Chinese President warns of losing popular backing
BEIJING, Jan 11 (AFP)
Chinese President Jiang Zemin Monday warned of the dangers of losing people�s support if
the Party failed to improve itself and to keep up to date, the official Xinhua news agency
reported.
Jiang made the remark addressing senior officials attending a seven-day financial training
course at the party school, it said, adding the ceremony was attended by Vice President Hu
Jintao and other top leaders including Premier Zhu Rongji.
�As the ruling party of the largest socialist country on earth, (the communist party)
must
persist in combining the tenets of Marxism with the specific practice in China,� said
Xinhua
quoting Jiang.
All party members must learn constantly and put into practice modern scientific theory and
ideas to promote economic development and social progress in China, he said.
Leading officials at all levels should also gain basic knowledge of a socialist market
economy, modern finance and management, he said.
China faces new challenges that need to be solved with modern economic knowledge, he
said, and pointed out that China got a good lesson about financial instability from the
negative impact of the Asian financial crisis last year and the heavy floods last summer.
Jiang said it was important for party members to learn from history and to bring in more
young cadres.
Late last month Jiang warned of a precarious future as China enters 1999 and urged
vigilance against attacks from all fronts.
In a surprisingly alarmist warning in a nation where 70 percent of news coverage is
mandated
to be positive, Jiang cautioned against marauding jobless, failing enterprises,
impoverished
peasants, hostile domestic forces, pervasive corruption and menacing economic
globalisation.
�If certain social and economic problems are not tackled without delay, the overall
stability of
the country could be threatened,� Jiang said in a warning given front-page coverage by
most
official media.
China�s leadership has become increasingly obsessed with guaranteeing stability in
recent
months, in marked contrast to its attitude in the spring of this year when deep-cutting
economic reforms were put at the top of the agenda.
US rejects N Korea demand for cash in return for inspections
by Jim Mannion
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan
Jan 12 (AFP)
US Defence Secretary William Cohen Tuesday rejected Pyongyang demands for
compensation in return for access to a suspected North Korean underground nuclear site.
Failure to allow US inspections of the site would undermine the 1994 Agreed Framework
under which North Korea agreed to freeze its suspected nuclear program, he warned at this
airbase in Tokyo�s suburbs.
The 300 million dollars �compensation� for an inspection of the suspected nuclear site
in
Kumchangri, North Korea, amounted to �a pretty expensive peek,� Cohen told airmen who
packed an aircraft hangar here.
�We have rejected that,� he said.
�We have said we are not in a position to give you compensation. What we need to do is
have the verification that you are in fact complying with the Agreed Framework.�
�If we are not successful in having access to satisfy ourselves that they are not
circumventing the agreement that will call into question the viability of the Agreed
Framework.
In the 1994 deal, Pyongyang agreed to mothball its nuclear programme in return for two
light-
water reactors which produce less plutonium, and supplies of heavy oil until the reactors
are
built.
�It would be very tough to sell� supplying North Korea with food and fuel if it failed
to allow
US inspection of the suspected site, the US defence secretary said.
North Korea has said the underground facility discovered last year in Kumchangri, and
suspected by Washington of being used to revive its nuclear program, is for civilian
purposes. Cohen described the security situation with North Korea as �mixed.� He
welcomed
the South Korean policy of engagement with the North and negotiations involving North
Korea, South Korea, the United States and China which are due to resume January 18.
But Washington remained concerned about a North Korean missile test conducted on August
31 and the underground site, he said.
Cohen, who was here on a six-day tour of Japan and South Korea to discuss the situation in
North Korea and US-Japan cooperation to tackle any threat, was to visit Misawa airbase in
northern Japan later in the day.
Cash-strapped Pyongyang renewed its demand for compensation on Monday, just five days
before the four-way talks scheduled to be held in Geneva, aimed at replacing an armistice
which ended the 1950-53 Korean War with a peace treaty.
If the United States �pays 300 million dollars as a compensation for insulting the DPRK
(North Korea), we, taking into account the DPRK-US relations may allow a visit to the site
in
Kumchangri, only once as an exception,� a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said.
�Our demand for compensation is very just because, once we open an object which is very
sensitive in view of our national security to the United States which is technically at
war with
the DPRK, we cannot use it for its original purpose,� he told the Korean Central News
Agency (KNCA).
