materials Industries, Ri Ryong Nam, vice-minister of Foreign Trade, officials concerned and Wu Donghe, Chinese ambassador to the DPRK
Revving Up the China Threat
by MICHAEL T. KLARE [from the October 24, 2005 issue The Nation]
Ever since taking office, the Bush Administration has struggled to define its stance on the most critical long-term strategic issue facing the United States: whether to view China as a future military adversary, and plan accordingly, or to see it as a rival player in the global capitalist system. Representatives of both perspectives are nestled in top Administration circles, and there have been periodic swings of the pendulum toward one side or the other. But after a four-year period in which neither outlook appeared dominant, the pendulum has now swung conspicuously toward the anti-Chinese, prepare-for-war position. Three events signal this altered stance. [China confrontation] [Strategic incoherence]
China Discusses Nuke Deal With N. Korea
By Reuben Staines Staff Reporter Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi, on a four-day visit to Pyongyang, met with reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il over the weekend for discussions that are believed to have included the Stalinist country's nuclear weapons programs. According to a report from the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Wu delivered a ``verbal personal message'' from China's President Hu Jintao to Kim. The report did not indicate the contents of the message. The North Korean leader hosted the Chinese delegation for a dinner meeting that was also attended by Pyongyang's chief nuclear envoy, Kim Kye-gwan, the KCNA reported. The North Korean news agency described Wu's trip as an ``official goodwill visit,'' noting that it coincides with the 60th anniversary of the founding of its powerful Workers' Party, which falls on Oct. 10.
Taiwan-Korea Solidarity Promotes Peace
[Taiwan Special] Dr. Li Tsai-fang Representative of the Taipei Mission in Korea Hundreds of thousands of people gather in front of the Office of the President in Taipei on Oct. 10 every year to celebrate the Double Tenth Day, the birthday of the Republic of China. /Courtesy of Taipei Mission in Korea The Double Tenth commemoration this year marks the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China. Celebration of this anniversary evokes many memories of close relations that our two countries, Taiwan and Korea, have shared over the years, especially in the period of the Cold War. The rupture of our diplomatic relations in 1992 inflicted much pain in the hearts of our two peoples.
China Deports 7 N. Korean Refugees
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter China recently repatriated seven North Korean refugees who entered an international school for South Koreans at Yantai, Shandong Province, the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry in Seoul said Monday. It is the first time the Beijing government has sent back North Koreans who sought asylum at international schools.
China's Rise in Southeast Asia: Implications for Japan and the United States
By Elizabeth Economy [Japan Focus 10 October 2005]
[This is a comprehensive contribution to an ongoing discussion of East Asia and the Pacific in an era of transformation. Earlier contributions by Gavan McCormack and Wada Haruki (on Northeast Asia), by David Rosenberg (on China and Southeast Asia), and by Lora Saalman (on the changing Chinese-Indian-U.S. strategic relationship) all raise issues posed by the rise of China as a major economic power in Asia and globally, and the repercussions of changing power relations reverberating throughout Asia. Noting that China remains a distant third to the U.S. and Japan in trade and investment in East and Southeast Asia, Economy highlights China's rapid advance, above all in the realms of economics and finance, but also extending to a broad realms including governance, the resolution of territorial conflicts, the environment and others, with particular reference to Southeast Asia. At a time of rising China-Japan tensions, China appears to be making major multifaceted gains throughout Southeast Asia. This article also examines the possibilities of regional trajectories in which the U.S. role is sharply reduced. Japan Focus]
Introduction During the past few decades, China's foreign policy has undergone a remarkable transformation from one predicated on China as a developing country consumed with issues of domestic concern to one that acknowledges and even celebrates China's potential as a regional and global power. Particularly since the turn of the century, China's economic success has enabled it to pursue a greater role on the international stage, backing up its claims to regional and global leadership with growing economic and military might. Nowhere is China's presence more keenly felt than within Southeast Asia, where increasing Chinese activism is met with a combination of both enthusiasm and significant trepidation. [China confrontation]
07 October 2005 Sino-U.S. Energy Competition in Africa
With oil prices hitting record levels of US$70 per barrel in recent weeks, major energy consuming countries are engaging in an increasingly heated competition for energy resources on the world stage. Nowhere is this more evident than between the United States and China, the world's first and second largest energy consuming countries respectively. In the contest for energy resources, numerous "stages" of competition are emerging, including the Middle East, Central Asia, Latin America, and the East and South China Seas. However, Africa is fast emerging as one of the most volatile stages of Sino-U.S. energy competition, given its vast reserves of energy resources and concentration of internal security crises. [See: "Setting the Stage for a New Cold War: China's Quest for Energy Security"] [China confrontation] [Energy security]
Setting the Stage for a New Cold War: China's Quest for Energy Security
25 February 2005 A notable feature of 2004 was its volatility in oil prices -- New York light sweet crude prices reached a peak of $55.67 on October 25 ending the year up 33.6 percent at $43.45 per barrel. While a number of supply-side and supply-chain factors have contributed to this situation, the most significant long-term factor contributing to rising oil prices is an increase in Asian demand, most notably from China. China's unprecedented growth not only makes it a driver of a long-term increase in energy prices, but also the most vulnerable to rising oil prices. [China confrontation] [Energy security]
The railway across the roof of the world
They said it was impossible to build a railway to Tibet. There were 5,000m-high mountains to climb, 12km-wide valleys to bridge, hundreds of kilometres of ice and slush that could never support tracks and trains. How could anyone tunnel through rock at -30C, or lay rails when the least exertion sends you reaching for the oxygen bottle? But that's the sort of challenge today's China relishes. Next month, three years ahead of schedule, more than 1,000km of fresh track will link the garrison town of Golmud in China's 'wild west' and the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, strengthening the regime's grip on this troublesome corner of the empire and confirming its status as a technological superpower. Jonathan Watts travelled the route to create a snapshot of a nation on the move
Tuesday September 20, 2005 The Guardian
The Tibetan dilemma is increasingly shared by other countries as the world tries to come to terms with China's rise. Everyone wants Beijing's money and goods; no one wants its ideas. Economically, China's expansion is a storming success, with 9% growth for each of the past 25 years, lifting hundreds of millions of peasants out of poverty, making a fortune for foreign manufacturers who exploit low-cost labour, pushing down supermarket prices across the globe, and boosting trade with other developing nations. Environmentally and spiritually, however, it is a disaster. China's rivers are drying up, its cities are choked with pollution, the rural health-care system has collapsed and the cities are seeing record levels of suicide and stress. China is showing all the symptoms of modernity - only on a bigger scale and at a faster rate than the world has ever seen. [Softpower] [Railways]
Military experts at conference urge closer ties with US, Japan
Publish Date:09/30/2005 Story Type:National Affairs; Byline:Cecilia Fanchiang There should be closer collaboration between Taiwan, the United States and Japan in the effort to counter China's growing military threat in the Taiwan Strait, according to military experts taking part in a forum organized by the World Taiwanese Congress (WTC) that wrapped up in Taipei Sept. 25. Vice President Lu Hsiu-lien echoed high-ranking officials and experts from Japan and the United States and warned Taiwan to improve its defensive capabilities in order to defend the nation against Chinese aggression. Lu called Beijing's military expansionism an "unprecedented challenge" for Taipei [China confrontation] [Taiwan]
Ethnic Korean Children From China Present NK Dance
By Park Chung-a Staff Reporter The Flower Bud Art Troupe The Flower Bud Art Troupe (Kkotpongori Art Troupe) from Yanbian of Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province, China, has been performing at Culture Hall of Kwangwoon University in Seoul from Sunday through Friday.
Since Yanbian is geographically close to North Korea, its culture has largely been influenced by North Korea. Characteristics of traditional North Korean performers such as high-pitched voice, colorful costume, strong accent, smiling doll-like faces and refined techniques, can all be seen in the performance by the troupe.
From the 1900s, a large number of impoverished Korean farmers migrated to the northeastern region of China seeking fertile land. Independence activists under Japanese colonial period also joined this migration. In 1952, three years after the communists took over China, Korean Autonomous Prefecture was established in Yanbian, in northeastern China, just across the border from Korea. Since then, the local authorities have been running Korean- language broadcast services, publishing houses and newspapers. In the local schools Korean is commonly the language of instruction along with Chinese.

