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Beijing Opposes ‘Internationalization’ of Sea Row

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao told Southeast Asian leaders Monday that negotiations to end territorial disputes in the South China Sea should only be held between claimant countries.
Wen stressed Beijing’s position during a summit with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.
Qin said Wen quoted from a 2002 deal reached between ASEAN and China in which they agreed to limit negotiations to “directly concerned” countries.
Wen said that among the principles under the 10-year-old declaration is to “oppose the internationalization of the issue”.
“So Premier Wen quoted the principles... enshrined in the declaration,” according to Qin.
Japan warned that a row over the South China Sea could damage “peace and stability” in Asia as China stalled on a plan to ease tensions and disagreements flared between the Philippines and Cambodia over the contentious territorial issue.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda challenged efforts by summit host Cambodia to limit discussions on the mineral-rich sea, where China’s territorial claims overlap those of four Southeast Asian countries and of Taiwan.
“Prime Minister Noda raised the issue of the South China Sea, noting that this is of common concern for the international community, which would have direct impact on peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific,” a Japanese government statement said after Noda met leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). That followed a statement on Sunday from Kao Kim Hourn, a Cambodian Foreign Ministry official, who said Southeast Asian leaders “had decided that they will not internationalize the South China Sea from now on.”
In a sign of Southeast Asian tensions over Chinese sovereignty claims, Philippine President Benigno Aquino disputed the Cambodian statement and said no such agreement had been reached, voicing his objections in tense final minutes of discussions between Noda and Southeast Asian leaders.
As Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen began to conclude the meeting with Noda, Aquino abruptly raised his hand and tersely interjected.

Spain’s Health Workers Protest Budget Cuts

Tens of thousands of Spanish doctors, nurses and hospital staff marched through the capital Madrid on Sunday to denounce budget cuts and privatizations, the latest protest against deeply unpopular austerity measures.
Dressed in white, the protesters chanted “Public health!” and “Health is a right. We are going to fight.”
Many demonstrators in Madrid wore small “For Sale” signs on their coats, AFP reported.
The health sector has been hard hit by the austerity policies implemented by the rightwing government of Mariano Rajoy, which is trying to cut the public deficit in the eurozone’s fourth largest economy.
And health sector staff have already hit back. For several weeks, staff have occupied about 20 hospitals in Madrid and the surrounding area to protest the regional government’s decision to privatize six facilities as part of budget cuts planned for 2013.
Jaime Rodriguez, a 33-year-old doctor from the Leganes hospital in the Madrid suburbs, said he was there “because the budget cuts are harming medical services for citizens, and because working conditions for staff are worsening”.
For example, Rodriguez said, a 90-year-old patient had to spend five days in the emergency room because there were no free beds elsewhere in the hospital.
“Health care cuts kill!” one of the many placards held by demonstrators read.
And Spaniards are increasingly being asked to shoulder their health costs. Pensioners, who previously had to pay nothing, must now pay at least 10 percent of their pharmacy bills.
“Cuts are visible in the pharmacy supplies. Certain sick people must now clamor to get treated,” said gastroenterologist Daniel Domingo, who was wearing his white doctor’s coat. Medical workers fear privatizations will lead to layoffs and deteriorating health care.
“I have been a nurse in a private hospital, where I know there are fewer resources and personnel,” said Yolanda Abebes, a 48-year-old nurse from a large Madrid hospital.
About 5,000 police officers had taken to the streets of Madrid on Saturday to protest salary cuts and the thinning of their ranks.

