The US hit determined opposition from Russia and France over its warlike stance on Iraq yesterday, threatening its bid for tough new UN-imposed arms inspection rules as experts met in Vienna to discuss them.
Russia and France, both with veto powers in the UN Security Council which is to consider a US-drafted resolution on Iraq, separately rebuked Washington.
Russia rapped Washington for sending its warplanes to strike a southern Iraq target on Sunday, while France slammed the threat of military force contained in the US draft proposal at the UN.
China also remained sceptical of the US proposal. An envoy from Britain handed the draft to officials in Beijing and China -- which has already expressed its misgivings -- was reflecting on it, a British embassy official said.
Amid the diplomatic war of words, chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix began talks with Iraqi officials in Vienna yesterday, saying he expected unlimited access to sites on any return by his team to Iraq after a nearly four-year gap.
Speaking to reporters before the talks to work out details of the UN's return to search for any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in Iraq, Blix was asked if there would be any limitations on the sites open to inspectors.
"No, not that I'm aware of," he said.
UN inspection teams left Iraq in December 1998 on the eve of a US-British bombing raid intended to punish Baghdad for allegedly not cooperating with the inspectors.
Yesterday's talks were the first test of Iraq's cooperation since Baghdad agreed on Sept. 16 to the unconditional return of the inspectors under threat of a US military strike.
"We would like to ensure that if and when inspections come about, we will not have any clashes inside [Iraq]. We would rather have these things outside, in advance," Blix said.
Mark Gwozdecky, a spokesman for the UN's Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is hosting the talks said the discussions yesterday were moving along nicely. Gwozdecky also said inspectors would abide by any UN resolution that was passed.
"If the Security Council decides to issue a new directive or resolution, of course we will follow that," he said. "In the meantime, we have these practical arrangements that we need to see eye-to-eye on with the Iraqis."
Gwozdecky said that even if the Security Council passed the new US draft resolution, UN inspectors and Baghdad would still need to agree on the practical arrangements for their return -- accomodation, security, communications and other issues.
The administration of US President George W. Bush has proposed that Iraq be given one week to accept demands to disarm and 30 days to declare all its weapons of mass destruction programs.
The Security Council draft threatens military action if Iraq fails to comply and France reaffirmed its opposition yesterday, warning such an approach could threaten international stability.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
RSS