The New Nation - Internet Edition

Taiwan edges closer to China with one nation talk

Reuters, Beijing

China and Taiwan edged closer to a resumption of fence-mending talks on Tuesday when the chairman of the island's ruling party echoed the Chinese line that both sides are part of a single nation.

China, which has claimed Taiwan as its own since their split in 1949 amid civil war, has softened its policy towards the self-ruled island from pushing for unification with the threat of force to one of preventing a declaration of independence.

"Both sides are tied by blood to the Chinese nation and this cannot be obliterated by anyone," Taiwan's Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung said in Nanjing, the capital when the KMT ruled all of China. Taiwan's new president, Ma Ying-jeou, also made the pledge-a move Beijing considers a political necessity for talks frozen since 1999 to resume-in his May 20 inauguration speech.

When the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ruled Taiwan, Beijing redefined its cherished "one China" policy to mean "both the mainland and Taiwan" instead of merely "the People's Republic of China" to try to accommodate the island.

The movement of cross-Straits relations appears glacial and opaque to most outsiders, but the "one China" policy-although defined differently by each side-is the pillar of stability in one of Asia's most dangerous flashpoints. China spurned the DPP, which was routed in the March presidential elections by the KMT. The Nationalists oppose independence but are in no hurry to get into bed with China politically.

After eight years of troubled ties between China and a DPP-ruled Taiwan, talks are set to resume under the KMT. Wu is due to meet Chinese Communist Party chief Hu Jintao in Beijing on Wednesday-the first meeting between heads of the ruling parties of China and Taiwan in six decades.

"We should all seize this new opportunity in cross-Strait relations, face up to history, face reality and look into the future," Wu said. "There are many difficulties, but so long as both sides are sincere, peaceful development will definitely have brighter prospects." For China, Wu's visit this week appears to demonstrate that the Communist Party's fundamental policy of eventually bringing Taiwan back to the fold is working.

For Ma, forging economic links is the priority and deals clinched during Wu's trip may breathe life into Taiwan's economy while he seeks to reassure the island's protector, the United States, that it is not leaping into China's arms. Ma has pledged to launch direct weekend flights between Chinese and Taiwan cities by July and initially allow up to 3,000 Chinese tourists per day to boost the island's economy.

Direct flights will shorten and cheapen time-consuming stopovers for Taiwan investors who have poured up to $100 billion in China since detente began in the late 1980s. Ma has also said he will allow currency exchange between the Chinese yuan and the Taiwan dollar, let Chinese buy Taiwan real estate and push for a common market.

But Ma has also vowed not to unify with China, declare independence or go to war during his four-year term.

On Monday, Wu was greeted at the Nanjing airport by China's minister of Taiwan affairs, Chen Yunlin.

"The sun shines again after the rain," Chen said.

The visitors and hosts observed a minute of silence to mourn victims of China's deadliest earthquake in three decades. The tremor struck the southwestern province of Sichuan on May 12, killing more than 65,000 people and leaving millions homeless.

China to evacuate 80,000 because of flood risk

AP, Beijing

A Chinese news agency says 80,000 people are to be evacuated because of a flood risk in earthquake-ravaged Sichuan province.

Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday that emergency workers aimed to evacuate the people by midnight.

They live downstream from a huge lake that was created by a massive landslide across a river during the May 12 earthquake. China on Tuesday put the death toll from the earthquake that struck Sichuan province on May 12 at 67,183, with the figure certain to rise with 20,790 listed as missing. Nearly 362,000 people were injured. Soldiers and police trekked to the Tangjiashan lake carrying dynamite ready to blast the mud and rubble blocking the flow of water from a river and creating the largest of 35 quake lakes formed when landslides triggered by the massive tremor blocked rivers.

Some 30,000 people living below the lake in and around Beichuan in the mountainous southwestern province have been evacuated as a precaution. In Mianyang, 150,000 people will have been evacuated by midnight on Tuesday, in line with a contingency plan should one third of the lake's 300 million cubic meters of water burst the dam, Xinhua news agency said.

"It's better for them to complain about the trouble that the evacuation would bring than to shed tears after the possible danger," Liu Ning, an official with the Ministry of Water Resources, was quoted as saying.

The lake had risen to 725.3 meters (2,380 feet) on Monday, only 26 meters below the lowest part of the barrier, he said.

By Monday night, around 600 engineers and soldiers had gathered at the landslip and were taking turns to work through the night with bulldozers dropped by helicopters into the area.

Iran defies demands on nuclear drive: IAEA report

AFP, Vienna

Iran continues to defy UN demands to suspend uranium enrichment and has yet to disprove allegations that it was pursuing nuclear power for military use, the UN atomic watchdog said on Monday.

In a confidential new report on Tehran's controversial atomic drive, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) complained that Iran had made little real progress on one of the most important issues still outstanding, the so-called "alleged studies". The studies allegedly carried out by Iran suggest it may have been trying to develop a nuclear warhead and also involve a process of uranium conversion, high explosives testing and a missile re-entry vehicle.

Iran has repeatedly dismissed reports that it conducted such studies as "baseless" and says the intelligence they are based on was "forged".

The IAEA insists, however, that Iran must actively disprove the allegations if it wants to convince the international community that its nuclear drive is purely peaceful. "Substantive explanations are required from Iran to support its statements on the alleged studies and on other information with a possible military dimension," the report insisted.

