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All-round cooperation
Yan Wei
CHINA and some former Soviet Union republics have caught the world’s
attention with their high-profile joint antiterrorism initiatives,
especially those within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO). Their cooperation is not limited to security alone,
but covers a wide range of fields from agriculture to
telecommunications. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s recent trip to
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belarus and Russia has injected new vigor into
China’s relationships with them. Wen visited the countries on November
2-6. During the trip, he also attended the sixth SCO prime ministers’
meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In Russia, he attended the closing
ceremony of the yearlong program of the “Year of China in Russia” and
held a regular meeting with his Russian counterpart Viktor Zubkov, the
first since Zubkov took office in September.
“The most prominent achievements of Wen’s trip lie in the fields of
antiterrorism and energy,” said Yang Chuang, a professor specializing in
Russian studies at the China Foreign Affairs University. China vowed to
strengthen energy cooperation with Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, he said.
Wen’s trip also deepened China’s consensus with these countries on
combating the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism.
The trip’s achievements were quite comprehensive, with agreements
reached in many different areas, Yang said. Wen raised a four-point
proposal on enhancing SCO cooperation at the SCO prime ministers’
meeting on November 2. He proposed feasibility studies on agricultural
cooperation, including the development of agricultural technology,
information exchange and the processing of farm products. He also called
for scientific and technological cooperation among SCO members and
suggested that government departments and the business community work
together on scientific and technological research, personnel training
and the commercialization of research achievements.
At this year’s SCO summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in August, the heads
of state signed a series of important documents, which moved the
organization into a new stage of “pragmatic cooperation,” said Xu Tao,
an expert on SCO studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary
International Relations. The prime ministers’ meeting is meant to be a
forum on the implementation of the goals put forth at the summit, he
said. Discussions on formulating plans on cooperation in the fields of
antiterrorism, transportation, energy and culture, setting specific
near-term tasks, and promoting the organization’s pragmatic cooperation
topped the agenda of the Tashkent meeting, he said. Although Wen
regularly attends the annual SCO prime ministers’ meeting, his visits to
Turkmenistan and Belarus this year have special implications, Yang said.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has inherited his
predecessor Saparmyrat Niyazov’s friendly policy toward China, he said.
As a major energy producer in Central Asia, Turkmenistan benefits from
strengthened cooperation with China, he said.
During Wen’s visit, China and Uzbekistan issued a joint communiqué,
pledging further efforts to strengthen bilateral relations in various
fields. The two countries promised to raise their two-way trade volume
to $1.5 billion by 2010. They also agreed to restore and put into
operation a road connecting China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan at an early
date. China will encourage Chinese companies to import more cotton
directly from Uzbekistan. China and Turkmenistan signed a natural gas
supply contract in July during Berdymukhamedov’s visit to China. Under
the contract, China National Petroleum Corporation, the largest Chinese
oil producer, will import from Turkmenistan 30 billion cubic meters of
natural gas annually through the planned Central Asia Gas Pipeline for
30 years. In a meeting with Wen, Berdymukhamedov said the Turkmenistan
would work closely with its Chinese partners on implementing the natural
gas pipeline project.
In the joint communiqué issued by China and Belarus, the two countries
vowed to offer mutual support over issues that bear on their core
interests. The two countries agreed to promote bilateral cooperation in
large-scale projects and raise the level of their economic and
technological cooperation. China will encourage its enterprises to
invest and conduct trade cooperation in Belarus. Exchanges in science
and technology, education, culture, health care, sports and tourism and
cooperation between local regions of the two countries will also be
strengthened. China and Russia have boosted their cooperation in recent
years, Yang said. Notably, they have reached an agreement to strengthen
provincial cooperation between the five provinces and autonomous regions
in north China-Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin and
Liaoning-and the Russian Far East. The two countries have plans to build
cross-border roads and railways, he added.
