NAPSNet Daily Report 07 October, 1998

IN TODAY’S REPORT:

I. United States

I. United States

[][]

1. Remains of US Soldiers from Korean War

The Associated Press (“N.KOREA TO RETURN US TROOPS REMAINS,” Seoul, 10/07/98) reported that the UN Military Command (UNC) said Wednesday that the DPRK will return several sets of remains of US soldiers killed in the Korean War on Friday at Panmunjom. The UNC said that US and Canadian veterans of the Korean War will be on hand to view the repatriation ceremony.

[][][]

2. US Policy toward DPRK

The Los Angeles Times carried an editorial (“A FAILED N. KOREA POLICY,” 10/07/98) which argued that the US policy toward the DPRK is in disarray. The editorial said that “the Clinton administration’s efforts to ‘engage’ Pyongyang on a variety of fronts producing little more than a steady succession of failures and embarrassments.” It added, “A policy that is demonstrably failing in its key objectives ought not to be doggedly pursued simply because no one can think of anything better to do.” It concluded, “Not only has Washington failed to leverage its aid to win any significant political concessions, but North Korea’s unremitting duplicity has left the United States looking foolish. The other day the State Department warned of ‘very negative consequences’ unless North Korea changed its missile testing and export policies. It’s time to put those consequences into force. It’s time to start cutting American losses in North Korea.”

[][][]

3. ROK-Japan Talks

The Associated Press (Martin Fackler, “SOUTH KOREA, JAPAN LEADERS MEET,” Tokyo, 10/07/98) and Dow Jones Newswires (Cecilia Kang, “S. KOREA PRES ASKS JAPAN TO TAKE LEAD IN ASIA ECON RECOVERY,” Seoul, 10/07/98) reported that ROK President Kim Dae-jung arrived in Japan Wednesday for talks with Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. Obuchi was expected to offer a US$3 billion loan package to help the ROK overcome its economic downturn. The talks were also scheduled to touch on the issue of Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-1945. Addressing a banquet in Kim’s honor on Wednesday, Japanese Emperor Akihito acknowledged that “Japan brought great suffering on the people of the Korean Peninsula.” He stated, “The deep sorrow which I feel over this never leaves my memory.” In his speech, Kim said Japan and the ROK should work closely together to solve the Asian financial crisis. He stated, “As a world economic power, Japan is urged to share the pain with the rest of Asia and take an active role in tackling the crisis.” He added, “While the Cold War has ended in the world, Northeast Asia is still seeking a new order and expects Korea and Japan to take an active role. In bringing peace, stability and prosperity to East Asia, the two countries will be able to play important roles together since we share democracy and a market economy.”

[][][]

4. US Military Bases on Okinawa

The Los Angeles Times (K. Connie Kang, “OKINAWANS BRING DRIVE TO L.A.,” 10/07/98) reported that a 13-member delegation of the Okinawa Women’s Peace Caravan visited Los Angeles to campaign for the removal of US military bases from Okinawa. Suzuyo Takazato, a Naha City assemblywoman, who is heading the delegation, stated, “Fifty-three years is long enough. We have really suffered. The US military presence is deeply rooted in the Okinawan soil, affecting our culture and society.” She added, “If this burden has to be carried by the Japanese at this time in history, why can’t we share it? Yet, knowing how heavy this burden is, we don’t want other people to carry it. So, what we really want is to eradicate it.” Since the US returned Okinawa to Japan in 1972, there have been 130 aircraft accidents and 154 brush fires caused by military exercises, according to Okinawan government statistics, and twelve Okinawans have been killed by US military personnel. Harumi Miyagi, a delegate in charge of the Naha City Women’s history project, said that more than 200 Okinawan women and girls have reported being raped by US servicemen since 1972. An Okinawa government study showed that because of noise, babies born near Kadena Air Base had the lowest birth weight in Japan. Delegation member Fujiko Nakasone, who taught near the base for years, said that students in schools near Kadena Air Base lose an average of two years of their 12-year education because of the constant noise from military planes. The delegation was scheduled to leave Los Angeles on Thursday for Washington to meet with congressional and State Department officials. US Defense Department spokesman Major Bryan Salas said that the US is “very receptive” to and “takes very seriously” the concerns of the people of Okinawa. Salas stated, “American troops are not in the region for the convenience of the United States. They are in the region because both the U.S. and Japanese governments believe they are an essential element in preserving the security and stability of the Asian Pacific region.” However, Chalmers Johnson, heads of the Japan Policy Research Institute, said that Okinawa has been a de facto US colony. Johnson stated, “It’s a collusion between the Japan and U.S. governments to serve their own interest at the expense of Okinawans.”

[][][]

5. PRC-Taiwan Talks

The Associated Press (“TAIWAN SAID TO FAVOR BEIJING TALKS,” Hong Kong, 10/07/98) reported that the Far Eastern Economic Review said in its latest issue that a survey it conducted showed that 56 percent of Taiwanese favor a Beijing summit between Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui and PRC President Jiang Zemin. Only 2.5 percent opposed a PRC visit by Lee. 40.5 percent of respondents said that they would like the future relationship between Taiwan and the PRC to preserve the status quo. 47.8 percent said that the importance to Taiwan’s future development has increased due to the Asian financial crisis.