Karzai: US Violating Detainee Pact

Afghanistan’s president has accused US forces of continuing to capture and hold Afghans in violation of an agreement signed earlier this year between the two countries.
Hamid Karzai’s late Sunday statement, which did not include any specific demands for the US, was made days after the beginning of negotiations on a bilateral security agreement that will govern the US military presence in the country after the majority of troops draw down in 2014. Karzai’s critics say he frequently strikes populist, nationalist stances that give him leverage in talks with the Americans, AP reported.
The Afghan president said some detainees are still being held by US forces even though Afghan judges have ruled that they be released. He also decried the continued arrest of Afghans by US forces.
The two countries signed the detainee transfer pact in March but the handover of detention facilities has been slowed by the US, which has argued both that the Afghans are not ready to take over their management and insisted that the Afghan government agree to hold without trial some detainees that the US deems too dangerous to release.
“These acts are completely against the agreement that has been signed between Afghanistan and the US President,” said the statement, released by Karzai’s office after the president was briefed by judicial authorities on the transfer. He urged Afghan officials to “take serious measures” to push for taking over all responsibility for the detention center on the edge of the main US base in eastern Afghanistan.
The detainee transfer agreement was one of two pacts that were key to a broad but vague strategic partnership agreement signed by Kabul and Washington in May that set forth an American commitment to Afghanistan for years to come. The second pact covers “special operations” such as certain American raids and other conduct on the battlefield.
A third detailed pact--dubbed the bilateral security agreement--is now under negotiation, and covers logistical and legal questions such as the size and number of bases and the immunity of US forces from prosecution.
The two countries officially opened negotiations on the bilateral security agreement last week, and have given themselves a year to sign the pact.
Karzai is under pressure to give an appearance of upholding Afghan sovereignty--which he has repeatedly claimed to champion--without putting so many restrictions on US forces that an agreement becomes impossible.

Obama Urges Deeper Reforms in Myanmar

From Page 1
“We also reached agreement for the development of democracy in Myanmar and for promotion of human rights to be aligned with international standards,” he added.
Obama’s Southeast Asian trip, less than two weeks after his reelection, was aimed at showing how serious he is about shifting the US strategic focus eastwards as America winds down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The so-called “Asia pivot” is also meant to counter China’s rising influence.
The trip to Myanmar highlighted what the White House has touted as a major foreign policy achievement--its success in pushing the country’s generals to enact changes that have unfolded with surprising speed over the past year.
Tens of thousands of well-wishers, including children waving American and Burmese flags, lined Obama’s route from the airport after his arrival, cheering him as he went by.
Obama met fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, who led the struggle against military rule and is now a lawmaker, at the lakeside home where she spent years under house arrest.
Addressing reporters afterwards, Suu Kyi thanked Obama for supporting the political reform process. But, speaking so softly she was barely audible at times, she cautioned that the most difficult time was “when we think that success is in sight”.
The United States has softened sanctions and removed a ban on most imports from Myanmar in response to reforms already undertaken, but it has set conditions for the full normalization of relations, including efforts to end ethnic conflict.
In recent months, sectarian violence between majority Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslim minority in the western state of Rakhine has killed at least 167 people.
“For too long, the people of this state, including ethnic Rakhine, have faced crushing poverty and persecution. But there’s no excuse for violence against innocent people,” Obama told a packed audience for a speech at Yangon University.

China’s Leader Warns Party Of Corruption

China’s new leader Xi Jinping is highlighting corruption as a scourge that could bring down the Communist Party, though he has yet to offer any specific new proposals to stop it.
In a weekend speech that was carried on Monday by the official Xinhua News Agency, Xi told the new 25-member Politburo that the party must be vigilant against graft, noting that corruption in other countries in recent years has prompted major social unrest and the collapse of governments, AP reported.
“The large number of facts tells us that if the problem of corruption becomes increasingly severe, it will lead to the ruin of the party and the country!” Xinhua quoted Xi as saying in a speech that can be read as an indication of the priorities of the incoming administration.
Xi’s language was unusually direct for a top leader, indicating his seriousness about the problem, but his speech gave few indications of how the party could better police itself, said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a political scientist at Hong Kong Baptist University.
“He used strong words. It was clearly a warning: ‘We have to do something about this,’” Cabestan said. “Clearly, for him, the crux of the matter is corruption. The trouble is, of course, that he doesn’t tell us much about what are going to be the efficient tools or weapons he will put together to fight corruption.”
Several corruption investigations have targeted high-level leaders in recent years, most notably former Politburo member Bo Xilai, who was purged this year after an aide disclosed that Bo’s wife murdered a British businessman. Bo is accused of obstructing the investigation into the murder as well as unspecified corruption while in office.
Xi took over as China’s top leader last Thursday when he assumed the posts of party leader and head of the military commission from President Hu Jintao. Hu will retain the title of president--the ceremonial head of state--until next spring, when he hands that position to Xi as well.

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