World Media Watch for March 14, 2005--some good stories to mull over

Full excerpts and links up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com


WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR MARCH 14, 2005

1//The Scotsman, UK--EDITORIAL: BLAIR’S CONTEMPT FOR PARLIAMENT (That was the constitutional significance of last week: the open divorce of the Prime Minister from the parliamentary process. None of his predecessors - not even the autocratic Sir Robert Walpole - ever absented themselves so much from the Commons chamber. Last week Tony Blair turned what had been a dereliction into a political posture, refusing to sit in the chamber while uniquely contentious legislation, put forward in his name, was being debated. He refused to lend Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, the support of his presence … Last week’s conflict was provoked by the arrogance of a Prime Minister impatient with the parliamentary process. The purpose of terrorism is to destabilise democracy. It can only be safely opposed by those whose democratic credentials are seen as beyond reproach. It is time for the Prime Minister to reconnect with parliamentary democracy.



2//Xinhua Online/China View, China--POLITICAL PARTIES FIND THEIR FEET AT GRASSROOTS (They do not hesitate to hold their punches when they put forward suggestions on how to improve governance or soft pedal when it comes to criticizing the government. They think it is their duty to do so and "share weal and woe," with the Chinese Communist Party (CPC). … "Our voices are increasingly being noted and our enthusiasm is rising because of that," Zhang said on the sidelines of the ongoing annual full session of the top political advisory body the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). "I never feel like a flower vase as some suggest," said Wei Wei, a member of the China Democratic League. "In fact, the non-Communist parties have become more assertive in assuming the historical and political responsibilities they inherited.” … The membership of the eight parties has reached more than 630,000 now from 330,000 in 1989. Most of them are academics and intellectuals.)



3//The News International, Pakistan--CHINESE ARMY ASKED TO PREPARE FOR WAR (The overwhelming vote of 2,886, with only six against, at the 10th National People’s Congress (NPC) of China approved President Hu Jintao on Sunday as the country’s official military chief. The scene of Hu bowing to the NPC delegates during their long round of applause was also shown on CCTV, the State television. Later Hu Jintao addressed a meeting of People’s Liberation Army delegates at the NPC. He told the military to step up preparations for a possible war, and to safeguard territorial integrity, in apparent reference to reunifying with Taiwan. … Hu’s appointment solidified his position as the head of the fourth generation of communist leadership.)



4//The Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates-- NORTH KOREA WARNS US-S. KOREAN MILITARY DRILL COULD RESULT IN “ACTUAL WAR” (North Korea warned on Sunday that annual US-South Korean military exercises due to start this week and designed to deter any military threat from the Stalinist country could turn into “an actual war”. The North’s cabinet newspaper, Minju Joson, said the week-long military maneuvers beginning on March 19 in South Korea should be called off. “There is no guarantee that the large-scale joint military exercises will not go over to an actual war,” Minju Joson said in a commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. … The drills include mock battles aimed at evaluating command capabilities with troops mobilized for anti-commando operations and computer war games.The USS Kitty Hawk, a US aircraft carrier based in Japan, will arrive in South Korea’s southern port of Busan Monday for the exercises, the US military newspaper Stars and Stripes said Sunday.)



5//The Daily Star, Lebanon--TURKISH PM UNDER FIRE FOR CRITICIZING MEDIA (Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stood accused of infringing press freedom on Friday after he blamed the country's media for triggering condemnation from the European Union with their coverage of a heavy-handed police clampdown against a women's rally. … In comments that have outraged critics, Erdogan acknowledged that police used excessive force in breaking up Sunday's demonstration, but also lashed out that the media should not have broadcast images of the police response to keep foreign criticism at bay. … "The prime minister has again uttered unfortunate words. His basic mistake was to suggest that we censor Turkey's mistakes," Vatan said in its editorial. "It seems that what he wants, even though police may use excessive force, is for the media to play the three monkeys - not to see, not to hear and not to raise objections - 'in order not to play into the hands of foreign enemies,'" it said.)

NORTH KOREA WARNS US-S. KOREAN MILITARY DRILL COULD RESULT IN “ACTUAL WAR”

Thanks, Gloria! :hi:

But those are scary headlines.... :scared:

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