Asia gives U.S. cautious backingOctober 23, 2001
Posted: 3:29 AM EDT (0729 GMT)
By CNN's Marianne Bray
HONG KONG, China -- As U.S. President George W. Bush rallies to build a global consensus for his "crusade" against terrorism, he is finding most Asian countries are behind him.
Bush has declared a "war" on the still unidentified "barbarians" who launched Tuesday's suicide hijack attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, DC.
But while the region has shown concerted support for a U.S.-led global war on "terrorism," it is becoming increasingly laced with caution and a growing sense of alarm that Asia could become a battleground.
It is also posing an interesting regional dilemma, where Islam is a dominant religion in many countries, including Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia.
India, the Philippines, China, Sri Lanka and Thailand are also populated with Muslim minorities.
Commentators have expressed concern that Bush may be pitting the wider Muslim world against the West in what has been coined a 'clash of civilizations,' with most fingers pointing towards Afghanistan and parts of the Middle East.
The Taliban, which espouses a purist form of Islam, rule Afghanistan and is under the spotlight for sheltering prime suspect, Saudi-born Muslim militant Osama bin Laden.
Already the hardline Taliban has called for all Muslims to fight to the death in a "holy war" against any American aggression.
Painful repercussions.
Any conflict in Afghanistan between U.S.-led forces and militant Muslims could have painful repercussions for Asians, especially with several religious disputes simmering just under the surface across the region.
Some commentators have spoken of a Muslim backlash across Asia, and the consequences of such a backlash in a region already fractured by a number of religious disputes.
Indonesia, for one, is the world's most populous Muslim country with about 90 percent of its 210 million people dedicated to Islam. It has been riddled by religious clashes in recent years.
Other Asian countries fear they could become targets of acts of terror if their countries align themselves too closely with Washington.
Pledged backing
Despite these concerns, most Asian nations have pledged logistical and moral backing.
Pakistan, in particular, has shown strong support to the United States, despite the difficult position it could find itself in if attacks are launched on neighboring Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has already said it will fight any neighboring country that allows the United States to stage an attack against Afghanistan.
In a diplomatic effort to find a resolution, Pakistan sent a delegation to Afghanistan to demand that bin Laden be handed over.
Pakistan's eastern neighbor and its enemy in three wars since 1947, India, has also thrown its weight behind Bush. Nuclear-armed India, dogged by tensions with Pakistan and with a big Muslim minority at home, has offered intelligence and facilities.
The prime minister of mostly Muslim Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, has cautioned that strikes by U.S.-led forces could fuel more violence, although he supports any action by Washington to punish those behind last Tuesday's carnage.
And in China, any cooperation with Washington to battle "terrorism" faces thorny political issues although Beijing has offered to join the U..S. in its efforts to build a global coalition to stamp out terrorism.
State media has given no details of what role China might play in any U.S.-led retaliation, but China and the United States are divided over definitions of terrorism, military intervention overseas and Beijing's relations with nations identified by Washington as "state sponsors of terrorism".
Japan faces one of the biggest challenges ever to its post-war security alliance with the United States as it grapples with how to turn staunch verbal backing for America's expected retaliation into action within the bounds of its pacifist constitution.
Asia responds
Below is a list of how Asian countries have responded to an U.S. campaign to find and punish terrorists who planned and carried out last Tuesday's attacks on New York and Washington.
AFGHANISTAN: Afghanistan's fundamentalist Muslim Taliban leaders say they are fortifying bunkers and installations in preparation for a possible U.S. military response to the attacks. The Taliban has so far refused to hand bin Laden, now living in the country, over to the West. Mullah Mohammed Omar, the surpreme leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, has received the support of senior clerics. Foreigners have been ordered to leave and many Afghans have begun fleeing. The Taliban have also condemned the terrorism attacks and maintain that bin Laden was not involved.
AUSTRALIA: Australia has agreed to a U.S. request to keep its navy frigate the HMAS Anzac stationed in the Persian Gulf for eight days longer than planned. It was due to leave the area, where it had been enforcing sanctions against Iraq, on Sunday. Australia also has cleared the way for military participation in any U.S. retaliatory strikes.
