[Mb-civic] Guardian Unlimited: China welcomes Uzbek president

[harry.sifton at sympatico.ca]

Harry spotted this on the Guardian Unlimited site and thought you should see it.

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Note from Harry:

If America was not so dependant on China for manufactured goods (Wal-mart, Nike etc..) then proper sactions could be put into place. The American consumer does not care about terrorism only the price of goods. 
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To see this story with its related links on the Guardian Unlimited site, go to http://www.guardian.co.uk

China welcomes Uzbek president
Agencies
Thursday May 26 2005
The Guardian


China welcomed the Uzbek president, Islam Karimov, to a summit meeting yesterday, saying the two countries stood united against terrorism. 

With western countries calling for an independent inquiry into the reported killing of hundreds of civilian protesters earlier this month, Mr Karimov received support and gestures of friendship from China. 

The Chinese premier, Hu Jintao, called Mr Karimov "an old friend of the Chinese people" during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, China's parliament. 

"For a long time, you've made efforts toward friendship with China. For this, we express high praise," Mr Hu told Mr Karimov yesterday. 

Mr Karimov responded: "China is of course one of the world's most important countries. We see this visit as a  new important stage in bilateral relations." 

Reuters reported that 14 agreements were signed by the two parties, including a deal for a $600m oil joint venture and a treaty of friendship and cooperation.

The welcome highlighted China's focus on strategic stability in the former Soviet states of central Asia, a region that Beijing considers a hotbed of Islamic militancy that could spread to its own territory. 

Chinese state television showed the two leaders smiling and shaking hands. Earlier, Chinese officials had met Mr Karimov at the Beijing airport with a red-carpet ceremony and bouquets of flowers. 

"The peace and stability of the area is important to the environment of the border areas in China," said Professor Zhan Yao, a central Asia specialist at the Shanghai institute of foreign studies. 

The May 13 protests in the eastern city of Andijan were triggered by the trial of Muslim businessmen charged with supporting extremists. Troops moved in and shooting broke out. 

Uzbek opposition groups and human rights activists claim more than 700 people, mostly unarmed civilians, were killed. If true, that would make it one of the deadliest crackdowns on protesters since the massacre of demonstrators in China's Tiananmen Square in 1989. 

Mr Karimov's government put the death toll at 169 and said most were militants. 

Tashkent has resisted calls by Nato and the EU for an independent investigation of the events. The US, which relies on an Uzbek airbase as part of its "war on terror", has also criticised the crackdown and said it hopes for more democracy in Uzbekistan. 

The unrest occurred about 120 miles from China's western region of Xinjiang, which shares Uzbekistan's Muslim religion and Turkic language roots. Chinese authorities claim Uighur separatists in the area are fighting for an independent theocratic state and are part of an international terrorist network. 

"East Turkestan separatists have carried out a lot of terrorist incidents in China. The Uzbekistan side fully understands and supports the Chinese government's stance on this issue," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Kong Quan.

He said that China's leaders "firmly support the efforts by the authorities of Uzbekistan to strike down the three forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism".

While the three-day visit was a courtesy trip scheduled after Mr Hu visited Tashkent last year, it gave Mr Karimov a way to underline that China is on his side. 

"This is a good opportunity for President Karimov," said Joshua Lung, an assistant research fellow at the institute of international relations in Taiwan's National Chengchi University. "He's facing international pressure, but in China or Russia, he will get the support he needs." 

Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited