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Sat, 08 Dec 2007 07:51:23 +0800

Blocked warships had paid first visit to Vietnam since ties with U.S. restored in 1995 East-Asia-Intel.com, December 5, 2007 Lt. Col. Steve DeMoss, left, commanding officer of the U.S. Navy ship USS Guardian, and Lt. Col. Thomas Shultz, commanding officer of the U.S.Navy ship USS Patriot, walk in Haiphong, on Nov. 14. Reuters/Kham Two U.S. Navy warships at the center of a U.S.-China dispute over port visits to Hong Kong had been in Vietnam days before Beijing turned them away. The minesweepers, USS Guardian and USS Patriot, made a port call in Hai Phong City on Nov. 14 and stayed four days. The visit was covered by local communist-run media. It was the first time U.S. Navy ships traveled to northern Vietnam since normalization of relations in 1995. Officials speculate that China's denial of a request for safe harbor in Hong Kong was turned down as a way of showing displeasure at Vietnam for allowing the ships to visit. Vietnam and China traded diplomatic protests over Chinese naval exercises at the Paracels Islands, which is claimed by both Vietnam and China. GertzFile.com GeoStrategy-Direct.com WorldTribune.Com Copyright © 2007 East West Services, Inc. All rights reserved. Beijing makes it official: 'Almost all enemies' of U.S. 'are China's friends' East-Asia-Intel.com, December 5, 2007 An official of the Chinese government last week confirmed that Beijing is supporting U.S. enemies around the world. Yuan Peng, director of the Institute of American Studies, part of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that "in the world, almost all enemies of the United States are China's friends." The rare admission confirms the view of some critics who say China's arms sales to rogue states like Iran, Syria and North Korea are based on a deliberate strategy of indirectly confronting the United States. Peng's institute, the CICIR, is an entity of the Ministry of State Security, China's main intelligence service. His remarks were included in a state-run media report. Peng said long-term strategic stability between the U.S. and China "still remain[s] doubtful." He accused the United States of attempting to "hold up the pace and scope of China's rise by economic, social and diplomatic means." "Since the U.S. attempt to curb China's rise in the political and military fields has failed, it has now applied three major means to hold up the pace and scope of China's rise," Peng stated. The methods include pressure on China to open financial markets, supporting grassroots protesters in China and attempting to "contain outward expansion of China's mode" by "urging China to cut off its relations with 'rogue nations' in an attempt to subject China to internal and external blames," he said.

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