EAST ASIA

CHINA LAWMAKERS MAKE TAIWAN LAW PRIORITY

BEIJING – An anti-secession law aimed at rival Taiwan and the resignation of former President Jiang from his last government post will top the agenda at China’s legislative session in March, the official Xinhua News Agency said yesterday.

The National People’s Congress, a largely ceremonial parliament which has about 3,000 deputies, usually rubberstamps policies decided by the ruling Communist Party. But the body has in recent years become an important forum for keeping Chinese leaders in touch with the country’s rapid social and economic changes.

Yesterday, the NPC’s Standing Committee voted unanimously to submit the anti-secession measure to the full body which convenes on March 5, Xinhua said.

Legislative chairman Wu Bangguo deemed the anti-secession law as “absolutely necessary” to curb pro-independence forces in Taiwan and safe guard China’s sovereignty over the island.

China and Taiwan split during civil war in 1949. The mainland still considers the self-ruling island its territory and has threatened to use force if Taiwan makes its de facto independence permanent.

Beijing has viewed with alarm ongoing efforts by Taiwan President Chen to forge a more independent Taiwan, such as his proposal to hold a referendum on changing the island’s constitution.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

ABBAS USES SECURITY FENCE AS ISSUE IN CAMPAIGN

Interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas made a campaign run yesterday through West Bank towns near Israel’s security barrier, urging Israel to tear down the huge structure that he said would never help peace.

Mr. Abbas, the front-runner in the January 9 presidential election, made the appeal in Tulkarem, a town of 40,000 on the line between Israel and the West Bank, blocked on two sides by the 25-foot-high concrete slabs of the barrier. Israel began building it to stop a wave of Palestinian Arab suicide bombers who were infiltrating unhindered from the West Bank.

“I say to our neighbors…no fence will bring peace or bring you security,” Mr. Abbas told a rally at a Tulkarem stadium just 500 yards from the barrier.

Meanwhile, in Gaza early today, about 10 Israeli tanks entered the Khan Younis refugee camp in what the military said was a mission to stop terrorists from firing rockets and mortars at nearby Jewish settlements and Israeli army bases. Palestinian Arabs said Israeli tank fire killed three gunmen. Military officials said the air force fired missiles at two groups of terrorists.

– Associated Press

ISRAELI POLICE INDICT FOUR ON CHARGES OF ANTIQUITIES FRAUD

Four Israeli antiquities collectors and dealers were indicted yesterday on charges they ran a sophisticated forgery ring that spanned the globe and produced a treasure trove of fake Bible-era artifacts, including some that were hailed as major archaeological finds. Police said the ring forged what were presented as perhaps the two biggest biblical discoveries in the Holy Land in recent years – the purported burial box of Jesus’s brother James and a stone tablet with written instructions by King Yoash on maintenance work at the ancient Jewish Temple.

Shuka Dorfman, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said the scope of the fraud appears to go far beyond what has been uncovered so far. “We discovered only the tip of the iceberg. This spans the globe. It generated millions of dollars,” Mr. Dorfman said. The forgers “were trying to change history.”

Investigators warned that collectors and museums around the world could be in the possession of fakes, and scholars urged museums to re-examine items of suspicious origin. The forgery ring has been operating for more than 20 years, Mr. Dorfman said.

Scholars said the forgers were exploiting the deep emotional need of Jews and Christians to find physical evidence to reinforce their beliefs.

The indictments were announced at a joint news conference of the Antiquities Authority and the police, capping a two-year probe.

The forgers would often use authentic but relatively mundane artifacts, such as a plain burial box, decanter or shard, and boost their value enormously by adding inscriptions, Mr. Dorfman said. Then the forgers would try to recreate patina, or ancient grime, to cover the carvings, the indictment said.

The four men indicted were Tel Aviv collector Oded Golan, owner of the James ossuary and the Yoash tablet; Robert Deutsch, an inscriptions expert who teaches at Haifa University; collector Shlomo Cohen, and antiquities dealer Faiz al-Amaleh. The four are free on bail, police said.

– Associated Press

EASTERN EUROPE

NO MORE FREE RIDES FOR U.S. ASTRONAUTS

MOSCOW – Russia plans to stop giving American astronauts free rides on its spacecraft to the international space station beginning in 2006, the head of Russia’s space agency said.

Anatoly Perminov said the no-cost agreement between NASA and Russia’s space agency Roskosmos could be replaced by a barter arrangement, according to the Interfax news agency.

Russian Soyuz crew capsules and Progress cargo ships have been the sole link to the international space station since American shuttles were grounded after the shuttle Columbia burned up on re-entry in February 2003. NASA said it plans to resume its shuttle program in May.

The Russian agency has been looking to expand commercial ventures in recent years, amid dwindling government budgets for space-related research. The agency is expected soon to sign a contract with the European Space Agency to send an Italian astronaut to the space station in April, along with a Russian cosmonaut and NASA astronaut.

Roskosmos is also trying to renew its lucrative space tourism program. Mr. Perminov said two people were being considered to fly on a Russian spacecraft to the international space station, possibly in 2006. He did not identify them, but said neither was Russian, according to Interfax.

– Associated Press