- Yahoo! News Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday that "outside forces" had no excuse to get involved in a complex dispute over the South China Sea, offering a veiled warning to the United States and others not to stick their noses into the sensitive issue.
But Wen also struck a softer line during a summit with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, offering $10 billion in loans and lines of credit and saying China only wanted to be friends.
China claims a large swathe of the South China Sea, which straddles key shipping lanes and is potentially rich in energy resources.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei are the other claimants to parts of the sea, and along with the United States and Japan, are pressuring Beijing to try and seek some way forward on the knotty issue of sovereignty, which has flared up again this year with often tense maritime stand-offs.
While the White House says U.S. President Barack Obama will bring up the issue at another summit on Saturday, also in Bali, China has said it does not want it discussed, preferring to deal with the problem bilaterally amongst the states directly involved.
"The dispute which exists among relevant countries in this region over the South China Sea is an issue which has built up for several years," Wen told the ASEAN leaders, according to a copy of his remarks carried on the Foreign Ministry's website (http://www.mfa.gov.cn).
"It ought to be resolved through friendly consultations and discussions by countries directly involved. Outside forces should not, under any pretext, get involved," he added.
Japan has also expressed concern over the dispute, and India has become involved via an oil exploration deal with Vietnam in the South China Sea.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told reporters that China had sent positive signals about further discussing the code of conduct for the waters.
"I think this is an important development," the minister added.
In July, China and Southeast Asian countries agreed on a preliminary set of guidelines in the South China Sea, a rare sign of cooperation in a row that has plagued relations in the region for years.
LOANS AND TRADE
Despite the disagreements over the South China Sea, Beijing has been keen to deepen trade and economic ties with Southeast Asia, and has a free trade agreement with the bloc.
"The China-ASEAN relationship is solidly based and has great potential and a promising future," Wen said.
"China will forever be a good neighbor, good friend and good partner of ASEAN. We will work closely with you to implement all the agreements we have reached to bring more benefit to our people and make greater contributions to peace and prosperity in our region."
To this end, Wen said China would offer ASEAN another $10 billion in loans and lines of credit, including $4 billion of soft loans, on top of a similar pledge of $15 billion two years ago.
China will also set up a 3 billion yuan ($473 million) fund to expand practical maritime cooperation by promoting cooperation in environmental protection, navigational safety and combating transnational crimes, Wen added.
He said that China and ASEAN should step up cooperation in the financial field, by increasing the use of local currency swaps and "encourage the quoting of China's yuan and ASEAN currencies in each other's interbank foreign exchange."
"The world is undergoing profound and complex changes. The global economy may experience uncertainty and instability for a long time to come," he said.
"China and ASEAN should be both confident and sober-minded, keep our destiny firmly in our own hands and advance in the direction we have set to pursue our goal."
(Additional reporting Olivia Rondonuwu)
Beijing is wary of Obama's assertive China policy - Yahoo! Newsin a separate article entitled "Six ways of countering the eastward movement of American strategy," the Global Times alleged the U.S. was seeking to weaken China by nurturing hostile forces within the country while wrecking Beijing's relations with its neighbors. It suggested Beijing reduce its massive purchases of U.S. government debt — which have helped keep U.S. interest rates low — to get Washington to stop meddling in the South China Sea, where China is asserting claims to islands, reefs and atolls contested by five other governments.
"As long as we stick to our guns, time will be on our side," it said.
- Yahoo! NewsWhile Beijing's public response to President Barack Obama's more muscular China policy has been muted, behind the scenes the U.S. president's sudden moves to contest rising Chinese power are setting the capital on edge.
During his ongoing nine-day swing through the Asia-Pacific region, Obama has already unveiled a plan for an expanded U.S. Marines presence in Australia, advocated a new free-trade area that leaves China out, and called on Beijing not to buck the current world order.
The Beijing government is trying to understand the shift, tasking academic experts to review the initiatives and submit options on how to respond.
"The U.S. is overreacting," said Zhu Feng, an international relations expert at Peking University who was asked to study Washington's moves and make recommendations. He said the government may feel bewildered by the Obama initiatives.
Meanwhile, state media are warning of a new U.S. containment strategy.
"The U.S. sees a growing threat to its hegemony from China. Therefore, America's strategic move east is aimed in practical terms at pinning down and containing China and counterbalancing China's development," the official Xinhua News Agency said in a commentary.
