Reuters. 3 February 2002. China Slams U.S. President Over 'Evil Axis' Speech.
BEIJING -- China said Sunday President Bush's comments calling North Korea, Iran and Iraq an "axis of evil" suggested the United States was preparing the ground for widening its "war on terrorism." A strongly worded commentary, carried by the official Xinhua news agency less than three weeks before a planned Bush trip to Beijing to meet Chinese President Jiang Zemin, said no such axis existed between the three Asian nations. "No small number of people suspect that by labeling Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an 'axis of evil' the United States seeks to prepare public opinion for possible strikes against those countries under the banner of anti-terrorism," the article said. China has backed the U.S.-led "war on terror," but maintains ties with Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Sunday's commentary said using the term "axis of evil" gave the wrong impression the three countries had formed an alliance. "Using the word 'axis' makes people think of the powerful military alliance formed by fascist Germany, Italy and Japan, which turned the world upside down with their atrocities." It said Iran, Iraq and North Korea did have a few things in common in that they all differ with the United States on policy and value systems, and that all three of them had unfriendly relations with the world's mightiest military power. Last week, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman berated Bush for his use of such strong language in international diplomacy and said all countries should be treated equally. "The Chinese side does not advocate using this kind of language in international relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan told a news conference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
