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30 January 2002 |
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Tests of the U.S. missile defense shield have raised alarm in Beijing (CNN) -- Beijing has hit out at what it says is the new American military policy of emphasizing hi-tech conventional weapons and missile defense mechanisms such as the controversial missile shield. In an unusually hard-hitting commentary Wednesday the Liberation Army Daily -- the mouthpiece of the Chinese army -- said the developments were aimed at ensuring U.S. global dominance and "boosting an America-led, unipolar world order." The piece, written by military theorists Wang Guosheng and Li Wei, said the Pentagon realized in the course of the Afghan war that there were limits on the efficacy of nuclear weapons. Citing a recently issued Pentagon paper, Wang and Li pointed out that Washington would henceforward rely on both nuclear and conventional capacities. However, the commentary warned that the U.S. was developing miniscule nuclear weapons to be used alongside conventional ones and that the chances of such nuclear weapons being used had increased. Civilian leaders including President Jiang Zemin have given muted reactions to developments ranging from the Afghan war to President George W. Bush's decision to boost the American military budget. However, military analysts in Beijing said the generals were much more concerned about America's "unilateralist" diplomacy as well as the expansion of American power in Central Asia. Taking on terror Meanwhile, Beijing hosted on Tuesday the first work-level meeting of experts from the defense ministries of member countries from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The SCO, which groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, was formed in mid-2001 with a view of boosting security and fighting terrorism in the Central Asian area. The official Xinhua news agency quoted the Chinese Vice-Chief of General Staff General Xiong Guangkai as saying closer military cooperation between the six countries would contribute to "peace, tranquility and stability of the region." No details about the proceedings of the meeting were given by official media. However, most of the participants were mid-ranking officials from the international military cooperation departments of the various armies, and Kazakhstan merely sent its Beijing-based military attaché to the meeting. Western diplomats said Beijing was worried about the future development of the SCO, whose predecessor, the Shanghai Five, was conceived in the mid-1990s partly to counter the eastward expansion of NATO. However, in the wake of the Afghan war, a number of SCO countries including Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have forged military ties with the U.S.
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