CONTENTS
1. PRC Kyoto Climate Treaty
2. Cross-Straits Relations
3. Japan 57th Anniversary of World War II Surrender
4. UN on PRC Peacekeeping Role
5. DPRK-US Relations
6. ROK Boat Raising
7. ROK Liberation Day
8. Sea of Japan Map Issue
9. Japan Red Army Return
10. PRC World Cup Bid
II. Japan 1. Nagasaki 57th Anniversary
2. Overseas A-Bomb Survivors
3. ASDF Fighter Damaged
4. US Bases in Okinawa
5. Japan over Illicit Arms Trade
I. United States
1. PRC Kyoto Climate Treaty
Agence France-Presse (“CHINA SET TO RATIFY KYOTO CLIMATE TREATY: OFFICIAL,” 08/21/02) reported that the PRC is close to ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and an announcement will be made around the time of the upcoming UN Earth Summit, a senior foreign ministry official said. “China’s State Council (cabinet) has already decided to ratify the Kyoto Protocol,” said Zhang Jun, deputy director general of the foreign ministry’s department of international organizations and conferences, on Wednesday. Zhang said procedures were under way to finalize the details of the PRC’s ratification. He was speaking at a news briefing on Premier Zhu Rongji’s trip to Johannesburg at the end of August to attend the Earth Summit, formally known as the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development. Zhang stressed that the formal stages of ratifying the agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions had not been completed, saying that this will be done “around the time of the summit.” Asked whether ratification would be announced before Zhu heads to South Africa, Zhang suggested the premier could make a formal statement at the summit.
2. Cross-Straits Relations
Reuters (Benjamin Kang Lim, “TAIWAN TONES DOWN TALK AFTER VP LU’S INDONESIA TRIP,” Taipei, 08/20/02) reported that Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian said on Tuesday the island had no intention of engaging the PRC in fruitless confrontation, toning down polemical talk after his deputy ruffled the PRC’s feathers by visiting Indonesia. Vice-President Annette Lu declared her four-day Indonesia trip a setback for the PRC, prompting media speculation that Taiwain had switched from defensive to offensive diplomacy as proposed by Chen’s top security aide. Chiou I-jen, secretary-general of the National Security Council, told a group of Taiwan diplomats in a recent closed-door session the island should light diplomatic fires so that “the flames of battle would be raging everywhere”. In an apparent bid to avoid further riling the PRC, President Chen told a group of visiting Caribbean dignitaries: “We have no intention of engaging Communist China in a zero sum contest.” “We are more willing to engage in good cross-strait communication on the basis of reciprocity, mutual benefit, reason and dignity,” Chen said.
3. Japan 57th Anniversary of World War II Surrender
The Associated Press (Hans Greimel, “JAPAN MARKS 57TH ANNIVERSARY OF WORLD WAR II SURRENDER,” Tokyo, 08/21/02) reported that thousands of Japanese, from war veterans to lawmakers, gathered in the nation’s capital Thursday to mark the 57th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II with bundles of flowers and silent prayers for the dead. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Emperor Akihito were among those invited to the traditionally staid ceremony held annually at a cavernous martial arts hall outside the stone-lined moats of the Imperial Palace. The anniversary remains an emotional day for many older Japanese who lived through the surrender and still recall the unprecedented August 15, 1945 radio address by Emperor Hirohito – Akihito’s father – announcing Japan would “bear the unbearable” and give up. Gathering at Thursday’s ceremony in Tokyo were 6,000 people who lost loved ones in the conflict.
4. UN on PRC Peacekeeping Role
The Associated Press (Christopher Bodeen, “U.N. OFFICIAL SAYS CHINA READY FOR BIGGER PEACEKEEPING ROLE,” Beijing, 08/21/02) reported that the PRC wants to expand its role in UN peacekeeping missions, but isn’t offering combat troops, a top UN official said Wednesday. The PRC has trained more than 600 troops for peacekeeping, including a 525-member engineering battalion, 35 medical personnel and two transportation companies with a total of about 80 troops. “There is obviously a … great interest in having a high profile for China in the U.N. and a recognition that peacekeeping is a key activity for the UN,” Jean-Marie Guehenno, the UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping, said at a news conference. Despite having a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Beijing didn’t take part in its first peacekeeping mission until 1989. Its first large-scale contribution was 800 military engineers sent to Cambodia in 1992-94. Today, the PRC has 69 civilian police on the UN mission in East Timor and 15 others in Bosnia, as well as 48 military observers spread across six missions.
5. DPRK-US Relations
Reuters (“NORTH KOREA SAYS IT’S SKEPTICAL ABOUT DIALOGUE WITH WASHINGTON,” Seoul, 08/21/02) reported that the DPRK said Wednesday that a joint US-ROK military exercise may derail efforts to resume dialogue with the US, as well as damage reconciliation between the two Koreas. In the past week, the DPRK has repeatedly condemned the annual Ulchi Focus Lens military exercise that the US and ROK forces began Monday. “The U.S. behavior compels the DPRK to doubt the issue of resuming the DPRK-US dialogue proposed by the US side,” said the DPRK newspaper Rodong Sinmun. The report later went on to say that the DPRK was “fully ready for both dialogue and war.” Rodong’s commentary was carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, which was monitored in Seoul.
6. ROK Boat Raising
The Associated Press (Yoo Jae-suk, “SOUTH KOREA RAISES BOAT LOST IN CLASH WITH NORTH KOREA,” Seoul, 08/21/02) reported that the ROK navy patrol boat riddled with bullet holes was raised Wednesday, eight weeks after it sank in a deadly gun battle with ROK warships near the peninsula’s disputed western sea border. Navy divers fastened the 150-ton boat with steel chains and lifted it from the muddy bottom 25 meters (82 feet) under water, said a media pool report. The salvage crew hoisted it onto a barge as sea water gushed from hundreds of bullet holes and four soccer ball-sized holes created by the impact of DPRK shells. The “Chamsuri 357” will be carried to a navy base in Pyongtaek south of Seoul on Thursday. Military investigators will examine the boat to help reconstruct the June 29 naval clash that killed five South Korean sailors and injured 19 others. The DPRK acknowledged an unspecified number of casualties.
7. ROK Liberation Day
The Associated Press (Paul Shin, “SOUTH KOREA STRESS IMPLEMENTING INTER-KOREAN AGREEMENT AS KOREAN CIVIC LEADERS CELEBRATE LIBERATION DAY,” Seoul, 08/21/02) reported that hundreds of ROK and DPRK civic leaders gathered Thursday to celebrate the 57th anniversary of the Korean peninsula’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Traditional dances and songs calling for reunification filled the second of a four-day joint celebration in Seoul. The festivities came a day after the two Koreas agreed to restart talks on national reconciliation, stalled by recent political and military tensions. Separately, ROK President Kim Dae-jung gave high marks to his nation’s latest effort at reconciliation with the DPRK, but said priority should be given to implementing agreements reached between the two nations. In a statement issued to mark Liberation Day, Kim reconfirmed that he would continue to pursue his “sunshine” policy of engaging the DPRK during the remainder of his term, which ends in February. “Some meaningful agreements were reached” at three days of Cabinet-level talks between the Koreas that ended Wednesday in Seoul, the statement said. But the president added: “What is important is carrying them out.”
8. Sea of Japan Map Issue
The Associated Press (Stephen Cannon, “MAP SPAT DEEPENS AS JAPAN FIGHTS ‘SEA OF JAPAN’ NAME CHANGE,” Tokyo, 08/21/02) reported that Japan pledged Thursday to fight an international proposal that would cross out the name “Sea of Japan” from the world’s sea charts, as a lingering map spat deepened between Japan and its neighbors. Under the new plan, floated by the Monaco-based International Hydrographic Bureau, the body of water separating Japan and the Korean Peninsula would simply have no officially recognized international name. The move is meant as a compromise with the ROK, which uses the name “East Sea” and protests the more recognized moniker “Sea of Japan” as a vestige of Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula. The DPRK uses “Korean East Sea.” “This situation is like if Madagascar got into a fight with India and said that ‘Indian Ocean’ is an outrageous name and started using, ‘Madagascar Ocean,'” said Yo Iwabuchi, deputy chief of international affairs at Japan’s Maritime Safety Agency. The 70 member nations of the International Hydrographic Bureau, including Japan and South Korea, will vote on dropping “Sea of Japan” at the end of November. Iwabuchi said Japan will lobby against the switch. The ROK has been campaigning for a name change of the sea at least since 1992.
9. Japan Red Army Return
Reuters (“REPORT: RELATIVES OF JAPAN’S FIRST HIJACKERS TO RETURN FROM NORTH KOREA,” Tokyo, 08/21/02) reported that relatives of the Japan Red Army radicals who allegedly staged the country’s first hijacking will return to Japan from the DPRK as early as September 10, a media report said Wednesday. The group currently lives in the DPRK with several members of the ultra-leftist faction wanted for the 1970 hijacking of a Japan Airlines flight to the DPRK. It was the first ever hijacking of a Japanese plane and the beginning of an era of high-profile terrorist acts around the world by Japanese radicals. Japan’s Foreign Ministry has already issued travel documents to six people for the trip, according to Kyodo News Agency. Among the returnees is Takako Konishi, wife of alleged hijacker Takahiro Konishi, as well as children of some of the hijackers. Foreign Ministry officials were unable to comment on the report Wednesday night. Takako Konishi is on an international wanted list for passport violations and faces possible arrest in Tokyo upon her arrival, Kyodo reported. Emiko Akagi, the returnee wife of another Red Army member, faced trial earlier this year on similar charges. Also expected to return September 10 are Konishi’s 22-year-old daughter and Akagi’s 22-year-old daughter. The sons of faction members Moriaki Wakabayashi and Kimihiro Abe, as well as the daughter of Takeshi Okamoto, also have travel documents.
