Daily Excelsior... World

Japan woos SE Asia to counter growing China clout

VIENTIANE, Nov 30: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi wooed southeast Asia today a day after regional giant China signed a landmark deal with ASEAN to create an open Asian market of 1.8 billion people by 2015.

Officials from the 10-member Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) and Tokyo said tariff-cutting talks on their Japan-ASEAN trade zone would start in April and be wrapped up in two years.

"We were very, very stimulated by China’s initiative," a Japanese official told reporters at the summit in the sleepy laos capital. "We want to make it speedy not because of China, but because this sort of negotiation needs impetus."

ASEAN’s free trade deal with China is due to be phased in from 2010, and its deal with Japan by 2012.

South Korea, one of the three north Asian guests at the annual summit of ASEAN — Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar — is pressing for a piece of the action, now increasingly driven by China’s expanding economic and political clout.

Seoul, which edged closer to a mini-free trade pact with Singapore on Monday, is ready to open talks on reducing trade levies with is southern neighbours, ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong told a news conference late yesterday.

Beneath the shadow of China’s all-enveloping commercial umbrella, the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand also put in their first appearances at an ASEAN summit to make overtures for their own inclusion in a free trade zone.

However, Australian Prime Minister John Howard has put some Asian noses out of joint with his refusal to sign a non-aggression pact with asean, a stance that has led to calls for his exclusion from the forum in the future.

The ever-broadening grin on the face of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao each time he appeared in public bore testimony to China’s growing confidence in its ability to turn economic into political power in its strategically important southern reaches.

"The agreements signed today show that China-ASEAN relations have developed on their original foundation to a new level," wen told reporters after the trade deal signing.

Another sign of Beijing flexing its muscles was the intiative on Monday to establish an East Asia Summit (EAS), echoing Malaysia’s proposed east Asian economic Caucus that was stillborn after encountering stiff opposition from the US a decade ago.

Beijing’s commitment to such a summit "will not budget an inch as China grows stronger", Wen said late yesterday.

Details of the EAS, which first appeared in a summit statement that was then withdrawn, remain sketchy, but the idea was sufficiently controversial to prompt an exercise in damage control from top ASEAN officials.

Ong insisted plans were still only at the "brainstorming" stage and suggested communique writers had jumped the gun in naming a new forum for ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea, a group hitherto referred to as "ASEAN"3".

"Our drafters tended to be too quick on the draw," Ong told the Monday news conference shortly after the revised ASEAN chairman’s statement was released.

In the second version: "We agreed to transform the ASEAN"3 summit into the east Asian summit" was watered down to: "we discussed the convening of an East Asia Summit".

Under the terms of the China-ASEAN trade deal, which combines economies worth more than 2 trillion, the two sides will start cutting tariffs on July 1, 2005, with a target of reducing duties on 4,000 categories of goods to between zero and five percent by 2010.

However, in a sign negotiations are not going as smoothly as initially planned, duties on "sensitive goods" such as sugar, iron, steel and cars would be cut to below 20 percent only by 2012.

Furthermore, the deal only encompasses ASEAN’s six more advanced economies — Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and the Philippines. The four poorest members — Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar — have until 2015 to comply.

In the first nine months of 2004, China’s trade with ASEAN countries grew by 35 percent from a year earlier and is due to surpass 100 billion this year. (AGENCIES)

China agonises as hope vanishes for missing miners

BEIJING, Nov 30: Investigators have determined that back-to-back coal-dust and gas blasts ripped through a mine in northern China killing at least 63 workers and leaving 103 trapped and feared dead, state media said today.

More than 120 workers escaped the state-owned Chenjiashan coal mine in Shaanxi province after Sunday’s explosion, which could be the worst disaster to hit the world’s most dangerous mining industry in four years.

"It would be a miracle if there are any survivors," a Shaanxi mine safety official surnamed Duan told .

China’s coal mines, which provide the main fuel for the world’s seventh-biggest economy, have a dismal safety record that has been underscored by a series of major accidents this year.

Sunday’s blast could be the worst since a September 2000 explosion in southwestern Guizhou province killed 162 people. Two other deadly mining accidents have been reported in recent days.

The average miner in China produces one tonne of coal a day, compared with 40 tonnes produced by each miner, with the help of high-tech mechanisation, in the United States, the China daily said, asking why there were so many mine accidents.

And the death rate for every 100 tonnes of coal produced in China was 100 times that of the United States, the official Xinhua news agency said.

"The accidents keep happening — time and again," the China daily said in a commentary. "The backdrop to this ceaseless catalogue of disaster and death is a country thirsty for energy to sate the appetite of its economic engine."

It was certain that a coal-dust explosion occurred in tandem with the Chenjiashan gas blast, a combination that made it "very unlikely for the missing miners to have survived", it said.

About 1,000 relatives of missing and injured miners had braved sub-zero temperatures and were waiting anxiously outside the mine and hospitals, the daily said.

"My youngest child Pang Yuming ... Is still trapped inside," Xinhua quoted Nie Ruan’e as saying. "I really don’t know if he can get out of the tunnel alive," a 66-year-old mother said.

Of the miners who escaped, 45 were injured and in hospital.

Rescuers returned from the tunnels saying they saw light blue smoke underground, Xinhua reported. Experts said the coal bed could be on fire.

"This greatly hobbles the rescue work, but 12 rescue teams ... Are working around the clock to rescue the trapped workers," Xinhua quoted song Zhigang, deputy Director of the Tongchuan Mining Administration, as saying.

Fire broke out at the mine on Nov 22 and some miners had refused to go back to work, but officials, eager to boost production, had threatened to fine or suspend absentees, newspapers have reported.

With coal demand increasing as winter sets in, the mine paid more attention to production growth than safety, the China daily quoted experts as saying.

"What is the price of a life, or a dozen, a score — a hundred?" the China daily said. "Compare these awful figures with the misery they bring, and heavy investment is worthy."

The blast occurred two days after the Shaanxi Government ordered tougher mine inspections and closure of any mines with insufficient or substandard ventilation.

The provincial Government has ordered all mines in Shaanxi with high gas concentrations to halt operations until safety examinations have been carried out.

A blast at the Chenjiashan mine in 2001 killed 38 workers.

Official figures show 4,153 coal mine deaths in the first nine months of this year, down more than 13 percent year-on-year. (AGENCIES)

Russia warns India on defence intellectual property rights

MOSCOW, Nov 30: Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov today warned that Moscow would reconsider further cooperation in high military technology if India did not sign the agreement on defence intellectual property rights.

As Russia and India were now moving into a phase of high military-technological cooperation, the question of signing an agreement on the Dipr has sharply arisen, Mr Ivanov told reporters here before leaving for New Delhi to co-chair the fourth session of the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee.

"Without such an agreement, it is difficult for us to look into the future because we are already moving into a stage of cooperation in the field of high technological spheres and these fields, especially in the Russian Defence Industries, are very advanced," he said.

"It is becoming something of an obstacle in our bilateral relation, particularly if we think about the future. We can live without it, and even fulfil the obligations which we have undertaken. But if we think about the future obligations, we cannot proceed without this agreement," the minister stressed.

Observing that India was "dragging its feet on signing the agreement", Mr Ivanov said russia gave the draft of the agreement to India two years ago.

"But so far we have not heard any principled suggestions or proposals from India. At the same time, we don t hear that New Delhi would accept the agreement or would like to make changes," he said.

On the perspective of the Indo-Russian Defence Cooperation, Mr Ivanov said that military-technological cooperation between the two countries was going on as part of the programme up to the year 2010.

"We are working according to the programme," he said. "As we implement it, new ideas and new plans such as joint brahmos cruise missile project, are born. Similar new plans are also in the pipeline, which will be discussed at the Commission’s meeting," the Defence Minister pointed out.

"I am absolutely convinced that during the visit of President Vladimir Putin, the military-technological cooperation will certainly be discussed between the top leaders of India and Russia," he pointed out.

Mr Ivanov also warned India against acquiring "fake" defence spareparts from Common Wealth of Independent States (CIS) and Central and European countries.

"These spareparts are uncertified, not genuine and inferior in quality. The Indian partners have the right to buy whatever they want and from wherever they want. But later if these things do not fulfil their function, Russia is not to be blamed," he said. (UNI)

Bush to urge Congress to pass intelligence bill

WASHINGTON, Nov 30: US President George W Bush will urge republicans to try again before Congress adjourns for the year to pass a comprehensive bill to upgrade US Intelligence agencies, the White House said.

