NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, June 08, 2005

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NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, June 08, 2005

NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, June 08, 2005

I. United States

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. DPRK on Return to Talks

Financial Times (“N KOREA SAYS TIME NOT RIPE FOR RESTARTING TALKS”, 2005-06-08) reported that the DPRK placed the onus for restarting the talks back on the US, saying the right “environment” still needed to be created. “As for the resumption of the six-party talks, it entirely depends on the US response to [DPRK’s] call for creating conditions and an environment for their resumption,” the KCNA quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying. It did not elaborate on what these conditions were.

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2. US on DPRK Return to Talks

Financial Times (“N KOREA FAILS TO SET DATE FOR NUCLEAR ARMS TALKS”, 2005-06-08) reported that Chris Hill, assistant secretary of state and chief US negotiator on the DPRK nuclear issue, signalled US impatience with the DPRK after a meeting between the two sides in New York failed to result in a commitment by the DPRK to set a date for its return to six-party talks. He did not say how long the US was prepared to wait or what it would do if the DPRK did not rejoin the talks. Referral to the UNSC remained an option, he said. He also pressed the PRC to take a more influential role in getting the DPRK back to talks.

(return to top) International Herald Tribune (“CAUTIOUS REACTION TO POTENTIAL RETURN TO NUCLEAR TALKS “, 2005-06-08) reported that US officials claimed they had a new commitment from the DPRK to return to six-party nuclear talks and the PRC said they’d likely resume in weeks — but the DPRK stayed silent on any pledge. The ROK and Japan are cautious because no firm date was set. Japan said it would be happy if the talks resume and that if they do, credit should go to the PRC for pushing ally DPRK back toward the table. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack also credited the PRC, which has far more influence with Pyongyang than does the US, with intervening to reopen the negotiations. (return to top)

3. Experts on DPRK Return to Talks

Reuters (“N.KOREA SEEN BUYING TIME ON NUCLEAR TALKS-ANALYSTS”, 2005-06-08) reported that the DPRK’s signal to Washington that it is willing to return to nuclear talks could be a tactic to buy time and block Washington from referring the issue to the UNSC. “This is probably a diplomatic tactic to stall while hanging on to its nuclear programs,” said Lee Dong-bok, senior associate with the CSIS think-tank. Don Oberdorfer, an expert on North Korea at John Hopkins University, said the threat of UN referral may have prompted Pyongyang’s latest utterance.

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4. ROK on US-DPRK Relations

Yonhap News (“DEFENSE CHIEF DENIES PREEMPTIVE U.S. STRIKES ON N. KOREA”, 2005-06-08) reported that, Yoon Kwang-ung, ROK’s defense chief, brushed off suspicions Wednesday that the US might launch a preemptive attack on the DPRK. “At the current stage, there is no possibility of [US-led] preemptive strikes and military actions,” he said during a local CBS radio program. “When [the US] is taking any military action, a prior consultation with the South Korean government should precede it.”

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5. Kim Dae-jung on US-DPRK Relations

Korea Times (“US, N. KOREA SHOULD GIVE AND TAKE : KIM”, 2005-06-08) reported that Former President Kim Dae-jung said the DPRK should give up its nuclear weapons program in a verifiable way, while urging the US to give security assurance and lift economic sanctions on the DPRK to end the nuclear standoff. “The US even negotiated with the former Soviet Union, dubbed the ‘Evil Empire,’ and China, which helped the North in the Korean War,” he said. “It is not true that someone cannot negotiate with somebody else because they lack trust in each other.” Just days before the ROK-US summit scheduled for Friday, Kim asked his successor, President Roh Moo-hyun, to persuade US President Bush to engage in “give-and-take” negotiations with Kim Jong-il to resolve the nuclear problems.

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6. ROK-US Summit

Korea Times (“ROH-BUSH SUMMIT TO SEND MESSAGE TO N. KOREA”, 2005-06-08) reported that ROK President Roh Moo-hyun and US President George W. Bush will send a message to the DPRK through the outcome of their summit scheduled for Friday that will have a significant influence on Pyongyang’s decision whether to return to the six-party nuclear talks. “The upcoming summit will anyhow affect the attitude of North Korea,” a senior ROK government official said on condition of anonymity. “North Korea is going to watch the outcome of the summit closely. And the two leaders will be keeping that in mind.” Roh departs for Washington today for the summit with Bush and will remain in the US for just one day.