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SEPTEMBER 2005

Redrawing India's Geostrategic Maps with China and the United States
By Lora Saalman
Japan Focus 26 September 2005
India has been revising its strategic maps with China and the United States, both literally and figuratively. During early spring of 2005, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao handed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a map reformatted to reflect the long-contested region of Sikkim as part of India. By summer, the United States handed India defense, nuclear, and space technology proposals, promising to transform more than just physical territory. Articles in India-based Bharat Rakshak Monitor attribute the warming of Sino-Indian ties as a means to counter the U.S. presence in Asia.[1] China's Party organ People's Daily (Renmin Ribao) asserts that strengthened Indo-U.S. relations are targeted at containing China's rise.[2] In these analyses, China and the United States are portrayed as focusing their strategic concerns squarely upon each other, while India maneuvers to secure political, economic and military benefits.
Yet, there remains a crucial and often missed difference between the Chinese and the U.S. approaches toward engaging India. China's current inducements for India primarily focus on economic integration and energy development. By contrast, the U.S. has made dual-use technology transfer the centerpiece of its engagement strategy. At India's level of technological sophistication, however, U.S. dual-use nuclear, space, and military cooperation promises to enhance India's political weight and military footprint in ways that are more likely to conflict with long-term U.S. strategic goals than with those of China. Rather than encircling China as the People's Daily foresees, the United States may instead be containing its own long-term interests. [China confrontation] [incompetence]
Uri chairman gets royal welcome in Beijing from Chinese leaders
September 24, 2005 ? BEIJING ? Paying a courtesy call on China's President Hu Jintao here yesterday, South Korea's governing Uri Party chairman Moon Hee-sang carried a message from President Roh Moo-hyun congratulating Beijing on its successful hosting of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear future. At the meeting, Mr. Moon also attempted to explain parts of Mr. Roh's recent speech at the United Nations, where he stressed the importance of the U.S. role in Northeast Asia. "It is desirable for the United States to take the policy lead in building an order of peacemaking, cooperation and integration in Northeast Asia," Mr. Roh said in a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York earlier this month, although he also criticized unnamed major powers for showing hegemonic tendencies. Mr. Moon told President Hu that the speech was an offer to "end the structure of confrontation in the region in order to build peace and cooperation." [China confrontation] [SK-China relations[
15 S. Koreans in Chinese Lockup
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter A total of 15 South Koreans are being detained in China after being charged with helping North Korean refugees depart for a third country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Friday. In a report to the National Assembly, the ministry said that a total of 64 South Koreans had been arrested in China since 2001. Among them, 49 were set free while the others remain in custody.
China's Moment
By Charles Krauthammer Friday, September 23, 2005; Page A23
In September 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt brokered the Treaty of Portsmouth (New Hampshire), which settled the Russo-Japanese War. Settling an extra-hemispheric dispute between foreign powers marked the emergence of the United States, an economic and demographic dynamo, as a world power and serious actor on the international stage. Exactly 100 years later, a statement of principles has been issued from Beijing on dismantling North Korea's nuclear program. If it holds -- the "if" is very large -- it will mark China's emergence from an economic and demographic dynamo to a major actor on the world stage, and serious rival to American dominance in the Pacific.
Why is the Beijing agreement different from the worthless "Agreed Framework" Bill Clinton signed in 1994 and North Korea violated (we now know) from the very first day? That agreement was bilateral. This one is six-party, but the major player is China. [China confrontation] [Bizarre]
U.S. Says China Must Address Its Intentions
How Its Power Will Be Used Is of Concern By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, September 22, 2005; Page A16
Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick bluntly warned China last night that it must begin to take concrete steps to address what he called a "a cauldron of anxiety" in the United States and other parts of the world about Chinese intentions. Zoellick, delivering the administration's most comprehensive statement on its dealings with China, said the United States has worked hard to bring China into the international system over the past three decades. Now, he said, the United States will focus on ensuring that China becomes a responsible player on the world stage.
"Uncertainties about how China will use its power will lead the United States -- and others as well -- to hedge relations with China," Zoellick told the National Committee on U.S.- China Relations in New York. "Many countries hope China will pursue a 'peaceful rise,' but none will bet their future on it." [China confrontation]
China will soon be world's biggest exporter
· US and Germany will be overtaken by 2010 · Beijing must tackle inequality, says OECD Larry Elliott, economics editor and Jonathan Watts in Beijing Saturday September 17, 2005 The Guardian
China's explosive rise to economic superpower status was confirmed yesterday by the west's leading thinktank in a new report predicting that it would leapfrog the United States and Germany within five years to become the world's biggest exporter.
Kwak Pom Gi Meets Chinese Delegation
Pyongyang, September 16 (KCNA) -- Vice-Premier of the DPRK Cabinet Kwak Pom Gi met and had a friendly talk with a delegation of the China State Electric Network Corporation headed by its President Liu Zhenya at the Mansudae Assembly Hall Friday. On hand were Minister Ju Tong Il and Vice-Minister Sin Yong Song of Electricity and Coal Industries and Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Wu Donghe and staff members of the Chinese embassy here.
Shifts in Pacific Force U.S. Military To Adapt Thinking New Plans Reflect Reaction To China's Growing Power
By Edward Cody Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, September 17, 2005; Page A01
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- A dull-gray B-2 bomber sat poised in a typhoon-proof air-conditioned hangar, its bat wings stretching 172 feet across. The bomb bay was fitted for 80 GPS-guided bombs, at 500 pounds each, that could be delivered to any target in Asia within a few hours. The hulking stealth aircraft is a symbol of new times in the Pacific.
"Having this airplane in theater sends a message to the world," said Air Force Lt. Col. Tom Bussiere, of St. Johnsbury, Vt., who arrived at Andersen last February with four of the boomerang-shaped strategic warplanes. The deployment of Bussiere's squadron, replacing a contingent of aging B-52s, marked part of a broad U.S. military realignment in the fast-changing Pacific. The reposturing, scheduled to run over several years, has been designed to strengthen U.S. military forces in Asia and usher them into a new era, reacting primarily to China's expanding diplomatic, economic and military power.
China, India and the Doubling of the Global Labor Force: who pays the price of globalization?
Richard Freeman
Japan Focus 1 September
[In this concise article, Harvard Economist Richard Freeman shows us that a spectre is haunting the industrialized societies, and above all the workers of these countries. Though little recognized in Japan and elsewhere, there has been an effective doubling of the global labour force (that is workers producing for international markets) over the past decade and a half, through the entry of Chinese, Indian, Russian and other workers into the global economy. The effective supply of capital, on the other hand, has virtually remained unchanged. With such a massive increase in the supply of labour, its relative share of the returns from production inevitably decline
China, India and the Future of South Asia
Tarique Niazi
Japan Focus 25 August 2005
China's growing presence in South Asia is riding on its accelerated economic and strategic influence in the region. This article gauges the interplay between economic, particularly resource factors, and strategic factors in China's advance in the region and its relations with South Asian nations. One measure of China's economic outreach is its current trade volume with all South Asian nations, which now approaches $20 billion a year. [1] Its bilateral trade with India alone accounts for $13.6 billion a year, a number that Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has projected to grow to $30 billion by 2010. [2] Yet it constitutes just 1% of China's global trade as compared to 9% of India's. [3] These statistics pale in comparison with the trade between China and East Asian nations. China's trade with Japan, which was valued at $213 billion in 2004, [4] is more than 15 times that between Beijing and Delhi. In 2004 China passed the United States as Japan's largest trading partner. What is remarkable about Sino-Indian trade, however, is its dramatic acceleration from $338 million in 1992 to $13.6 billion in 2004. [5] The projected $30 billion trade between China and India by 2010 will likely surpass Indo-U.S. trade that is currently valued at $20 billion a year.
The U.S.-India Strategic Partnership
Lora Saalman
Japan Focus 11 August 2005
Just prior to the July 18, 2005 meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a senior official commented that the two parties would talk about "whatever is on their minds"; apparently, this turned out to be a lot. Some pursuits, such as a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, did not come to fruition. Still, India made major gains in one area of particular note: access to dual-use technology. Nuclear technology will lift India's masses to a higher level of electricity and convenience. Rocket technology will offer India's space program a giant leap forward.
However, this same equipment and technology has another possible function: serving as a means to build a better bomb or a longer range missile. India and the United States have charted a course toward transforming India into a "major world power in the 21st century." While the joint U.S.-India statement issued on July 18 represents a significant step forward in strategic bilateral relations, it presents an equally significant step backward in nonproliferation norms. [China confrontation]
Economic Brief: China
China's biggest state-owned oil company, China National Petroleum Corporation (C.N.P.C.), said on August 22 that it would pay US$4.18 billion for the acquisition of PetroKazakhstan, a Canadian oil company that also trades in New York. The Canadian company has large oil reserves in Kazakhstan. [China confrontation]
China's empire of exploration
China is celebrating the 600th anniversary of the amazing voyages of Admiral Zheng He, as great a navigator as Captain Cook or Columbus, and of his contribution to Chinese curiosity about the world. By Attilio Jesus
Since China is in an extrovert, trading phase at present, it wants to celebrate Zheng He's achievements and there are events and exhibitions, all emphasising China's wish for peaceful relations
The Significance of Sino-Russian Military Exercises
Erich Marquardt, Yevgeny Bendersky14 September 2005 etween the dates of August 18-25, 2005, Russia and China participated in their first ever bilateral war games, dubbed Peace Mission 2005. The games were symbolic of the growing cooperation between the two powerful states. Since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, which led to an increasingly influential role for Washington in Central Asia, Moscow and Beijing have drawn together under the common interest of preventing further U.S. influence in the region.
Opening the Debate on U.S.-China Nuclear Relations
Edited by Eric Hagt and Chen Yali
September 9th, 2005 Published by the World Security Institute China Program: http://www.wsichina.org/
Eric Hagt and Chen Yali, World Security Institute China Program, writes: "China is a rising power, and the paramount task of both China and the United States is to adjust to that impending reality in terms of economic and trade relations, but also in terms of Taiwan and the two nations' strategic policies. A heavy responsibility falls on China to assure the region and the world that its rise won't constitute a threat to others; that it is a force for stability rather than a revisionist power ... On the other hand, the United States must deeply reflect on its own policies toward China, as the latter evolves as a regional and potential world power."
see also China Security Issue 1, Autumn 2005 [China confrontation]

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AUGUST 2005

China Is Biggest Beneficiary of 6-Party Talks
By Park Song-wu Korea Times Correspondent U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and top U.S. negotiator for the six-party talks Christopher Hill speaks to journalists at a hotel in Beijing, Thursday. / Reuters-Newsis BEIJING _ The U.S.-China relationship has always been in a gray area between competition and partnership. But it is now visibly swinging toward partnership. Regardless of the results, the fourth round of the six-party talks, which China is hosting to resolve North Korea's nuclear standoff, is giving the two rivals a good opportunity to take their relations to a higher level. The U.S. State Department confirmed that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had a phone conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing on Wednesday to talk about the nuclear negotiations. [China confrontation]
China Retreats Now, but It Will Be Back
By KEITH BRADSHER Published: August 3, 2005 HONG KONG, Aug. 2 - Just as a tactical retreat is sometimes useful in winning broader battles, as Sun Tzu wrote 2,500 years ago, the withdrawal of Cnooc Ltd.'s bid for Unocal seems unlikely to derail China Inc.'s economic expansion overseas, and may even hold a few lessons. The sight of a Chinese company trying to buy a business once known for the Union 76 brand of gasoline made the proposed deal a lightning rod for American worries about everything from manufacturing job losses to high oil prices to the security of energy supplies. But while Congressional resistance appears to have torpedoed the Chinese bid, the economic fundamentals behind that bid remain in place, from China's vast foreign currency reserves to its ravenous appetite for imported oil. The most immediate effect from the failed bid may be on Chinese public opinion toward the United States.
Japanese companies responded to protectionism in the United States in the 1980's by hiring hundreds of lobbyists in Washington, including many former government officials. But Chinese companies like Cnooc have barely begun trying to influence the American political process in this way. "The lesson is when you move into the huge takeover game, there's a huge amount of due diligence you need to do before you announce anything," Mr. Andrews-Speed said, adding that in the Cnooc deal, "they clearly didn't do that on the political side." [China confrontation] [Softpower]
China, Russia to launch first joint military exercises
China and Russia will hold their first joint military exercises starting from Aug 18 to 25, China's Ministry of Defense announced Tuesday in Beijing. In a press release, the ministry said the exercises, dubbed "Peace Mission 2005", will be carried out in Vladivostok in far eastern region of Russia and East China's Shandong Peninsular and nearby offshore seawaters. The exercises will involve nearly 100,000 troops from the armies, navies, air forces as well as airborne units, marine corps and logistic units of Chinese and Russian armed forces, said the press release. [China confrontation]
China goes to college - in a big way
By Amelia Newcomb | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor BEIJING - Several years ago, Chinese car manufacturer Geely grew concerned about a shortage of well-trained workers. Its solution: plunk down $800 million and start a private university. Even a decade ago, the idea would have been almost unimaginable. But in 2000, the sprawling campus of Beijing Geely University, with its Stanford-inspired quad, opened on the outskirts of Beijing - one of some 1,300 private universities that have sprung up in recent years. This September, Geely will enroll about 20,000 students, studying everything from engineering to character education to English.
The U.S., India, and China
Immanuel Wallerstein Commentary No.166, August 1, 2005
On July 18, 2005, the United States and India issue a joint statement, which celebrated the new Strategic Partnership between the two. Three days later, the Chinese government revalued upward the yuan in relation to the U.S. dollar, something which the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, John Snow, had been requesting for some time, and which he praised effusively. Both represent significant shifts in the world geopolitical structure. The two are more closely linked than the world press has noticed, and neither is quite what it seems. Both events were hailed in the United States as diplomatic victories for the U.S. Were they? And what makes these events special? India and China together represent half of the world's population. Yet for the entire second half of the twentieth century, when the United States was the dominant power in the world-system, the U.S. never had really good relations with either power. Has this changed? [China confrontation]
SAIC taunts Nanjing with claim it will win race to make Rovers
Oliver Morgan Sunday July 31, 2005 The Observer
Chinese car maker Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) is convinced it will be the first to produce Rover cars in the People's Republic, despite the sale of the collapsed company's UK assets to rival Nanjing Automobile two weeks ago.
Sources close to SAIC said last week: 'We are going to be making (Rover) 75s in China early in 2006. We will have cars in production in China by then, and we believe that will be well before Nanjing.' SAIC is confident that if it does get in first, using either the Rover brand with permission from BMW or another marque, it will cripple plans by Nanjing to make the cars there under the Austin name. SAIC and Nanjing, once partners in the proposed joint venture with MG Rover's former owner Phoenix Venture Holdings, are at daggers drawn after the sale of the assets by administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC). SAIC owns the intellectual property rights to Rover models and Powertrain engines, but Nanjing believes it is entitled to build MG versions of them. Nanjing's timetable for production is not finalised, and it could take some time to ship equipment to China and start work. The thrust of SAIC's legal activity is directed at PWC which, it believes, ignored its offer although it was worth more. SAIC's lawyer Baker & Mackenzie has written to PWC setting out its concerns.