[][][]

6. PRC-Taiwan Antinuclear Cooperation

The Associated Press (“CHINA, TAIWAN FISHERMEN MAY UNITE AGAINST NUCLEAR DUMP,” Taipei, 10/07/98) reported that Taiwan’s China Times Express said Wednesday that fishermen from Putian County in the PRC’s Fujian province may join residents of Taiwan’s Little Wuchiu Island in fighting plans for a nuclear waste dump on the island. The paper quoted a resident of nearby Wuchiu Island as saying that Chinese fishermen have contacted islanders about the possibility of taking joint action against the dump. Juan Chin-sheng, a secretary at the Wuchiu township government, declined to comment on the report, but said local residents remained firm in their opposition to the dump. In Putian, a spokesman for the county government said he was unaware of the planned dump or any possible joint action against it, but he added that Putian would oppose the dump should Taiwan decide to build it. Taiwan Power Company is currently carrying out environmental impact assessments on the island, and has promised 150 million Taiwan dollars (US$4.4 million) in compensation and subsidies to island residents. The dump, scheduled to be completed in 2003, could store up to 1 million barrels of low-level radioactive waste.

[][][]

7. Alleged US Technology Transfers to PRC

The Wall Street Journal (Robert S. Greenberger, “HOUSE PANEL EXPANDS CHINA SATELLITE PROBE,” Washington, 10/07/98) reported that a special House committee investigating exports of US satellite technology to the PRC has expanded its probe to include shipments of supercomputers and precision machine tools. During a closed-door hearing about two weeks ago, the panel questioned Stephen Bryen, a defense consultant and former Pentagon official, on the national security implications of exporting supercomputers to the PRC. Bryen said in an interview that he told the panel he is highly critical of a 1996 Clinton administration change in export rules that resulted in shipments of supercomputers to the PRC. He also said some committee members were amazed to learn that several years ago the PRC bought at public auctions in the US precision machine tools and dies used to build airplanes and other items. Another person familiar with the House committee’s work said the panel also is looking into how US firms may have unwittingly exported machine tools and similar products to intermediary companies that then sold these items to Chinese companies. A recent report by the US General Accounting Office criticized the 1996 rules change that reduced the number of export licenses required for supercomputers to 42 in 1997 from 395 in 1995.

[][][]

8. US Missile Defense

Reuters (Charles Aldinger, “U.S. ‘THAAD’ ANTI-MISSILE TEST SET FOR NEXT YEAR,” Washington, 10/05/98) reported that the US Defense Department said on Monday that it plans to conduct the next flight test of its Theater High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile rocket in the first quarter of 1999. Monday’s announcement came after Lockheed Martin, the main contractor for the system, said last month it had discovered contamination in the “seeker” system, which helps its THAAD missile find and collide with an attacking ballistic missile warhead in flight. US defense officials said on Monday that the discovery of the contamination problem in the seeker system would allow Lockheed Martin to replace the problem parts and thoroughly check out the system in ground tests over the coming months.

Reuters (“REPUBLICANS WARN CLINTON OVER MISSILE TREATY,” Washington, 10/05/98) reported that Republican Senate leaders on Monday, in a letter to US President Bill Clinton, called on the administration to drop plans to expand the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty to cover the states of the former Soviet Union. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jesse Helms of North Carolina, and six other senators said that it was their position that the 1972 ABM treaty “did not survive the dissolution of the Soviet Union.” They warned that the treaty could not be changed without Senate ratification. They stated, “It is our position that the ABM treaty has lapsed and is of no force and effect unless the Senate approves the memorandum of understanding, or some similar agreement, to revive the treaty.”

The NAPSNet Daily Report aims to serve as a forum for dialogue and exchange among peace and security specialists. Conventions for readers and a list of acronyms and abbreviations are available to all recipients. For descriptions of the world wide web sites used to gather information for this report, or for more information on web sites with related information, see the collection of other NAPSNet resources.
We invite you to reply to today’s report, and we welcome commentary or papers for distribution to the network.

Produced by the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development in partnership with:
The Center for Global Communications, Tokyo, Japan
Center for American Studies,
Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

Wade L. Huntley: napsnet@nautilus.org
Berkeley, California, United States

Timothy L. Savage: napsnet@nautilus.org
Berkeley, California, United States

Choi Chung-moon: cily@star.elim.co.kr
Seoul, Republic of Korea

Hiroyasu Akutsu: akutsu@glocomnet.or.jp
Tokyo, Japan

Peter Razvin: icipu@glas.apc.org
Moscow, Russian Federation

Chunsi Wu: dlshen@fudan.ac.cn
Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

Dingli Shen: dlshen@fudan.ac.cn
Shanghai, People’s Republic of China