After Wen and Zubkov held their meeting on November 6, nine agreements
were signed, including a joint communiqué. Of the agreements, four
concern their cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear power. The two
countries also agreed to complete the construction of an oil pipeline
connecting China and Russia by the end of 2008. Yang believes all these
measures will help the two countries realize the goal of raising their
bilateral trade volume, which stood at $33.4 billion last year, to $60
billion-$80 billion by 2010. Uzbekistan, the most populous nation in
Central Asia, was an important commercial hub along the ancient Silk
Road, a series of ancient trade routes spanning various regions of
Central Asia and China. In June 2004, the SCO, founded in June 2001 by
China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan,
launched its Regional Antiterrorism Structure in Tashkent. This body
coordinates antiterrorism activities among SCO member countries. China
and Uzbekistan have cooperated smoothly within the SCO framework. The
two countries also signed a bilateral agreement in 2003 to work together
to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism.
Their bilateral trade volume reached $970 million in 2006, up 42.8
percent from the previous year. It hit $826 million in the first nine
months of this year, up 3.6 percent from the same period last year.
Tashkent hosts the first Confucius Institute in Central Asia. The
institute, aiming to promote Chinese language and culture, is attracting
an increasing number of students. China-Turkmenistan Relations
China-Turkmenistan relations have flourished since the two countries
established diplomatic ties in 1992. Mutual political trust and support
on major issues of common concern are the two prominent features of
their friendly cooperation.
The two countries’ economic and trade cooperation has made great headway
in recent years. Given their emerging complementary advantages in
markets, technology, capital and resources, their cooperative programs
in major fields such as energy, transportation, telecommunications,
chemicals, building materials, textiles and food processing keep
advancing. Their bilateral trade volume reached $179 million in 2006, up
62.4 percent from the previous year. It hit $212 million in the first
nine months of this year, up 124.6 percent from the same period last
year. Energy is a priority in China-Turkmenistan relations. Construction
of the planned gas pipeline between the two countries started in August.
When it is completed, Turkmenistan will provide China with 30 billion
cubic meters of natural gas annually for 30 years.
China and Turkmenistan have stepped up their joint efforts to crack down
on terrorism, separatism and extremism, including “Eastern Turkistan”
terrorist forces, since they signed a bilateral agreement in 2006 to
cooperate in combating the three evil forces. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov
paid his first state visit to China in July after he became
Turkmenistan’s president in February. He signed a joint statement with
Chinese President Hu Jintao, identifying a clear way to consolidate and
further develop friendly cooperative relations between the two
countries.
China-Belarus Relations
China-Belarus relations have undergone healthy and stable development
since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992. There
have been frequent high-level visits between the two countries in recent
years. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has paid four state
visits to China. China and Belarus share similar positions on many major
international issues. Economic and trade cooperation is also an
important part of their bilateral relations. Their two-way trade soared
to nearly $800 million in 2006 from less than $460 million in 2004. From
January to July this year, it reached $466 million, up 71.8 percent from
the same period last year. China is planning to expand its investment in
Belarus and participate in a number of cooperative programs. Given the
two countries’ strong cultural links, an increasing number of Belarusian
students are learning Chinese. A Confucius Institute was set up in
January at Belarusian State University in Minsk. To date, the number of
Chinese students in Belarus has exceeded 1,300 and is on the rise.
China-Russia Relations
China and Russia forged a strategic partnership in 1996. Since then,
their relations have made huge strides and reached an unprecedented
level. The presidents of the two countries have met five times this
year, jointly putting forward principles and goals for the future
development of their partnership. The two governments have taken
concrete measures in light of these to promote bilateral cooperation.
Their bilateral trade volume reached $34.9 billion from January to
September, and is expected to exceed $40 billion this year. Russia’s
export of electromechanical products to China has increased for the
first time in recent years, marking an improvement in the two countries’
trade mix.
