The world's most powerful countries revealed deep divisions on Iraq yesterday, with Russia, China and France refusing to toe Washington's uncompromising line.
The US has proposed a tough new UN resolution paving the way for possible war against Iraq, but Britain is the only other of the five veto-wielding permanent Security Council members to back it.
Russia joined France to rule out mention of automatic use of force in the draft and called instead for the swift return of weapons inspectors to Baghdad under existing UN agreements.
"Attempts to make the UN Security Council subscribe to automatic use of force against Iraq are unacceptable for us," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov told Interfax news agency.
In Paris, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder agreed there was much common ground between their positions on Iraq, which contrast starkly with Washington and London's interventionist approach.
China joined the dovish chorus, calling for a political solution to the Iraqi crisis and the smooth resumption of UN weapons inspections.
US President George W. Bush secured domestic support on Wednesday for his anti-Iraq campaign as leaders of the House of Representatives closed ranks behind possible military force.
But with opposition abroad ever more vocal, Washington has hesitated in introducing to the Security Council its draft resolution, which demands Iraq open every inch of its territory to inspectors or face attack.
Baghdad has already rejected the draft resolution and other countries think the best route to disarmament is to send inspectors back quickly under existing agreements.
"What the US and the British have provided us with only strengthens us in the correctness of our position in favour of the quickest possible resumption of inspection activities in Iraq," Russia's Saltanov said.
Iraq has said it will allow inspectors, who left in 1998, back into the country, but it has indicated it wants some limits on their work.
Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix reports to the Security Council on Thursday after reaching agreement with Baghdad on letting inspectors back in.
Blix had intended to send some advance teams to Iraq in about two weeks but the US is expected to tell him to hold off and wait for a new resolution.
Doves fear the draft, which allows a UN member, such as the US, to determine if Iraq has violated UN demands and follow up with military action, is merely a cover for unilateral US action.
Bush warned on Wednesday that if Saddam "persists in his defiance, the use of force may become unavoidable".
Diplomats at the UN said France had threatened to push its own resolution on Iraq if Washington introduced the proposals without any compromise.
A key Security Council diplomat said Paris wanted some of the "wilder" provisions taken out of the new US text.
Otherwise, France would circulate rival proposals for a two-stage approach, the first offering Iraq a chance to cooperate but saying the council would consider "any measure" if Baghdad failed to comply with its obligations. The second resolution would threaten force if necessary.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
RSS