Officials from North Korea and the United States are to meet in Geneva for two days from
Saturday to discuss US demands to inspect the site.
US warns �frantic� Iraqi leader against attacks on warplanes
by Jim Mannion
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan,
Jan 12 (AFP)
US Defence Secreary William Cohen vowed Tuesday to strike back at Iraqi challenges to US
warplanes, saying Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had grown �more frantic� since US-
British air strikes last month.
�We intend to protect our forces. If Saddam continues to illuminate them (with radar) or
attack them then he is going to be attacked in return,� Cohen told reporters travelling
with
him.
Cohen gave no hint as to whether the Pentagon was considering more punishing attacks than
the tit-for-tat strikes that have followed a rash of challenges to US warplanes enforcing
no-fly
zones over Iraq.
US forces in the Gulf remain at the same state of alert as before despite the rising
tension,
the defence secretary said.
�We are aware of the nature of the threat that is posed. We are taking adequate
precautions,� he said.
Kuwait placed its forces on heightened alert after Iraqi parliament members called for
revoking recognition of Kuwait�s sovereignty and its UN-established borders with Iraq.
The Kuwaitis wanted to �make sure that they don�t see a situation develop where he
(Saddam) suddenly starts moving some forces that could strike them,� Cohen said.
Saddam has also called for the overthrow of Arab leaders who supported the four-day US-
British airstrikes December 16-19.
�He is sort of lashing out in ways verbally and rhetorically against the Saudis, against
the
Egyptians, against the Kuwaits. And the declaration of non-recognition of the no-fly zone
would seem to indicate he is certainly more agitated and more frantic,� Cohen said.
The defence secretary said the reason for the more agitated response appeared to be that
Operation Desert Fox did more damage than the Iraqi regime had acknowledged.
�I think there is a reason for it ,� Cohen said. �And I think we will be focussing on
why he is
doing what he is doing.�
Cohen was at this northern Japan US air base on the first half of a six-day tour of Japan
and
South Korea, mainly to discuss the situation in North Korea and US-Japan cooperation to
tackle any threat.
Iraq continued to challenge US jets patrolling its no-fly zones Monday, drawing missile
fire
from American aircraft, the Pentagon said. Two US F15�s on routine missions over the
northern no-fly zone fired precision-guided bombs on a ground-based missile launch site
near
Mosul, Iraq, it said.
An F16C/J fired a high-speed HARM missile on a second site at virtually the same time,
Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Steve Campbell said in Washington.
The two incidents took place after the US warplanes were illuminated by Iraqi radar.
Another
Pentagon spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Sivigny, said the US planes �acted in
self-
defense.�
There was no damage to US aircraft and damage to the Iraqi sites was being assessed, the
Pentagon said.
An additional eight F16C/Js and four refueling KC135 aircraft were to be deployed to the
Gulf
to reinforce surveillance in the �no-fly� zones, it said.
The no-fly zones, imposed after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Iraq�s Kurdish and Shiite
minorities, extend north of the 36th parallel and up to the 33rd parallel in the south,
reaching
the outskirts of Baghdad.
Israel sets up sea radars to tighten blockade on south Lebanon
by Jihad Saqlawi
TYRE, Lebanon, Jan 12 (AFP)
Lebanese fishermen are predicting even more difficult times ahead in the �cat and mouse�
game they have been playing with the Israeli navy for the past six years.
They say the Israelis have set up offshore radars in south Lebanon�s territorial waters
to
prevent fishermen from breaching a six-year-old sea blockade by sailing at night.
One reported seeing satellite dishes fixed to floating barrels and buoys, complete with
television screen and antennae, about four kilometres (2.5 miles) off the port of Naqoura.
Rida, a father of five, and one of 500 fishermen in the southern port city of Tyre, is
nervous
when he casts his nets each evening even one kilometre (half a mile) off shore. There is a
real risk of being detained, even tortured or shot.
�As soon as they see our fishing boats from their warships, the Israelis, who are
equipped
with infra-red binoculars, approach or send their inflatables to arrest us,� he told AFP.
That is what happened on Saturday, to brothers Ahmad and Hussein Taha, aged 26 and 27.
They did not get away quickly enough, and were detained and interrogated for seven hours
before being released.
Abbas, another fisherman from Tyre, has had the same experience. He tells how he had to
swim for more than two miles in freezing water, while the Israelis sprayed him with hot
oil
through hoses and bombarded him with rotten eggs, after which they arrested him and took
him on board their patrol boat.
He was stripped to his underwear and a bag was put over his head. Sailors beat him with
sand-filled tubes as he was interrogated.
They took him to a cabin, which contained a detailed map of Tyre and where he was
interrogated by navy officers about Lebanese army activities.
�They promised me the earth and even said I would get permission to fish off the
(northern
Israeli) port of Haifa if I provided them with information on a failed suicide operation
two
years ago against the Israeli navy,� Abbas added.
On that occasion a would-be suicide bomber of the pro-Syrian Shiite Moslem Amal
movement was killed by a shell before his explosive-packed boat could reach its target.
Abbas and other fishermen know that they risk the same fate if they want to continue
fishing
activities, said Mohamad Bawab, head of the fishermen�s union in Tyre.
Since Israel imposed a partial sea blockade on southern Lebanese coasts, scores of
fishermen have been injured by the Israeli navy. Twenty-one of them have been left
permanently handicapped, according to Tyre port statistics.
Ibrahim Muslimani, a fisherman who still has a bullet lodged in his shoulder, succeeded in
securing a job at the Tyre port but many others like Hassan Tahan, 40, and Majed Bawab,
26, who were more severely injured, remain unemployed.
Fresh attack on Christians in western India
by Giles Hewitt
NEW DELHI, Jan 12
(AFP)
Hindu zealots attacked a church in western India just hours after the prime minister
visited
the area to try to halt a spate of violence against the Christian community, a priest said
Tuesday.
The church in the Dangs district of Gujarat state was torched in the early hours of Monday
morning, Father Dominique Emmanuel of the Catholic Conference of Bishops of India
(CBCI) told AFP.
Local members of the Christian community managed to douse the flames before the building
could be destroyed.
The police have registed the case as one of attempted arson.
Half a dozen churches and missionary schools in Gujarat were burned down by Hindu zealots
around the Christmas period, prompting a personal visit to the region by Prime Minister
Atal
Behari Vajpayee.
However, Father Dominique argued the fresh attack, just hours after Vajpayee�s
departure,
showed the visit had been �counter-productive.�
�The zealots have been emboldened by Vajpayee�s visit,� he said, pointing out the
premier
had toured Dangs with the president of a Hindu militant outfit who was arrested after the
Christmas violence.
He also criticised Vajpayee�s call for a debate on allegations made by Hindu militants
that
Christians in India have a covert agenda of forcibly converting local people to their
faith.
�Calling for a debate just lends credence to the accusations of forced conversions,�
said
Father Dominique, adding he was �shocked� by Vajpayee�s decision to exonerate the
Gujarat state government from the violence.
�This latest attack shows that the central government must take sterner action and at
least
warn the state authorities that if this violence continues, heads will roll.�
Christians make up just 2.5 percent of India�s 975 million people, who are
overwhelmingly
Hindu.
Political reactions to Vajpayee�s call for a debate on conversions was mixed.
The premier�s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, Indian People�s Party) welcomed the
move, saying discussion would help bring the main issues into sharper focus.
�In the light of recent charges and counter-charges, such a debate will help the country
arrive
at some clarity on the issue and provide a solution�, BJP vice president J.P Mathur said.
He also called for a government probe into the flow of foreign funds to religious
organisations
operating in India.
Christian groups have claimed a sharp escalation in violence against their community since
the Hindu nationalist BJP came to power at the head of a multi-party coalition in March
last
year.
The main opposition Congress party rejected the call for a national debate, saying it was
a
diversionary ploy aimed at shifting the focus off the attacks against Christians.
Congress spokeswoman Girija Vas said a debate was �unwarranted and irrelevant.�
CBCI president, Archbishop Alan de Lastic, gave Vajpayee�s proposal a guarded welcome,
warning the debate should in no way challenge the constitutional guarantees on the right
�to
preach and practice one�s own religion.�
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on Monday called on the
government to invoke several articles of the constitution and direct the Gujarat
authorities to
implement existing laws effectively.
�The communal situation in Gujarat is serious and of alarming dimensions,� said NCM
chairman Tahi Mahmood.
�There is a pressing need to take extraordinary steps to prevent it from flaring up and
spreading to other parts of the country.