---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Washington Post Saturday, July 24, 1999 Tensions Heat Up in Asia Security Concerns Replace Financial Crisis By Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan Washington Post Foreign Service TOKYO, July 23=97Just as anxiety over Asia's financial instability and its=20 spillover effect on the world economy has eased, diplomatic and military=20 conflicts have reemerged as this region's prime threat to global security. Security matters topped the agenda as foreign ministers from the 10-member=20 Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathered this weekend in Singapore.=20 The association said a flare-up in China-Tawian relations now threatens=20 "regional peace and stability and prospects for economic recovery." China, the region's dominant power, this week ominously threatened to use=20 military force against any separatist movement in Taiwan, a response to=20 comments by Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui. President Clinton quickly move= d=20 to calm Beijing, canceling a military mission to Taiwan and dispatching top=20 diplomats to Beijing and Taipei. U.S. relations with China remain icy=20 following the accidental NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade May=20 7. In another regional hot spot, Clinton interceded personally in the recent=20 clash between India and Pakistan. Their shelling in the mountains of dispute= d=20 Kashmir raised the specter of another all-out war between the long-time=20 antagonists, who both tested nuclear devices last year. Clinton met with=20 Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the White House and phoned Indian=20 Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee this week to try to ease the situation.=20 Clinton also promised to visit the region soon. Far to the south, Indonesians have been fighting in the streets of East Timo= r=20 over a planned referendum on independence, and conflict persists in other=20 separatist areas of the archipelago. To round out the uneasy summer of '99, North Korea has cemented its place as=20 East Asia's neighborhood thug, provoking a naval firefight with South Korea=20 last month in the two nations' first sea skirmish since the Korean War more=20 than 40 years ago. The United States sent warships and planes to the area to=20 monitor those troubled waters. American air and sea power remains beefed up=20 there as North Korea threatens to test a powerful ballistic missile, despite=20 stern warnings from Washington, Seoul and Tokyo. "It's no longer, 'It's the economy, stupid,' " said Sadaaki Numata, spokesma= n=20 for the Japanese Foreign Ministry. "There is renewed interest in the global=20 strategic issues that affect this part of the world." Two years ago this month, Thailand's currency, the baht, collapsed and set=20 off the Asian financial crisis. As economies crashed from Indonesia to South=20 Korea, Asia suddenly seemed like an anchor that could drag down the world=20 economy.=20 Now, the worst of the economic crisis seems to have passed. The worry about=20 whether stock markets are falling in Tokyo or Seoul has been overtaken by=20 concern about whether missiles will start falling in the Sea of Japan or the=20 Taiwan Strait. Tomohisa Sakanaka, a defense analyst in Tokyo, noted that in the past two=20 years, "The short-term preoccupation with the economic problems led people t= o=20 neglect the long-term security issues." In a region where the United States has fought three wars this century, and=20 where it still has 100,000 troops, rising military tensions are not taken=20 lightly. "History is not over, certainly not in Asia," said one U.S. official in the=20 region. For the past two years, most American officials visiting Asia stressed=20 economic issues. Former treasury secretary Robert E. Rubin became a househol= d=20 name in Japan for his tough criticism of the way it handled its economy. But=20 it is Defense Secretary William S. Cohen who will visit Tokyo and Seoul in=20 the coming weeks to try to calm regional jitters. The shift toward security issues can be seen at the White House, where=20 President Clinton's most recent Asian visitors have been South Korean=20 President Kim Dae Jung, who came to talk about North Korea, and Pakistan's=20 Sharif, who came to talk about Kashmir. The renewed emphasis on security has added pressure to already strained U.S.=20 relations with Beijing. China is deeply suspicious of expanding U.S.-Japan=20 military ties, fearing that the alliance could be used to help defend Taiwan=20 in the event of an armed conflict with China. In a telephone call with Clinton this week, Chinese President Jiang Zemin=20 reiterated that China will consider using force if Taiwan seeks outright=20 independence. Clinton responded by reaffirming Washington's support for the=20 "one China" policy espoused by Beijing.=20 "This is something that we don't want to see escalate," Clinton said at a=20 news conference Wednesday. Seoul and Washington, close allies, are finding it increasingly difficult to=20 coordinate North Korea policy as North Korea becomes more provocative.=20 Congress appears to be moving toward a harder line with the Stalinist North=20 while South Korea steadfastly adheres to Kim's policies of engagement. Still, South Korea recently proposed building a generation of medium-range=20 missiles that could strike much of North Korea. By doing so, Kim may have=20 been demonstrating to his people his resolve to maintain a strong military=20 deterrent against North Korea. But in Washington, Seoul's plans set off fear= s=20 of an new arms race on the Korean Peninsula. Lho Kyong Soo, a professor at Seoul National University, said the United=20 States had nothing to fear from the South's ambitions. He said they were=20 simply necessary to close what he called the "missile gap" with North Korea=20 and reduce reliance on the United States for defense. "I think the government is pretty determined that we need our own independen= t=20 deterrent against North Korea," Lho said. For many in Asia, a troubling aspect of the recent turmoil is the slow but=20 sure move by Japan to take more responsibility for its own defense. Japan ha= s=20 been staunchly pacifist since World War II and reliant on U.S. military=20 intelligence and weapons. But recent events have caused Japan to rethink tha= t=20 relationship. Japan was shocked by a North Korean missile launch over its territory last=20 summer, and it has since begun work on a $1.7 billion surveillance satellite=20 to detect such launches. Tokyo also has pledged $10 million for research wit= h=20 the United States into a "Star Wars" missile defense system, which China=20 adamantly opposes. This week, Japanese defense officials also said they plan to seek funding to=20 purchase four midair refueling aircraft by 2005. Those plans, which would=20 cost more than $660 million, would extend the range of Japan's Self Defense=20 Forces' fighter planes. Opposition parties have criticized the plan, saying=20 that purchasing refueling planes for such purposes runs counter to the spiri= t=20 of the Japan's pacifist constitution. "The Japanese are coming to grips with the reality that Japan cannot be like=20 an ostrich hiding behind the United States' security system doing nothing,"=20 said Yukio Okamoto, who has been a top government defense consultant. Okamoto acknowledged that any movement toward more independent defense=20 capability in Japan sets off alarms in China. "Unfortunately that is the=20 historic reality we have to live with," he said.=20 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 24 Jul 1999 jam 07:32:27 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