Bush plans to write a letter to congressional republicans this week and have senior aides attend a three-day retreat by Congressional republican leaders that begins on Tuesday in irvington, Virginia, to see if something can be worked out, White House spokesman Scott Mcclellan yesterday said.

"The President is continuing to call on members to act on this legislation and act on it as quickly as possible," Mcclellan told reporters. "And the President will be continuing to reach out to members."

Congressional democrats have said Bush must crank up pressure on reluctant republicans to get a bill that he can sign into law this year.

Senate democrats and republicans thought that they had such a deal earlier this month. But it stalled when republican leaders in the House of Representatives refused to bring it up for a vote following resistance from many of their members.

The stalled compromise bill would have created a new national director of intelligence with significant authority over the intelligence budget. But it would have been more limited than the powers originally sought by the senate and September 11 commission. It would also have created a new counterterrorism center with powers to plan operations.

House Armed Service Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, a California republican, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin republican, helped lead the the opposition.

Hunter voiced concern that proposed changes would hurt the military chain of command and feared they could delay the flow of intelligence to troops on the front lines. Sensenbrenner opposed the measure because negotiators dropped immigration and law enforcement provisions that he backed.

The House and senate are to return from their thanksgiving break next week, but it is an open question if they can agree on a bill before adjourning next month for the year.

Failure to do so would require lawmakers to begin from scratch when the 109th Congress convenes in January.

The September 11 Commission that investigated the 2001 attacks on the United States backed the proposed compromise bill as did many of the family members of the victims. Yet others favor provisions backed by sensenbrenner and hunter.

Today, members of the commission intend to hold a news conference to reiterate their call for action while family members plan their own news conferences. (AGENCIES)

Musharraf can’t exploit Zardari’s release: US analysts

WASHINGTON, Nov 30: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was seeking to reap some political benefits by the release of former Prime Minister and Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) Benazir Bhutto’s husband Asif Zardari but his designs are unlikely to materialize, according to US geopolitical analysts.

Pakistani authorities recently released Mr Zardari on bail.

While the Pakistan media is rife with speculation that Mr Zardari’s release was the result of a deal, the bail was granted because Gen Musharraf’s Government realized it was running out of legal options and it could reap possible political benefits, said analysts at Strategic Forecasting (STRATFOR).

Islamabad would try to turn Mr Zardari’s release into a goodwill gesture to secure some sort of accommodation with the PPP, STRATFOR said, but "Islamabad will probably be disappointed."

A deal was unlikely, it said, because Ms Bhutto and her party see his release as a victory.

"Furthermore, knowing that Gen Musharraf is trying to build a consensus for a major anti-Al-Qaeda operation involving US troops in the spring, the PPP is likely to drive a hard bargain."

President Musharraf’s regime was involved in back-channel negotiations with the PPP, STRATFOR said but added that such negotiations would be difficult and unlikely to lead to any agreement.

Gen Musharraf wants to secure support from the PPP and the Alliance for Restoration for Democracy (ARD), of which the PPP is the largest component, in his efforts to cooperate with Washington in an upcoming assault against Al-Qaeda.

This was important because the Islamist Mutahiddah Majlis-i-Amal Alliance is likely to oppose any major military action in Pakistan involving US forces.

Another major problem is that the ARD will demand that the President allow Ms Bhutto and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to return to Pakistan and an active political life.

"This would be too big a price, and Gen Musharraf will use the pending cases against Mr Zardari to pressurise his opponents into making a deal.

"Though Zardari has been released, it is unlikely that his party can make much political headway without his wife’s return from exile in Dubai," STRATFOR said. (UNI)

US soldier killed by roadside bomb in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Nov 30: Guerrillas detonated a roadside bomb near a US military patrol in northern Iraq overnight, killing an American soldier, the US military said today.

The attack occurred near the town of Alazu, north of Baghdad, and targeted soldiers from the US 1st infantry division. No further details were provided.

More than 960 US troops have been killed in action since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March last year.

Nearly 100 US soldiers have been killed in November. The highest monthly death toll for US forces was in April this year when 135 soldiers were killed. (AGENCIES)