Obama told the Australian Parliament on Thursday that the U.S. intends "to deter threats to peace" and will remain an Asia-Pacific power. On Friday, Obama will become the first U.S. president to attend a summit of East Asian leaders, a region that China sees as its rightful sphere of influence.
Obama is also pushing for the rapid expansion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a U.S.-backed free trade agreement that so far has drawn mostly smaller countries. Japan and Canada have expressed interest in joining, while Beijing has been left out.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman called it natural for the U.S. and Australia to improve relations, just as China wants to do with each, but said such improvements "should take into consideration the interests of other countries."
Despite its evident wariness, the Chinese government appears to be in watching mode. Obama has repeatedly said in public remarks that the U.S. welcomes China's rise and wants it to play a role as a responsible power. Both sides have much at stake and their economies — the world's largest and second largest — are deeply intertwined, doing $456 billion in trade, overwhelmingly in China's favor.
Beijing can ill afford a serious rift with Washington. The normally risk-averse authoritarian leadership is preparing for a politically tricky handover of power to a new generation of leaders next year. And, while the U.S. suffers from high joblessness, anemic growth and other economic woes, China also is challenged by a slowing of its robust growth that could see unemployment and banks' bad loans rise at a time when Chinese have come to expect ever-higher standards of living.
Managing those expectations has become difficult, particularly in regard to the United States. Beijing has played up its handling of Washington, especially after President Hu Jintao held a pomp-filled summit with Obama in Washington in January, and repeatedly invoked the leadership's intention to build a constructive partnership.
Yu Wanli of Peking University's School of International Studies said many Chinese would likely view Obama's new posture as a betrayal of that professed partnership and that could narrow Beijing's options, forcing a tougher response.
"Public opinion may put the Chinese government in an embarrassing situation," said Yu, who specializes in U.S.-China relations.
A reliably nationalistic media that pander to the Chinese sense of patriotism and deep-seated suspicion of the U.S. have already sounded the alarm. The Global Times, a tabloid owned by the Communist Party's People's Daily newspaper, hit hard upon the theme of besiegement. It quoted a People's Liberation Army major general as saying that the expanded U.S. training and deployment base in Australia was one of a series of U.S. installations to "encircle China from the north to the south of the Asia-Pacific region."
In a separate article entitled "Six ways of countering the eastward movement of American strategy," the Global Times alleged the U.S. was seeking to weaken China by nurturing hostile forces within the country while wrecking Beijing's relations with its neighbors. It suggested Beijing reduce its massive purchases of U.S. government debt — which have helped keep U.S. interest rates low — to get Washington to stop meddling in the South China Sea, where China is asserting claims to islands, reefs and atolls contested by five other governments.
"As long as we stick to our guns, time will be on our side," it said.
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Associated Press writers Charles Hutzler and Alexa Olesen in Beijing contributed to this report.
- Yahoo! NewsThailand is on edge after news leaked this week that the government may pursue a royal pardon for Thaksin Shinawatra, the controversial former prime minister who was ousted in a military coup, convicted of corruption and fled the country rather than serve a two-year prison sentence. "This could cause a major confrontation,'' Panthep Pongpuapan, a spokesman for the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy, told Time on Thursday. Several months of street demonstrations by the PAD preceded the coup that deposed Thaksin in 2006. Opposition politicians lambasted the government over the issue in parliament on Thursday, as social media websites exploded with contentious debates between Thaksin loyalists and critics.
Beginning in 2005, Thailand was plagued by a series of mass protests by groups opposing and supporting Thaksin. Now based in Dubai, Thaksin remains a God-like figure to the rural poor for his populist programs that sought to narrow disparities in income, and is the darling of certain business cliques that did well under his rule. He has also drawn support from some groups who are opposed to Thailand's constitutional monarchy. Thaksin is loathed by the urban middle class, business cliques that were out of favor, elements of the military and royalists who regarded Thaksin as corrupt, authoritarian and disrespectful to the monarchy — an institution many Thais revere. The increasingly violent demonstrations by the PAD (also known as the Yellow Shirts) and the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (also known as the Red Shirts) turned a country once regarded as an oasis of stability into a turbulent political cauldron, reeling from one crisis to the next. The civil strife came to a head in April and May 2010 when 91 people — mostly red shirts — were killed and parts of Bangkok and other cities burned as the military cleared Thaksin loyalists who had occupied the capital's central business district.(Read to see if Thaksin could get his passport back.)
