From: gaojeng@durras.anu.edu.au (J. Gao)
Subject: CND-EP 28-7-92 TUE
Summary: CND
Keywords: CND
Organization: Computer Services Centre, Australian National University
Date: 28 Jul 92 06:34:58 GMT

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===================  Europe / Pacific Section (CND-EP)  ===================
                               July 28, 1992

---------------------------- Table of Contents ----------------------------
No. Subject                                                      # of Lines

1. News Brief (1 Item) ................................................. 10

2. China Proposes New Relationship with ASEAN ......................... 120

3. China Admits to Shooting at Japanese Cargo Vessel ................... 37

4. ASEAN Conference Ends With Spratlys Peace Resolution ................ 23

5. India: Himalayans Trade Again in World's Highest Shop ............... 18
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1. News Brief (1 Item) ................................................. 10
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[Jiji Press 7/23/92] Tokyo,- Seibu Department Stores Ltd. will open an
outlet in Shenzhen, in mid-1993, the major department store operator said
Thursday. To that end, a joint business entity will be set up by Seibu's
subsidiary in Hong Kong, a Hong Kong company and Shenzhen City as soon as
Seibu gets the Chinese government's approval of the plan. The plan calls for
a total investment of some 70 million Hong Kong dollars. Seibu plans to open
the new outlet within commercial facilities, now under construction at the
heart of Shenzhen. The outlet will have a sales floor space of 2,000 to
3,300 square meters, they said. (From: A CND reader)

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2. China Proposes New Relationship with ASEAN ......................... 120
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>From: Jian Liu
Source: AP-DJ 7/21/92
By: Raphael Pura

China Proposes New Relationship with ASEAN - 1:

MANILA - China has proposed a new and closer security relationship with the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in an apparent effort to
placate ASEAN's fears over Beijing's territorial ambitions in the South
China Sea, The Asian Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen said that China would 'shelve' its
overlapping claims with several ASEAN countries to parts of the potentially
resource-rich Spratly Islands and surrounding seabed in favor of 'joint
cooperation' to develop the disputed areas, according to senior ASEAN
officials.

In addition, Qian proposed creating a Sino-ASEAN consultative forum to
discuss regional security matters and advocated the conclusion of an array
of Sino-ASEAN agreements to cooperate in fields such as science and
technology, ASEAN officials said.

The Chinese initiatives came at a meeting between Qian and his ASEAN
counterparts on the opening day of ASEAN's annual conference of foreign
ministers. ASEAN consists of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand. China is attending the meeting as a 'guest' nation
for the second consecutive year.

Some ASEAN officials cautiously welcomed the Chinese proposals as a positive
step to ease tensions and improve ties. But they stressed that China's new
overtures must be matched by concrete signs that Beijing won't act
unilaterally or use military force to assert its claims to disputed
territory in the South China Sea.

China-ASEAN Relationship - 2: Seen Confidence-Building Move

'Despite this very positive (new) policy of a confidence-building nature,
China has to explain what it is doing on the ground,' Malaysia's foreign
minister, Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said after the meeting with Qian.
'It's important that they don't send the wrong signals.' If Beijing
continues to act aggressively in asserting its South China Sea territorial
claims, Datuk Abdullah added, 'it inevitably raises the question of (the)
credibility' of the new Chinese policy.

Regional security concerns - notably conflicting claims in the Spratlys
involving China, Vietnam, Taiwan and several ASEAN states, and the shaky
effort to restore peace in Cambodia-top the agenda at the ministers' two-day
meeting.

In addition to Tuesday's session with Qian, the ASEAN ministers will meet
with a delegation from Russia, another 'guest' at the conference. The
foreign ministers' meeting will be followed by three days of talks beginning
on Friday between the ASEAN ministers and their counterparts from the
Southeast Asian group's seven formal dialogue partners - the U.S., Japan,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and the European Community.

China's initiative is likely to become a major focus of discussion during
the remainder of the sessions because Qian's proposals mark a departure in
Chinese policy toward the group. In addition, the proposals come at a time
when ASEAN officials are openly worried that China wants to assert itself as
a regional power amid the U.S. withdrawal from military bases in the
Philippines. Recent Chinese moves in the South China Sea have heightened
such anxieties.

China-ASEAN Relationship - 3: Rival Territory Claims A Concern

In May, Beijing granted a U.S. company the right to explore for oil in
waters south of Vietnam, which are claimed by Hanoi. And earlier this month,
China sent reinforcements to six islands it claims and occupies in the
105-island Spratly chain. Among ASEAN countries, Malaysia, the Philippines
and Brunei have disputed claims in the Spratlys that could bring them into
conflict with China.

ASEAN's mounting apprehension that the South China Sea could become
Southeast Asia's next political flash point was reflected in addresses to
the conference on Tuesday by Philippine President Fidel Ramos as well as
several ASEAN foreign ministers.

'Rival claims to the South China Sea are a growing cause for concern,' Ramos
said, warning that failure to resolve the claims through negotiation could
'lead to perilous developments.'

Singapore Foreign Minister Wong Kan Seng called the South China Sea a
potential 'fault line' that 'may cause tremors in the future.'

In Manila, China attempted to allay ASEAN apprehensions, however. Several
ASEAN officials said Qian on Tuesday disavowed any Chinese ambition for
dominance in the Southeast Asian region, as well as any intention to fill a
possible security vacuum in the South China Sea after the U.S. closes its
big naval base at Subic Bay this year.