BANGLADESH: Bangladesh, one of the world's most populous Muslim countries, has said it would support any international move to deal with those responsible. The United States has asked Bangladesh for the use of its airspace and port facilities for a possible response to last week's terror, a leading Dhaka newspaper reported on Monday.
CHINA: China has said it is ready to join the U.S. superpower in fighting global "terrorism" but has pointedly insisted that peace, not war, is the best option. It has qualified its support by saying it wants to be consulted on any retaliation. On Monday China sealed its border to any nationalities coming in from Pakistan for fear that terrorists might seek refuge in China.
INDIA: Indian intelligence officials say they have given the United States information about Islamic extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including evidence on bin Laden and other Muslim militant leaders. Officials also say India is ready to let the United States use its military bases for any retaliation.
INDONESIA: While Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim nation and fourth most populous, has not commented on the attacks, Vice-President Hamzah Haz was quoted as saying: "We are concerned by, regret and condemn the terrorism against the United States," he said. "But we are asking the U.S. not to make Islam a scapegoat." President Megawati Sukarnoputri will be one of the first world leaders to visit Washington since the attacks. She departed Indonesia on Monday.
JAPAN: Still smarting from diplomatic embarrassment during the 1991 Gulf War, Japan has struggled to reconcile its post-World War Two constitutional neutrality with loyalty to its key American ally. While Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has given strong verbal support for retaliation, he has ruled out direct Japanese participation in a U.S.-led military action. Japan is home to some 48,000 U.S. military personnel -- about half the U.S. presence in Asia and key to regional forward deployment -- and nearly half of those are based on Okinawa.
MALAYSIA: Malaysia has signaled its readiness to help investigations into reports that one of the suspected terrorists who was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon was videotaped with another man in Malaysia. Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday that Malaysia would be willing to offer its help in ongoing investigations into the attacks if it was asked.
NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand has supported Bush's plans, with Prime Minister Helen Clark offering the use of crack Special Air Services commandos and intelligence resources in any action.
NORTH KOREA: North Korea has said it views the terrorist attacks in the United States as "shocking" and "very regretful," but does not expect them to disrupt inter-Korean reconciliation, a top North Korean envoy said Saturday. The comments by Kim Ryong Song were an unusual show of sympathy from a communist country that has considered the United States to be its chief enemy ever since the 1950-53 Korean War.
PAKISTAN: Pakistan's government, which has declared its "full support" for a U.S. assault against Afghanistan, sent a high-level delegation to Afghanistan on Monday to demand that the Taliban hand bin Laden over to the United States or risk an attack. Hard-line Muslims who oppose Pakistani cooperation with the United States have demonstrated nationwide, warning that they would take up arms on behalf of the Taliban. Pakistan is only one of three nations to recognize the Taliban government.
PHILIPPINES: The Philippines' defense minister has held open the possibility that Manila might allow Washington to use bases in its country. The former U.S. Clark air base and Subic naval base near Manila -- which Washington closed down in the early 1990s -- could be used for such a purpose. Manila and Washington remain bound by a 54-year-old mutual defense pact.
TAJIKISTAN: Tajikistan's leaders have ruled out the possibility of launching any Western-led reprisal attacks from its territory, which borders northern Afghanistan. Prime Minister Akil Akilov had indicated he might consider a U.S. request to provide air corridors, but only with approval from Russia and the international community.
THAILAND: While the U.S. has not asked for any help yet from Thailand, the country's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said it would cooperate with other countries to combat terrorism, including exchanging information and preventing the use of Thai territory "by groups to prepare any attacks on other countries".
SOUTH KOREA: South Korean President Kim Dae-jung has sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush promising that Seoul would join the international anti-terrorism coalition and support its long-time American ally. The Blue House said South Korea has lost as many as 18 citizens in last week's attacks.
UZBEKISTAN: A senior Uzbek diplomat has said his country, one of three landlocked nations that border Afghanistan on the north, is amenable to discussing with the United States the use of its airspace and military bases for any attack across its border with Afghanistan.
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