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Cheney criticizes China's arms buildup
2007-02-22
Vice President Dick Cheney said Friday that China's recent anti-satellite weapons test and a rapid military buildup were "not consistent" with its stated aim of a peaceful rise as a global power. Speaking in Sydney, Cheney also expressed wariness about North Korea's commitment to a landmark deal announced last week on ending the country's nuclear programs. As anti-war demonstrators clashed with police outside the hotel where Cheney was speaking, the vice president also expressed gratitude to Australia for sending troops to the Iraq war, which he said must be won or terrorists would be emboldened worldwide. Cheney praised China for playing an "especially important" role in the six-nation negotiations that resulted in the North Korea deal, under which the North is to seal its main nuclear reactor and allow international inspections in exchange for fuel oil. "Other actions by the Chinese government send a different message," Cheney told the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue, a private organization that promotes ties between the two countries. "Last month's anti-satellite test, China's continued fast-paced military buildup are less constructive and are not consistent with China's stated goal of a peaceful rise," he said. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment on Cheney's remarks. Many government offices were closed Friday for the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday. China says it advocates the peaceful use of space and has called for international negotiations on a space weapons treaty. Cheney said the North Korea deal represented "a first hopeful step" that would "bring us closer" to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula -- but he also sounded a note of caution. "We go into this deal with our eyes open," he said. "In light of North Korea's missile test last July, its nuclear test in October and its record of proliferation and human rights abuses, the regime in Pyongyang has much to prove." Washington and key Asian allies such as Japan have expressed concern that China's Jan. 11 firing of a missile at a defunct weather satellite -- making it only the third nation after the United States and Russia to use weapons beyond the Earth's atmosphere -- undermined efforts to keep weapons out of space. China says the test was for scientific purposes. Also, China said in late December it was strengthening its military to thwart any attempt by Taiwan to push for independence, but vowed that it was committed to the peaceful development of its 2.3 million-strong military, the world's largest. Cheney praised Prime Minister John Howard, who sent 2,000 troops to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, saying Australians had won the respect of the world through their support of the fight against terror. He said that if the U.S.-led coalition leaves Iraq before domestic forces can handle security, radical factions would battle for control, and the violence would spread throughout the country and beyond. "Having tasted victory in Iraq, jihadists would look for new missions," joining the Taliban fighting in Afghanistan and spreading "sorrow and discord" across the Middle East and further afield, he said. "Such chaos and mounting danger does not have to occur, it is however the enemy's objective," Cheney said. "For the sake of our own long-term security, we have a duty to stand in their way." Outside, protesters waved placards saying "Go home Cheney" and "Bring the troops home." Three people were arrested as police clashed with about 50 demonstrators. Ten people were arrested at a similar demonstration shortly before Cheney arrived in Australia late Thursday. Cheney was to hold talks Saturday with Howard, a staunch ally of Washington who has become a rarity by offering more, not fewer, troops for Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq, Afghanistan and North Korea are expected to dominate the talks with Howard, who is under increasing political pressure to set an exit strategy for the 1,400 Australian troops who remain in and around Iraq. Among the protesters in Sydney on Friday was former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib, who called for the release of the lone Australian still held at the U.S. naval base at Cuba, David Hicks. A group of three men held a counter-protest nearby with a banner reading: "The world needs more men like Dick Cheney -- we love America." Cheney and Howard are expected to discuss Hicks, a former kangaroo skinner captured in Afghanistan who has been locked up without trial at Guantanamo for more than five years. Under growing public pressure, and with Hicks looming as an issue at elections due later this year, Howard has begun pushing U.S. officials to deal with Hicks' case more quickly.
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