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JULY 2005

Plan for Dalai Lama lecture angers neuroscientists
David Adam, science correspondent Wednesday July 27, 2005 The Guardian The Dalai Lama is at the centre of an unholy row among scientists over his plans to deliver a lecture at a prominent neuroscience conference. His talk stems from a growing interest in how Buddhist meditation may affect the brain, but researchers who dismiss such studies as little more than mumbo-jumbo say they will boycott the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in November if it goes ahead. Jianguo Gu, a neuroscientist at the University of Florida who has helped to organise a petition against the Dalai Lama's lecture, said: "I don't think it's appropriate to have a prominent religious leader at a scientific event.
Intelligence Brief: U.S.-China Relations
26 July 2005
On July 19, the Pentagon released its annual report to the U.S. Congress on "The Military Power of the People's Republic of China," which it was required to do according to the provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2000.
The report, which covers "the tenets and probable development of Chinese grand strategy, security strategy, and military strategy," was supposed to have been completed in March, but had been delayed because of conflicts within the Bush administration between the Defense Department and State Department over its tone and judgments. Under the direction of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the State Department has sought to move Washington's foreign policy away from the unilateralism favored by neo-conservatives to a traditional balance-of-power diplomacy that includes greater engagement with Beijing on issues of trade, North Korea's nuclear weapons program and security in East Asia. In contrast, under Donald Rumsfeld the Defense Department has remained wedded to the view the Beijing is Washington's "strategic rival." [Dissension]
Chinese Official Visits Washington
BEIJING (Yonhap) _ China's State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan will visit the United States from Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Saturday. Tang will make the trip at the invitation of the U.S. government, spokesman Kong Quan said on the ministry's Web site. He did not, however, mention the purpose or itinerary of the visit. The planned visit coincides with the resumption of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program in Beijing after a year-long suspension. During his six-day trip, Tang is expected to play a mediating role between Washington and Pyongyang as a top Chinese official if the U.S. and North Korea feud during the upcoming talks. He may convey messages from North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to Washington since Tang visited the communist state last week as a special envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao, according to sources here.
From Shoes to Aircraft to Investment, Zimbabwe Pursues a Made-in-China Future
By MICHAEL WINES Published: July 24, 2005 JOHANNESBURG, July 23 - His new 25-bedroom palace is clad in midnight-blue Chinese roof tiles. His air force trains on Chinese jets. His subjects wear Chinese shoes, ride Chinese buses and, lately, zip around the country in Chinese propjets. He has even urged his countrymen to learn Mandarin and nurture a taste for Chinese cuisine. That President Robert G. Mugabe rules Zimbabwe, which resembles China about as much as African corn porridge tastes like moo shu pork, is irrelevant. Tightening his embrace of all things Chinese, the 81-year-old Mr. Mugabe, Zimbabwe's canny autocrat for 25 years, arrived in Beijing on Saturday for six days of talks with China's leaders, led by President Hu Jintao. [China confrontation]
China Unpegs Itself
By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: July 22, 2005 Thursday's statement from the People's Bank of China, announcing that the yuan is no longer pegged to the dollar, was terse and uninformative - you might say inscrutable. There's a good chance that this is simply a piece of theater designed to buy a few months' respite from protectionist pressures in the U.S. Congress.
Nonetheless, it could be the start of a process that will turn the world economy upside down - or, more accurately, right side up. That is, the free ride China has been giving America, in which the world's richest economy has been getting cheap loans from a country that is dynamic but still quite poor, may be coming to an end.
The Military Power of the People's Republic of China
A Report to Congress Pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act Fiscal Year 2000
China's Relations with Taiwan, Japan, and North Korea
Thomas J. Christensen The past four months have hardly been proud ones for the security policy of the People's Republic of China (PRC). On diplomatic policies toward Taiwan, Japan, and North Korea, respectively, Beijing has appeared bullying, emotional, and ineffective. These outcomes do not match the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) self-styled image as a peaceful, responsible, and constructive rising power. The CCP may have scored a victory in late April and early May with the historic trips to the mainland by Taiwan opposition party leaders Lien Chan and James Soong, but is too soon to tell whether that effort will bear fruit in cross-Strait relations over the longer term.
China's stealth war on the U.S.
Max Boot
Maj. Gen. Zhu Chenghu of the Chinese People's Liberation Army caused quite a stir last week when he threatened to nuke "hundreds" of American cities if the U.S. dared to interfere with a Chinese attempt to conquer Taiwan.
This saber-rattling comes while China is building a lot of sabers. Although its defense budget, estimated to be as much as $90 billion, remains a fraction of the United States', it is enough to make China the world's third-biggest weapons buyer (behind Russia) and the biggest in Asia. Moreover, China's spending has been increasing rapidly, and it is investing in the kind of systems - especially missiles and submarines - needed to challenge U.S. naval power in the Pacific.
In 1998, an official People's Liberation Army publishing house brought out a treatise called "Unrestricted Warfare," written by two senior army colonels, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui. This book, which is available in English translation, is well known to the U.S. national security establishment but remains practically unheard of among the general public.
"Unrestricted Warfare" recognizes that it is practically impossible to challenge the U.S. on its own terms. No one else can afford to build mega-expensive weapons systems like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which will cost more than $200 billion to develop. "The way to extricate oneself from this predicament," the authors write, "is to develop a different approach."
Their different approaches include financial warfare (subverting banking systems and stock markets), drug warfare (attacking the fabric of society by flooding it with illicit drugs), psychological and media warfare (manipulating perceptions to break down enemy will), international law warfare (blocking enemy actions using multinational organizations), resource warfare (seizing control of vital natural resources), even ecological warfare (creating man-made earthquakes or other natural disasters). [China confrontation]
India Moves Toward a New Compact with the United States
By Praful Bidwai | July 14, 2005
Foreign Policy In Focus www.fpif.org
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh begins his visit to the United States next week amidst indications that India is preparing to shed the last vestiges of its earlier policy of non-alignment and enter into a stronger, indeed unprecedented, "strategic partnership" with Washington. This would see the two countries launch joint military operations in the future, especially in the Asian continent, and collaborate politically and diplomatically to contain China. More generally, the United States would strategically "embed" itself in Asia through an alliance with India. In return, India will probably obtain limited "benefits," some of them intangible or questionable-including access to U.S. arms and technology, and a possible role in Washington's scheme for reshaping the Middle East. In effect, India will have entered into a skewed relationship of a junior partnership with the United States under the new bilateral compact. [China confrontation]
Bid by Chevron in Big Oil Deal Thwarts China
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and JAD MOUAWAD Published: July 20, 2005
Chevron sweetened its offer for Unocal late yesterday in an 11th-hour move to thwart a rival offer from Cnooc, a government backed Chinese oil company, executives close to the negotiations said.
Unocal's board voted to accept Chevron's increased offer worth $17 billion, or $63 a share in cash and stock, and rejected a still higher all-cash offer from Cnooc worth $67 a share as too politically risky, the executives said. The decision by Unocal's board could end the takeover battle that has stirred significant debate in Washington about national security concerns and trade policies with China. Still, it is possible that Cnooc could return to the negotiating table with a higher bid.
China's Military Geared to Deterring Taiwan, Report Says
By THOM SHANKER and DAVID E. SANGER Published: July 20, 2005 WASHINGTON, July 19 - China is modernizing its military and emphasizing preparations "to fight and win short-duration, high-intensity conflicts" over Taiwan, the Pentagon said Tuesday with the release of its annual report on Chinese military power.
With military spending that has grown by double digit rates since the mid-1990's, China "appears focused on preventing Taiwan independence or trying to compel Taiwan to negotiate a settlement on Beijing's terms," the report said. This political and military pressure on Taiwan may run counter to American national security interests - and to American calls for a peaceful, negotiated resolution of the Taiwan question. But China has not yet built the military power to have full confidence it can achieve its political objectives regarding Taiwan.
Chinese Buildup Seen as Threat to Region
By Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 20, 2005; Page A16
China's military buildup is broadening the reach of its forces in Asia and poses a long-term threat not only to Taiwan but to the U.S. military in the Pacific and to regional powers such as India and Japan, according to an assessment released yesterday by the Pentagon
Pak Pong Ju Meets Special Envoy of Chinese President
Pyongyang, July 12 (KCNA) -- Pak Pong Ju, premier of the DPRK Cabinet, met and had a friendly conversation with Tang Jiaxuan, councilor of the State Council of China, who is special envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Mansudae Assembly Hall Tuesday. Present there were Wu Donghe, Chinese ambassador to the DPRK, Chen Jinyu, deputy secretary general of the State Council, Wu Dawei, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, Liu Hongcai, deputy head of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, An Min, vice-minister of Commerce, Chen Xiaogong, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the C.C., the CPC, and other suite members.
Kim Jong Il Meets Hu Jintao's Special Envoy
Pyongyang, July 13 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, Wednesday met Tang Jiaxuan, councilor of the State Council of China who is special envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao. Present there were Kim Yang Gon, councilor of the NDC of the DPRK, and Wu Donghe, Chinese ambassador e.p. to the DPRK.
Tang Jiaxuan conveyed Hu Jintao's verbal personal message and kind regards of leading officials of the Chinese party and state to Kim Jong Il.
Chinese General Threatens Use of A-Bombs if U.S. Intrudes
By JOSEPH KAHN Published: July 15, 2005 BEIJING, Friday, July 15 - China should use nuclear weapons against the United States if the American military intervenes in any conflict over Taiwan, a senior Chinese military official said Thursday. "If the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition on to the target zone on China's territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons," the official, Maj. Gen. Zhu Chenghu, said at an official briefing. General Zhu, considered a hawk, stressed that his comments reflected his personal views and not official policy. Beijing has long insisted that it will not initiate the use of nuclear weapons in any conflict.
In Washington, Chevron Works to Scuttle Chinese Bid
By Jonathan Weisman Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, July 16, 2005; Page D01 Days before a Chinese energy company announced its bid for U.S.-based Unocal Corp., a lobbyist from rival bidder Chevron Corp. approached the staff of a sympathetic congressman with a fact sheet on Cnooc Ltd.'s quiet efforts and a potential avenue to thwart such a deal. On June 24, just two days after Cnooc's $18.5 billion bid was announced, Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) was ready with a letter requesting an immediate review of the offer by senior Bush administration officials.
China Mends Fences With NK
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
China's efforts to mend damaged relations with North Korea since Pyongyang's ``unilateral'' declaration of its nuclear status in February ended successfully Thursday, a North Korea expert in Seoul said.
Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, President Hu Jintao's special envoy to Pyongyang, returned home after a three-day stay in Pyongyang where he reassured China's continuing support to its communist ally. ``Improving ties between Beijing and Pyongyang is a steadfast, strategic policy of the Chinese Communist Party and its government,'' Tang was quoted by the North's state media as saying.
In return, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il thanked China for its ``unremitting efforts toward the resumption of the six-party talks,'' Xinhua reported. The two leaders' statements show their once-soured relationship might have been restored to its former state thanks to China's promise of a ``big present'' _ Hu's state visit to Pyongyang.
Intelligence Brief: Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Overshadowed in the Western press by the G8 summit of leading industrialized nations and the complications to it caused by the London transit bombings, another summit -- the July 5 meetings in Astana, Kazakhstan of the heads of government of the six members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (S.C.O.) -- promised to have greater geostrategic significance than the more widely reported events. Created with its present membership of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in 2001, the origins of the S.C.O. date back to 1996 when Beijing initiated the Shanghai Five, which included all the current S.C.O. members except for Uzbekistan [China-Russia relations] [China confrontation]
President Hu Jintao's Special Envoy to Visit DPRK
Pyongyang, July 8 (KCNA) -- Tang Jiaxuan, councillor of the State Council@of China, will pay an official goodwill visit to the DPRK soon as a special@envoy of President Hu Jintao.
China to Send Special Envoy to N. Korea Next Week
BEIJING (Yonhap) _ A Chinese envoy will visit North Korea next week, the Chinese government said Friday, arousing fresh hope that the trip may revive stalled six-nation talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. China's Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement that Tang Jiaxuan, a state councilor, will visit North Korea from Tuesday to Thursday as a special envoy of President Hu Jintao.
China and Russia agree on closer ties
July 05, 2005 ? In a joint statement released during Chinese President Hu Jintao's recently ended four-day visit to Russia, both sides agreed to deepen their military, economic and cultural ties, while reiterating that they supported the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Both countries also said they supported normalization of ties between the United States and North Korea, and between North Korea and Japan. [China-Russia relations]
China Mission to Focus on NK Nuke Issue
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Ning Fukui, China's special envoy for Korean Peninsula affairs, would be the right choice for the top post in the Chinese Embassy in South Korea as he has been ``deeply'' involved in the six-party nuclear talks, an expert in Seoul said Monday. ``China might have considered his role as a negotiator who has worked on solutions regarding North Korea's nuclear program,'' Lee Tai-hwan, senior research fellow of the government-funded think-tank Sejong Institute, told The Korea Times.
China, Russia issue joint statement on new world order
China and Russia here Friday issued a joint statement on a new world order in the 21st century, setting forth their common stand on major international issues, such as UN reforms, globalization, North-South cooperation, and world economy and trade.
The statement was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao after their talks. During their talks, the two leaders discussed ways to further enhance the strategic and cooperative partnership between China and Russia, and exchanged views on major regional and international issues. The joint statement said the two countries are determined to strengthen their strategic coordination in international affairs and promote peace, stability and prosperity of the world. [China-Russia relations]
China Tells Congress To Back Off Businesses
Tensions Heightened by Bid to Purchase Unocal By Peter S. Goodman Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, July 5, 2005; Page A01
SHANGHAI, July 4 -- The Chinese government on Monday sharply criticized the United States for threatening to erect barriers aimed at preventing the attempted takeover of the American oil company Unocal Corp. by one of China's three largest energy firms, CNOOC Ltd.
Four days after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging the Bush administration to block the proposed transaction as a threat to national security, China's Foreign Ministry excoriated Congress for injecting politics into what it characterized as a standard business matter.
"We demand that the U.S. Congress correct its mistaken ways of politicizing economic and trade issues and stop interfering in the normal commercial exchanges between enterprises of the two countries," the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement. "CNOOC's bid to take over the U.S. Unocal company is a normal commercial activity between enterprises and should not fall victim to political interference. The development of economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States conforms to the interests of both sides." [China confrontation]
Diplomats perceive snub in Beijing's envoy choice
July 04, 2005 ? BEIJING ? China's apparent choice to be its next ambassador to South Korea has revived old discontent in Seoul about what's seen as a Chinese policy of sending lower- ranking envoys to Seoul. Diplomatic sources said yesterday that Ning Fukui, who currently serves as a special Chinese envoy on Korean Peninsula affairs, is expected to replace Ambassador Li Bin in August. In turn, Mr. Bin is to fill Mr. Ning's Beijing- based post, whose duties are focused on North Korean nuclear issues. Beijing's choice has irritated South Korean diplomatic officials in Seoul and Beijing, who see him as the latest in a series of low-profile envoys to be posted in South Korea, while Seoul has sent former ministers and vice ministers to serve as ambassadors to China. "China's decision is diplomatically rude," one official said. "China is still treating South Korea as an insignificant neighbor." South Korea's Foreign Ministry was equally displeased by Mr. Li's appointment in 2001, and expressed its displeasure to Beijing, complaining that Mr. Li's rank in the Chinese Foreign Ministry was not appropriately high for an ambassador to Seoul. South Korean diplomats also feel that Seoul is being slighted in comparison to Pyongyang.
Many Oil Experts Unconcerned Over China Unocal Bid
By Paul Blustein Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, July 1, 2005; Page D01
The Chinese are coming -- for a U.S. oil company. So should Americans worry, or shrug?
Alarms are ringing on Capitol Hill over last week's takeover bid by CNOOC Ltd. for Unocal Corp. The proposed $18.5 billion deal, lawmakers warn, has ominous implications for national security -- in particular, the security of U.S. oil lifelines.
Congressional heavyweights voicing opposition include Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Ralph M. Hall (D-Tex.), chairman of the subcommittee on energy and air quality. The ability of the United States to obtain the oil and gas needed to fuel its economy, they wrote in a June 27 letter to President Bush, is "threatened by China's aggressive tactics to lock up energy supplies around the world that are largely dedicated for their own use."
But it is hard to see how the Chinese purchase of Unocal could affect petroleum availability or otherwise endanger U.S. security, many global energy experts say. China may be a potential military adversary, and congressional frustration over Chinese trade policy drives much of the animus toward the deal. Still, some fears about China's grab for oil reserves are at odds with experts' view of how global oil markets work. [China confrontation]
China Gorging and Japan-China Resource and Energy Conflicts
By Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan Focus 30 June 2005
[Beginning on April 18, 2005, The Yomiuri Shimbun ran a multi-part series highlighting Japan's resource anxieties in the context of rising China-Japan tensions over issues that include the struggle for scarce oil and other natural resource and the voracious quest for energy by Japan's rapidly growing neighbor. The conflict is set within a global milieu in which oil prices soar to %50-60 a barrel, the consumption of China, India, the U.S. and a number of other powers continues to soar, and nations seek to secure access to oil and national gas supplies that show strong signs of reaching a tipping point at which demand exceeds supply. We present four articles from the series. Japan Focus.]
India-China-US and the Energy Conundrum
By Siddharth Srivastava
Japan Focus 30 June 2005
NEW DELHI: It is the hottest issue concerning Indo-US relations in which both the countries have an equal stake. It concerns the give and take as well as push and pull over energy security in the face of growing prices and depleting oil resources. A crisis is brewing with India, China and USA identified as the future powerhouses competing for control of far more oil than they can possibly produce. Oil prices have sky-rocketed to $50-60-a-barrel, with petrol and diesel prices undergoing another round of hikes last week in India. China and other Asian nations have raised fuel prices in recent months but India Asia's fourth-largest economy postponed it for weeks due to opposition from the ruling coalition's communist allies. The rise in prices, however, is expected to do no more than reduce demand in the short-run. It is estimated that by 2025, today's global demand for 84 billion barrels of oil per day will have grown to 121 billion to 130 billion barrels a day. The United States is the world's largest energy consumer. US demand for oil is about 21 million barrels per day, compared with 7.4 million barrels per day projected this year for China, according to the US Energy Department. India's oil consumption was 2.2 million barrels per day in 2003 and is projected to grow to 2.8 million by 2010, according to the department. No amount of digging domestic resources in Alaska will yield the US requirements. China and India too will have to import considerable quantities of crude oil to fuel not only industrial growth but also surging numbers of automobiles. India imports 70 % of its crude

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JUNE 2005

China Economy Rising at Pace to Rival U.S.
By KEITH BRADSHER Published: June 28, 2005 GUANGZHOU, China, June 26 - A line of Chinese-made cars began rolling onto a ship here Friday, bound for Europe. The cars, made at a gleaming new Honda factory on the outskirts of this sprawling city near Hong Kong, signal the latest move by China to follow Japan and South Korea in building itself into a global competitor in one of the cornerstones of the industrial economy.
China's debut as an auto exporter, small as it may be for now, foretells a broader challenge to a half-century of American economic and political ascendance. The nation's manufacturing companies are building wealth at a remarkable rate, using some of that money to buy assets abroad. And China has been scouring the world to acquire energy resources, with the bid to buy an American oil company only the latest overture. Indeed, fierce domestic competition and a faster accumulation of financial assets are laying the groundwork for the arc of China's rise to be far greater than Japan's.
"It's going to be like the Arabs in the 70's and the Japanese in the 80's - we were worried they'd buy everything," said William Belchere, the chief Asia economist for Macquarie Securities in Hong Kong. But unlike those previous challenges, which soon faded, "longer term," he added, China will "be a much bigger force." [China confrontation]
China Scolds U.S. for Blocking Israeli Arms Sale
By Edward Cody Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page A08 BEIJING, June 27 -- Accusing the Bush administration of "carping" and "outside interference," China issued a sharp complaint Monday after Israel cancelled a controversial Israeli-Chinese arms deal under pressure from the United States. The Israeli decision halted the sale of drone aircraft capable of seeking out radar installations. It was the result of a U.S. campaign to block China from obtaining advanced military technology that could be used against Taiwan and U.S. forces supporting the island in any confrontation. [China confrontation]
''Intelligence Brief: China''
Dr. Michael A. Weinstein 28 June 2005
During the week of June 19, China flexed its muscles in the economic and military spheres, setting off a flurry of reactions in Washington that threaten to complicate Sino-American relations and reveal long term risks for the globalization process.
China's next stage of development brings the incipient conflict between Beijing and Washington into full view. Holding back Chinese expansion -- if that is even possible -- carries the high probability of derailing globalization; allowing it to occur makes the realization of Beijing's geostrategic aims far more likely.
Look for Beijing to proceed confidently on its course and for Washington to be incapable of mounting effective resistance.
Behind China's Bid for Unocal: A Costly Quest for Energy Control
By JOSEPH KAHN Published: June 27, 2005 BEIJING, June 24 - From the dusty plains of East Africa to the shores of the Caspian Sea, China is seeking to loosen the grip of the United States on world energy resources and secure the fuel it needs to keep its economy in overdrive. Its energy deal-making has cost tens of billions of dollars and has dominated China's foreign policymaking for the past two years. At times it has put China in direct competition with American policy goals, especially in Iran and Sudan, whose leaderships are among the least favored by the United States government. Now Washington has the chance to shape China's frenetic quest. The China National Offshore Oil Corporation, known as CNOOC, has offered $18.5 billion for the American oil company Unocal. If its bid is successful, Beijing will have a greater stake in the global oil markets, in the same way that Japanese and European oil companies work closely with major American companies around the world.
If the bid were rejected by the United States on national security grounds, as some members of Congress have publicly advocated, China could be motivated to build more ties to rogue states and step up its courtship of major oil producers in Africa and Latin America that in the past have looked mainly to the United States market. [China confrontation]
The Chinese Challenge
By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: June 27, 2005 Fifteen years ago, when Japanese companies were busily buying up chunks of corporate America, I was one of those urging Americans not to panic. You might therefore expect me to offer similar soothing words now that the Chinese are doing the same thing. But the Chinese challenge - highlighted by the bids for Maytag and Unocal - looks a lot more serious than the Japanese challenge ever did.
There's nothing shocking per se about the fact that Chinese buyers are now seeking control over some American companies. After all, there's no natural law that says Americans will always be in charge. Power usually ends up in the hands of those who hold the purse strings. America, which imports far more than it exports, has been living for years on borrowed funds, and lately China has been buying many of our I.O.U.'s.
The Japanese, back in the day, tended to go for prestige investments - Rockefeller Center, movie studios - that transferred lots of money to the American sellers, but never generated much return for the buyers. The result was, in effect, a subsidy to the United States. The Chinese seem shrewder than that. Although Maytag is a piece of American business history, it isn't a prestige buy for Haier, the Chinese appliance manufacturer. Instead, it's a reasonable way to acquire a brand name and a distribution network to serve Haier's growing manufacturing capability.
If it were up to me, I'd block the Chinese bid for Unocal. But it would be a lot easier to take that position if the United States weren't so dependent on China right now, not just to buy our I.O.U.'s, but to help us deal with North Korea now that our military is bogged down in Iraq. [China confrontation]
Israel Set to End China Arms Deal Under U.S. Pressure
Settlers, Soldiers Clash in Gaza Town By Scott WilsonWashington Post Foreign Service Monday, June 27, 2005; Page A12 JERUSALEM, June 26 -- Under pressure from the Bush administration, Israel has agreed to cancel an arms deal with China and allow U.S. officials to review its future weapons transactions in an effort to resolve tension between Jerusalem and Washington, usually in lockstep over security matters. [China confrontation]
World Oil Giants Fighting Here, Partnering There
By Justin Blum Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, June 25, 2005; Page D01 In one set of Chevron Corp. offices, executives are struggling to hold together a deal to buy Unocal Corp. and outmaneuver a competing offer from a Chinese-government-controlled oil company. But in other offices, a different group of Chevron executives are on friendly terms with the Chinese company, CNOOC Ltd., negotiating a deal involving a natural gas project in Australia.
In today's oil world, dozens of state-owned and publicly traded companies may do battle in some places and work deals with one another thousands of miles away. "That's the nature of the international oil business," said J. Robinson West, chairman and founder of PFC Energy, an industry consulting firm in Washington. "At the same time, they're partners and competitors." [China confrontation]
China's Oil Bid Riles Congress
Attempt to Take Over U.S. Firm Spurs Calls for Retaliation By Jonathan Weisman and Peter S. Goodman Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, June 24, 2005; Page A01
Political fears of China's economic might intensified yesterday following China's unsolicited bid to take over a U.S. oil company, with lawmakers from both political parties warning that Congress will take retaliatory action against Chinese trade practices if the Bush administration fails to respond. Under a barrage of questions, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary John W. Snow warned the Senate Finance Committee against punitive legislation that could trigger a trade war and ultimately harm the U.S. economy.
"Resorting to isolationist trade policies would be ineffective, disruptive to markets and damaging to America's special role as the world's leading advocate for open markets," Snow said. But the $18.5 billion bid Wednesday by China's third-largest oil producer to buy California- based Unocal Corp. put such sentiments on weaker ground. Already, lawmakers from both parties had stockpiled bills to punish China, and President Bush's ongoing effort to ratify the Central American Free Trade Agreement had stirred up political forces against further trade liberalization. [China confrontation]
Chinese Oil Giant in Takeover Bid for U.S. Corporation
By DAVID BARBOZA and ANDREW ROSS SORKIN Published: June 23, 2005 SHANGHAI, Thursday, June 23 - One of China's largest state-controlled oil companies made a $18.5 billion unsolicited bid Thursday for Unocal, signaling the first big takeover battle by a Chinese company for an American corporation. The bold bid, by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation ( CNOOC), may be a watershed in Chinese corporate behavior, and it demonstrates the increasing influence on Asia of Wall Street's bare-knuckled takeover tactics.
The offer is also the latest symbol of China's growing economic power and of the soaring ambitions of its corporate giants, particularly when it comes to the energy resources it needs desperately to continue feeding its rapid growth. [China confrontation]
Talks Between China and Taiwan Are Fruition of China's Struggle for Peaceful National Reunification: Rodong Sinmun
General Secretary Hu Jintao of the Communist Party of China had official talks with senior most officials of the National Party of China and the People First Party of Taiwan on the issues of peaceful reunification and economic exchange and made public joint communiques during their visits to the mainland of China. Both sides shared understanding of the issues related to the cross- straits relations. Regarding the talks, Rodong Sinmun, organ of the Workers' Party of Korea, said in a signed commentary on May 22 that this was a natural fruition of the policy pursued by the Communist Party of China for peaceful reunification on the principle of "peaceful reunification, one country and two systems" and a historic event as the results of the protracted arduous struggle of the party and government of China.
The Ties That Bind China, Russia and Iran
By Jephraim P. Gundzik
Asia Times 4 June 2005 and Japan Focus 9 June 2005
The military implementation of the George W Bush administration's unilateralist foreign policy is creating monumental changes in the world's geostrategic alliances. The most significant of these changes is the formation of a new triangle comprised of China, Iran and Russia.
Growing ties between Moscow and Beijing in the past 18 months is an important geopolitical event that has gone practically unnoticed. China's premier, Wen Jiabao, visited Russia in September 2004. In October 2004, President Vladimir Putin visited China. During the October meeting, both China and Russia declared that Sino-Russian relations had reached "unparalleled heights". In addition to settling long-standing border issues, Moscow and Beijing agreed to hold joint military exercises in 2005. This marks the first large-scale military exercises between Russia and China since 1958.
To China and Russia, Washington's "democratic reform program" is a thinly disguised method for the US to militarily dispose of unfriendly regimes in order to ensure the country's primacy as the world's sole superpower. The China-Iran-Russia alliance can be considered as Beijing's and Moscow's counterpunch to Washington's global ambitions. From this perspective, Iran is integral to thwarting the Bush administration's foreign policy goals. This is precisely why Beijing and Moscow have strengthened their economic and diplomatic ties with Tehran. It is also why Beijing and Moscow are providing Tehran with increasingly sophisticated weapons. [China confrontation]
The Emergence of China Throughout Asia: Security and Economic Consequences for the U.S.
HEARING before the COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION Tuesday, June 7, 2005
An informal summary of the proceedings from FCNL Education Fund Korea Update [China confrontation]

