NAPSNet Daily Report 27 June, 2000

Recommended Citation

"NAPSNet Daily Report 27 June, 2000", NAPSNet Daily Report, June 27, 2000, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-daily-report/napsnet-daily-report-27-june-2000/

 
CONTENTS

I. United States

1. ROK-DPRK Red Cross Talks
2. Remains of US Soldiers from Korean War
3. ROK Cultural Imports from Japan
4. Cross-Straits Relations
5. Lee Teng-hui’s Visit to Britain
6. PRC Proliferation
7. Alleged PRC Computer Diversion

I. United States

1. ROK-DPRK Red Cross Talks

The Associated Press (Jae-suk Yoo, “KOREAN TALKS ON FAMILIES ADJOURN,” Seoul, 6/27/00) reported that talks between ROK and DPRK Red Cross officials began Tuesday and ended after 80 minutes. While delegates voiced a strong commitment to reunite separated families, talks broke down over several issues. The DPRK refused to allow a reporter from the ROK daily Chosun Ilbo newspaper, which has been critical of the DPRK, to enter the country. Also, the ROK had offered to return an unspecified number of spies after the DPRK allows the reunions of separated families, but the DPRK insisted on repatriation before reunions take place. Chief DPRK delegate Choi Sung-chul was quoted as saying before Tuesday’s talks, “We must try to realize the agreements signed by the two leaders of North and South Korea and make the whole nation happy.” Chief ROK delegate Kim Jang-kyun said talks will not resume until Thursday because of “differences in opinions.”

2. Remains of US Soldiers from Korean War

The Associated Press (“U.S. DELEGATION HEADS TO NORTH KOREA TO SEARCH FOR SOLDIERS’ REMAINS,” Tokyo, 6/27/00) reported that Colonel Jeanette Minnich of US Forces Japan said that a delegation of 20 US investigators went to the DPRK on Tuesday morning to conduct additional searches for the remains of soldiers missing in action since the Korean War. The excavation, scheduled to last about one month, is the first of five scheduled for this year.

3. ROK Cultural Imports from Japan

The Associated Press (Kyong-Hwa Seok, “S. KOREA OPENS DOOR TO JAPAN CULTURE,” Seoul, 6/27/00) reported that the ROK government announced Tuesday that it would begin the third phase of lifting a half-century ban on cultural products from Japan, opening its markets further to imports of more Japanese movies, video games and television shows. The first two phases were in 1998 and late last year with major films and small pop concerts by Japanese artists allowed. ROK Culture and Tourism Minister Park Jie-won said, “In fact, they helped the market penetration of South Korean pop cultural products in Japan by improving sentiment among Japanese on South Korea.” Park said sales of ROK movies to Japan increased from US$280,000 in 1998 to US$1.68 million last year.

4. Cross-Straits Relations

The Associated Press (“CHINA PROTESTS TAIWAN-BRITAIN VISIT,” Beijing, 6/27/00) reported that Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian recognized the 1992 “one China” agreement with the PRC. However, Chen also accused the PRC of seeking to reaffirm that Taiwan is an inseparable part of the PRC.

The New York Times (Mark Landler, “TAIWAN’S POLITICS ARE STRAINING TRADE WITH CHINA,” Taipei, 6/27/00) reported that in the last month, the PRC has warned Taiwan investors in the provinces of Guangdong and Fujian that they would be subject to unspecified sanctions if they had ties to new Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian or advocated independence for Taiwan. Tien Hung-mao, Taiwan’s foreign minister, said, “In the last election, China came to realize that businessmen can play a very strong role in Taiwanese politics. So China has begun politicizing the economic relationship between the two countries.” He expressed worry that Taiwan business executives may be forced to take a loyalty oath to protect their investments in the PRC. According to the PRC’s Foreign Trade Ministry, the amount of investment contracts rose 46 percent the first quarter of this year, but the actual volume of Taiwan money flowing into the PRC declined 9.5 percent, to US$420 million. Liang Su-yung, head of the Strait Peaceful Reunification Association, a pro-PRC lobbying group, said, “In the early days, China relied heavily on Taiwanese investment, but now foreign investors from many countries are in China. Taiwanese companies need China more than it needs them.” [Ed. note: This article was included in the US Department of Defense’s Early Bird news service for June 26, 2000.]

5. Lee Teng-hui’s Visit to Britain

The Associated Press (“CHINA PROTESTS TAIWAN-BRITAIN VISIT,” Beijing, 6/27/00) reported that former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui arrived in Britain on Tuesday. Lee waved to TV cameras as he walked through the airport with his wife and bodyguards but did not speak to reporters. PRC Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said, “We are strongly opposed to the activities to be organized by Lee Teng-hui in the United Kingdom. He is a troublemaker. So we have already asked clearly the United Kingdom government to honor its commitment and maintain the overall situation of Sino-British relations.” Britain said that Lee’s visit “is a purely private one by a private individual” and would not change British policy toward Taiwan.

6. PRC Proliferation

Reuters (“WEAPONS THREAT TO U.S.-CHINA TRADE BILL LIFTED,” Washington, 6/27/00) reported that US Senate Republican leaders plan to hold a vote by mid-July on legislation combating alleged weapons proliferation by the PRC. Legislation introduced by Republican Senator Fred Thompson would require the US to penalize the PRC and private companies if they help “states of concern” develop or acquire nuclear bombs and other weapons of mass destruction. Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi agreed to start debate on Thompson’s proposal the week of July 10 as “free-standing” legislation, rather than as an amendment to the bill on Permanent Normal Trade Relations, to prevent jeopardizing final passage of the trade bill.

7. Alleged PRC Computer Diversion

The Washington Times (Bill Gertz, “CHINA USES COMPUTERS FROM U.S. ILLEGALLY,” 6/27/00) reported that a top-secret US intelligence report stated that US-origin supercomputers are being used at the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics, the main nuclear weapons facility in Beijing, to simulate warhead detonations without actual underground tests. The reported supercomputer use at the nuclear facility is the third time the PRC has been detected diverting US-origin computers to defense facilities. A US intelligence official who was not familiar with the report said that it has been difficult to learn whether the PRC is using complete US advanced computers or if they are using a combination of US components and homemade systems. The report stated that under relaxed export rules, the PRC could have purchased as many as 603 high- speed computers between 1996 and 1998. In July, US President Clinton loosened the restrictions further to allow exports of machines capable of 6.5 billion operations per second, and in February he announced he will allow sales of computers that carry out 12.5 billion operations per second. [Ed. note: This article was included in the US Department of Defense’s Early Bird news service for June 26, 2000.]

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:
International Policy Studies Institute Seoul, Republic of Korea
The Center for Global Communications, Tokyo, Japan
Center for American Studies,
Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Monash Asia Institute,
Monash University, Clayton, Australia

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: 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

Leanne Payton: lbpat1@smtp.monash.edu.au
Clayton, Australia

 


Leave a Reply

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