"The alleged studiest remain a matter of serious concern. Clarification of these is critical to an assessment of the nature of Iran's past and present nuclear programme.

The IAEA "is of the view that Iran may have additional information, in particular on high explosives testing and missile-related activities, which could shed more light on the nature of these alleged studies and which Iran should share with the agency," the report said.

Sri Lankan president vows non-stop war against rebels

AFP, Colombo

Sri Lanka's president vowed Tuesday to press on with a military campaign to crush Tamil Tiger rebels, a day after guerrillas set off a bomb inside a train killing nine and wounding 84 people.

"I will not stop till terrorism is defeated," President Mahinda Rajapakse told journalists during a meeting at his heavily guarded Temple Trees office in Colombo. "No one should have expectations that there will be a let-up in the battle against terrorism because of the frenzied attacks by the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)," the president said. Monday's bombing targeted an evening rush hour commuter train in the southern suburbs of Colombo. Officials on Tuesday raised the toll from eight to nine dead.

On May 16, another bombing inside the city killed 13 people and wounded more than 80 people. "I will leave no room for terrorism in this country," Rajapakse said, accusing the rebels of trying to "whip communal strife" on the island.

"The government will not let this happen," he added.

Rajapakse accused the LTTE of targeting civilians to offset its defeats and setbacks as security forces move steadily to regain vast swathes of land from the rebels in the island's north.

Sarkozy rejects econ austerity, keeps 35-hour week

Reuters, Paris

France will keep its 35-hour working week in order to enable employees to add tax-deductible overtime to their salaries and boost growth, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday.

Sarkozy also rejected the idea of budget austerity, saying his strategy for balancing France's budget by 2012 -- as promised to EU partners-was for the nation to generate more wealth through rising employment and increased overtime.

He has called the 35-hour week, brought in by a Socialist government 10 years ago, an "economic catastrophe," but appears reluctant to scrap it for fear of angering unions and voters. "I don't believe in austerity t What did austerity measures bring (in the past)? Higher unemployment, higher deficit and less growth," Sarkozy said during an interview on RTL radio.

"Austerity consists in squeezing spending without worrying about increasing revenues. What I want to do is control spending so that every euro cent spent is well spent, but at the same time foster growth so that revenues increase. "We will have higher returns because people will be working more." "There will always be a fixed working week and it will be 35 hours," said Sarkozy, whose mantra since year's election has been "work more to earn more."

Tax-deductible overtime beyond the 35-hour legal working limit is one of his key measures to increase purchasing power.

Nepal government warns king to leave palace

Reuters, Kathmandu

The Nepali government warned on Tuesday that it could use force to throw unpopular King Gyanendra out of the royal palace if he refuses to leave voluntarily after the 239-year-old monarchy is abolished.

A special assembly elected in April is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Wednesday and formally declare an end to the monarchy, a key part of a 2006 peace deal with Maoist former rebels that ended a decade-long civil war.

"The king must leave the palace immediately and move to the Nirmal Niwas," Peace and Reconstruction Minister Ram Chandra Poudel said, referring to Gyanendra's private home. "If he does not leave the palace then the government might have to use force to vacate the palace," he said. "This will not be good for him."

There was no immediate comment from the palace.

Many Nepalis think that the king will quietly go after the assembly vote. Gyanendra has been living in the Narayanhity royal palace in the heart of Kathmandu since ascending the throne in 2001, but he has made no public statement over his plans.

The government has banned demonstrations around major royal sites and the assembly. But Maoists and other main political parties say they are going to take to the streets on Wednesday to celebrate the monarchy's end.

The government that includes the Maoists took over control of the royal palace after Gyanendra was forced to end his absolute rule following weeks of street protests in 2006.

Anti-monarchy Maoists emerged as the largest party in elections to the 601-member assembly in April.

US millionaire admits giving cash to Olmert

AFP, Jerusalem

A US millionaire who is the key witness in the latest corruption probe against Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted in sworn testimony on Tuesday that he gave large sums of cash to the premier.

Morris Talansky's evidence in an investigation into claims that Olmert received illegal funds in the years before he became prime minister in 2006 could lead to an indictment and his resignation.

Talansky's deposition-sworn testimony that can be used later in a trial-is expected to last for several hours in Jerusalem district court.

"I gave some money to Olmert for his (election) campaigns in 1991 and 1992t He told me that he would prefer cash, and I gave him first some money from my private funds, then some money collected in the United States on his behalf," said Talansky, according to Israeli public radio.

"In 1998 also, some money-generally about 3,000 to 8,000 dollars each time-was given, always in cash, because Olmert did not want cheques," he said. Talansky added that he asked for "nothing in return". Questions from state prosecutor Moshe Lador and Jerusalem prosecutor Eli Abarvanel are being translated from Hebrew into English for the 75-year-old financier.

The American businessman said he got to know Olmert, 62, around the time of the 1991 Gulf War.

"He was then health minister. He was a prince of the Likud (the right-wing political party), an intelligent man that I liked a lot and who, in my view, should be helped."

Talansky's giving sworn testimony was approved last week by Israel's high court even while the anti-fraud police investigation is still under way.