10. PRC World Cup Bid
Reuters (“CHINA MULLING BID FOR 2014 WORLD CUP: REPORT,” Beijing, 08/21/02) reported that the PRC will put in a bid to host the 2014 soccer World Cup if the tournament returns to Asia, state media reported Thursday. The PRC’s facilities and experience in hosting international sports competitions already qualify it to stage world soccer’s premier event, Zhang Jilong, president of the PRC Football Association, was quoted saying in an official Xinhua News Agency report published in the Beijing Youth Daily and the Beijing Morning Post. “If it is decided that the World Cup that year be hosted in Asia, China of course will participate in the bidding. We’re prepared to hold this major soccer tournament,” Zhang said from Malaysia, where he was attending the Asian Football Confederation’s annual congress. By 2014, China will have hosted the 2003 women’s World Cup championship, the 2004 Asian Cup and the 2008 Olympic Summer Games.
II. Japan
1. Nagasaki 57th Anniversary
Kyodo (“NAGASAKI MAYOR COMES DOWN HARD ON U.S. NUCLEAR POLICIES,” Nagasaki, 08/10/02) reported that Nagasaki on last Friday marked the 57th anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombing by singling out the nuclear policies of the US for condemnation. Mayor Itcho Ito criticized recent US moves, including its withdrawal from the Antiballistic Missile Treaty with Russia, its refusal to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on nuclear weapons and its suggestion that it may engage in pre-emptive nuclear strikes. “We are appalled by this series of unilateral actions taken by the government of the United States, actions that are also being condemned by people of sound judgment throughout the world,” Ito said. It was the first time a mayor of Nagasaki has denounced the US by name in the annual peace declaration. He also demanded that the government enact legislation “without delay” to legalize Japan’s three principles of not possessing, producing or allowing nuclear weapons on its soil. In addition, Ito called on the government to create “a Northeast Asia nuclear-weapon-free zone” and “present to international society a posture of nonreliance on the ‘nuclear umbrella.'” Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi then delivered a speech and renewed his pledge to maintain the pacifist Constitution and no-nuclear weapons policy. “I aim to realize a safe world without nuclear weapons as soon as possible, promoting nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation and doing my utmost for the abolition of nuclear weapons by leading international society,” Koizumi said. In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda commented on the mayor’s peace declaration by repeating the government’s position that Japan has no other choice but to rely on the “nuclear umbrella” provided by the US.
2. Overseas A-Bomb Survivors
Kyodo (“SAKAGUCHI SEEKS HELP IMPLEMENTING AID FOR A-BOMB SURVIVORS ABROAD,” Nagasaki, 08/10/02) reported that Japanese Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi called Friday on ROK and other survivors’ groups for help in implementing the government’s plan to assist A-bomb survivors who live overseas. “We cannot proceed unless we find out how many survivors live in each country,” Sakaguchi said following a ceremony marking the 57th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Nagasaki. An estimated 5,000 atomic bomb survivors live abroad and receive no aid from Japan, with an estimated 2,200 in the ROK, 900 in the DPRK, 1,000 in the US and 180 in South America, according to the health ministry.
3. ASDF Fighter Damaged
Kyodo (“SEVEN ASDF FIGHTER JETS APPARENTLY SABOTAGED,” Nagoya, 08/09/02) reported that seven Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) jets were apparently sabotaged between April and early July while undergoing routine repairs at a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. plant, police said last Thursday. Six F-4EJ Kai fighters and one RF-4E reconnaissance jet were damaged, including severed wiring and bent engine spark devices. The damage was found in 11 locations on the planes while they were in for repairs at Mitsubishi Heavy’s Komaki Minami factory in Toyoyama, Aichi Prefecture. Police said they believe an insider was behind the “malicious damage” because access to the factory is strictly controlled.
4. US Bases in Okinawa
Kyodo (“GINOWAN PROTESTS U.S. FLIGHT DRILLS,” Naha, 08/10/02) reported that the Ginowan Municipal Assembly in Okinawa decided Friday to send letters to US military forces in Okinawa Prefecture and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi protesting US military training flights, in the wake of the emergency landing of a US Marine Corps CH-53 helicopter about 50 meters from private residences in the village of Ginoza. During an extraordinary session, the assembly unanimously adopted a resolution calling on US forces to immediately terminate practice flights over the city’s residential areas. The resolution also calls for the early handover of the Futenma Air Station in Ginowan.
5. Japan over Illicit Arms Trade
Kyodo (“JAPAN TO PROPOSE U.N. MEETING ON ILLICIT TRADE IN SMALL ARMS,” Geneva, 08/11/02) reported that Japan has drafted a UN resolution urging the world body to address the issue of the illicit global trade in small arms that critics say are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. As a symbol of solidarity with the developing world, the Japanese government plans to turn its small-arms draft into a joint resolution to be cosponsored by Colombia and South Africa, diplomatic sources said. A draft of the resolution, made available to Kyodo News on Friday, calls on the UN General Assembly to convene a conference of states in July or September next year to address the matter. In considering the steps for enhancing international cooperation to control the flow of small arms, the UN would “take into consideration the views of states,” the draft said, a position apparently reflecting the divergence of domestic laws on small arms.
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Tokyo, Japan
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Moscow, Russian Federation
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Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
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