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MAY 2005

Fruition of Chinese People's Struggle for Peaceful Reunification of Their Country Hailed
Pyongyang, May 22 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Hu Jintao had official talks with senior most officials of the National Party of China and the People First Party of Taiwan on the issues of peaceful reunification and economic exchange and made public joint communiques during their visits to the mainland of China. They shared understanding of the issues related to the cross- straits relations. In this regard Rodong Sinmun Sunday says in a signed commentary: This is a natural fruition of the policy pursued by the Communist Party of China for peaceful reunification on the principle of "peaceful reunification, one country and two systems" and a historic event, a result of the protracted arduous struggle of the party and government of China. The above-said party leaders' tours of the mainland constitute response to the sincere will and efforts of the party and the people of China to prevent the permanent division of the country and create an environment favorable for territorial integrity and peaceful reunification.
The Chinese Connection
By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: May 20, 2005 Stories about the new Treasury report condemning China's currency policy probably had most readers going, "Huh?" Frankly, this is an issue that confuses professional economists, too. But let me try to explain what's going on. Skip to next paragraph
Over the last few years China, for its own reasons, has acted as an enabler both of U.S. fiscal irresponsibility and of a return to Nasdaq-style speculative mania, this time in the housing market. Now the U.S. government is finally admitting that there's a problem - but it's asserting that the problem is China's, not ours. And there's no sign that anyone in the administration has faced up to an unpleasant reality: the U.S. economy has become dependent on low-interest loans from China and other foreign governments, and it's likely to have major problems when those loans are no longer forthcoming. [China confrontation]
China Opens Travel to Taiwan
In a Bid to Ease Tensions, Tourists Allowed to Visit Island By Edward CodyWashington Post Foreign Service Saturday, May 21, 2005; Page A16 BEIJING, May 20 -- China said Friday that it was willing to allow Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan on organized trips, another in a series of steps designed to ease tension and curry favor among the island's 23 million inhabitants.
GNP Leader to Visit China
Park Geun-hye, chairwoman of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), will visit China next week for meetings with Chinese officials over the North Korean nuclear standoff, party officials said Tuesday.. Park will embark on the six-day trip to Beijing on Monday. The trip will also feature a visit to the site of Korea's interim government during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea in Chongqing, said Kim Young-in, an official at the GNP's public relations department.
China is said to want U.S. to engage North
May 14, 2005 ? BEIJING ? After strenuous U.S. efforts to convince China to pressure North Korea into returning to nuclear disarmament negotiations, a leading Japanese politician says that what Beijing wants is for Washington to give Pyongyang ground and engage in direct talks in order to revive the six-party effort to resolve the crisis. Yoshito Sengoku, chairman of the Policy Research Committee of Japan's main opposition Democratic Party, said Thursday that in a recent meeting in Beijing with Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee's International Department, Mr. Wang urged Tokyo to convince Washington to explain to Pyongyang the harsh rhetoric U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice used to describe North Korea. Ms. Rice called the communist country "an outpost of tyranny" at her Senate confirmation hearing in January and Pyongyang has been demanding an apology. Since then she has said that she will not engage in any "semantic analysis." Mr. Sengoku told reporters that Mr. Wang also said that Beijing favors some sort of direct communication between Washington and Pyongyang in order to resume the six-party talks [US NK negotiations] [Friction]
Chinese kimchi takes over in local market
May 13, 2005 ? Imports of kimchi made in China are rapidly beginning to dominate the market in Korea, the birthplace of the spicy side dish. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said yesterday that kimchi imports in the first quarter rose 114.5 percent to 21,964 tons, up from 10,240 tons during the same period last year. Total sales of imported kimchi surged 133.5 percent to $9.3 million, up from $4 million. Kimchi from China, mostly made in Chinese factories established by Korean companies in an effort to save labor costs, amounts to 99.9 percent of imported kimchi. In contrast, South Korea's kimchi exports have climbed up a marginal 6.6 percent volume-wise and just 7.8 percent in sales. Last year, the volume of imported kimchi reached 72,600 tons, overtaking total exports of 34,827 tons for the first time ever.
Korea Braces for Yuan Revaluation
By Kim Jae-kyoung Staff Reporter A time bomb is ticking: the yuan revaluation. The Chinese currency appreciation is looming larger than ever before, overshadowing Korea's exports frontier. Now, it's only a matter of time and it may be sooner than later. The currency adjustment comes more as a threat to South Korea than as an opportunity. According to analysts, it is urgent for Korea to take all the preparatory steps necessary to make sure that a yuan revaluation does not undermine Korea's growth potential. The revaluation is feared to spell more harm to the economy than good, even though it has some positives, they said. The debate on the possibility of China revaluing the currency has lasted for the past two years, intensifying this year, as the U.S. and Japan, saddled with huge trade deficits with China, stepped up pressures for a yuan revaluation. Analysts said that a yuan revaluation will slow the world's third largest economy, affecting Korea's exports to China, the second largest export market for Korea.
China Alters Language On Taiwan
Beijing Amends 'One China' Edict By Philip P. Pan Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, May 13, 2005; Page A01
BEIJING, May 12 -- Chinese President Hu Jintao proposed new diplomatic language Thursday aimed at ending the decades-old state of hostilities between China and Taiwan, in a rare but tentative concession by a Communist leader on one of the most sensitive issues in Chinese politics. In a joint communique issued after a two-hour meeting in the cavernous Great Hall of the People, Hu and James Soong, a Taiwanese opposition leader, endorsed a new formulation of the mainland government's long-standing position that cross-strait talks can begin only after Taiwan acknowledges it is part of "one China." Under the new language, Hu effectively agreed to open talks if Taiwan accepted the principle of "two shores, one China" while acknowledging that the two sides might differ on precisely what that term meant.
Hu to visit Pyongyang, says diplomatic source
May 12, 2005 ? Beijing is trying to decide on a date for a visit to North Korea by Chinese President Hu Jintao, according to a senior diplomatic source in Seoul, who suggested that the timing for such a visit would be tied to the resumption of the six-party talks over Pyongyang's nuclear program. "Since President Hu has accepted an invitation by North Korea, it's now only a matter of selecting the right time," the source told the South Korean Foreign Ministry press corps on the condition that he not be named. The source said the visit could take place a week or two before the next round of the six- party talks, or after the next round is held.
Mirrors of History
On a Sino-Japanese Moment and Some Antecedents by Geremie R. Barmé [Japan Focus 11 May 2005]
May 4 2005 marked the 76th anniversary of the iconic Chinese patriotic protest movement. It was the day in 1919 when students led popular protests against Japan's imperial ambitions in China. It was also a seminal moment in the historical construction of modern China, prefiguring and also influencing the rise of the Communist Party itself in 1921,and marking a stage in the cultural and social transformation that remains at the heart of modern Chinese identities. May 4, Youth Day, and May 1, International Labor Day, now fall within a weeklong holiday in China. This year that holiday is being celebrated in many ways during a period of particular tension. There are reports of busloads of police and soldiers being deployed to protect Japanese interests in the Chinese capital and other cities; there are also reports of a high state of vigilance on the part of the authorities regarding any mass protests against Japan following from the outpourings of April.
One of the interesting aspects of official attempts to reign in volatile popular emotions, an aspect of no great significance but one wherein, I believe, we can catch a glimpse of the fascinating yet unsettling face of China's contemporary cheery authoritarianism, is the mass SMS (Short Message Service) mobile text messages that went streaming out to phone users throughout Beijing from the start of this holiday season. I believe that mass mailings of text messages were made by all the leading telecoms in Beijing at the behest of the Public Security Bureau (but, one wonders, who paid the tab?). They articulate in the truncated language of the SMS, something familiar to us all, the latest party line on public antagonism to Japan. Let me share three of the messages that were sent to me yesterday, May 4, from bemused and befuddled friends in Beijing with you: 'The Beijing Public Security Bureau would like to remind you of the following: don't believe rumors, don't spread rumours, express your patriotic fervor in rational ways. Don't participate in illegal demonstrations. -Wangtong Telecommunications wishes you a happy Labour Day!' rouble when all you want to do is help! Be patriotic, but don't break the law. Be a solid, law-abiding citizen.' 'Usually you're busy and 'Don't create t exhausted, so let this be a happy Labor Day holiday week. We can only build a harmonious society if we are disciplined and respect the law.'
China Rules Out Using Sanctions on North Korea
By JOSEPH KAHN and DAVID E. SANGER Published: May 11, 2005 BEIJING, May 10 - China on Tuesday ruled out applying economic or political sanctions to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program, appearing to undercut a crucial element of the Bush administration's evolving North Korea strategy. The announcement comes just as American intelligence agencies are trying to determine whether North Korea is preparing for a nuclear test.
Echoing President Bush's public comments, the Chinese said in a briefing on Tuesday that they still hoped that talks with North Korea would succeed in disarming the country, even though it has boycotted those talks for 11 months. Liu Jianchao, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Tuesday that China rejected suggestions that it should reduce oil or food shipments to North Korea, calling them part of its normal trade with its neighbor that should be separate from the nuclear problem. "The normal trade flow should not be linked up with the nuclear issue," he said. "We oppose trying to address the problem through strong-arm tactics." Beijing's apparent unwillingness to go along with Mr. Bush's backup plan to squeeze North Korea takes away the crucial pressure point that Mr. Bush's aides have been counting on. It also suggests that the strategy of threatening to go to the United Nations Security Council - which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has begun to discuss - could fail. [Friction]
Roh, Hu Urge NK to Return to Dialogue
By Shim Jae-yun Korea Times Correspondent MOSCOW - President Roh Moo-hyun and Chinese President Hu Jintao on Sunday called on North Korea to return to the six-party talks to discuss ways of resolving the escalating crisis over its nuclear weapons programs
Chen Tests Patience of Loyalists In Taiwan
By Peter S. Goodman Washington Post Foreign Service Monday, May 9, 2005; Page A17
TAINAN, Taiwan -- President Chen Shui-bian's new willingness to reconsider his long-standing drive for Taiwanese independence has provoked charges of betrayal and risked alienation of his core supporters. Following his election five years ago, Chen consistently encouraged loyalists' hopes that he would one day turn Taiwan, which China still claims, into a fully independent country. Now, with his praise for recent visits by two political rivals to the Chinese mainland, he has muted and perhaps relinquished that aim in favor of seeking a negotiated peace -- an end to the state of war that has gripped the Taiwan Strait for more than a half-century
U.S. reportedly asked China to cut oil to North
May 09, 2005 ? BEIJING ? The United States has asked China to cut off fuel supplies to North Korea to pressure Pyongyang to return to the six- nation nuclear disarmament talks, but the Washington Post reported officials in Beijing rejected the request. [Friction] [Sanctions]
China Rejected U.S. Suggestion to Cut off Oil to Pressure North Korea
By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, May 7, 2005; Page A11 A senior U.S. envoy asked Chinese officials last week to cut off North Korea's supply of oil as a way of pressuring the government to return to disarmament talks. But the Chinese rebuffed the idea, saying it would damage their pipeline, according to U.S. officials briefed on the talks. After Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill raised the idea of a "technical" interruption of fuel in a meeting in Beijing on April 26, one senior Chinese official, Yang Xiyu, complained that the Americans were focused on too narrow a range of tools for China to influence Pyongyang. Chinese officials suggested that cutting off food deliveries would have the greatest impact on Pyongyang, and indicated Beijing was considering expanding a ban on certain imports to North Korea. But they did not elaborate on their comments or indicate any action was forthcoming, U.S. officials said. [Friction] [Sanctions]
In Spite of Prosecutors, Scholar May Be Deported
By Leef Smith Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, May 6, 2005; Page A08
U.S. immigration officials are moving forward with the deportation of a former American University researcher who pleaded guilty to selling sensitive technology to the Chinese government, despite a request by federal prosecutors that she be allowed to stay. It is the latest twist in the case of Gao Zhan, 43, who was imprisoned by Chinese authorities on spy charges in 2001, then released after U.S. authorities -- including then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell -- intervened on her behalf. Later, she was convicted in this country of illegally selling dozens of microprocessors to the Chinese government.
Immigration officials took Gao into custody April 5, a day before she was to have completed a seven-month federal sentence. Her term was reduced substantially after prosecutors praised her cooperation in similar cases and called for leniency. Made aware of the pending deportation proceedings against Gao, who is not a U.S. citizen, Paul J. McNulty, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, wrote to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in January, asking the agency to reconsider. "While this recommendation is expressly not binding on ICE, we nevertheless entreat you to follow it in light of the cooperation provided by [Gao], which we found to be of significant and identifiable value to the government," McNulty wrote. Now that Gao could be returned to China, where she faces a 10-year prison term, her husband, Xue Donghua, has contacted journalists and made a public plea for support. [human rights]
China Hosts a 2nd Taiwan Party Head
Visits Raise Hopes for Breakthrough By Philip P. Pan and Peter S. Goodman Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, May 6, 2005; Page A10
BEIJING, May 5 -- China extended its campaign to woo public opinion in Taiwan on Thursday by welcoming a second opposition party leader from the island, less than a week after hosting the leader of the opposition Nationalist Party in a historic visit. James Soong, head of Taiwan's People First Party, arrived in the western city of Xian for a nine-day tour of the mainland that is expected to include a landmark meeting with President Hu Jintao in Beijing next week.
DPRK Doctorates Awarded to Officials of Yanbian University of China
Pyongyang, May 2 (KCNA) -- Pak Jong Yang, curator of the library of Yanbian University in China, was awarded a doctorate in literature, Rim Song Ho, principal of the School of Foreign Languages at the university, a doctorate in philology, and On Yom Ryong, head of the Center for the Study of the Development of Tourist Resources in Northeast Asia, a doctorate in geography. Enrolled in the correspondence course of the Doctoral Institute of Kim Il Sung University, they deeply studied the Korean language, the medieval literature of Korea and the tourist resources in the area of Mt. Paektu respectively.
China Raises Hurdle to Taiwan Negotiations
By JOSEPH KAHN Published: May 4, 2005 EIJING, May 3 - Chinese officials said Tuesday that Taiwan's governing party must scrap its party platform and stop its "separatist activities" before Beijing would talk with President Chen Shui-bian, dashing hopes that the recent thaw in relations would lead to two-way negotiations soon.
The conditions, spelled out by Wang Zaixi, deputy head of the Communist Party's Taiwan affairs office, may signal that China is content for now to talk with Taiwan's opposition parties, which favor closer ties with the mainland, while isolating the governing party.
Taiwan Nationalist Cites 'Consensus' With Chinese on Ending Hostilities
By Peter S. Goodman Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, May 4, 2005; Page A01 SHANGHAI, May 3 -- The leader of Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party, wrapping up a historic visit to mainland China, said he had achieved a "fundamental consensus" with the country's Communist Party leadership to end hostilities that have enveloped the Taiwan Strait for more than half a century. Lien Chan, head of the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, which ruled China until it fled to Taiwan in 1949 to escape victorious Communist forces, said Tuesday in an interview with The Washington Post that the channel he opened puts pressure on Taiwan's pro-independence president to seek a compromise with China. Lien, 68, also said his eight-day visit had unleashed a process of engagement that holds out the promise of peace, stability and increased trade.
"It has presented to our people a viable alternative, a viable choice in our relations with mainland China," Lien said. "Isn't this the time for dialogue? Isn't this the general wishes of the people around the world?"
Fate of Korean Peninsula in China's Hands
[Analysis] A regional nuclear arms race may prompt China to go from mediator to hard-liner with NK Kim Tae Kyung (internews) (c)2005 AP/Yonhap As the North Korean nuclear issue deteriorates to the extent that there are now rumors of a "June crisis," arguments calling for a Chinese role are reaching a peak. Proponents argue that China, with tremendous political and economic influence over North Korea, has both the "capability" and "will" to play a big role in resolving the nuclear issue. The connotation of such arguments has greatly changed, however, since North Korea declared on Feb. 10 its possession of nuclear weapons and its indefinite suspension of participation in the six-way talks. In particular, with no possibility currently of the North Koreans rejoining the six-way talks and the U.S. moving toward giving up on the talks, the Chinese role argument has transformed almost like Janus. Prior to Feb. 10, the Chinese role argument called for China to stop the North - through pressure or persuasion - from engaging in acts that would worsen the situation, and to get Pyongyang to rejoin the six-way talks. That is to say, China's role was one of mediator. Since Feb. 10, however, the Chinese role argument has changed. Now it proposes that China will agree to hard-line measures against the North, such as referring the nuclear issue to the UN Security Council and imposing economic sanctions. Some observers are even saying that China, rather than the U.S., may remove a nuclear-armed Kim Jong Il from power. These arguments are based on the idea that because North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons would lead to Japan and Taiwan also arming themselves with nuclear weapons, China would never permit Pyongyang to go nuclear. Proponents argue that North Korea may be a "blood ally," but China's patience with the North may run out shortly, with Beijing ultimately agreeing to, or conniving with, hard- line U.S. policies or non-diplomatic/non- peaceful measures against Pyongyang.
Taiwan Communication Plan Stirs New Hopes for a Thaw
By KEITH BRADSHER Published: May 2, 2005
TAIPEI, Taiwan, Monday, May 2 - President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan called Monday for China and Taiwan to set up a procedure to improve communications between their military and security forces so as to reduce the risk of misunderstandings or even unintended conflicts. The proposal is the latest in a series of moves that is awakening hopes here of a possible thaw in relations across the Taiwan Strait. A meeting in Beijing on Friday between Lien Chan, the chairman of the opposition Nationalist Party, and President Hu Jintao of China has led to a rapid series of moves by Taiwanese politicians, including President Chen, to grab the opportunity to ease tensions that have persisted ever since the end of China's civil war in 1949.
Roh, Hu Jintao to meet in Russia May 9
April 30, 2005 ? A Blue House official said yesterday that President Roh Moo-hyun is expected to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao on May 9 in Russia, where both leaders will be participating in a commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
Roh to Meet Hu in Moscow May 9
By Shim Jae-yun Staff Reporter President Roh Moo-hyun will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Moscow on May 9 on the sidelines of some World War II victory celebrations, Chong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Man-soo said Friday.
Taiwan President's Ally to Carry Message to China
By KEITH BRADSHER Published: May 1, 2005 TAIPEI, Taiwan, Sunday, May 1 - President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan said Sunday morning that he had called another prominent Taiwanese politician, James Soong, on Saturday night and asked him to carry a message to China's leaders during Mr. Soong's visit to China beginning later this week.

