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China walks a fine line with U.S.

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE FEB. 7 . China, a nuclear power with veto rights as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, is walking a fine line of solidarity with the U.S. in its status as a nuclear superpower, and of opposition to America's perceived unilateral overdrive to dispossess Iraq of its existing stockpile of weapons of mass destruction and to disarm Baghdad of its suspected capabilities to make and deliver new WMD.

With the U.S. President, George W. Bush, warning Iraq that "the game is over" insofar as Saddam Hussein's tactical moves to avert a Washington-led war is concerned over the nuclear issue, Beijing's comments on America's `evidence' against Baghdad illustrate the Chinese diplomacy of talking tough to the U.S. without at all treading on its toes in any manner.

Speaking to reporters after the U.S. unveiled `evidence' against Iraq

during a special session of the U.N. Security Council, the Chinese Foreign Minister, Tang Jiaxuan, hailed the American initiative of this unprecedented magnitude as a factor that could increase (the) `transparency' of the U.N. process on this issue. The U.S. move, Mr. Tang noted, was also "consistent with the spirit of (the Council's) Resolution 1441" which had mandated the ongoing international inspection of Iraq's WMD programme.

While these observations are in line with China's current policy of maintaining a high degree of solidarity with the U.S. as regards the common denominator of nuclear non-proliferation wherever feasible, Mr. Tang's parallel comments about the sustainable relevance of the U.N. weapons inspectors fly in the face of America's impatience with the time-consuming inspections.

Taking the line that the `evidence' tendered by Washington would still need to be processed by the U.N. inspectors, Mr. Tang maintained that Iraq, too, should walk the extra mile to adopt a more `constructive' and `proactive' attitude so as to win the confidence of the international community and stave off a possible U.S.-led war.

The message behind the Chinese Foreign Minister's comments is that Beijing would seek to protect its permanent interests as a world power even while trying to influence America's thinking and winning its friendship, according to diplomatic observers in the region.

The Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, has told the House of Representatives Budget Committee in Tokyo today that "it is desirable," even if not entirely necessary, that a new resolution is adopted by the Security Council before any military action is taken against Iraq.

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