CONTENTS
1. ROK Atrocities during Vietnam War
2. PRC Naval Development
3. Russian Military Sales to PRC
II. Japan 1. Japanese-DPRK Relations
2. Japanese-Russian Talks
3. Japanese Nuclear Policy
4. Japanese Anti-Hacker Measure
5. Japanese Maritime Defense
6. Conference on Nuclear Nonproliferation
I. United States
1. ROK Atrocities during Vietnam War
The Associated Press (“S.KOREANS KILLED VIETNAMESE,” Seoul, 2/11/00) reported that the state-run KBS-TV quoted survivors and veterans who said that ROK soldiers killed large numbers of unarmed civilians, mostly elderly people and children, during the Vietnam War. The report said that ROK soldiers gathered hundreds of Vietnamese in several villages and gunned them down on suspicion that they were harboring enemy guerrillas. The report said that in some cases, the ROK soldiers slaughtered the Vietnamese villagers in retaliation for guerrilla ambushes. One anonymous ROK veteran said, “we shot everything that moved.” The report quoted ROK veterans as saying that they regretted the deaths but said ambush attacks were rampant during the Vietnam War and it was often impossible for them to distinguish between guerrillas and innocent villagers. The ROK Defense Ministry had no immediate comment on the TV program. The Vietnam government has said that it wants to leave the past behind and build friendly relations with all countries.
2. PRC Naval Development
Agence France Presse (“CHINA’S NEW DESTROYER PASSES THROUGH TAIWAN STRAIT: CHIEF OF STAFF,” Taipei, 2/11/00) reported that Taiwan Chief of General Staff General Tang Yao-ming said Friday that the PRC’s newly purchased Russian-built Sovremenney class destroyer cruised through the Taiwan Strait Friday on its way to a PRC naval base. However, Tang said, “The single warship will not cause big waves in cross-strait ties. Both sides of the Taiwan Strait hope to improve bilateral relations through peaceful and stable means.” The Central News Agency (CNA) earlier quoted defense officials as saying, “the 7,600-ton destroyer, escorted by China’s East Sea fleet, will sail along the mainland coast in darkness to the fleet’s base at Ningpo harbor in Zhejiang province. Taiwan’s armed forces have been deployed to monitor closely the progress of the fleet.” Lin Chung-pin, deputy chairman of the mainland affairs council, said, “we don’t think communist China has planned for this from the beginning. They would not have gone through such a hassle to militarily harass Taiwan before the elections.” However, Lin admitted that the new warship did put added psychological pressure on Taiwan.
3. Russian Military Sales to PRC
US Department of State spokesman James P. Rubin (“U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE DAILY PRESS BRIEFING,” Office of International Information Programs text, 2/10/00) said that the US has been aware for several years of the sales of Russian military equipment to the PRC. Regarding the Russian- built Sovremenney class destroyer recently purchased by the PRC, Rubin stated, “we don’t believe that the purchase by China of the ship poses a significant threat to the US military posture in Asia. While clearly improving China’s naval capabilities, it is fair to say the appearance of one additional modern warship will not fundamentally alter the regional balance of power.” Rubin also stated that the US has expressed its concern regarding PRC military developments, missile deployments, and the impact on cross-strait relations to the PRC government.
II. Japan
1. Japanese-DPRK Relations
The Nikkei Shimbun (“JAPANESE-DPRK POLICY-MAKERS’ASSOCIATION TO RECOMMEND TOMIICHI MURAYAMA AS CHAIRPERSON,” 2/10/00) reported that sixteen Japanese Diet members who visited the DPRK in December 1999 will establish the Japanese-DPRK Policy-Makers Association on February 23. The Diet members will recommend former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, the Japanese delegation’s head, as the first chairman of the association. The decision was made at a meeting among the sixteen Diet members on February 9. Murayama suggested at the meeting that he would accept the recommendation if he were formally elected as chairman on February 23.
2. Japanese-Russian Talks
The Yomiuri Shimbun (“JAPAN AND RUSSIA AGREE TO MAINTAIN EXISTING AGREEMENTS AND DECLARATIONS,” 02/11/2000) and the Daily Yomiuri (“OBUCHI, IVANOV PROMISE TO PURSUE WARMER RELATIONS,” 02/11/2000) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov agreed on February 10 to further Japanese-Russian relations. The reports said that Obuchi and Ivanov agreed to respect accords and declarations previously signed by the leaders of the two nations. A senior Japanese Foreign Ministry Official said that those agreements include the accords made at the summits in Krasnoyarskin, Russia, in November 1997; Kawana, Shizuoka Prefecture, in April 1998; and Moscow in November 1998. According to a Foreign Ministry official, however, Obuchi and Ivanov did not discuss specific ways to advance negotiations to sign a bilateral peace treaty. Both ministers also agreed to hold a Japanese- Russian summit as soon as possible after the March 26 Russian presidential election. Obuchi requested that the summit be held before the Group of Eight’s July summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s letter, handed to Obuchi by Ivanov, stated, “we put priority on issues regarding relations with Japan and will maintain the basic direction of developing Japan-Russia ties.” Regarding the Moscow Declaration agreed upon between Yeltsin and Obuchi in November 1998, Ivanov said, “Russia will maintain the stance of building a creative partnership.” Obuchi responded, “I would like to develop Japanese-Russian relations based on agreements that have so far been made, including those on negotiations for a peace treaty.” Ivanov also said that Russia would respect previous agreements related to the disputed territories off eastern Hokkaido.
