CONTENTS
1. PRC on Unilateralism
2. Japan on PRC-Japan Relations
3. DPRK on ROK Fighter Jet Deal
4. US-Russia Arms Control
I. United States
1. PRC on Unilateralism
Reuters (Patrick Chalmers, “HU SAYS CHINA WILL PROTECT WEAK NATIONS FROM BULLIES,” Kuala Lumpur, 04/24/02) and Agence France-Presse (“HU SAYS CHINA OPPOSES STRONG NATIONS BULLYING THE WEAK,” Wednesday April 24) reported that PRC Vice President Hu Jintao, stated that the PRC opposed big nations bullying the small and would retain an independent foreign policy. “China views all countries as equals, irrespective of their size,” Hu said Wednesday during a speech in the Malaysian capital, en route to the US. “It opposes the strong lording it over the weak and the big bullying the small,” he told the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute in Kuala Lumpur. The PRC “has long pledged not to seek hegemony, not to join any military bloc and not to pursue its own spheres of influence”. “And strengthening good-neighborly ties of amity and cooperation with the surrounding countries has always been part and parcel of China’s foreign relations,” he added. “Big countries should respect the interests of the small and medium-sized Asian countries, treat them as equals and act constructively for Asia’s stability and prosperity.”
2. Japan on PRC-Japan Relations
Reuters (Linda Sieg, “JAPAN SEEKS TO LIMIT FALLOUT FROM SHRINE VISIT,” Tokyo, 04/24/02) and Reuters (“JAPAN SEES NO PROBLEM IN TIES WITH CHINA AFTER KOIZUMI’S SHRINE VISIT,” Tokyo, 04/24/02) reported that Japan’s government said that it saw no problem in ties with the PRC despite the PRC’s postponement of a high-level Japanese visit in protest at Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s weekend visit to Yasukuni Shrine. Koizumi said he respected the PRC’s decision. “China has its reasons. I want to respect them,” Koizumi said Wednesday. The PRC also postponed a visit by head of the Japan Defense Agency Gen Nakatani and a port call in Japan of a PRC warship. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said the PRC decision would not affect the bilateral relationship. “It was a postponement of the visit. The visit will be made sometime eventually, considering its significance,” Fukuda told a regular press conference. “I do not think the decision will affect anything” related to Sino- Japanese ties, Fukuda added.
3. DPRK on ROK Fighter Jet Deal
Agence France-Presse (“NORTH KOREA RAPS SOUTH KOREA FOR BUYING US FIGHTER JETS,” 04/24/02) reported that the DPRK has warned the ROK’s decision to buy 40 US fighter jets could derail the peace process on the peninsula. The warning, issued by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Wednesday, came days ahead of planned reunions of families. The family meeting on Sunday at the DPRK’s Mount Kumgang will be the first of the reconciliation events the ROK and the DPRK have agreed to renew after a 14-month freeze. KCNA said the ROK undermined the “positive” rapprochement trend by deciding to buy the US fighters. The ROK last week selected Boeing Co. over French firm Dassault Aviation SA for its four-billion-dollar project to buy 40 new jets. “The US sale of weapons to South Korea will be censured by the Korean people and the world people as it will delay the peace process in the peninsula and aggravate the situation in the Asia-Pacific region,” KCNA said. “This decision can never be tolerated,” it added.
4. US-Russia Arms Control
The Associated Press (Jim Heintz, “RUSSIAN NEGOTIATOR SAYS NUCLEAR DEAL NOT A SURE THING,” Moscow, 04/24/02) and Reuters (Jon Boyle, “RUSSIA AND U.S. FAIL TO BRIDGE SPLIT OVER ARMS CUT DEAL,” Moscow, 04/24/02) reported that Russian and US arms negotiators failed on Wednesday to bridge differences over an accord on strategic nuclear arms cuts, wrapping up talks a day early with a presidential summit only a month away. Top Russian arms negotiator Georgy Mamedov said, “One cannot say yet whether we will have a treaty because there are still certain differences. The main stumbling blocks were “the possibility of verifying cuts and the methods of making cuts” to nuclear arsenals currently standing at 6,000-7,000 deployed warheads each. Russian officials said several rounds of talks would be needed if an agreement was to be struck in time for a May 23-26 summit between presidents Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush. The arms deal is expected to be accompanied by an equally short political declaration enshrining a new “strategic relationship” between the US and Russia
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Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
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