----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2001 6:19 AM Subject: China fires warning to new U.S. president over missile defense [STOPNATO.ORG.UK] STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- China fires warning to new U.S. president http://uk.news.yahoo.com/010109/80/av676.html =============== + ================= Tuesday January 9, 04:53 AM China fires warning to new U.S. president By Paul Eckert BEIJING (Reuters) - China fired a pre-emptive verbal strike at the incoming George W. Bush administration today, saying the U.S. missile defence proposals that strained bilateral ties last year will have "formidable, adverse global impacts". In a report in the official China Daily published as Bush began following up on campaign pledges to beef up the U.S. military and build a national missile defence system, China also slammed U.S. military alliances and arms sales to Taiwan. Using Chinese codewords for U.S. power such as "hegemony" and "power politics", the report said Washington's military alliances and security policies would trigger an arms race and jeopardise regional security. "Such growing power politics is poisoning the trend towards multipolarity, undermining the conditions necessary for establishing new political and economic orders and breeding the potential danger of a new arms race," People's Liberation Army (PLA) security expert Luo Yuan was quoted as saying. China used every opportunity last year to attack U.S. proposals to build a National Missile Defence (NMD) system to protect America and its allies from ballistic missiles from hostile states. Russia joined China in the criticism. President Bill Clinton handed to his successor the decision on whether to go ahead with the missile defence shield. FROM BUSH PLEDGE TO POLICY Chinese President Jiang Zemin pledged last month to work with Bush, despite shrill Chinese warnings before the U.S. election about the consequences of a victory for Bush, perceived as hawkish on China and friendly toward its rival Taiwan. Sha Zukang, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's top arms control official, said China would focus on NMD in 2001. "We expect that the new U.S. government will weigh the pros and cons carefully and make a sensible judgement," he wrote in the official Beijing Review this month. Bush, who will be sworn in as the 43rd U.S. president on January 20, met congressional defence leaders on Monday to begin turning campaign promises of a stronger military and NMD into reality. Bush, asked how he would persuade sceptical allies to accept U.S. deployment of a missile defence system hotly opposed by China and Russia, told reporters the issue would require "a lot of give and take". "It's a sensitive subject for some members...It's a sensitive subject for leaders of different countries around the world. On the other hand, I think it's our obligation to do everything we can to protect America and our allies from the real threats of the 21st century." TAIWAN REMAINS A CONCERN Luo, a top official at the Department of Strategic Studies of the PLA Academy of Military Science, also listed "nationalities splittism" as threat to Asia-Pacific security -- a reference to separatist ambitions in Taiwan, Tibet and other regions. Taiwan is the most sensitive issue in China-U.S. ties and has the potential to drag the two into war. Washington has had no diplomatic relations with Taipei since 1979, but is the island's biggest arms supplier. Luo was quoted by the China Daily as saying there was no reason for the United States to continue to sell arms to Taiwan. However, despite a nascent thaw this year in China's relations with the estranged island of Taiwan, Luo revealed deep PLA suspicions about Taipei, saying that completing reunification remained an "arduous ask" for the world's largest army. China views Taiwan as a rebel province and has vowed to reunify with it, by force if necessary. Comments to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. =============== + ================ Support Antiwar.com http://Antiwar.com; and 'Spirit FM' Catholic Christian radio (90.5-FM, Tampa, Fla. USA) http://www.spiritfm905.com; and Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space http://www.space4peace.org Thanks from Kevin; age 46; online Christian peace activist and stay-home father-of-4, in Florida (Tampa Bay area). + Blessed are the nonviolent peacemakers. Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Help me speak truth to power. Please pray for one another. Be merciful. Love your enemies. Be grateful + Soften your heart. Forgive those who've hurt you. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world. Come quickly, Jesus Christ, son of God and Prince of Peace. Deo Gratias. + ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