3. Japanese Nuclear Policy
The Daily Yomiuri (“GOVT SETS N-PLANT ACCIDENT REPORTING STANDARDS,” 02/10/2000) reported that Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission’s panel on disaster prevention at nuclear plant-related facilities developed proposed standards under which nuclear facility operators would be required to report nuclear accidents to the government. The Japanese government intends to discuss the proposed standards with related organizations, including the Science and Technology Agency and the International Trade and Industry Ministry, before including the standards in regulations implementing the anti-nuclear disaster law. The Japanese Diet passed the law in December 1999. The proposed standards will require nuclear facility operators to report to the national and municipal governments in cases of emergency where 0.5 millisieverts of radiation are recorded continuously for more than 10 minutes at one place, or a total of 0.5 millisieverts is recorded simultaneously at two or more places. The maximum amount of exposure for the average person at one millisievert per year was also set. The proposed standards also required operators to report to the national and municipal governments in situations that are not as serious as emergencies where leaks of five microsieverts (one-millionth of a sievert) of radiation are recorded continuously for 10 minutes.
The Daily Yomiuri (“GENDEN PLANS NEW REACTORS,” 02/10/2000) reported that the Japan Atomic Power Company (Genden), which operates the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, has decided to request that the prefecture and municipal governments in late February approve the construction of two additional reactors. The report said that Genden decided to submit its request this month because it believes it will be able to proceed with construction now that operations at the station’s Number 2 reactor, which were halted after a coolant leakage accident in July, will soon resume. The report said that although getting the approval for the construction will take about one and a half years, Genden’s request is the first step toward constructing nuclear power plants since the criticality accident at Tokaimura on September 30, 1999. The report added that Genden plans to begin the construction of the two reactors northwest of reactors Number 1 and Number 2 in 2003 and that Genden expects to begin operating Number 3 in 2008 and Number 4 in 2009.
4. Japanese Anti-Hacker Measure
The Daily Yomiuri (Ryuichi Otsuka, “PLOTTING EFFECTIVE STRATEGY IN FIGHT AGAINST HACKERS,” Washington, 02/10/2000) reported that little progress is being made in Japan’s probe into a series of computer hacks against a number of Japan’s ministry and agency website home pages. The report said that this is because the hackers’ methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated. These methods include intruding into systems via other countries and using other people’s identification codes. The report said that unlike the US, where many suspects of serious hacking crimes have been arrested, the Japanese government lacked a sense of urgency in dealing with the recent string of illegal hacks. The report said that there were only a few cases in which investigators have been able to identify the perpetrators solely by conducting high-tech investigations of electronic evidence.
5. Japanese Maritime Defense
The Nikkei Shimbun (“JAPANESE MARITIME SELF-DEFENSE FORCE TO BUILD PATROL HELICOPTER UNIT AGAINST FOREIGN INCURSION,” 02/06/2000) reported that the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) will build a patrol helicopter unit in Maizuru, Kyoto by March 2001 as a measure against foreign incursions into Japanese territorial waters. According to the report, the new heli-unit will have six SH69Js, anti-submarine helicopters. The report said that in addition to this new patrol heli- unit, JMSDF plans to have machinegun-carrying destroyers this year.
6. Conference on Nuclear Nonproliferation
The Daily Yomiuri (“EXPERT PANEL TO DISCUSS NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION,” 02/11/2000) reported that experts from countries including the US, Russia, the PRC and Japan will discuss the issue of nonproliferation and the possibility an arms race renewal at a symposium on February 24 at the New Takanawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo. The symposium will be titled “The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime–In the Face of a Possible Renewed Nuclear Arms Race” and is sponsored by the Japan Institute of International Affair’s (JIIA) Center of the Promotion of Disarmament and Non-Proliferation with the support of the Foreign Ministry and The Yomiuri Shimbun. The report said the symposium is taking place because the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference approaches in April and the future of the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons is uncertain given that India’s and Pakistan’s nuclear tests in May 1998 and the US Senate’s failure to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in October. According to the report, Michael Krepon, president of the US-based Henry L. Stimson Center, will give the keynote speech about the strategic balance among the US, the PRC and Russia. In the afternoon, JIIA President Hisashi Owada will moderate a panel discussion that covers issues related to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Additional information is available from the JIIA’s Center of the Promotion of Disarmament and Non-Proliferation at 81-3-3503-7558.
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Timothy L. Savage: napsnet@nautilus.org
Berkeley, California, United States
Gee Gee Wong: napsnet@nautilus.org
Berkeley, California, United States
Kim Hee-sun: khs688@hotmail.com
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
Leanne Paton: anjlcake@webtime.com.au
Clayton, Australia