Posted on 07/05/2005 11:49:21 PM PDT by familyop
Leaders of a six-nation security bloc led by Beijing and Moscow called for a deadline to be set for the withdrawal of US forces from bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
The presidents of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which comprises Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and China, signed a declaration calling for deadlines to be set on the closure of airbases used by US forces in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
"Considering that the active phase of the military anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan has finished, member states... consider it essential that the relevant participants in the anti-terrorist coalition set deadlines on the temporary use" of bases in the SCO area, the declaration read.
The two main coalition bases, one at Karshi-Khanabad in Uzbekistan, the other at Manas in Kyrgyzstan, have each been used to support US-led operations in Afghanistan since 2001.
Germany also has a few hundred military personnel, most of them engineering and medical staff, at a separate base in Uzbekistan, Termez, while a few hundred French forces work from Tajikistan's main airport in Dushanbe.
The declaration also included a call for "non-interference in the internal afairs of sovereign states," seemingly a swipe at growing Western influence in Central Asia, which Moscow has long considered its sphere of influence.
Analysts see the declaration as a blow to US moves to set up a security line across Central Asia to protect vital oil interests and create a barrier against growing terrorism in the region.
The SCO summit marks the first such gathering since popular protests toppled Askar Akayev's regime in Kyrgyzstan in March and a military crackdown in Uzbekistan in May in which hundreds of people are feared to have died.
The leaders' declaration reflects repeated complaints by leaders such as Uzbek President Islam Karimov who have suggested that the West was behind uprisings in three former Soviet republics in the last two years, Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan.
The demand for deadlines for the base closures comes despite a recent assurance made by Kyrgyz interim President Kurmanbek Bakiyev that his country would honor existing agreements on maintaining foreign bases in the country.
It reflects ongoing rivalry between Washington and Moscow over their countries' respective roles in the former Soviet Union, as the United States has been pressuring Russia to withdraw leftover bases from Georgia.
What a joke. There need be no deadline if we were invited in. We will leave when the individual countries ask us to and ,yes, we will offer them incentives not to ask.
Good post. The Great Game continues. I've spent too much time at Karshi-Khanabad. I won't cry when we pack up and leave that dump.
In Putin's Russia's mind, regime changes in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan signal the end of their influence and beginning of yours in their own backyard.
But on the other hand, don't think Putin is always on PR China's side. He is one smart fellow who actually doesn't concede much to China on issues like border, oil pipeline route, and selling of the most cutting-edge military technology. There are plenty among Chinese circles who know that Putin is waiting for China and Taiwan/Japan/US to start war and then when China starts to crumble, as it certainly will in event of the war, and THEN he will move in and annex at least China's Northeast (Manchuaria), Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang (or Eastern Turkistan) in the name of "restoring order". In otehr words, he patiently waits until China crumbles and then he will move in and divide the spoils like a cunning wolf. Putin is one cunning despot that we shouldn't underestimate.
That's no dagger. That's anticipation of the artery clogging pain of the inevitable invasion of the Monster Thickburger. Kapitalism good. /sarcasm
This is great news for Tibet and Taiwan.
The presidents of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which comprises Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and China, signed a declaration calling for deadlines to be set on the closure of airbases used by US forces in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. ==
It is stupid on case of Russia at least.
American bases defend russian southern border. Bring on itself the anger of all fundamentalists in region. If american base went homethen those islamists will switch on thier seciular goverment then possibly on Russia.
This singing is one of things which I don't like in policy of Putin.
Assuming that the end comes soon.
FYI ping
China activates bomb shelters - June 28, 2005
Yeah...isn't it? From my files:
April 30, 2001 - Russian military forces intervened in a mock nuclear conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan during strategic exercises that included Russian preparations to use nuclear weapons on U.S. forces in Asia, The Washington Times has learned.
Russian forces help China in mock conflict
Feb 2002 - China's military is covertly buying U.S. commercial satellite photographs of Taiwan that U.S. intelligence officials say will be used to target the island with the mainland's growing arsenal of cruise and ballistic missiles. Satellite photographs of most of the island are being purchased by China through a South Korean company, U.S. intelligence officials say.