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APRIL 2005

Plans for Cooperation between DPRK and China Signed
Beijing, April 26 (KCNA) -- A plan for cooperation in the field of standardization, measuring and quality control for 2005-2006 and a plan for cooperation in the field of quality certification for 2005-2006 were signed between the State Bureau for Quality Control of the DPRK and the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China and between the State Bureau for Quality Control of the DPRK and the State Certification and Accreditation Administration of China in Beijing on April 25. Those plans were inked by Vice- director of the bureau Pak Song Guk from the DPRK side and the deputy-director of the state general administration and the deputy chief administrator of the state certification and accreditation administration from the Chinese side.
Chinese Communist Party Likely to Dissolve Hostile Relationship with Kuomintang
APRIL 28, 2005 23:42 by Hyong-gwon Pu (bookum90@donga.com) The China Times, a Taiwanese daily, reported yesterday that Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan, who is visiting China, will meet with Chinese president and CCP party secretary general Hu Jintao today at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing today and declare an end to the hostile stand-off that has continued since the separation of the two parties in 1949.
Taiwan Opposition Leader, China's Hu Meet
The Associated Press Friday, April 29, 2005; 3:27 AM
BEIJING -- Chinese President Hu Jintao and Taiwan's opposition leader met Friday in the highest-level contact between the two sides since their war split China in 1949. The visit by Nationalist Party Chairman Lien Chan caps a reconciliation between the Nationalists and their former communist foes. Taiwan's opposition leader Lien Chan, right, and his wife Lien Fang Yu, greet members of the press during a visit to Beijing's Laoshe Tea House after arriving in China's capital, Thursday April 28, 2005. Lien appealed for a peaceful settlement to tensions between Beijing and Taipei as he arrived Thursday to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao in the highest-level contact between the two sides in six decades.
Hu and Lien met in the Great Hall of the People, the seat of China's legislature in central Beijing. They shook hands in front of news cameras and Lien introduced Hu to his wife. Hu was accompanied by Vice Premier Wu Yi, the highest-ranking woman in China's government. "Your coming is a great thing in relations between the Communist Party and the Nationalist Party," Hu told Lien after their delegations had sat down in rows of easy chairs in a meeting room. The ceremony was broadcast live on television in both China and Taiwan to a potential audience of hundreds of millions of viewers.
Yang Hyong Sop Meets Chinese Delegation
Pyongyang, April 26 (KCNA) -- Yang Hyong Sop, vice-president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, met and had a friendly talk with the Dandong City, Liaoning Province, friendship delegation of China led by Mayor of the People's Government of Dandong City Chen Tiexin at the Mansudae Assembly Hall Tuesday. Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Hyong Jun and Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Wu Donghe were present.
Nationalist Returns To Chinese Mainland
Trip Seen as Undermining Taiwan Leader By Edward CodyWashington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, April 27, 2005; Page BEIJING, April 26 -- The head of Taiwan's Nationalist Party came to China for history-making talks with Communist Party officials Tuesday, the first Nationalist leader welcomed here since Mao Zedong's forces drove Chiang Kai-shek from the mainland in 1949. The arrival of Lien Chan, the party chairman, and his delegation in Nanjing in eastern China marked the start of an eight-day trip designed to foster friendly contacts and lower tensions in the long standoff between Beijing and Taiwan. In addition to visiting historic sites, Lien was to hold substantive talks with President Hu Jintao in Beijing, discussions likely to result in a communique urging steps to improve the atmosphere across the Taiwan Strait.
Does Beijing Approve of North Korea's Nuclear Ambitions?
by John J. Tkacik, Jr. Backgrounder #1832 March 15, 2005
The Bush Administration and Congress should take the February 22 news that a Chinese emissary to Pyongyang had persuaded North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Il to "signal a possible return" to the six-party talks on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula with a healthy dollop of soy sauce.[1] China's public stance on North Korea has been consistently supportive of Pyongyang and critical of Washington. Nearly two years of talks have yielded zero progress. In fact, the situation has worsened. North Korea has announced it has fissile plutonium, has threatened to transfer bomb-quality material presumably to rogue states or others inimical to U.S. security, and has even said that it would demonstrate a nuclear device. Finally, Pyongyang announced on February 10 that it has manufactured nuclear weapons, allegedly for self-defense. China's reaction has been to declare its undying support for its fraternal Korean socialist state and to heap even more economic aid on that regime of self-imposed poverty.
DPRK Premier Visits China
Pyongyang and Beijing Agree to Further Develop Friendly Ties Pak Pong Ju, premier of the DPRK Cabinet, paid an official goodwill visit to the People's Republic of China from March 22 to 27. Both sides vowed to further advance the countries' "friendly cooperative ties," including economic cooperation and coordination on major issues. Pak was accompanied by Vice-Premier Ro Tu Chol; Chairman of the State Planning Commission Kim Kwang Rin; Minister of Foreign Trade Rim Kyong Man; Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Hyong Jun; Vice-Minister of Agriculture Kim Hyok Jin; Vice-Minister of Chemical Industry Han Sung Jun and other suite members.
Short-Lived Strike Reflects Strength of Japan-China Ties
By Edward Cody Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, April 26, 2005; Page A01 SHENZHEN, China, April 25 -- On the face of it, the 10,000 fired-up workers at Uniden Electronic Products seemed to have a lot going for them when they went on strike. Their main demand, the formation of a union, had long been guaranteed in China's labor law. And Uniden's Japanese ownership, they reckoned, had little reason to expect sympathy in China during an angry crisis between Tokyo and Beijing. Moreover, the days had passed when another batch of eager workers could easily be found; the assembly plants that form an endless expanse here in the Pearl River Delta had started to experience a shortage of workers.
But by Saturday, eight days after the strike began, Uniden started humming again with a full complement of 10,600 young men and women in pastel uniforms, their dexterous hands busily assembling cordless phones for export to Wal-Mart stores and other destinations. Several strike leaders had disappeared, probably to jail cells, their frightened colleagues said. Pressure from local government officials, backed by police, had forced the employees back to the assembly line, once again deferring their dream of a worker-run union. "The Japanese investors seem very influential," said a young woman who participated in the strike and reluctantly returned to work. "The government also listens to them," she added, declining to give her name for fear of retribution. "Some labor officials told us we had to cooperate or else the investors might withdraw and move to other places to invest, and we would all get thrown out of work."
Kim Yong Nam Meets Chinese President Hu Jintao
Pyongyang, April 24 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, who was attending the Asia-Africa Summit, met with Hu Jintao, president of the People's Republic of China, on April 22. On the occasion Kim Yong Nam conveyed to Hu Jintao greetings from leader Kim Jong Il.
NK's No. 2 Man Meets Hu Jintao
SEOUL (Yonhap) - North Korea's No. 2 leader Kim Yong-nam met Chinese president Hu Jintao last week on the sidelines of a summit of Asian and African leaders in Indonesia, the North's media reported Sunday.
A Hundred Cellphones Bloom, and Chinese Take to the Streets
By JIM YARDLEY Published: April 25, 2005
BEIJING, April 24 - The thousands of people who poured onto the streets of China this month for the anti-Japanese protests that shook Asia were bound by nationalist anger but also by a more mundane fact: they are China's cellphone and computer generation. For several weeks as the protests grew larger and more unruly, China banned almost all coverage in the state media. It hardly mattered. An underground conversation was raging via e-mail, text message and instant online messaging that inflamed public opinion and served as an organizing tool for protesters. The underground noise grew so loud that last Friday the Chinese government moved to silence it by banning the use of text messages or e-mail to organize protests
Musan-Nanping Border Bridge Completed
Chongjin, April 20 (KCNA) -- The Musan-Nanping Bridge that links Musan County, North Hamgyong Province of Korea, to Helong City, Jilin Province of China, has been completed. The building of the bridge which will add shine to the history of DPRK-China friendship will help toward boosting friendship between the two peoples. Participating in the ceremony for the completion of the bridge held on April 19 were officials concerned, working people in Musan County, builders and Chinese guests including the mayor of the Helong City People's Government.
Roh to Meet Hu in Moscow President Rules Out Summit With Koizumi in May
By Shim Jae-yun Staff Reporter President Roh Moo-hyun will have a summit meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Moscow on May 9 on the occasion of a ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the World War II, according to Chong Wa Dae officials Thursday.
Delegation of KPA Political Officers Leaves for China
Pyongyang, April 19 (KCNA) -- A delegation of political officers of the Korean People's Army headed by General Pak Jae Gyong left here Tuesday to visit China. It was seen off at the airport by KPA generals and officers and the Chinese ambassador to the DPRK and the military attache of the Chinese embassy here
In China, Roots Of Anger Toward Japan Run Deep
Lasting Sting of Wartime Atrocities Fuels Protests Over Moves by Tokyo By Edward CodyWashington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, April 20, 2005; Page A12 NANJING, China, April 19 -- Despite his mild manners, Liu Weiming displayed raw feelings and anger when it came to the subject of Japan. With no room for doubt in his voice, he insisted China must stand firm in its demand for a clear accounting of atrocities committed by Japanese troops during World War II. "Like the Chinese government said, the Japanese people should recognize their crimes in a clear way," said Liu, 36, a telecommunications engineer who on Tuesday visited the memorial here to victims of the Nanjing Massacre. Historians say 200,000 to 300,000 Chinese were killed during Japan's occupation of the city, which began in 1937. "Even before I came here, I hated the Japanese," he added. "I know of their crimes."
Lien's visit poised to improve exchanges
(15/04/2005) Beijing said Wednesday it expects Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's planned mainland visit to help improve cross-Straits ties despite Taiwan authorities setting up hurdles to block bilateral exchanges.
Lien accepted the invitation, which came during the KMT's first official mainland visit in 56 years between March 28 and April 1. But he has yet to timetable his visit.
The China that isn't China
By Ignacio Ramonet SUDDENLY international concern is focused on the Taiwan Strait, a scene of major tension since 14 March, when the Chinese parliament passed an anti-secession law that for the first time authorises Beijing "to use non-peaceful means" against Taiwan if its authorities insist on going their own way in opting for independence.