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7. Kim Dae-jung on ROK-US Alliance

Korea Times (“KOREA-US ALLIANCE ‘MOST IMPORTANT'”, 2005-06-08) reported that Former President Kim Dae-jung said the nation’s diplomacy has three important pillars: a strong alliance with the US, close trilateral cooperation with the US and Japan, and the six-party talks. But he stressed the most important is the ROK-US alliance. In an interview with the Korea Times and its sister paper, the Hankook Ilbo, the former president said the standoff between the DPRK and the US is the most worrisome problem facing the future of the Korean people. He said that despite a lack of mutual trust, the DPRK and the US could find a mutually beneficial solution through give-and-take negotiations, whereby the DPRK could get a security guarantee and economic aid simultaneously in return for dismantlement of its nuclear program.

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8. Korea Expert on ROK-US Alliance

Chosun Ilbo (“KOREA EXPERT WARNS OF ESTRANGEMENT FROM US”, 2005-06-08) reported that, according to the Johns Hopkins University academic Don Oberdorfer, if the estrangement between Seoul and Washington deepens it may become impossible to heal. Oberdorfer was discussing the upcoming ROK-US summit during a debate entitled, “North Korean Nuclear Issue and the Future of Six-Party Talks,” hosted by the Korea Press Foundation at the Seoul Press Center. He said he hoped the summit would become an opportunity for the two sides to carefully listen to one another. Turning to President Roh Moo-hyun’s ambition for the ROK to play a balancing role in Northeast Asia, Oberdorfer said the initiative was vague and bewildering, and since it was easily misunderstood may have unintentionally caused needless debate.

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9. DPRK’s Ranking as Missile Exporter

Yonhap News (“NORTH KOREA IS WORLD’S 29TH-LARGEST MISSILE EXPORTER: REPORT”, 2005-06-08) reported that, according to the European think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the DPRK ranked 29th among major conventional weapons exporters, remaining in the black in its foreign arms trade.

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10. ROK on DPRK-APEC Relations

Yonhap News (“N. KOREA UNLIKELY TO ATTEND APEC SUMMIT IN BUSAN: FOREIGN MINISTER”, 2005-06-08) reported that, according to Ban Ki-moon, the ROK foreign minister, the DPRK is unlikely to take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting at the ROK’s port city of Busan later in the year due to technical difficulties. He said it will be difficult for the DPRK to attend the meeting because its participation would require a consensus among all participating countries. The DPRK is not a member of the APEC, but Seoul had hoped to invite officials to the November meeting as observers amid growing regional tension over the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program. There is a premise among the APEC participants that a country participating in the summit, either as a full-time member or an observer, must be a “free market economy.”

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11. US Sanctions Effect on Kaesong

Korea Times (“PHONE LINK TO KAESONG DELAYED”, 2005-06-08) reported that the telephone connection between ROK and the inter-Korean industrial complex in Kaesong is likely to be delayed until autumn due to export regulations of the US. “We should carry telecom equipment to Kaesong to connect the city to the South. But US regulations banning exports of strategic products to the North draws back the process,” said a KT official, who asked to be identified only by his surname Park.

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12. DPRK on Food Shortages

Yonhap News (“NORTH CALLS FOOD SHORTAGE ‘MOST CRUCIAL ECONOMIC MATTER'”, 2005-06-08) reported that the DPRK on Wednesday described its food shortage as the nation’s “the most crucial economic matter,” saying that settling the issue will help resolve all other major problems facing the DPRK. The DPRK has relied on outside food aid to help feed its 23 million people since 1995, when its economy was devastated by years of mismanagement and natural disasters.

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13. US Media in DPRK

Chosun Ilbo (“ABC BROADCASTS LIVE FROM PYONGYANG”, 2005-06-08) reported that US broadcaster ABC’s “World News Tonight” provided its viewers with a rare glimpse of the DPRK on Tuesday night when Bob Woodruff, a senior reporter for ABC’s New York bureau, sent a live report from Pyongyang. The broadcaster showed footage of DPRK villages taken from an aircraft while Woodruff noted the scarcity of cars on the highways and the wealth of portraits of former and present leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il in downtown Pyongyang. He said due to a fuel and power shortage, Pyongyang intersections are controlled by police rather than traffic lights.