Nov 2003 - In a tough statement, the Vice-Minister at Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office Wang Zaixi said Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's recent pro-separatist activities had crossed Beijing's "red line" and that they "run the risk of triggering a war" with the mainland. "War will break out if the island declares formal independence," state media on Wednesday quoted Wang as saying.
July 26, 2004 - About 18,000 Chinese troops using their country's most advanced weapons systems last week rehearsed coordinated air, sea and ground attacks on Dongshan, an island in the South China Sea that resembles Taiwan in terrain and weather.
Feb 7, 2005 - Quietly, with almost no notice taken in the U.S. media, Russia and China have just stepped up their military cooperation to a level not seen in half a century since the end of the Korean War.
Mar 8, 2005 China unveiled a law Tuesday authorizing an attack if Taiwan moves toward formal independence, increasing pressure on the self-ruled island while warning other countries not to interfere.
June 26, 2005 - China is building its military forces faster than U.S. intelligence and military analysts expected, prompting fears that Beijing will attack Taiwan in the next two years, according to Pentagon officials. U.S. defense and intelligence officials say all the signs point in one troubling direction: Beijing then will be forced to go to war with the United States, which has vowed to defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack.
June 28, 2005 - China's decision to open up massive bomb shelters to the public, ostensibly to provide a respite from summer heat, has U.S. intelligence analysts concerned about a possible strategic deception by Beijing, reports Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. The Chinese specialist agreed with others knowledgeable about nuclear arms that such a maneuver opening up large fallout shelters to the public on a regular basis would serve two strategic purposes for Beijing: It would familiarize the Chinese people to the shelters, making it easier to evacuate the public in times of potential nuclear attack; It would confuse Western intelligence analysts who monitor movements of the Chinese public by satellite as evidence of the government's intentions; In addition to monitoring missile launches, U.S. national security officials keep an eye on large-scale public movements in countries like China. If, for instance, city residents were seen moving in large numbers into fallout shelters, it would be a sign the government might be preparing for an attack of some kind.
But if such massive movements became routine because shelters are opened up in the heat of summer and in the cold of winter to provide shelters from the elements then such movements would more likely be disregarded as militarily insignificant in the West.
"Think about it," said one U.S. intelligence source. "If you were planning, at some point in the future, to launch a pre-emptive first strike on some enemy, wouldn't it make sense to do what the Chinese are doing?"
Anyone else hear a drum beat?
Putin doesn't want us on his southern border, see post #31 and you'll understand why.
Russia is "trying" to play both sides.
Repeat after me: Russia and China are NOT our friends. Russia and China are NOT our friends. Russia and China are not our FRIENDS. Watch our backs, President Bush.
Independent "professionals", right?
It's in their national interest that we leave...and it's in ours that we stay. (In statescraft there are "no" independent professionals, not even the swiss.)
So, I doubt the State Department is going to roll over. Condi's not thinking: "Gee you guys are so right, an so benevolent, that we must listen to what we are told by you..."
I wouldn't doubt if Mrs. Rice, whether she loves Russia or not, issues a private statement to Putin to check and see if global warming has caused Siberai to have sahara like temps 24/7/365. And that he should return the superbowl ring he stole.
Great post.
I'll add it here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1431096/posts/
Adding this article to this thread:
http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=\ForeignBureaus\archive\200507\FOR20050706b.html
"China, Russia Challenge US Military Presence in Central Asia"
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
July 06, 2005
http://www.inatoday.com/china%20threat%207605.htm
"THE CHINA THREAT --
WHERE'S THE RESPONSE?"
JULY 7, 2005
By Toby Westerman
Copyright 2005 International News Analysis Today
www.inatoday.com
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "As the threat of China's power grows, the U.S. cannot depend on help from Russia to act as a counterbalance against Beijing. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the idea was advanced that Moscow would need American assistance in halting China's expansion into Russian territory. The belief was that the "new" Russia would gladly join with the United States against a projected expansion of Chinese power into Russian territory.
This optimistic foreign policy assessment was shattered when Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao met in Moscow in late June. Not only did Putin and Hu settle old border disputes, but also proclaimed their mutual cooperation in regional and international affairs, and prepared the way for the upcoming Sino-Russian military exercises."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1454469/posts
"Bound by a common cause (Russia and China)"
The Japan Times ^ | Aug. 1, 2005 | DAVID WALL
Posted on 07/31/2005 7:27:36 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
LONDON
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