2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 NATION/WORLD India, China form strategic alliance NEWS IN BRIEF , ., NEW DELHI (AP) - India and China agreed yesterday to form a "strategic partnership," creat- ing a diplomatic bond between Asia's two emerging powers that would tie together nearly one-third of the world's population. The agreement, announced during a South Asia tour by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, reflects a major shift in relations between the two nuclear countries, whose ties have long been defined by mutual suspi- cion. It is also another step in a charm offensive by Beijing, which is trying to build ties with its neighbors and ensure regional stability for economic growth. The United States, which has also courted warmer ties with India, welcomed efforts by New Delhi and Beijing to find ways of cooperating. "This is an important visit. We are working to pro- mote friendly ties of cooperation between our two countries," Wen said after a ceremonial welcome by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at New Delhi's presidential palace. Wen also has been to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in recent days, hoping to reassure its neighbors that increasing clout does not make it a regional danger. "Some people are worried that a stronger and more developed China would pose a threat to other countries. Such worry is completely misplaced," Wen told a meet- ing of Asian officials in the Pakistani capital, Islam- abad, last week. But the agreement with India also underscored the power the two nations are increasingly comfortable about wielding. "India and China can together reshape the world order," Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said yesterday. Left out of the equation, for now, was the United States, which announced last month it wanted to help India become a world power. However, India and China, which together have a population of more than 2.3 billion, took care not to offend the United States on Yesterday. Chinese leaders insist they're not worried about the warming U.S.-India ties, despite Washington's apparent attempts to counter China's power in Asia by boosting India's economic and political profile. Last month, U.S. officials announced the sale of F-16 jet fighters to Pakistan and signaled that India could move ahead with its own weapon buys. India expressed "great disappointment" over the sale and said doing so would tilt the military balance in the region and could harm India- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao addresses a business meeting in New Delhi, India yesterday. Indian and Chinese leaders agreed to create a "strategic partnership for peace and prosperity." Pakistan peace talks that began last year. The sale will likely be discussed Thursday on a visit to Washington by Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh. In Washington, a State Department official said the United States welcomed the meetings between India and China, especially if they can lead to peace, prosperity and security, not only in the region but also globally. Analysts said the agreement would not be a major concern for Washington. "I think the U.S. doesn't have a problem" with China and India growing closer, said Teresita Schaf- fer, a former State Department expert on South Asia now with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The U.S. should see this as a stabilizing factor in the region. ... I realize some people will interpret this in a classic balance-of-power sense, but I don't think that's how the United States is looking at it right now." China and India, which fought a brief war in 1962 over border disagreements, sealed their agreement with the joint statement and a set of accords aimed at ending one longstanding border dispute and boosting economic ties. "The leaders of the two countries have therefore agreed to establish an India-China strategic and coop- erative partnership for peace and prosperity," the statement said. The partnership would promote diplomatic relations, economic ties and contribute to the two nations "jointly addressing global challenges and threats," it said. Under the agreement, China has recognized the Himalayan territory of Sikkim as a part of India, and the two reached consensus on principles leading to an overall settlement of their decades-old boundary dis- putes, said Shyam Saran, a top official in the External Affairs Ministry. CRAWoR, Texas Bush, Sharon discuss peace in Texas President Bush told Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday he must not allow further West Bank settlement growth and said Israeli and Palestinian doubts about each other were hampering peace prospects. In response, Sharon said that Israel would abide by the internationally negotiated "road map" peace plan, which calls for a settlement freeze, but would keep some large Jewish population blocs in the West Bank under its control. At a joint news conference on Bush's ranch, both leaders sounded pessimistic about near-term prospects for peace. Sharon said Israel would not move forward on the road map until Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas did more to disarm militant groups and brought about "a full cessation of terror, hostilities and incitement." "We will continue with the negotiations only after Palestinians agree to stop the terror," Sharon said. Bush cited "a lack of confidence in the region. I can understand that. There's been a lot of death. A lot of innocent people have lost their lives. And there's just not a lot of confidence on either side." WASHINGTON Auditors question Iraq construction costs Pentagon auditors have questioned nearly $122 million in costs claimed by Hal- liburton under contracts to rebuild Iraq's oil industry and supply fuel to its citizens, according to records released yesterday. The Democratic congressman who released the audits said the Bush administra- tion had withheld the amounts of the questioned costs from the U.N. board over- seeing Iraq reconstruction. California Rep. Henry Waxman is a longtime critic of the administration's treatment of Halliburton, which Vice President Dick Cheney headed from 1995 to 2000. Cheney and the Pentagon have said the vice president plays no role in contract decisions. Both the company and the Defense Department say Halliburton was not given preferential treatment. "Halliburton has been a good steward of the taxpayers' dollars," company spokeswoman Beverly Scippa said yesterday. She said Halliburton has cooperated with the audits. "This is all part of the normal contracting process, and it is important to note that the auditors' role is advisory only," Scippa said in a statement. JE RUSA LE M Concerns grow overJewish settler resistance The Israeli military plans to disarm residents of four Jewish settlements in the West Bank two weeks before the communities are