(return to top) Joongang Ilbo (“NORTH SOLICITING VISITS BU U.S. MEDIA GROUPS”, 2005-06-08) reported that a diplomatic source in Seoul said yesterday that Pyongyang has invited several US media representatives, including ABC, to visit the country. ABC reporters, who visited the DPRK last month as well, are expected to travel to Pyongyang today and stay until Sunday reporting via satellite. In addition, Pyongyang has extended an invitation to New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzeberger Jr. and columnist Nicholas Kristoff. A government official commented yesterday that the invitation was an attempt to curb negative coverage of the DPRK by international media groups. (return to top)

14. DPRK in World Cup Qualifier

Reuters (“JAPAN, N.KOREA LINE UP FOR ‘BATTLE OF BANGKOK’ “, 2005-06-08) reported that the DPRK play Japan in a politically charged World Cup qualifier in Thailand on Wednesday, after the tie was moved from Pyongyang due to crowd trouble in the DPRK state’s 2-0 home loss against Iran in March. A traveling army of around 500 Japanese reporters, photographers and television cameraman has arrived for the clash — dubbed the ‘Battle of Bangkok’ by The Nation newspaper — which kicks off at 1030 GMT.

(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“JAPAN FIRST TEAM TO QUALIFY FOR WORLD CUP AFTER BEATING NORTH KOREA “, 2005-06-08) reported that Japan became the first team to qualify for next year’s World Cup after they defeated the DPRK 2-0 at a neutral venue in Bangkok. Japan, which went into the penultimate round of the Asian zone’s group B matches in second position, needed only one point from a draw to secure one of the group’s two automatic qualifying positions for Germany. For the DPRK, now winless after five qualifying matches, the loss ended any chance they had of making the World Cup. (return to top)

15. DPRK Rufugee-Defectors

Yonhap News (“SEVEN N. KOREANS SEEK REFUGE IN THAI EMBASSY IN VIETNAM”, 2005-06-08) reported that, according to ROK human rights official Kang Sun-kyu, seven DPRK citizens, including five members of a family, barged into the Thai embassy in Vietnam in an apparent asylum bid. The three male and four female DPRK citizems entered the Thai mission around 2:05 p.m. (local time). Kang Sun-kyu said she had received this information via a phone call from an ROK Christian activist in Vietnam.

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16. Jenkins Visits US

Xinhua (“ARMY DESERTER MAY MAKE 1ST TRIP TO US “, 2005-06-08) reported that a US soldier, Charles Robert Jenkins, who deserted his Army unit 40 years ago and fled to the DPRK is planning to return to the US. Jenkins deserted his unit in the ROK along the heavily armed Demilitarized Zone that divides the the ROK and DPRK. He said he was trying to avoid serving in Vietnam. He now lives in Japan, and the US Embassy in Tokyo issued him a passport last month. He wishes to visit his sick mother in the US, and says he has no plans to return permanently to the US.

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17. Allegations of Inter-Korean Scandal

Korea Times (“MAYOR SLAMMED FOR DIVERTING CITY FUNDS FOR NK”, 2005-06-08) reported that Inchon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo is at the center of allegations he used city funds to provide aid to the DPRK during his recent visit to the communist country. Inchon city government diverted 1 billion won from the city budget to purchase asphalt mortar to support the DPRK before Ahn’s visit to Pyongyang between May 30 and June 2, according to the city government and city council. As Ahn returned from the DPRK with agreements on six items, including Inchon and Pyongyang’s joint bid for the 2014 Asian Games, suspicions are high that Ahn made the promises as a “cash-for-Games” deal. During a briefing upon his return to the ROK, Ahn told reporters that he did not provide money in exchange for an agreement to jointly bid for the Games.

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18. G4 on UNSC Expansion

Kyodo News (“G-4 EYES 15-YEAR FREEZE ON VETO RIGHTS FOR NEW UNSC MEMBERS”, 2005-06-08) reported that the Group of Four countries including Japan are set to propose a 15-year freeze on veto powers for new permanent members of the UN Security Council as part of a revised version of their draft resolution to expand the council, diplomatic sources said Wednesday. The move comes as the PRC, France and the US have expressed opposition to the original draft, sought some revisions to it or expressed reluctance to support the original draft resolution by the G-4 countries — Brazil, Germany, India and Japan.

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19. Japan on UNSC Expansion

The Asahi Shimbun (“JAPAN TO POSTPONE UNSC RESOLUTION, BUT OTHER G-4 NATIONS DISAGREE”, 2005-06-08 ) reported that Japan on Tuesday started spreading the word at the United Nations that it will postpone the submission of a contentious draft resolution aimed at expanding membership on the UN Security Council, sources said. Tokyo had originally planned to submit the resolution to the United Nations by the end of June as part of its bid to win a permanent seat on the council. According to ambassadors to the United Nations, the Japanese mission said Tokyo will delay the resolution until at least July, when an African Union summit will be held. The Japanese officials said Tokyo had been asked by African nations to delay the submission of the resolution until the African Union works out a basic stance over which nations should become permanent members during the conference.

