NAPSNet Daily Report 08 January, 2002

Recommended Citation

"NAPSNet Daily Report 08 January, 2002", NAPSNet Daily Report, January 08, 2002, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-daily-report/napsnet-daily-report-08-january-2002/

 
CONTENTS

I. United States

1. PRC-India Relations
2. PRC-Russia Anti-Terrorism
3. US Nuclear Test Ban
4. US Missile Defense Overhaul
5. Russia-US Nuclear Safeguards
6. US-PRC Relations
II. Japan 1. Japanese Mystery Ship Incident
2. Japanese Logistical Support
3. Japanese Defense Budget

I. United States

1. PRC-India Relations

Reuters (Sanjeev Miglani, “CHINESE PREMIER TO VISIT INDIA AMID REGIONAL TENSION,” New Delhi, 01/09/02) reported that PRC Premier Zhu Rongji will make a six-day visit to India. India’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Zhu, whose trip was planned before the current India-Pakistan crisis, would be the first PRC premier to visit India since Li Peng more than a decade ago. Zhu will meet with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. While the PRC urges India to settle the standoff with Pakistan, the PRC also clarifies that the PRC’s support for Pakistan does not amount to a commitment to back it in the case of war. PRC Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi Said that the PRC’s close ties with Pakistan were not directed against a third country. An unnamed Indian foreign ministry official stated that the PRC and India “have a good relationship… we have normalized our relationship in many spheres. We don’t see our relationship with China as being hyphenated by what Pakistan may say about its relationship with China.”

2. PRC-Russia Anti-Terrorism

The New York Times (Elisabeth Rosenthal, “CHINA, RUSSIA AND 4 NEIGHBORS SEEK COMMON FRONT ON TERROR,” Beijing, 01/07/02) and Reuters (Tamora Vidaillet, “DOUBTS SHROUD FUTURE OF CHINA-LED REGIONAL GROUP,” Beijing, 01/08/02) ran analytical articles on declarations issued after the Monday meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which includes the PRC, Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The New York Times wrote that the declarations made very few specific recommendations, other than encouraging the development of an international “Comprehensive Covenant on Terrorism.” David Zweig, a social scientist based in Hong Kong said that the one-day meeting of the former Shanghai Five did little but expand on pledges made six months earlier and was in danger of becoming little more than a “talking shop”. Plans announced more than two years ago to establish an anti-terrorism center in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek had still not come to fruition and details on when and how it would finally be set up were noticeably lacking, diplomats said. PRC Foreign Ministry official Zhou Li acknowledged, “The SCO still needs more work to be done to improve its internal construction. Cooperation among members is only at the very beginning.”

3. US Nuclear Test Ban

Reuters (Charles Aldinger, “RUMSFELD SAYS U.S. TO KEEP NUCLEAR TEST BAN FOR NOW,” Washington, 01/08/02) reported on Tuesday that US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reasserted the US commitment to a nuclear testing moratorium as the Pentagon prepared to send Congress proposals for a major overhaul of the nation’s nuclear policy. However, Rumsfield left open the possibility that underground nuclear testing may be needed in the future to keep a shrinking US nuclear arsenal “safe and reliable.” Rumsfield went on to state, “The president is observing the moratorium and has said so, but any country that has nuclear weapons has to be respectful of the enormous lethality and power of those weapons, and has a responsibility to see that they are safe and reliable. To the extent that can be done without testing, clearly that is the preference. And that is why the president has concluded that, thus far, that is the case.”

4. US Missile Defense Overhaul

Department of Defense Periodical, Inside the Army (“MISSILE DEFENSE OVERHAUL COMPLETE; BMDO MADE A DEFENSE AGENCY,” 01/07/02) carried an article announcing US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s approval last week of a major restructuring of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) that includes a name change and creates a leaner process for developing and fielding the Defense Department’s missile defense programs. The organization’s new name is the Missile Defense Agency. Rumsfeld also stated that other changes include shortening the amount of time decisions regarding missile defense programs are made, the establishment of a Senior Executive Council to provide oversight and fielding recommendations, and the using research and development assets operationally in certain emergency cases. According to a statement by the Department of Defense, transforming the BMDO into an agency “recognizes the national priority and mission emphasis on missile defense.” Jacques Gansler, the Pentagon’s top acquisition official during the Clinton administration, stated that bestowing agency status on the BMDO would give it “institutional permanence” within the Department of Defense. “I think this would be an elevation.” [Ed. note: This article appeared in the US Department of Defense’s Early Bird news service for January 2, 2002.]

5. Russia-US Nuclear Safeguards

Reuters (Patricia Wilson, “RUSSIA TO GET MORE U.S. HELP ON WEAPONS SAFEGUARDS,” Crawford, TX, 01/08/02) reported that the White House said on Thursday that the US will boost efforts to help Russia and other former Soviet republics guard nuclear material, dismantle arms and redirect the talents of weapons scientists. In a written statement, the White House said, “The president has made clear repeatedly that his administration is committed to strong, effective cooperation with Russia and the other states of the former Soviet Union to reduce weapons of mass destruction and prevent their proliferation.” Earlier this year, a bipartisan task force reported on the need to secure Russian weapons, materials, and know-how, declaring it “the most urgent unmet national security threat to the United States,” and calling for a four-fold funding hike.