to be dismantled this summer, officials said yesterday, reflecting growing concern that settler resistance in the West Bank will be far more difficult to put down than in the fenced-in Gaza Strip. Access for Israeli extremists already living in the West Bank to the four tiny northern settlements is relatively easy, and the warning conjured images of thou- sands of ultranationalists converging on the settlements to prevent their evacuation - as they have resisted removal of unauthorized outposts in recent months. Officials expressed concern about armed confrontations, and settlers said yester- day they would not hand in their guns. WSHINGTON Bush's first second-term nominees confirmed The Senate yesterday confirmed the first of President Bush's second-term judi- cial nominees as senators continued to argue over Democrats blocking the White House's most wanted candidates. Senators on a 95-0 vote confirmed Paul Crotty as a U.S. District judge for New York state. With Crotty's confirmation, Bush has put 205 trial and appellate judges on the federal court since becoming president. "It is my hope that we will be able to move other nominees to the Senate floor for confirmation," said Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) Democrats have blocked 10 of Bush's 52 appeals court nominations through filibuster threats, while allowing Republicans to confirm 34 others. - Compiled from Daily wire reports www.mihigandaily.com The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily's office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $110. winter term (January through April) is $115, yearlong (September through April) is $195. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109- 1327. E-mail letters to the editor to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. Dems ask Bolton why he wants U.N. job WASHINGTON (AP) - His Senate approval to be U.N. ambassador still in question, John Bolton told skeptical Democrats yesterday that the world body had "gone off track" at times but that he was committed to its mission. Democrats at Bolton's Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing recited his past undiplomatic remarks about the United Nations and wondered aloud why he would even want the job. They also challenged him over alleged bullying of govern- ment intelligence officials who disagreed with him on issues including Cuba's weapons capabilities.. "If confirmed, I pledge to fulfill the president's vision of working in close partnership with the United Nations," Bolton said at the start of a tense, partisan day of debate over his temperament and record. Bolton did not disavow statements going back more than a decade, including a speech in which he said "there is no such thing as the United Nations," only a group of nations that the United States can sometimes sway to act in its own interest. "The United States is committed to the success of the United Nations, and we view the U.N. as an impor- tant component of our diplomacy," Bolton said yester- day. That is a firmer statement of support for the world body than conservatives in and out of the Bush admin- istration have sometimes offered, and some Democrats suggested yesterday that Bolton hadn't really been con- verted. Bolton retains a go-it-alone attitude about U.S. for- eign policy that is out of step with Bush's second-term pledge of international cooperation, said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) "My overall assessment is that you have nothing but disdain for the United Nations," she said. "You can dance around it, you can run away from it, you can put perfume on it, but the bottom line is the bottom line," Boxer said. "It's hard for me to know why you'd want to work at an institution that you said didn't even exist." The committee is expected to vote Thursday on whether to promote Bolton from his current job as the State Department's arms control chief to become the U.S. ambassador at the United Nations. Bolton said he would not aim to promote only American interests at the world body. He also said the U.N. General Assembly needs to focus more on human rights violators and international terrorism. "Sadly, there have been times when the General Assembly has gone off track," Bolton said, citing the "abominable" resolution that equated Zionism with racism. It was repealed in 1991, with Bolton playing a leading role as a State Department official. The committee has 10 Republicans and eight Demo- crats, reflecting the Republican majority in the Senate. A straight party-line vote would send Bolton's nomi- nation on to the full Senate for an up-or-down vote, probably next week. A few of the committee Democrats said they planned to vote against Bolton, and others sounded deeply skeptical of his qualifications. One commit- tee Republican, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, has expressed only lukewarm support. "He would not be my choice for the nominee," Chafee told reporters yesterday, but he said he was "inclined" to vote for Bolton. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), last year's losing presi- dential candidate, has launched an Internet campaign urging Chafee to vote no and asking people to call Chafee to oppose Bolton. About $20,000 in Web- based ads have been largely targeted to Internet users in Rhode Island and financed by Kerry's political cam- paign committee. A 9-9 tie would block Bolton's nomination, at least temporarily. The committee could then hold a second vote on whether to send to nomination to the full Sen- ate without the panel's recommendation, but it would need a majority vote to do so. Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) was one of the committee Republicans who defended Bolton, saying that in pick- ing a known advocate of United Nations reform, Bush had chosen "the absolute perfect person for the job." Bolton, 56, has served in the past three Republican administrations. Much of yesterday's hearing focused on his record as a boss and his use of intelligence for what Demo- crats suggested were partisan ends. They have raised the question of alleged retaliation against an analyst who crossed him. NEWS Farayha Arrine, Managing Editor 763-2459, news@michigandaily.com EDITORS: Melissa Benton, Donn M. Fresard, Michael Kan, Jameel Naqvi STAFF: Adrian Chen, Amber Colvin. Jon Cohen, Jeremy Davidson, Adhiraj Dutt, Victoria Edwards, Eduardo Escalante, Laura Frank, Magaly Grimaldo, Breeanna Hare, Julia Heming, Tina Hildreth, Jacqueline Howard, Anne Joling, Genevieve Lampinen, Emily Kraack, Rachel Kruer, Kingson Man, Carissa Miller, Justin Miller, Leslie Rott, Ekjyot Saini, Talia Selitsky, C.C. Song, Sarah Sprague, Karl Stampft, Phil Svabik, Kim Tomlin, Amine Tourki, Laura Van Hyfte T HE DAILY CONTINUES TO PUBLISH WEEKLY ALL SUMMER. WANT TO WRITE? E-MAIL NEWS @MCHIGAN DAILYCOM. 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