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20. PRC on UNSC Expansion

Xinhua (“POSITION PAPER CLARIFIES CHINA’S STANCE ON UN SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM “, 2005-06-08) reported that the PRC’s UN reform position paper, which was released Tuesday, clarified its viewpoints about the UN’s development and Security Council reform, said PRC experts Wednesday. On the hot topic on Security Council reform, the PRC called for increased representation of developing countries, which account for more than two-thirds of UN members. Countries, small and medium-sized ones in particular, should be given more opportunities to enter the council on a rotating basis. The PRC also suggests in the paper that all the regional groups, first of all, reach agreement on reform proposals concerning their respective regions. “In East Asia, Japan failed to win trust from neighboring countries owing to its attitude towards history. So if Japan wants to play a bigger role in the UN, consensus should be first reached in the region,” said Chen.

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21. Russia on UNSC Expansion

Interfax (“SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM SHOULD NOT HARM UN LEGITIMACY – LAVROV”, 2005-06-08) reported that the modernization of the UN Security Council should not harm the legitimacy of this organization, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “As for Russia, we are primarily concerned about the need to preserve the legitimacy and efficiency of the UN, including its main body for maintaining peace and security – the Security Council,” Lavrov said at a press conference in Rome on Wednesday, whose transcript is available at the Russian Foreign Ministry website. “Its [the Security Council’s] legitimacy is unlikely to strengthen without a broad consensus around the possible decision on the Security Council reform,” Lavrov said.

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22. ROK-Japanese History Dispute

Choson Ilbo (“JAPAN TO SUGGEST ANOTHER JOINT-PROBE INTO HISTORY TEXTBOOKS”, 2005-06-08) reported that Japanese media report Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will propose to ROK President Roh Moo-hyun that Seoul and Tokyo jointly review both countries’ history textbooks when they meet for a bilateral summit later this month. Japan’s Manichi Shimbun reported on Wednesday the Japanese government would propose a joint ROK-Japan historical research committee to launch an inquiry to verify information contained in the history textbooks used in both countries. However, Japan has reportedly said the verification process will not lead to a change in its history textbooks since Tokyo still opposes the ROK’s request to have the committee’s research results be reflected in Japanese history textbooks.

(return to top) The Asahi Shimbun (“JAPAN TO AGREE ON HISTORY TEXTBOOK STUDIES WITH SEOUL, BUT SAYS ‘NO’ TO REVISIONS “, 2005-06-08) reported that Japan plans to accept studies on the contents of history textbooks in the second round of a joint history research project with the ROK, but the partial concession might not be enough to diffuse tensions between the two nations. Japan hopes the acceptance of the textbook studies will be enough to show that it is committed to narrowing the gap in history perceptions and that it is eager to improve the strained relations with the ROK. The Japanese government wants an agreement reached on the textbook issue at the June 20 summit in the ROK between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President Roh Moo Hyun. (return to top)

23. US on Sino-Japanese History Dispute

Agence France Presse (“US TELLS JAPAN, CHINA TO ‘MOVE ON’ IN SPAT OVER HISTORY”, 2005-06-08) reported that the US, anxious to snuff out a new flash point in East Asia, has told Japan and the PRC to “move on” in their spat over historical wrongs, arguing that their continuing squabble could damage regional trade and security interests. “I don’t mean to make light of any of the historical issues here, but they do need to address them and they do need to move on,” Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday. He said unresolved tensions between the PRC and Japan, exacerbated by diverging historical perspectives and differing military and economic priorities, “disrupt a relationship of great importance” to the region.

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24. US Missile Sale to Japan

The Associated Press (“U.S. OKS SALE OF 40 MISSILES TO JAPAN”, 2005-06-08) reported that the Bush administration has authorized the sale of 40 naval surface-to-air missiles to Japan, saying its ally needs the weapons to defend vital sea lanes. The SM-2 Block IIIB missiles are carried on warships and can shoot down incoming missiles and aircraft. The sale won’t affect the basic military balance in the Western Pacific, the agency said in a press release. Japan’s potential adversaries include the DPRK and PRC, which have large militaries.

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25. Sino-Australian Relations

Agence France Presse (“SECOND DEFECTING CHINESE OFFICIAL BACKS CLAIMS OF 1,000 SPIES IN AUSTRALIA”, 2005-06-08) reported that a second PRC official hoping to defect to Australia has backed statements made by an asylum-seeking diplomat that Beijing has hundreds of spies in the country. PRC business people and students as well as embassy and consulate officials are engaged in espionage in Australia, former security official Hao Feng Jun said in a television interview late Tuesday. The PRC has denied the claim, which was first made by defecting diplomat Chen Yonglin, former first secretary at the PRC consulate-general in Sydney, on the weekend. Chen, who abandoned his diplomatic post about two weeks ago and requested political asylum in Australia, said “some thousand” PRC spies and informants were operating in the country.

