FRUSTRATION: Officials in Washington say that US policy has not changed, and that they are committed to the arms deal -- regardless of the legislature's intransigence
By Charles Snyder
The Pentagon has denied imposing a deadline on Taiwan's decision on whether to purchase a dozen surveillance aircraft, saying the US will stick with President George W. Bush's offer to sell Taiwan a robust package of sophisticated weapons, regardless of how long that takes.

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China dismissed Japan's apologies for its wartime past yesterday, but Tokyo sought to cool tempers over a snub to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

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JOB WELL DONE: China threw its support behind the Uzbek dictator for shooting hundreds of `militants' in the May 13 crackdown on protesters
Uzbek President Islam Karimov on Wednesday made his first trip abroad since a bloody crackdown on protesters that many analysts say killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people, arriving in China one day after it voiced support for the authoritarian Central Asian leader.

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By Caroline Hong
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) said yesterday that he has no wish to enter the race for the KMT chairmanship, even as he chastised his would-be successors for not explaining clearly their views on cross-strait relations, a strategy for the year-end mayoral and county commissioner elections and "populism."

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