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MARCH 2005

Premier Pak Pong Ju Arrives in Beijing
Beijing, March 22 (KCNA Correspondent) -- Premier of the DPRK Cabinet Pak Pong Ju arrived in Beijing Tuesday morning by special plane to pay an official goodwill visit to the People's Republic of China. He was accompanied by Vice- Premier Ro Tu Chol, Chairman of the State Planning Commission Kim Kwang Rin, Minister of Foreign Trade Rim Kyong Man, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Hyong Jun, Vice-Minister of Agriculture Kim Hyok Jin, Vice-Minister of Chemical Industry Han Sung Jun and other suite members. The premier and his party were greeted at the airport by Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of China Wu Dawei, Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Wu Donghe and officials concerned.
Talks between DPRK and Chinese Premiers Held
Beijing, March 22 (KCNA Correspondent) -- Talks between Premier of the DPRK Cabinet Pak Pong Ju and Premier of the State Council of China Wen Jiabao were held at the Great Hall of the People Tuesday afternoon. At the talks both sides informed each other of the situation in their countries and exchanged views on boosting the bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation and on a series of issues of mutual concern. The DPRK side highly appreciated the positive efforts made by the new collective leadership of China with Hu Jintao as general secretary to consolidate and develop the DPRK-China friendship provided by the leaders of the elder generation of the two countries and reiterated the stand of the Workers' Party of Korea and the DPRK government to boost these friendly relations together with the Chinese comrades.
North Korean Refugees in China: A Human Rights Perspective
by James Seymour Japan Focus 24 March
The following is the Executive Summary. The complete report is available at North Korean Refugees in China: A Human Rights Perspective In the wake of the North Korean famine, which began in 1995, hundreds of thousands of people fled to northeast China. Although many returned and a smaller number went to third countries, many tens of thousands remain. They face two main problems. First is the mistreatment they sometimes receive. China does not recognize them as refugees, or even the legality of their being in the country, so they are forced into an underground existence, making them targets for economic and sexual exploitation.
Pak Pong-ju in Beijing
On his arrival at Beijing airport yesterday, North Korean Premier Pak Pong-ju, right,was escorted by the North's ambassador to China, Choe Jin-su. Mr. Pak is on a six-day visit and is expected to travel to Shanghai and the northeastern city of Shenyang. His appearance follows by a day the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Beijing.
Glass Factory Construction, Token of Korea-China Friendship
Pyongyang, March 21 (KCNA) -- The construction of the Taean Friendship Glass Factory is progressing apace as a token of friendship between the peoples of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and China. The construction of the main production buildings including melting and foundry grounds has been carried out at 85 percent with the assembling of steel structures and auxiliary projects at 65 percent with the completion of the concrete tamping of the sand-selecting process building and the industrial water-purifying ground. And trees have been planted and roads paved in the compound.
NK Premier in Beijing
NK Premier in Beijing: North Korean Premier Pak Pong-ju, right, and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao review the honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Tuesday. Pak began a visit to China to study the economic miracle wrought by his country's giant neighbor and closest ally.
North Korean Premier in Beijing
North Korean Premier Pak Pong-ju arrived in Beijing Tuesday to ask China for economic assistance, a high-ranking government official in Seoul said Tuesday. During his seven-day visit, Pak is scheduled to meet his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao and other senior officials to talk about measures to promote economic cooperation between the two allies, the official said. His visit came only one day after State Secretary Condoleezza Rice's departure to the United States, making North Korea observers guess that Beijing would possibly deliver Washington's hidden message to Pyongyang, regarding the six-party nuclear talks. But the Seoul official rebuffed such guesswork, saying his visit to China was scheduled late last year. He predicted that Pak, known as Pyongyang's top economy policymaker, would focus on learning China's economic reform policies.
Europe's Shift on Embargo Places Taiwan at Center Stage
By JOSEPH KAHN Published: March 23, 2005 BEIJING, March 22 - Reports of a shift in European plans to lift an arms embargo on China have sent a sobering message to China's new leadership, underscoring the sensitivity of its Taiwan policy and the continued dominance of the United States, Chinese analysts say.
North's prime minister heads for Beijing talks
March 22, 2005 ? North Korea's prime minister, Pak Pong-ju, is expected to pay a five-day visit to Beijing, starting today. Mr. Pak is to meet with senior Chinese officials, including Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, to discuss ways to strengthen the economic relationship between the two countries. Receiving investment and technological help from Beijing for North Korea's ailing agricultural sector is said to be one of Mr. Pak's main objectives.
Chinese Ambassador Criticizes Japan
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter China's top envoy to South Korea said yesterday that Japan cannot be trusted by its regional neighbors and cannot be a ``normal'' state unless it acknowledges and apologizes for its wartime atrocities. ``As an offender, Japan should openly recognize its past actions and sincerely apologize,'' Ambassador Li Bin said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. ``If it does not acknowledge its past, how can it be considered rational?'' Seoul and Tokyo have been involved in an escalating diplomatic row in recent weeks over Tokto, South Korea's easternmost islets, and Japanese textbooks currently under government screening, which allegedly glorify the nation's imperial past in the early 20th century. ``Germany could be cited as a mirror (for self-reflection),'' Li said, calling for a more sincere attitude in dealing with the history issues with neighboring countries, including China and South Korea.
During the interview with the South Korean news agency, Li also voiced strong support for Seoul's policy of engaging its communist rival, Pyongyang, saying it will eventually pay off. ``South Korea's patience over its economic cooperation with North Korea will have some result in the end,'' he said, adding that continuing efforts to strengthen mutual trust between the two Koreas is the best way to realize peace. ``Dialogue, exchange, and cooperation are very important factors in building trust with each other,'' said the Chinese diplomat, who spent most of his career dealing with Korean affairs. He praised South Korea's supply of electricity to a pilot industrial park in Kaesong, a North Korean border city where several textile and other labor-intensive South Korean plants have recently opened up shop. [Kaesong]
Pyongyang's New Equidistant Diplomacy With China and Russia
. With the six-party talks to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue deadlocked for the long term, signs of subtle relationship changes among the participants are showing up. In particular, North Korea, who once was unilaterally cut off from the rest in a five versus one situation, is receiving the spotlight with a new "equidistant diplomacy," as it shows signs of restoring the tripartite alliance with Russia and China. Meanwhile, with the outbreak of the Dokdo dominium conflict with Japan, Korea's relationship with Japan is in a crisis, and the Korea-U.S. relationship is also coarse with the alliance adjustment.
Chinese Release Prominent Dissident
U.S. Won't Seek Rights Resolution
By Philip P. Pan Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, March 18, 2005; Page A13
BEIJING, March 17 -- The Chinese government released a well-known political prisoner Thursday, and hours later the Bush administration announced it would not seek a resolution criticizing China's human rights record at a U.N. meeting in Geneva. Human rights activists celebrated the release on medical parole of Rebiya Kadeer, a prominent businesswoman arrested in 1999 while on her way to meet U.S. congressional staff members in the western province of Xinjiang. But they expressed dismay at the administration's sudden decision to drop the U.N. resolution, rejecting its claim that China had taken measures to increase human rights in the past year.
Kadeer was convicted of "revealing state information to foreigners" and sentenced to eight years in prison in March 2000 for mailing newspaper articles to her husband in the United States. But supporters say her real crime was speaking against policies she believed favored China's ethnic Han majority over its Muslim minorities. [Double standards] [human rights]
Message to Kim Jong Il from Hu Jintao
Pyongyang, March 16 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, Monday received a message sent by Hu Jintao, general secretary of the C.C., the Communist Party of China and president of the People's Republic of China, replying to his congratulatory message upon Hu's election as chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission. The reply message said: I express deep thanks to you for sending me congratulations on my election as chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission before any others. I will continue to work hard, together with you, to steadily develop the friendly and cooperative relations between the two parties, countries, armies and peoples of China and the DPRK. I hope that your country will prosper and the Sino-Korean friendship will be evergreen.
Taean Friendship Glass Factory Presents Grand Sight
Pyongyang, March 16 (KCNA) -- The Taean Friendship Glass Factory which is under construction amid the deep concern of the peoples and builders of the DPRK and China has begun to show its imposing appearance. Builders and technicians of the two countries have dynamically pushed forward the construction of the factory in a little more than eight months since the successful blasting involving one million cubic meters of earth. As many as 1.2 million cubic meters of earth has been moved to bring into shape the building lot extending more than 200,000 square meters. And workshops of the factory have vied with each other in springing up.
Premier of DPRK Cabinet to Visit China
Pyongyang, March 15 (KCNA) -- Premier of the DPRK Cabinet Pak Pong Ju will soon pay an official good-will visit to the People's Republic of China at the invitation of Premier of the State Council of the PRC Wen Jiabao.
NK Premier to Visit China
North Korean Premier Pak Pong-ju will visit China for six days starting March 22, China's Foreign Ministry said Tuesterday. Pak, dubbed the ``chief economic policymaker,'' is expected to discuss with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on issues of mutual interest, including trade and ways to resume the six-nation nuclear talks.
China Views U.S. as Obstacle to Peaceful N. Korea Solution
China believes Washington is a bigger obstacle to a peaceful solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis than Pyongyang itself, Chinese diplomat Quan Jing said Friday. At a seminar organized by the Brookings Institution on stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks, Jing said many Chinese experts believed it was the U.S. that stood in the way of a peaceful resolution because it focused on regime change and the collapse of the Stalinist country instead of genuine dialogue. Jing served in the Chinese Foreign Ministry's U.S. affairs division before heading to the Brookings Institution to study Sino-U.S. relations. He said the security of the regime remained Pyongyang's biggest concern, because it feels threatened by U.S. descriptions of it as part of an "axis of evil" and an "outpost of tyranny" despite U.S. vows not to invade the country. He said if Washington showed flexibility and greater respect for Pyongyang, the six-party talks could restart soon and produce concrete results. Turning to calls for Beijing to pressure Pyongyang to come back to talks, Jing said China was in no position to tell North Korea what to do, and even if it were the North would not listen. He warned economic sanctions or other pressure on the reclusive country could have side effects. Jing said public opinion in China was against pressuring North Korea, a nation many Chinese soldiers died fighting for during the Korean War, to help the U.S., which they consider the biggest barrier to unification with Taiwan. China is therefore left with the role of mediator in the six-party talks, he said. (englishnews@chosun.com )
(transcript below)
Brookings: A Regional Discussion
Transcript
North Korea is China's "Borrowed Knife"
Keeping an eye on North Korea has become a priority as its increasing belligerence poses a growing problem. It just never fails to amaze me how, throughout history and, in particular, the last century, nations great and small saw what was coming and yet were unable or unwilling to stop two world wars and an endless spate of smaller, but no less deadly conflicts. Which brings us to today where we peer across the vast Pacific Ocean at North Korea and wonder whether its leader is insane enough to launch a nuclear-armed missile at us or maybe just at South Korea or Japan?
This is what passes for informed reporting. The only problem is that, when China says, "jump", North Korea says "How high?" Pyongyang is owned lock, stock and barrel by China. [Bizarre]
Airlines vie for China
By Nelson Alcantara 7 March 2005 LOS ANGELES (eTurboNews) -- The agreement between China and the United States signed in July has left major US carriers scrambling for approval from the Department of Transportation (DOT) to add China to their schedule. The agreement increased the numbers of passenger and cargo flights allowed by Chinese and US carriers in stages over the next six years, rising from the current 54 per week to 249.
China has become the new battleground for US airlines who are struggling to recover from their post-9/11 losses. Recent challenges brought about by cheap fares, competition from no-frills carriers and the high cost of fuel are blamed for the legacy carrier? struggles. Experts are claiming that Asia has become the afflicted airlines·biggest hope for getting out of their financial conundrums.
N. Koreans Fleeing Hard Lives Discover New Misery in China
Illegal Status Forces Many Underground By Edward Cody Washington Post Foreign Service Monday, March 7, 2005; Page A10 TUMEN, China -- After five days of hiking in the biting cold, Lee Shanyu made her escape from the other bank of the Tumen River, where the tortured land of North Korea ends in a row of barren brown hills crusted with frost. The promise of a bribe to North Korean border guards got her to the river's edge, she recalled, and a furtive midnight trot across the frozen water got her to this side of the border, where she said the police all seemed to be indoors trying to stay warm. And so in the middle of the night, pale, penniless and poorly clothed, another desperate North Korean had washed up in China.
They are just like Mexicans in the United States," said an aid worker who, like others involved in helping the escapees, declined to be identified for fear of encountering problems with Chinese authorities.
China Refuses to Confirm Hu's Visit to NK
BEIJING (Yonhap) - China's foreign minister refused to confirm Sunday whether the country's president Hu Jintao has plans to visit North Korea in the near future. Li Zhaoxing took the stand in response to published reports that Hu may visit North Korea before June for talks with leader Kim Jong-il. Hu's trip to Pyongyang, if made, would be his first since he took the top Chinese post two years ago.
China Urges US Flexibility on NK
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter North Korea has once again urged the United States to drop its ``hostile'' policy, while China Thursday made efforts to persuade the U.S. to show more flexibility in coaxing the North back to the talks on its nuclear weapons program.
Europe risks US sanctions over China arms sales
Julian Borger in Washington and Nicholas Watt in Brussels Thursday March 3, 2005 The Guardian
America and Europe were yesterday being drawn ever closer into a trade war after senior US congressman issued a blunt warning to the EU over its plans to lift a 15-year-old arms embargo on China. Talking explicitly about how it would retaliate for the first time, Richard Lugar, the powerful republican head of the Senate foreign relations committee, warned that the US would stop sales of military technology to Europe. His Democratic counterpart, Senator Joseph Biden, warned that the lifting of the ban would be "a non-starter with Congress". Their tough words came after a meeting with President George Bush in the White House. Analysts warned the looming row could undo the repairs made to the US-EU relationship by Mr Bush's visit to Europe last month. "Europe can do defence trade with China or it can do defence trade with the US. It can't do both," said Daniel Goure, a Pentagon consultant and a vice president of the Lexington Institute, a military thinktank.
Wu Dawei to make two-day Seoul visit
March 01, 2005 ? China's vice foreign minister, Wu Dawei, is scheduled to pay a two-day visit to Seoul from Wednesday, while participants in the six-party talks, aimed at ending the North Korea nuclear crisis, continue efforts to restart them.