China and Russia work together in the fields of investment, energy,
science and technology, aviation, space, transportation, environmental
protection and culture. Their governments also encourage cooperation at
local levels. The “Year of Russia in China 2006” and the “Year of China
in Russia 2007,” during which a total of more than 500 events were
staged, have further enhanced the two nation’s understanding and
traditional friendship.
(The Daily Mail-Beijing Review Articles Exchange
Item)
Musharraf: The day of Khaki
President
Nasim Zehra
PAKISTAN’S second longest serving Army Chief, Pervez Musharraf, has
given up the coveted position. Never before in Pakistan’s history has
this been done. Musharraf gave the institution 43 years of his life. He
reorganised the armed forces, cut down the army’s flab, reequipped it,
focused on the weapons requirement of the Air Force and the Navy.
Musharraf oversaw the most difficult period for the Pakistan Army. He
tried to ideologically reorient the army which was tutored to fight the
Afghan war in the eighties in the name of national interest, religious
zeal and international peace.
In his closing days as the Army Chief, Musharraf opted for another coup.
He imposed a state of emergency on the country and issued a Provisional
Constitutional Order and under the PCO, he has bestowed upon himself
uncountable, unconstitutional and unlimited powers. Subsequently,
General Musharraf has transferred those powers to his person, the
civilian president. Hence, as he relinquishes the post of the Army
Chief, the criticism against his person who still enjoys
unconstitutional powers is likely to recede. Courtesy his November 3
blunder, General and President Musharraf has become much weakened as a
transitional figure. Despite his retirement, the Army will back
President Musharraf. He is the one they are comfortable with, he remains
their commander-in-chief and the Army commanders are his trusted men who
also view him as a protector of national and corporate interest. The
textbook wisdom that removing the uniform will automatically weaken
Musharraf is not entirely true.
However, he will remain the Army’s man until such time that he becomes a
politically costly figure for them. To what extent that will happen will
depend on the Opposition’s politics and on Musharraf’s response. The
Army leadership will remain acutely sensitive to any source of political
turmoil at a time when it is engaged in the difficult task of
establishing internal peace and security. Simultaneously, the Army
leadership will have to deal with the problems of the institution
becoming the target of major criticism for its interference in politics,
for polarising the society, for mishandling the war on terrorism, for
placing military men in civilian posts and no less for turning sections
of the Army into a land mafia.
Musharraf’s weakest point remained political re-engineering. While
second only to general Zia ul Haq as the longest serving Army Chief,
like Zia ul Haq, Musharraf also attempted to engineer change in
Pakistani politics. Zia wanted the end of the Bhutto name. He sent him
to the gallows. Musharraf said he wanted an end to the Bhutto and the
Sharif names. Their corruption he said disqualified them as leaders. He
wanted new talent in Pakistani politics. However, he was no Zia ul Haq
and the 21st century allowed no military ruler the free hand to opt for
judicial murder the Zia way. Instead in Musharraf’s tenure, Musharraf’s
political mastermind brought in the Chaudaries to replace the Sharifs.
Musharraf agreed to Sharif’s decade long exit from Pakistan, the MQM was
strengthened, the MMA alliance was facilitated, the first ever split in
the quarter century old party PPP was engineered, the pro-Musharraf PML-Q
led alliance was garnered. His prime blunders also included the
formation of the PML-Q, the holding of the presidential referendum and
the killing of Bugti.
Other tools to re-engineer Pakistan’s political landscape included the
use of Intelligence agencies to ‘tame’ and ‘frame’ politicians.
Especially during the 2002 elections, the ISI and IB were involved in
acquiring and clearing PML-Q candidates and the National Accountability
Bureau helped to bargain with candidates. All of Musharraf’s strong
personality traits, including candidness, boldness and open-mindedness,
were not sufficient for him to even understand the greys , the
imponderables of politics. He never understood the power of the subtle
and the unstated. He had hoped to create a new party using the elected
nazims, he had hoped to train new leaders by appointing young minister
of States. None of it worked.