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26. US on PRC Trade

The New York Times (“TALK OF LINKING CHINA TO LATIN TRADE PACT”, 2005-06-08) reported that Representative Bill Thomas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said on Tuesday that the House leadership was willing to sponsor legislation aimed at pressing the PRC to obey trade laws if such a measure would help win passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. “It’s difficult to vote on any trade agreement without getting any movement on China,” Mr. Thomas said at a speech before the United States Chamber of Commerce. Anger at the PRC has become the recurring theme of much of this year’s Congressional debate over globalization, outsourcing and trade. Mr. Thomas said the legislation he would support would require the PRC to let its currency fluctuate, a problem that has risen to the forefront.

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27. PRC Website Registration

The New York Times (“CHINA TIGHTENS RESTRICTIONS ON BLOGGERS AND WEB OWNERS”, 2005-06-08) reported that in its latest measure to tighten policing of the Internet, the PRC has begun requiring bloggers and owners of personal Web sites to register with the government or be forced offline. The new regulations, announced in March, took effect this week, with a warning on the Web site of the Information Ministry that the sites of those who failed to comply would be shut down. The measures come against the backdrop of explosive growth of Internet use in the PRC, and the development of Web logs and personal sites as alternative sources of news, as in many other countries.

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28. PRC AIDS Issue

Agence France Presse (“UN SAYS ‘TRULY EXCEPTIONAL RESPONSE’ NEEDED FROM CHINA TO BEAT AIDS”, 2005-06-08) reported that the United Nations says it is encouraged by the PRC’s commitment to tackle AIDS but a “truly exceptional response” is needed to get on top of the epidemic. “Chinese leadership at the highest levels has made AIDS a priority issue — these commitments must be made real,” said UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot. “We’re encouraged by what we see but a truly exceptional response is needed to get ahead of the epidemic.”

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29. PRC Environment

Agence France Presse (“SEVERE CHINA WATER SHORTAGE TO PEAK BY 2030”, 2005-06-08) reported that a severe water shortage in the PRC is expected to peak in 2030 when the country’s population is forecast to reach 1.6 billion people, state media said. That would mean the PRC could have a per-capita share of water resource of 1,760 cubic meters (61,600 cubic feet), the Xinhua news agency cited the Ministry of Construction as saying Wednesday. The PRC’s current water resource is already considered low, 2,200 cubic meters per person on average. The country supports 21 percent of the world’s population with just seven percent of the global water resources, according to official statistics.

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30. PRC Energy Program

Shenzhen Daily (“CHINA LAUNCHES 80 MLN ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM”, 2005-06-08) reported that the PRC, the world’s second-largest energy consumer, has launched an US$80 million program with the United Nations (UN) to promote efficient use of energy and cut pollution, UN and government officials said Monday. The PRC, struggling to fuel the world’s fastest-growing major economy in the face of rapid demand growth, increasing reliance on oil imports and recurrent power shortages, aims to quadruple gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020 while just doubling its energy consumption. The program aims to reduce energy consumption by nearly 19 million tons of coal equivalent in the first three-year phase of the program, cutting carbon emissions by 12 million tons.

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31. Hong Kong Elections

Agence France Presse (“ONLY THING MISSING IN HONG KONG LEADERSHIP CAMPAIGN: AN ELECTION”, 2005-06-08) reported that Hong Kong leader-in-waiting Donald Tsang has been praised for launching a flashy Western-style election campaign for the PRC territory’s leadership. All that is missing is an election. Tsang only needs to win the votes of the majority of an 800-strong election committee of mostly Beijing loyalists to become the PRC territory’s next chief executive. His decision to campaign as though he is fighting for the popular vote has been criticised as a charade in some quarters but analysts have praised him.

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32. Taiwan Constitutional Reform

The Los Angeles Times (“TAIWAN MOVES TO CONSOLIDATE POWER”, 2005-06-08) reported that Taiwan passed a series of constitutional reforms on Tuesday designed to consolidate political power in the hands of the two major parties and ensure that future amendments were approved directly by voters, a provision opposed by Beijing. Small parties, aware that their power would almost certainly be reduced, tried unsuccessfully to delay the proceedings by holding up placards, waving banners and interrupting the speaker. But support by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which follows a pro-independence line, and the main opposition Nationalists, favoring closer ties with Beijing, ensured passage of the reform measures. Some analysts expressed hope that the changes would help the island become more politically stable by concentrating power.

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