-Caveat Lector-
>From Slate.CoM
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international papers
A "Bad Visit" for Hillary
By Alexander Chancellor
The Israeli daily Ha'aretz led Friday with official Israeli denials
that the airborne radar system Israel plans to build for China
contains any American technology. The paper said the deal, which
the United States is trying quash, could be worth up to $2 billion
and represents "the zenith of transactions conducted by the Israeli
Defense Ministry and China since the start of the decade." American
pressure on Israel began after the country took delivery last month
of a Russian Ilyushin 76 transport plane in order to install a
radar system before handing it over to the Chinese, it said.
Defense establishment sources told Ha'aretz that there's nothing
new about Israel building a radar system for the China. They
speculated that pressure has levied on the Pentagon by Boeing and
Lockheed Martin, competitors with Israel Aircraft Industries in
foreign sales of intelligence aircraft. "Those firms could argue
that while they are barred from selling to China, Washington has no
control over Israel's military industries," Ha'aretz said.
The paper published a front-page photograph of Hillary and Chelsea
Clinton at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. An article in the
Jerusalem Post by its New York correspondent said, "[N]obody takes
seriously Hillary Clinton's claim that her visit [to Israel] this
week was strictly a personal trip." The article said that winning
the Jewish vote is critical for Clinton. But it quoted Seymour
Reich, former chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major
Jewish Organisations, as saying that the seemingly disordered
manner in which Clinton arranged her trip to Israel "is evidence of
the fact that she's not quite tuned into the Jewish community here
yet, doesn't understand its nuances and complexities, and is
perhaps getting some bad advice."
The Times of London, in a report from Jerusalem on Hillary
Clinton's visit, said that she "did not pass the test" at the
Western Wall because "security guards from Israel and the US
desecrated the women's section of the Wall by barging through those
at prayer." Two young American students at a Jerusalem Judaic
school winced when the Clinton entourage turned their backs on the
Wall as they left (you're supposed to back away from it). One of
them told the Times, he plans to vote for Rudolph Giuliani in the
Senate race next year. "She came here for political reasons, not to
pray. It's in bad taste," he said. British papers Friday were
dominated by a new crisis in the Northern Ireland peace
negotiations chaired by former Sen. George Mitchell. "Ulster talks
in dire trouble" was the Guardian's front-page headline.
Despite Australia's decision in a referendum to keep Queen
Elizabeth II as its head of state, the controversy about her
constitutional role continued in the Australian press. Before the
referendum, the monarchist prime minister, John Howard, decided not
to ask her to open next year's Olympic Games in Sydney, saying he
would do the job himself. But he has since bowed out and said that,
to ensure that the Games would be "a great unifying national
occasion," he will invite the queen's representative in Australia,
Governor-general Sir William Deane, to perform the opening
ceremony. Whoever is tapped for the job, it still won't be the
queen.
In an editorial Friday, the republic-supporting Sydney Morning
Herald noted that, according to the Olympic Charter, the Games
"shall be proclaimed open by the head of state of the host
country." Logically, therefore, the queen should do the honors, but
"political practicalities" dictated otherwise. "If, for whatever
reason, the Queen is not considered to be the appropriate person to
open the Games, and thus to represent the nation on such an
important occasion to the world, what is she doing as head of state
in the first place?" the paper asked. "The whole issue demonstrates
the continuing absurdity of Australia retaining its constitutional
links to the British monarchy."
In an editorial, the Straits Times of Singapore dwelt Friday on the
threat of further secessions from Indonesia following the
independence of East Timor. It praised President Abdurrahman Wahid,
who is currently in the United States, for promising another
referendum for the Aceh region. But the paper warned of big
problems: The Indonesians "fear that if the logic of secession is
not checked, there will be no Indonesia left for them to call
home"; the military's refusal to contemplate Aceh's departure,
saying it would be unconstitutional; and the region's economic role
as a major producer of Indonesia's natural gas, oil, gold, silver,
pepper, rubber, and timber. "What will a sudden break do to
Indonesia's economy, particularly at a time when the country is
clawing its way back to growth after the Asian crisis?" the paper
asked. "In the circumstances, it is perhaps best for Jakarta to
wait for the economic and political situation to stabilize before
taking a decision on a referendum."
At a rare press conference--reported by Asahi Shimbun of Tokyo
Friday--to mark the 10th anniversary of his accession to the throne
of Japan, Emperor Hirohito said it weighed on his conscience that
the nation should be celebrating the occasion "under the present
stringent economic circumstances." He was nevertheless "deeply
moved" to think he had been emperor for 10 years and "deeply
grateful for the good wishes extended to me." Asked what events
have made the deepest impression on him since his accession, the
emperor mentioned the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of
the Soviet Union. He said walking through the Brandenburg Gate in
1993 "remains with me as an unforgettable memory." Hirohito said
Japan faced "numerous difficulties" at the moment, but added: "As I
recall the history of Japan and how in its past so much hardship
and distress have been overcome, I firmly believe that the wisdom
of each and every Japanese and co-operation from international
society will tide us over in fine style."
Following the death of the last whale at Hong Kong's Ocean Park,
the South China Morning Post called Friday for an end to using
marine mammals for popular entertainment. Barney, a "false killer
whale," died of a bacterial infection last month in a concrete tank
at the theme park. His jumps through hoops had been one of the
park's main attractions. In an editorial, the SCMP noted that
Barney, aged 16, was the 100th whale or dolphin to die at the park
over the past 20 years. The arguments for keeping such creatures in
captivity did not work any more, it said: "Children are not
educated by watching a dolphin walking on its tail or a whale
carrying human riders on its back."
In India, the Hindu ran an editorial Friday on the reported return
of the rickshaw to China after a 40-year ban. "Nothing can be a
greater symbol of feudalism than the hand-drawn rickshaw," it said.
"It is blatantly exploitative, smacks of the 'coolie culture,' and
is a terrible affront to human dignity. It should evoke a sense of
revulsion in any sensitive human being, and has no place in a civil
society."
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