Musharraf an unquestionable patriot was never fit to be the
politician-president. Instead of remaining above the fray, he all but
joined the PML-Q. With his anger and intolerance towards the PPP and PML-N,
he could never have been the fair referee. But often the influence of
these personal traits end where the logic and power of the context
begins. Musharraf a soldier who had vowed to serve his country and
institution well fell prey to the power of the circumstances. He rebuked
politicians, and yet it was the political intangible of legitimacy that
caused the unravelling of his authority and stature that he enjoyed
during his initial years.
Ultimately lack of legitimacy overrode everything else. Musharraf’s
personal traits cracked under the weight of political illegitimacy. His
tolerance and open-mindedness retreated and intolerance and impatience
took over. He trashed the Constitution, he dismantled an independent
judiciary, he imprisoned thousands and he gagged the media. He sought
legitimacy through all the illegitimate means. It was never a winnable
formula. Despite all this for Musharraf’s contributions to handling
Pakistan’s crisis periods, history will remember him as a patriot. He
piloted Pakistan ably through the worst natural disaster, through the
disastrous AQ Khan crisis and through the 2002 near-war situation with
India. Despite the problems in handling the war on terrorism, Musharraf
did negotiate Pakistan well internationally through the challenging post
9/11 period. He also emerged as an effective spokesman espousing the
political causes of Muslims hitherto ignored by the West on one hand and
called for internal reform within Muslim societies.
Finally, Musharraf’s khaki presidency should be a lesson for all
generals on where never to tread, if their objective is to serve the
country well. In moments of candid reflection, Musharraf may tell
himself that ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’. Indeed it
is. Pakistan’s politics is back to square one. The khaki-president
barely understood the power of the process, of Constitutional democracy
and above all, rule of law.
—Khaleej Times
Want to do business in Africa? Read on
Joyce Njeri
WHAT does the Middle East and
Africa have in common? The answer is, tremendous potential for growth.
These two regions are currently experiencing rapidly growing economies.
If you want to speak of the potential for growth, in Africa, it’s nearly
limitless, for this is the most mineral-rich region in the world and
plenty of multinational companies do enormous levels of work there. But
not all countries in Africa offer an environment conducive to business.
Most of them are still struggling due to civil strifes, internal wars
and other factors like insecurity and unfriendly business environment.
In this article, I’ve tried to give you a guide to African countries
that are ripe for investment and doing business, based on two important
research studies recently released by the World Bank and the Kennedy
School of Governance at Harvard University.
Property investors have crossed many borders in a global hunt for yield,
but few have taken full advantage of opportunities in Africa. To my
knowledge, many of these investors lack sufficient resources and market
knowledge to establish a strong presence in the continent, and therefore
I hope this helps to bring to the fore the continent’s potential and
hotspots for setting up your investments. The WB’s report is titled
‘Doing Business 2008’, while the Harvard one is called ‘The best
governed African countries’. According to the money-lender document,
Africa in general recorded a GDP growth rate of above five per cent in
the last three years, a factor that has encouraged direct foreign
investment. As a result, the continent’s commercial and residential
markets are growing. The property market is always a good indicator of
the performance of any economy.
Therefore, the following African countries should be the first nations
people think of when they decide to look for overseas exposure. Of the
52 countries that make up the continent, only three made it to the World
Bank’s top 10 listing as burgeoning financial and technological
powerhouses. This year, Egypt topped the list of reformers that are
making it easier to do business. The country’s reforms went deep with 5
of the 10 areas studied by ‘Doing Business’, and it greatly improved its
position in the global rankings as a result. This North African country
cut the minimum capital required to start a business, from 50,000
Egyptian pounds to just 1,000 and halved the time and cost of start-up.
It also eased the bureaucracy that builders face in getting construction
permits and it established a new private credit bureau that will soon be
making it easier for borrowers to get credit. Besides Egypt, the other
top 10 reformers are Ghana and Kenya.—Khaleej Times
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