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President Jiang Arrives in Myanmar for State Visit. Chinese President Jiang Zemin arrived in Yangon at noon local time Wednesday, starting a four-day state visit to Myanmar at the invitation of Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar. Chinese President Jiang Zemin arrived in Yangon at noon local time Wednesday, starting a four-day state visit to Myanmar at the invitation of Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar. This is a return visit to Than Shwe's China tour in 1996. Than Shwe greeted Jiang and presided over a welcoming ceremony for Jiang at the airport. Jiang's entourage includes Jiang's wife Wang Yeping, Vice-Premier Qian Qichen and his wife Zhou Hanqiong, and other senior Chinese officials who arrived aboard the same plane. Jiang delivered a written statement on arrival at the Yangon International Airport. He said he is very glad to have the opportunity of coming to the Union of Myanmar for a state visit at the invitation of Senior General Than Shwe, chairman of the SPDC, and he would like to take this opportunity to convey the cordial greetings and good wishes of the Chinese people to the people of Myanmar. Jiang pointed out that China and Myanmar are "good neighbors with a profound 'pawkphaw' (fraternal) friendship fostered in the long-term and close contacts between the two peoples". In the past years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries initiated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence for state-to-state relations and the friendly bilateral relations were constantly consolidated and developed, noted Jiang. He stressed that "this is in the interest of the two peoples as well as peace and stability in the region." He said he hopes to enhance mutual understanding, deepen friendship and expand cooperation through exchange of views on bilateral relations and other issues of common interest with leaders of Myanmar during the visit. He said he also hopes to learn more about the economic and social development of the country, adding that he is confident that with the host's thoughtful arrangements, his current visit will achieve positive results. He wished the Union of Myanmar enjoy prosperity and its people well-being. Jiang is scheduled to hold talks with Than Shwe later Wednesday. ***** Pakistan Media: US to Deploy NMD in Afghanistan to Control China. According to a report from Pakistan Frontier Post, as the American forces successfully set foot in Afghanistan, Washington may deploy NMD in Afghanistan to control China in the battlefront, sources said. Sources say that "America comes to Afghanistan with many aims", first, the United States wants to control the flow of natural resources from Central Asian countries into China via Afghanistan, so that it could restrain China's increasing economic and military influence. Second, it wants to deploy NMD in Afghanistan. The sources also said that the United States would carry out those targets after Afghanistan's situation is stabilized in the coming two years. China Against US NMD System China's standing on the anti-missile issue is very clear and consistent. China opposes the US National Missile Defense (NMD) system. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue made the remarks December 4 at a regular press conference. China holds that all sides should seek solutions through careful and serious dialogue to safeguard security and benefit each side, and not harm the international disarmament and arms control, she said. Chinese Ambassador Warns of Grave Consequences of NMD The development and deployment of the national missile defense system (NMD) by the United States will undermine global strategic balance and stability and threaten international peace and stability, a Chinese official said September 14. "Once NMD is deployed, the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (ABM Treaty) will be dead in essence," said Chinese Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament (CD) Hu Xiaodi at the CD plenary. US NMD Systems The NMD complex currently planned has six distinct parts, all of which must perform perfectly if the system is to succeed. These elements are: * 1) The initial launch detection and tracking system that consists of the satellites of the Defense Support Program (DSP). * 2) Five ground-based early warning radars (including one each in the UK and Greenland) that receive the initial tracking data from DSP or SBIRS-High through the system's command and control network. * 3) Four but possibly as many as nine (including one each in the UK, Greenland, and South Korea) X-band (high frequency, short wavelength) radars whose function is to discriminate between incoming real warheads and decoys. * 4) Interceptor booster, a modified three stage commercial "off-the-shelf" very fast rocket which carries the exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) to close proximity of the planned intercept point. * 5) Exoatmospheric kill vehicle, whose on-board computer processes updates on the location of the hostile missile after the EKV has separated from the booster. * 6) The Battle Management, Command, Control, and Communications (BMC3) network, the heart of NMD. **** Al Qaeda Fighters Demand Surrender Only to U.N.Representatives. Al Qaeda fighters in Tora Bora region in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday missed the surrender deadline set by the anti-Taliban forces, and demanded that they hand over weapons only to U.N. representatives, said a report reaching Islamabad. Al Qaeda fighters in Tora Bora region in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday missed the surrender deadline set by the anti-Taliban forces, and demanded that they hand over weapons only to U.N. representatives, said a report reaching Islamabad. The U.S. and the anti-Taliban troops confirmed earlier that not a single Al Qaeda member had surrendered yet, and that the U.S. B- 52 bombers resumed bombing the Tora Bora area. The talks on the surrender was reportedly going on while the deadline of 8 a.m. (0330 GMT) passed. **** Hezbollah Slams U.S. Ambassador for Terrorism Allegation. The chief of the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah has accused the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon of alleging that the group conducts terrorism of global reach, the As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday. The chief of the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah has accused the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon of alleging that the group conducts terrorism of global reach, the As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday. Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah, made the accusation Tuesday night at a gathering in Beirut following U.S. Ambassador Vincent Battle stressed in a TV interview on Sunday Hezbollah carries out terror acts and is capable of staging terrorism of a "global reach." The U.S. diplomat also claimed that Hezbollah, which has been put on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations, has trained radical Islamic groups fighting Israel, including the Palestinian Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Islamic Jihad (Holy War). Nasrallah has earlier urged Beirut to expel Battle, who he claimed "harmed national sovereignty and hurt the feelings of the Lebanese people." Lebanon has refused the U.S. request to freeze Hezbollah's bank account and assets, noting that it is a resistance movement against Israeli occupation instead of a terrorist organization. The Syrian and Iranian-backed Hezbollah, or Party of God, spearheaded combat to eventually force the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon in May 2000, ending its 22-year occupation there. The guerrilla group vows to continue attacks against Israel as long as the Jewish state occupies the disputed Shebaa Farms on the Israeli-Lebanese-Syrian border. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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