APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 7, 2008

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APSNet 7 February 2008

  1. Japan Jittery Over Closer Ties between Australia and China
  2. Australia Condemns Taiwan UN Vote
  3. Aussies Outstay Their East Timor Welcome
  4. Minister to Deliver Warning to NATO
  5. Indonesia and Singapore’s Defense Cooperation Agreement Cancelled
  6. Tough TB Strain ‘Could Reach Qld Shores’

1. Japan Jittery Over Closer Ties between Australia and China, Brendan Nicholson, Age, 2008-02-06

In strategic terms, Japan is one of Australia’s most important allies, after the United States and Britain, but Tokyo is worried that the alliance will take on less importance if Canberra builds a closer relationship with an increasingly powerful China. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has confirmed that Australia would not take part in any more four-way security meetings with Japan, the US and India.

2. Australia Condemns Taiwan UN Vote, Al Jazeera, 2008-02-07

The Australian government has criticised Taiwan’s planned referendum on UN membership saying it is a “completely inappropriate” move and could undermine stability in the region. The criticism comes a day after China warned Taiwan that it was courting danger by pushing ahead with the referendum.

3. Aussies Outstay Their East Timor Welcome, Loro Horta, Asia Times, 2008-02-05

Since the 2006 deployment of Australian peacekeeping troops to East Timor, the Australian Defense Force has been confronted with a persistent anti-Australian sentiment from large sections of the population. How did a peacekeeping force that was once welcomed as a national liberator for East Timor from 24 years of brutal Indonesian occupation so quickly find itself unwelcome?

4. Minister to Deliver Warning to NATO, Brendan Nicholson, Age, 2008-02-06

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon flew to Europe last night to warn nations fighting in Afghanistan that Australia would no longer risk its soldiers’ lives capturing territory that was soon lost because of political incompetence. He said many issues needed to be addressed at a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Lithuania, and Australia would not send more troops until there was a significant change to the way the war was run.

5. Indonesia and Singapore’s Defense Cooperation Agreement Cancelled, Titis Setyaningtyas, Tempo Interactive, 2008-02-05

The Defense Cooperation Agreement between Indonesia and Singapore has been cancelled. Defense (Indonesian) Minister Juwono Sudarsono said the agreement that was signed in Bali was invalid.

6. Tough TB Strain ‘Could Reach Qld Shores’, ABC, 2008-02-03

A new study says urgent intervention is needed to stop the spread of tuberculosis from Papua New Guinea into Australia. The research says strains of tuberculosis that are resistant to antibiotics are increasing in the western provinces of Papua New Guinea. Many people with the disease come to the Torres Strait Islands because a treaty allows free movement for traditional people between the islands and PNG.

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