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FEBRUARY 2005

Chinese offer just £130m to Rover
No £1bn, no Longbridge pledge, says SAIC Oliver Morgan, industrial editor Sunday February 27, 2005 The Observer
Chinese carmaker Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation is committing itself to pay only a further £130m to seal its proposed deal with MG Rover, according to sources close to negotiations. This is a fraction of the £1 billion that had been expected. The Chinese are also understood to be resisting the inclusion of a written guarantee that new models will be built at the company's Longbridge plant in future, though there is an 'understanding' that this will be the case. SAIC will pay the sum as a cash injection into MG Rover in return for access via the joint venture to the intellectual property behind Rover's key assets, primarily the Powertrain engines business, the existing 25, 45, 75 and MG models, and the Longbridge production line.
China's Quiet Rise Casts Wide Shadow
East Asian Nations Cash In on Growth By Edward Cody Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, February 26, 2005; Page A01 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Bespectacled and mild- mannered, Leong Kai Hin is every bit the professor. He teaches economics at a Kuala Lumpur university and seems most at home behind his computer grazing for statistics. But Leong is off on a new project that, according to his assessment, says a lot about where East Asia is headed. In partnership with a mainland Chinese friend, Leong is organizing a strawberry importing business, hoping to cash in on Malaysia's hunger for juicy berries and the ability of Chinese farmers to grow them cheaply. Leong's out-of-character leap from the classroom into competitive business, he says, is just a small example of rapidly expanding economic activity generated across East Asia by China's 9 percent annual growth. From Japan southward to Indonesia, companies and governments have come to rely on China as a market for vital exports -- from palm oil to semiconductors -- and a source for the imports that delight local business people . With stronger economic ties between East Asian countries and China has come a rise in Beijing's political and diplomatic influence, according to a variety of sources in China and the region. Treading softly but casting a big shadow, they say, China has emerged as an active and decisive leader in East Asia, transforming economic and diplomatic relationships across an area long dominated by the United States.
China Protests U.S.-Japan Accord
Ministry Cites Stance on Taiwan, Criticism of Military Buildup By Edward CodyWashington Post Foreign Service Monday, February 21, 2005; Page A24 BEIJING, Feb. 20 -- China issued a stiff protest Sunday over an updated U.S.-Japanese strategic agreement, saying its reference to Taiwan violates China's national sovereignty and its criticism of China's military buildup is "untenable." The complaint, issued by the Foreign Ministry, reflected deep government concern over Japan's evolving decision to lean toward closer security cooperation with the United States in East Asia, including on the issue of Taiwan. Although Japan has not spelled out what military assistance it might provide, to Chinese ears the accord sounded like a promise to help the United States defend Taiwan in the event of war.
Brown raises hopes for MG Rover
UK thought to have offered VAT 'sweetener' to tempt China Tania Branigan in Shanghai Wednesday February 23, 2005 The Guardian
Gordon Brown yesterday signalled a crucial deal between MG Rover and China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation was close to completion. The proposed joint venture would safeguard thousands of jobs at MG Rover's Longbridge plant in Birmingham. In negotiations with the Chinese government Britain is believed to have offered a "sweetener", probably deferring VAT payments from the company, to make the package more attractive. That would save SAIC from having to pour millions into the company immediately after purchase.
Kim Jong Il Receives Head of Intl. Liaison Department of CC., CPC
Pyongyang, February 22 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, Monday received Wang Jiarui, head of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on a visit to the DPRK. Kang Sok Ju, first vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, was present on the occasion.
Bush Says Europe Should Not Lift Its China Arms Embargo
Bush Says Europe Should Not Lift Its China Arms Embargo
By ELISABETH BUMILLER Published: February 23, 2005
BRUSSELS, Feb. 22 - A simmering dispute with Europe came to the forefront on Tuesday when President Bush said there was "deep concern" in the United States that lifting the European Union's arms embargo against China would change the balance of relations between China and Taiwan.
Kim Yong Nam Meets Again Chinese Delegation
Pyongyang, February 20 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, Sunday again met the delegation of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by Wang Jiarui, head of the department, at the Mansudae Assembly Hall. There was an exchange of views on the issue of boosting the friendly and cooperative relation between the two countries and common concern. Present there were Kim Ki Nam, secretary of the C.C., the Workers' Party of Korea, Pak Kyong Son, vice department director of the WPK Central Committee, Kim Hyong Jun, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, and officials concerned and Wu Donghe, Chinese ambassador e. p. to the DPRK.
Chinese Official Meets NK Leaders
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter A high-profile Chinese official met with North Korea's No. 2 leader, Kim Yong-nam, on Saturday, on what many call a mission to change the mind of the reclusive country as it continued to reject any further negotiations over its nuclear weapons program. Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Party's international department, had a ``friendly conversation'' with Kim, the nominal head of state who chairs North Korea's legislature, according to the North's official news agency.
Ambassadors Say China's Role Bigger Than Expected
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter China and Russia share a goal of realizing a ``nuke-free Korean Peninsula'' through peaceful methods such as multilateral talks involving relevant parties, Seoul's chief envoys to the two countries said. China's role in the six-party talks, aimed at defusing the North Korean nuclear crisis, is very significant as many experts and officials recognize the extent of Beijing's influence over the impoverished North, the diplomats stressed in unison. ``China has a bigger card than we expect (with which it could pressure the North if it intends to), though it has never openly shown it,'' Amb. Kim Ha-joong, who returned home from Beijing for a meeting of diplomatic mission chiefs abroad, said during a press conference on Thursday.
Doubting U.S., China Is Wary of Korea Role
By HOWARD W. FRENCH Published: February 19, 2005
HANGHAI, Feb. 18 - The dispatch by China of a high-level envoy this weekend to persuade the North Koreans to return to talks on their nuclear weapons would seem to present it with an ideal opportunity.
China's economy is growing enormously, casting shadows in every direction. Its fast-modernizing military has the attention of every power, regional or global. No other country, meanwhile, enjoys the kind of long, unbroken friendship that China has nurtured for over five decades with North Korea. In short, all the pieces would seem to be in place for Beijing to score its first big coup in global diplomacy, brokering an end to the nuclear threat on the Korean peninsula. Advertisement The only problem with this optimistic scenario is that it is shared by almost no one in China.
For now, the Chinese remain reluctant to take major diplomatic risks on North Korea, convinced that this longtime ally, a country that Chinese soldiers shed blood in large numbers to defend, will never turn against them. Analysts say that Beijing's top priority is to maintain quiet on its frontier, and that it would take a more aggressive tack only if tensions between Washington and North Korea were to increase seriously.
Beyond such doubts, however, lingers an even more fundamental reason for the reluctance of China to take the lead in this crisis: its deep-seated skepticism about the United States' strategic designs in the region.
Official says China has most sway with North
February 18, 2005 ? China, a supplier of up to 80 to 90 percent of the goods and products flowing into North Korea, could hold strong sway over the country that defiantly declared last week it has nuclear weapons, said Seoul's ambassador to China. In a joint television interview on South Korea's YTN station, the country's ambassadors to China, Japan, the United States and Russia presented their views on how to resolve the newest crisis over North Korea's nuclear program.
China Asked to Persuade N. Korea More Strongly
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter South Korea and the United States are calling on China to strongly persuade North Korea to rejoin the regional arms talks as soon as possible for substantial negotiations over its nuclear weapons program.
Can China Be Trusted As Mediator?
FEBRUARY 14, 2005 22:32 by Seung-Ryun Kim (srkim@donga.com) After North Korea`s shocking announcement of its nuclear weapon capability, the focus is now on China`s reaction, with conflicting views on whether China will use its influence over North Korea or whether it has the intention to bring the reclusive regime back to negotiation table.
Other experts say China may be reluctant to be an active mediator because the country, after North Korea issue is solved, will probably be Washington`s next target.
China's Worsening North Korean Headache
By Kosuke Takahashi February 8th, 2005
Kosuke Takahashi, a former staff writer at the Asahi Shimbun and a freelance correspondent based in Tokyo, writes: "Chinese intellectuals suggest that North Korea is increasingly becoming a downright troublesome ally for China in its strategic and political relations. The more Pyongyang delays nuclear talks, the more Beijing loses face in the eyes of the international community as host nation, especially when China strives to promote proactive diplomacy in Asia and elsewhere as a rising economic and political power."
Ssangyong adapting to a new culture
February 07, 2005 ? Major changes are under way within Ssangyong Motor, as employees try to learn about China's language and culture, but other moves to integrate Ssangyong with Shanghai Automotive Industry, which took over last year, have stalled. Ssangyong staff members have been taking Chinese language courses to directly communicate with their counterparts in China. The move was seen as being especially necessary since Jiang Zhi- wei, the vice president of Shanghai Automotive Industry, who was assigned last month to co-head Ssangyong Motor, is known to lack foreign language skills ? including English.

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