A truce of sorts was reached in July of this year when elections ushered in a coalition government led by Yingluck Shinawatra, a younger sister of Thaksin who had never before held political office. Thaksin opponents accepted the result with the caveat that the new government not try to change laws to exonerate Thaksin or make other moves resulting in his return.
Yingluck's government has refused all comment on the pardon proposal. Constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej must ultimately approve any decision. The king, who has been hospitalized since September 2009, turns 84 on December 5, and customarily pardons thousands of prisoners on his birthday based on recommendations from the government and his advisers. But Thaksin is not a prisoner, having fled the country. Other conditions that traditionally must be met to receive a royal pardon are that the prisoner has acknowledged wrongdoing and not been convicted of either corruption or drug-related offenses. Thaksin would not appear to qualify under those terms.
The monarch is regarded as being above politics in Thailand, but the political conflicts of recent years have often been portrayed as a battle between Thaksin loyalists and royalists. If the pardon reaches the palace "it will put pressure on the King,'' Panthep said, drawing him into making a political decision. If the king refuses, or if his Privy Council chooses not to forward Thaksin's name for consideration, that could bring out Red Shirt protesters. "If they come out, so will we and other anti-Thaksin groups, and we will end up confronting each other,'' Panthep said. He added that the PAD was meeting to decide what course of action to take, including the possibility of renewed street protests.(See how Thaksin stole Yingluck's spotlight.)
An amnesty for Thaksin was raised Tuesday at the weekly Cabinet meeting. The Cabinet decided to expand the groups eligible for a pardon to include those over 60 years old whose sentence is for less than three years with no requirement of having served any time in prison. Critics have said this new category was designed specifically to include Thaksin, who boasted upon his sister's election in July that he would never serve a day in jail, and would be back home in Thailand by December.
The government did not include any news of the change in pardon rules in its regular press release summarizing Cabinet proceedings, and local newspapers reported that government officials below the rank of minister were asked to leave the meeting before the issue was discussed. Prime Minister Yingluck did notattend the Cabinet meeting, claiming she could not return to Bangkok in time from visiting flood victims upcountry because her helicopter was not equipped with radar and so could not fly at night. The military later said the helicopter is equipped with radar. News of the decision was leaked by a minister who attended the meeting, according to several local newspapers.
Thailand has been battling its worst floods in half a century and Prime Minister Yingluck's government has been strongly criticized for its uncoordinated response to the crisis. Senator Rosana Tositrakul of Bangkok, who defended Yingluck against calls for her resignation, said it was galling that the pardon was raised while the country is in the midst of a crisis. "People haven't gotten any assistance with the flood problems from this government. The one who's reaping the most benefit is the brother of the prime minister,'' she said.
Indonesia warns of 'distrust' over US troop deal - Yahoo! NewsIndonesia echoed Chinese concerns about a US military build-up in northern Australia Thursday, with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa warning it could create tension and mistrust.
The plan to post up to 2,500 Marines in the Northern Territory from mid-2012 was unveiled Wednesday during a lightning visit to Canberra by US President Barack Obama, who said it was a "commitment to the entire Asia Pacific region."
But it drew criticism from China, widely seen as the target of the move, with the foreign ministry questioning whether it was appropriate or "in the interest of countries in this region."
Natalegawa also expressed concern about the plan, which will see expanded access for US military aircraft as well as the troop boost in northern Australia, an area right on Indonesia's doorstep.
"What I would hate to see is if such developments were to provoke a reaction and counter-reaction precisely to create that vicious circle of tensions and mistrust or distrust," Natalegawa said on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"That's why it's very important when a decision of this type is taken there is transparency of what the scenario being envisaged is and there is no misunderstanding as a result."
Obama said the notion that the United States was afraid of or trying to edge out China was "mistaken" but stressed during his remarks on the Australian military boost that the Asian powerhouse would have to "play by the rules."
"I've said repeatedly and I'll say again today that we welcome a rising, peaceful China," he said in a joint press conference with Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Wednesday.
"The main message that I have said not only publicly but privately to the Chinese is that with their rise comes increased responsibilities. It's important for them to play by the rules of the road.
"There's going to be times where they're not and we will send a clear message to them that they need to be on track in terms of accepting the rules and responsibilities that come with being a world power."
The Australian troop boost is seen as a clear statement by Washington that it intends to stand up for its interests in the region.
The US has viewed with concern China's growing assertiveness in the region on territorial disputes, as have many of the Asian powerhouse's neighbours.