The Chinese minister cited recent cuts in the size of Beijing's armed forces
and its support for ASEAN's proposed 'Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality'
in Southeast Asia as evidence. Qian told ASEAN ministers that Beijing
doesn't want the South China Sea to become a 'hot spot,' adding that China
prefers to focus on internal reform and expanded international economic
links, especially with the group.

China-ASEAN Relationship - 4: New China Overtures Worry Some

ASEAN officials said Qian proposed that a 'consultative' forum be created to
discuss regional security issues affecting ASEAN and China, including the
South China Sea territorial disputes. Beijing specifically wants a framework
in which not only cabinet ministers, but senior government officials can
meet with ASEAN counterparts on a regular basis, according to ASEAN
officials.

The ASEAN officials added that Qian expressed irritation that China's recent
actions in the South China Sea have been portrayed as steps that could lead
to regional instability and conflict, calling those assessments
'exaggerations.'

Qian also called for a second mechanism that would allow China and ASEAN to
forge agreements to cooperate in fields that benefit their respective
economies, such as science and technology, ASEAN officials said.

It's not clear how ASEAN will respond to the new Chinese overtures, some of
which could pose diplomatic problems for ASEAN.

A clearer consensus emerged on another key regional security issue: the
fragile state of political reconstruction in Cambodia, where the refusal of
the Khmer Rouge to disarm is threatening a U.N.-backed peace plan. While
some Western countries have suggested invoking sanctions against the Khmer
Rouge for failing to comply with disarmament provisions in the peace plan,
ASEAN officials and China on Tuesday appeared to favor a more patient
approach.

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3. China Admits to Shooting at Japanese Cargo Vessel ................... 37
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>From: A CND Reader
Source: Reuter 7/23/92

China has acknowledged that one of its ships fired warning shots at a
Japanese- operated cargo vessel near disputed islands in the East China Sea
last December.

A Japanese foreign ministry official said the 40,934 dwt Henry Hudson
Bridge, operated by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K-Line), reported coming under
fire in the East China Sea, some 220 km north of the Senkaku Islands.

The islands, known in Chinese as Diaoyutai, are claimed by Japan, China and
Taiwan.

China admitted the December incident after being questioned by Japanese
authorities, the ministry official said.

He said Japan believed about 12 similar incidents took place between March
and December last year.A further two had been reported so far this year.

"We have questioned the Chinese authorities each time such an incident took
place, especially as there were several cases where it appeared that China
might have been involved," the official said. "This was the first time we
had received a clear-cut response from China."

Japanese officials expressed concern earlier this year when China published
the text of a law claiming the Senkaku as well as the Spratly and Paracel
archipelagos in the South China Sea. The law authorised China's armed forces
to defend national sovereignty over the islands where necessary.

In Manila this week, fears over Chinese intentions in the Spratly
archipelago dominated early discussions at the Asean (Association of
Southeast Asian Nations) foreign ministers' meeting.

A week before the start of the Asean talks, Philippine foreign secretary
Raul Manglapus said China was flexing its muscles with the departure of US
forces from southeast Asia.

Vietnam, a non-Asean member, has expressed alarm at an oil deal Beijing
signed in May with a US company to drill off Vietnam's southern coast.

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4. ASEAN Conference Ends With Spratlys Peace Resolution ................ 23
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>From: Jian Liu
Source: AP-DJ 7/22/92

MANILA - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations passed a resolution
Wednesday urging China, Vietnam, Taiwan and three of its members to
peacefully settle their claims to the Spratly Islands.

The resolution also urged the claimants to abide by a commitment they made
last month in Jakarta to look into developing the Spratlys and temporarily
shelve their territorial claims.

Also Wednesday, Vietnam and Laos signed the association's Treaty of Amity
and Cooperation, giving them observer status in the ASEAN.

Member nations stated in a communique their support of major debt write-offs
to allow debt-strapped countries to rebuild their economies, but the
statement did not give details on how the write-offs can be implemented.

U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and his counterparts from Russia, Japan,
Britain, New Zealand and Canada will attend a post-ministerial meeting here
Friday.

Also Wednesday, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Kozyrev proposed
future talks for the formation of an international naval force in the Asia
Pacific region. Kozyrev made the suggestion in a speech during a closed-door
meeting with the ASEAN envoys.

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5. India: Himalayans Trade Again in World's Highest Shop ............... 18
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>From: A CND Reader
Source: The Daily Telegraph 7/20/92
By: Rahul Bedi in New Delhi.

Indian and Chinese mule trains and porters laden with goods traversed the
world's highest trade pass in the Himalayas last week after an ancient
overland route re-opened 30 years after a border war.

Crossing the treacherous 17,800ft Lipu Lekh pass on the borders of Tibet,
Nepal and India - open from June to September - traders from both countries
converged at Gungi in India and Taklakot in western Tibet to trade goods
needed by both sides.

Cashmere and yak wool from Tibet were bartered for sugar, spices and shoes
from India in a friendly atmosphere, said officials.

The trade route was closed after the Sino-Indian war in 1962, seriously
affecting the economy of tribal people on either side of the border. Foreign
office officials in New Delhi say the deal, agreed after talks last year,
could lead to increased trade in other areas, an overall easing of tension
with China and, in time, a resolution of the long-standing border dispute.

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