- BEIJING (Reuters) - China
and India, the world's two most populous countries, stressed their opposition
to the use of force against Iraq without mentioning the United States by
name.
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- The reaction on Wednesday from the two Asian giants,
which together account for more than a third of humanity, was the strongest
in Asia which has broadly backed the U.S.-led war on terror.
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- Australia, however, has expressed support for a U.S.
strike on Iraq but said a diplomatic solution would be preferable.
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- U.S. officials have stressed that no decision has been
taken to attack Iraq but senior administration figures have not been shy
about putting their case for a change of regime in Baghdad.
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- U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney this week laid out the
case for pre-emptive action, saying Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was
stalling for time to develop weapons of mass destruction and that the Iraqi
leader would have nuclear weapons "fairly soon."
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- The risks of inaction were "far greater than the
risk of action," Cheney said.
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- But China said using force against Iraq would increase
instability.
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- "Using force or threats of force is unhelpful in
solving the Iraq issue and will increase regional instability and tensions,"
China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan
as saying in a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Naji Sabri in Beijing.
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- "The sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity
of Iraq should also be respected."
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- China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council,
said it wanted Baghdad to implement U.N. resolutions calling for weapons
inspections and that it would play a "positive role" in trying
to ease tensions.
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- President Bush has named Iraq, Iran and North Korea as
forming an "axis of evil" promoting terrorism. Iraq has refused
to allow weapons inspectors into the country since a U.S.-British bombing
campaign in December 1998.
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- Diplomats said China's position on Iraq was fueled by
a desire to see countries act within an international framework rather
than unilaterally.
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- Beijing, which says it has an even-handed policy in the
Middle East, was also keen to ensure U.S. action did not open the door
to potential interference in its own back yard, one diplomat said.
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- INDIA ALSO OPPOSED
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- India, a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement,
said it also strongly opposed military action against Iraq.
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- Ties between India and the United States have warmed
in recent years, but New Delhi said it could not accept the use of force
against any nation.
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- "We are very clear that there should be no armed
action against any country, more particularly with the avowed purpose of
changing a regime," External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha told
reporters this week.
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- A foreign ministry official told Reuters on Wednesday
there was no change in India's stand on Iraq.
-
- "There is a consistency in our policy, and it is
not going to change in the next few days or weeks," he said. India
is home to one of the world's largest Muslim populations.
-
- There was no immediate reaction from Muslim Pakistan,
a key U.S. ally since the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York,
or from mostly Muslim Malaysia.
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- Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country,
said it was "not in the habit" of commenting on hypothetical
situations.
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- "Our position is in line with the U.N. perspective,"
foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said. "Which means that
we agree on peaceful settlements in dealing with disputes."
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- In Japan, a government advisory panel said this week
the country should be cautious in deciding whether to back a U.S. attack
on Iraq.
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- Japan, pilloried for its inaction during the last Gulf
War, is a key U.S. ally but is hobbled by a pacifist constitution and concerned
about the effect of military action on its oil supplies.
-
- But with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage
visiting Tokyo from Tuesday, Japan may find itself pressed to consider
the issue sooner rather than later.
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