CONTENTS
1. Second Inter-Korean Summit
2. Anniversary of First Summit
3. Alleged PRC Technology Transfer
4. US Spy Plane in PRC
5. PRC-Philippines South China Sea Disputes
I. United States
1. Second Inter-Korean Summit
Reuters (Jason Neely, “S.KOREA’S KIM ASKS NORTH TO COMMIT TO SUMMIT,” Seoul, 05/24/01) reported that ROK President Kim Dae-jung on Thursday asked the DPRK to mark the first anniversary of the ROK-DPRK summit to commit to a follow-up meeting. Kim stated, “I do hope the chairman (Kim Jong-il) will clearly state his intention to us and to the world.” He added, “The advances made here on the Korean peninsula through the Sunshine Policy … have temporarily stalled.” He also stated, “We know that the North Korea policy review by the new U.S. Administration is now in its final stretch. I have repeatedly recommended to the U.S. authorities that as soon as the policy review is over, in close coordination with us, that it resume dialogue with North Korea.” Kim said that he thought “prospects were very bright” that the US would so. He noted, “North Korea’s bid to win economic assistance from the international community depends a great deal on what the United States thinks about North Korea.”
2. Anniversary of First Summit
The Associated Press (“KOREAS SUMMIT CELEBRATION ABANDONED,” Seoul, 05/23/01) reported that the ROK government said Wednesday that it has abandoned plans for a joint celebration with the DPRK of the first anniversary of the inter-Korea summit. Lee Bong-jo of the ROK Unification Ministry said that the ROK had planned to discuss joint anniversary programs with the DPRK during a Cabinet-level meeting that was originally scheduled for March, but the DPRK abruptly canceled the meeting. Lee stated, “The government-level joint celebrations of the June 15 summit agreement have virtually become impossible.” However, the ROK will encourage 10 or so privately organized anniversary events designed to promote exchanges with the DPRK, including a joint farmers’ rally.
3. Alleged PRC Technology Transfer
The Washington Times (Bill Gertz, “BEIJING ILLEGALLY BOUGHT CIRCUITS,” 5/24/01) reported that US government officials have allegedly uncovered illegal PRC purchases of thousands of US radiation-protected computer chips for use in PRC missiles and satellites. The program was revealed in court papers released in Orlando, Florida, earlier this month after a raid on a PRC company. According to documents, the company, Means Come Enterprises Incorporated, is under investigation for “illegally exporting radiation-hardened integrated circuits to the PRC without the required [Commerce Department] export licenses.” According to the affidavit, the radiation-hardened chips are used in missiles and require export licenses before being sold abroad. Gary Milhollin, weapons proliferation specialist and director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, said that the chips have military applications and could be used by the PRC military to “improve their ability to target US cities with long-range missiles.” Milhollin said the US President George W. Bush administration should reverse the former President Bill Clinton administration policy of “looking the other way and refusing to put Chinese companies like the Chinese Academy of Space Technology, CATIC, and China Aerospace Corp. on a special government watch list.” [Ed. note: This article was included in the US Department of Defense’s Early Bird news service for May 24, 2001.]
4. US Spy Plane in PRC
Agence France Presse (“NO AGREEMENT ON PLANE’S RETURN FROM CHINA: US OFFICIALS,” Washington, 5/24/01) and Reuters (Jeremy Page, “CHINA SAYS U.S. WILL TAKE OUT SPY PLANE IN PIECES,” Beijing, 5/24/01) reported that the US and the PRC disagreed on Thursday about the fate of the US navy surveillance plane stranded in Hainan Island. PRC Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao announced Thursday, “The US side submitted a proposal to take apart the US aircraft and to transport it back. The Chinese side has agreed to that and the two sides will continue to have consultations on the technical aspects.” However, the US Defense Department said that no agreement had been reached and no proposal to dismantle the plane appears to have been presented to the PRC. US Rear Admiral Craig Quigley said, “I don’t know why that Chinese spokesman did that. We continue to discuss methods of bringing the aircraft back with the Chinese, but there is as yet no agreement.” Quigley said that officials at the US State Department and the US Defense Department know of no proposal to the PRC to dismantle the plane. He said, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, but our preference is to repair the plane to where it’s safe and fly it out.” Anonymous US Defense Department officials have said it would take 30 to 40 days to dismantle the plane.
5. PRC-Philippines South China Sea Disputes
Agence France Presse (“CHINA AND PHILIPPINES AGREE TO PEACEFULLY END SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE,” Beijing, 5/24/01) reported that a Philippines embassy official said that PRC and Philippine officials on Thursday agreed to resolve their territorial dispute in the South China Sea in a peaceful manner. Philippines Vice President and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teofisto Guingnona, Jr., and PRC Vice President Hu Jintao both said that the two countries want to avoid confrontation in dealing with competing claims to the sea. The embassy official said, “Both sides agreed to resolve the issue in a friendly and peaceful manner…. Both sides were in a positive and constructive mood.” The two leaders met for a half hour ahead of a ministers’ gathering for the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), scheduled for Friday. The official said that Teofisto and Hu did not go into specifics about their disputes. She said, “They confirmed each other’s determination to solve the problem in a peaceful and friendly manner.”
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