APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, May 29, 2008

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APSNet 29 May 2008

  1. US Ignored Canberra over Habib
  2. Australia Links Organised Crime to Illegal Fishing
  3. Some Truth in Indonesian Lion’s Tale
  4. Britain Favours Talking to Taliban
  5. Indonesia Pulls out of OPEC
  6. China’s Domestic Nuclear Plans Damp Export Dreams

1. US Ignored Canberra over Habib, Chris Hammer with Brendan Nicholson, Age, 2008-05-27

The United States sent Australian terror suspect Mamdouh Habib to be interrogated in Egypt in defiance of repeated pleas from Canberra not to do so. America’s disregard for Canberra’s pleas came despite the fact that Australian troops were fighting alongside the US in Afghanistan at the time, and preparing to help the US in the invasion of Iraq.

2. Australia Links Organised Crime to Illegal Fishing, James Grubel, Reuters, 2008-05-26

Organised crime groups around the world and even motorcycle gangs are becoming involved in illegal fishing, lured mainly by demand from China for prized fish species, a study by Australian Institute of Criminology said. The report said the illegal fish trade could be used to pay off other criminal activities, such as drugs and arms sales, people smuggling and sex slavery.

3. Some Truth in Indonesian Lion’s Tale, Angus Grigg, AFR*, 2008-05-28

Indonesia, long the basket case of Asia, has been rediscovered by investors in recent months. The economy is growing at more than 6 per cent and, while inflation is a problem, Indonesia now has a middle class of about 18 million people. This means roughly 7 to 8 per cent of its population has a per capita income of $US15,000, equivalent to neighbouring Malaysia.
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4. Britain Favours Talking to Taliban, Brendan Nicholson, Age, 2008-05-29

British Defence Secretary Des Browne has warned that some Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan are so fanatical that they must be killed. But Mr Browne said the war could not be won by military means alone and it would make sense for the Government in Kabul to talk to more moderate members of the Taliban in the same way that Britain had negotiated with the IRA.

5. Indonesia Pulls out of OPEC, John Aglionby, Financial Times, 2008-05-28

Indonesia, OPEC’s only Asia-Pacific member, on Wednesday quit the oil cartel, finally accepting its dramatic shift from an oil exporter to a consumer crippled by high prices. Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Indonesia’s energy minister, explained that, as a net importer of oil, the country wanted world oil prices to fall while OPEC’s 12 other members did not.

6. China’s Domestic Nuclear Plans Damp Export Dreams, Emma Graham-Harrison, Reuters, 2008-05-27

China’s nuclear power firms aim to join its auto and electronic companies as export powerhouses. China has mastered the construction of older (reactor) models at a speed that is impressing Asian neighbours who cannot afford or are not allowed to buy nuclear models pedalled by Western firms. Countries like Vietnam and Indonesia are keen to build plants to convey a sense of modernity and to cut their fuel bills, and see Beijing as the answer to financial and political problems.

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