6. US-PRC Relations

Deutsche Presse-Agentur (“BUSH ANGERED OVER ARREST OF MAN DELIVERING BIBLES,” Washington, 01/08/02) reported that US President George W. Bush ordered US diplomats in Beijing and Washington to protest the PRC’s arrest of a Hong Kong businessman for delivering Bibles to an underground Christian congregation inside the PRC. Hong Kong businessman Li Guangqiang was indicted last month for supporting “an evil cult” by smuggling into the PRC tens of thousands of Bibles paid for by worshippers in the US. US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher expressed, “We’re troubled by reports that an individual has been arrested for making Bibles available to Christians in China. The president is deeply concerned about these reports.” Boucher continued, “We call upon China, as a member of the international community, to meet international standards on freedom of religious expression and freedom of conscience. These are standards embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

II. Japan

1. Japanese Mystery Ship Incident

The Asahi Shimbun (“LEGAL QUESTIONS RAISED OVER SHOOTING AT SUSPICIOUS SHIP,” Tokyo, 12/25/01) reported that the exchange of gunfire between Japan’s Coast Guard and an unidentified ship raises legal questions over how far Japan can go to prevent the escape of suspicious vessels. Coast guard officials contend that their actions were legitimate under a coast guard law which stipulates that coast guards may fire at suspicious vessels to prevent their escape, in self-defense and in emergencies. The officials insist that the fourth shooting at 10:09 p.m. on December 22 was in self-defense and in response to attacks from the unidentified ship. However, the other three shootings are unaccounted for, with the first shooting occurring at 4:16 p.m. Under reforms of the coast guard law implemented in November 2001, members are now exempt from criminal responsibility if they hit and injure suspects-as long as they are in Japanese territorial waters. Coast guard law contains no exemption clause if members injure or kill suspects outside Japanese waters in the course of trying to prevent an escape. The four shootings took place in the PRC’s exclusive economic zone. Legal experts will now examine whether the shots fired by the coast guard outside of Japanese territorial waters were needed to prevent the escape of the vessel.

2. Japanese Logistical Support

Kyodo (“KITTY HAWK RETURNS TO YOKOSUKA,” Yokosuka, 12/24/01) reported that the US aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk returned on December 23 to its homeport in Yokosuka, after taking part in military operations in Afghanistan. The ship had left Yokosuka on October 1.

The Asahi Shimbun (“MSDF VESSELS TO REFUEL BRITISH SHIPS,” 12/30/01) reported that starting in January Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces (MSDF) vessels will be allowed to refuel British warships in the Arabian Sea. Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka plans to announce the government’s decision to her British counterpart, Jack Straw, during a visit to England in January. Japanese Defense Agency officials, meanwhile, denied that the SDF will be among the multinational forces deployed in Afghanistan to maintain order in the war-ravaged country. “MSDF forces will refuel British naval vessels jointly deployed with US warships in the Arabian Sea as part of the operations to capture Osama bin Laden,” Defense Agency officials said. “But this does not mean they will take part in the multinational coalition force.”

3. Japanese Defense Budget

The Japan Times (“DEFENSE BUDGET COVERS PURCHASES OF FIRST REFUELING PLANE,” Tokyo, 12/21/01) reported that the Japanese Finance Ministry proposed allotting 4.9 trillion yen for defense spending for fiscal year 2002. The draft defense budget, endorsed at a Cabinet meeting on December 20 as part of the fiscal 2002 draft budget, is little changed from the current fiscal year’s initial budget of approximately 4.9 trillion yen. The agency had asked for 5 trillion yen. The outlays feature equipment to counter biological and other types of guerrilla attacks and the creation of a more high-tech telecommunications network in the Defense Agency headquarters and the SDF. The budget draft allocates 12 million yen as a down payment on a Boeing 767 for use as an aerial tanker by the ASDF. The refueling airplane costs 24.1 billion yen and will be paid for over the next five years beginning in fiscal year 2002. The actual deployment of the aircraft is expected around 2006. For the agency to counter biological weapon and other types of attacks, the ministry proposes to allot 17.5 billion yen, almost triple the 6.4 billion yen allocated in 2001. The 17.5 billion yen includes expenditures to buy special gear and vehicles to protect soldiers from biological or chemical weapons. Expenditures for host-nation support of US military forces in Japan are cut 2.8 percent to 250 billion yen in the draft budget. The draft budget also calls for 16.5 billion yen to continue to carry out measures related to the consolidation of US bases in Okinawa.

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:
BK21 The Education and Research Corps for East Asian Studies
Department of Political Science Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Center for American Studies,
Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
International Peace Research Institute (PRIME),
Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan
Monash Asia Institute,
Monash University, Clayton, Australia

Brandon Yu: napsnet@nautilus.org
Berkeley, California, United States

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

Kim Young-soo: yskim328@hotmail.com
Seoul, Republic of Korea

Hibiki Yamaguchi: hibikiy@dh.mbn.or.jp
Tokyo, Japan

Saiko Iwata: saiko@akira.ne.jp
Tokyo, Japan

Hiroya Takagi: hiroya_takagi@hotmail.com
Tokyo, Japan

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

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

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

John McKay: John.McKay@adm.monash.edu.au
Clayton, Australia

 


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *