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Bush warns against ending arms embargo on China
Pak backs Japan for
UN Council seat |
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Pizza case: deported Indian sues minister
5 Nepal editors summoned
Six killed in Iraq attacks
19 suspected ultras held in Bangladesh
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Bush warns against ending arms embargo on China
Belgium, February 23 The USA has promised to defend Taiwan in the event of an attack by Beijing, and Washington fears that lifting the embargo would allow China to acquire sensitive military technology. Although the Europeans have pledged to develop an arms shipment plan that would prevent such transfers, Bush was openly skeptical that they would be able to allay America’s ‘‘deep’’ concerns. ‘‘Now, whether they can or not, we'll see,’’ Bush said at a news conference in the Belgian capital after talks with European leaders. Bush is halfway through a four-day visit to Europe that the Administration says was designed to heal diplomatic ruptures caused by the US-led invasion of Iraq. But the clash on the China arms embargo as well as a rift over how to deal with Iran and its nuclear ambitions indicate that the two sides have yet to agree on a common approach on a number of key international issues. The USA and Europe imposed the embargo on China in 1989, several weeks after Beijing violently suppressed democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. Washington has steadfastly argued that China's human rights record since then does not merit a lifting of the embargo. It also fears that weapons and military technology could end up in the hands of terrorists or unstable governments. But Europe maintains that it is wrong to continue lumping China with Myanmar, Sudan and Zimbabwe, the only other countries facing such an embargo. In his remarks here, Bush said he had told French President Jacques Chirac and other European leaders that they must
‘‘sell’’ their arms shipment plan not only to him but to Congress. ‘‘There is deep concern in our country that a transfer of weapons would be a transfer of technology to China, which would change the balance of relations between China and Taiwan,’’ Bush said at a news conference with NATO Secretary-General Jaap Hoop de Scheffer. Congress, he said, ‘‘will be making the decisions ... as to how to react to what will be perceived by some, perhaps, as a technology transfer to China.’’ The House this month passed a resolution declaring that an end to the arms embargo would be ‘‘in direct conflict with US security interests’’ and that such action would ‘‘necessitate limitations and constraints ... that would be unwelcome on both sides of the Atlantic.’’ Earlier in the day, Bush met British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and newly elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who made his first-ever visit to NATO, which is headquartered here. By arrangement with the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service |
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Pak backs Japan for
UN Council seat
Tokyo, February 23 Mr Kasuri held
talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on the situation in
Pakistan's neighbour Afghanistan and Japan’s plans to resume yen loans
to Islamabad among other issues, Pakistani Ambassador to Japan Kamran
Niaz said. In a separate meeting, Mr Kasuri told Japan’s main
Opposition leader Katsuya Okada that there should be ‘‘objective
criteria’’ on choosing members of an enlarged UN Security Council. ‘‘Japan
would certainly qualify under whatever criteria. In the post-Second
World War period Japan has been completely on the right side of all
major issues,’’ Mr Niaz told AFP, quoting discussions. ‘‘Our
reservation is that India would not fit under those criteria,’’ he
said. Mr Niaz said Pakistan objected to India’s permanent membership
due to its past wars with Pakistan and China and violation of the UN
Security Council resolution calling for a plebiscite for disputed
Kashmir. Japan, India, Germany and Brazil have launched a joint bid to win permanent seats on the Security Council. Veto-wielding power is currently in the hands of five powers - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - in a system rewarding the winners of World War II. Pakistani
President Pervez Musharraf and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
at a September meeting said there was no need to expand the number of
permanent seats. Italy has cast anxious glances at Germany’s bid. Kyodo News reported on Saturday that Mr Koizumi was considering visiting India and Pakistan along with Luxembourg and the Netherlands from late April to early May. Japan has agreed in principle to resume yen loans to Pakistan. |
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Pizza case: deported Indian sues minister
Toronto, February 23 Mr Harjit Singh, the deported Toronto resident, now in his hometown Jalandhar after his deportation on February 2, is counter-suing Sgro in response to her $ 750,000 libel case against him, his daughter-in-law and two friends. According to reports, in their suit, Mr Harjit Singh and the others deny the former ministers claims of libel and seek to put the blame at the door of the media. They say that the libel was “inserted without actual malice” and that the said words were not calculated to disparage Sgro. The defendants also assert that Sgro’s libel claim is “an abuse of process by a minister” that has caused them “mental distress, anxiety, nervousness, depression, irritability, insomnia, loss of reputation, humiliation, and loss of enjoyment of life.” Mr Harjit Singh, who had accused Sgro of demanding a supply of free pizzas, garlic bread and 16 workers for her election campaign in return for legal status in Canada, was put on an Air Canada flight to Delhi under the escort of an immigration official earlier this month.
— UNI |
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5 Nepal editors summoned
Kathmandu, February 23 Editors Gopal Budhathoki of ‘Sanghu’ weekly, Kabir Rana of
‘Deshantar’, Rajendra Vaid of ‘Bimarsha’, Nawaraj Timilsina of ‘Prakash’ and Shashidhar Bhandari of ‘Hank’ were summoned at the district administration office at Babarmahal by the police, Deshantar weekly’s Editor Rana said.
— PTI |
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Six killed in Iraq attacks
Kirkuk, February 23 “A police officer was killed and another wounded this morning at 6 a.m. when an unknown person opened fire on them in a restaurant in the centre of Kirkuk,” said police Colonel Adel Zin
al-Abidin. Salman Abderahman was hit by nine bullets and his colleague was slightly wounded, he said, adding that two suspects had been arrested. Two Iraqi civilians were killed and another seriously wounded when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the car they were travelling in near Kirkuk, a key oil city, the police said. In Mosul, Iraq’s third largest city and a hotbed of insurgent activity, a car bomb killed two persons and injured another 14, the US army said, providing no further details. Also today, the police said an official from the Shiite Dawa party, whose leader Ibrahim Jaafari has been nominated candidate to become Iraq’s next Prime Minister, was killed.
— AFP |
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19 suspected ultras held in Bangladesh
Dhaka, February 23, The authorities charged 12 suspected Jumat-ul-Mujahedin members of possessing Islamic revolutionary books and undergoind military training in mosques in Gaibandha district, 190 km north of capital Dhaka, intelligence official Abdul Hamid told The Associated Press from Gaibandha by phone. Meanwhile, in separate arrests, the police detained four other suspected militants today, including a university teacher from southwestern city of Rajshahi. — AP
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Queen not to attend Charles wedding
London, February 23 The Prince of Wales and Camilla are getting married on April 8 at the Guild Hall in Windsor. However, the queen would attend the church blessing afterwards and was happy to host the reception, Buckingham Palace said. "The queen's prime concern is that the civil ceremony should be as low key as possible, in line with the couple's wishes," said a palace spokeswoman. Charles' two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, along with Camilla's children, Tom and Laura, are planning to attend the civil ceremony, local media reported.
— IANS |
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President Bush warned European leaders on Tuesday that their plan to end a 15-year arms embargo on China could upset the strategic balance between China and Taiwan, and he suggested that Congress might retaliate by limiting arms sales to Europe.
