Nation/World
Tuesday, August 27, 1991 / University Daily Kansan
7
Nation/World Briefs
Beijing
China keeps grip as communism's hard line trembles
China's aging hard-line leaders are casting an uneasy eye about them in the wake of political upheaval in the Soviet Union that has left China the world's only major Communist power.
Political analysts say the Chinese leadership faces no immediate threat of collapse because of relative economic prosperity, the absence of organized opposition and memories of the bloody crackdown on a pro-democracy movement in 1989.
But from thriving cities to remote border regions, Chinese officials are working to bolster confidence in their authoritarian brand of social
Geneva
"They are scared at the moment because the whole world is changing around them," said Danny Paaun, a senior lecturer at Hong Kong Baptist College. "The rapid changes mean they cannot deny the necessity of reform, and they are trying to find a way to change that ensures the party will not lose control in China."
China issued only terse, noncommittal statements about the developments during the Soviet Union's and the Communist Party's week of tumult.
ism, which is being almost universally rejected worldwide.
U. N. leader steps up Western hostage release efforts
A Lebanese newspaper said Iran sent the commander of its Revolutionary Guards to Beirut to speed up moves to release the Western-
U. N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar resumed efforts Monday to free 11 Western hostages in Lebanon amid reports that Iran also has stepped up activity to resolve the issue.
One Lebanese faction holding Westerners has demanded that Israel free several hundred Arab prisoners, but the Israelis have demanded concrete information on seven Israeli servicemen missing in Lebanon.
An Israeli official said Sunday that Iran should be able to provide such information.
Perez de Cuellar met Monday with his personal representative on the hostage issue, Giandomenico Picco, for a briefing on the latest developments in the sensitive negotiation. Picco was in Israel last week.
The Perez de Cuellar told reporters afterwards he continued to hope that something important could happen, in the sense of seeing all the detainees free.
"When, I cannot say, but things are moving and moving at a good pace," he said.
Johannesburg, South Africa
Death toll rises by at least eight as clashes continue
At least eight people were killed in clashes with security forces and between rival Black factions in a weekend surge of violence, police
The death toll was the worst in weeks in the townships, where clashes between supporters of the African National Congress and rival Ikhava Freedom Party has killed more than 5,000 people since the mid-1980s. Police, however, did not say if the latest violence involved the two anti-apartheid groups.
Seven people died Sunday, and one person was killed Saturday, they said. The dead included a South African Defense Forces soldier, killed Sunday when a group of Blacks opened fire on troops at a squatter camp near Johannesburg, police said.
Traops returned fire, killing one of the attackers. The other deaths involved Black men battling in the townships, according to a police report that gave few details on the incidents.
Baltic independence receiving recognition
VILNIUS, U.S.S.R. — The first foreign diplomat to the Baltic states in 50 years arrived at his post yesterday as a host of nations moved to recognize the independence of the three breakaway republics.
The Associated Press
In Lithuania, where Kremlin-backed crackdowns have hit hardest this year, officials started to reclaim control over the border and started issuing visas.
"I said I would not return to Lithuania unless it is free," said Aldona Valsi, who fled Lithuania for the United States in 1943 when she was 19. "Now it is free and it will be recognized by everybody."
Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis and other Baltic leaders have appealed to the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
Valis, now of St. Petersburg, Fla. was one of the first people through Lithuanian passport control at the airport in Vilnius.
Independence movements in the Baltics and other Soviet republics took advantage of the Kremlin power vacuum after last week's failed coup.
"We are free," Landsbergis said. "It's a formal question only, but it would then be completely resolved. It would be easier for us."
The Baltic republics, home to about 8 million people, were independent between the world wars. They were swallowed by the Soviet Union under a secret agreement with Nazi Germany.
Iceland yesterday became the first nation to officially sign a diplomatic accord with the Baltics, and Denmark's Baltic ambassador, Otto Borch, arrived in Riga, Latvia. Bulgaria later became the first former Soviet bloc country to recognize Baltic independence.
Austria, Poland and Romania also said they were ready to recognize the Baltics, Denmark and Argentina and Sunday they were establishing leses.
Hungarian and French envoys arrived in Vilnius to discuss restoration of diplomatic relations.
President Bush said the White House was close to recognizing the Baltics, but some questions, such as territorial boundaries, were unresolved.
diplomatic ties, Sweden, Finland, Bel-
and, Czechia and Czechoslovakia.
yakka were amoktenk
The 12-nation European Community plans to meet today to discuss Baltic recognition, and many other nations say they are moving toward forging
Canadian officials said the nation had begun the process of establishing diplomatic ties with the Baltics. Canada, like the United States and most other Western nations, had never officially recognized Soviet authority in the three republics.
Speaking to the national parliament yesterday, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev indicated the Baltics and the other 12 Soviet republics would be free to negotiate secession with the Kremlin.
"They must be given the right of independent choice." Gorbachey said.
In the past, the secessionist drives in the Baltics were fought by central authorities. In January, more than 20 people died in a central government crackdown, and Lithuanian border officials were attacked by Interior Ministry forces.
"Of course, it is important for us as protection against possible aggressive actions," he said. "We don't expect now more aggression from the Soviet Union's side, but now we are feeling more sure, more secure."
Landsbergis said Gorbachev's viewsdid not matter much now, but diplomatic recognition was important.
Landsbergis also said some Soviet officers were refusing to cooperate, but he said talks were continuing with Moscow and the problems should be cleared up soon.
The Baltic republics ordered the KGB and some Interior Ministry forces to end operations on their territory, and Lithuania ordered the arrest of the leaders of the republic's Communist Party.
Estonian Premier Edgar Savisar said a customs post on the Soviet border had been abandoned after attacks had been restaffed
Latia reached an agreement with the new leaders of the Soviet KGB and Defense Ministry and said Interior officials could bark 'troops' would be disarmed.
Helicopter crashes in Gulf, killing one, injuring several
The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — A helicopter ferrying workers between the shore and a Gulf of Mexico oil drilling platform crashed yesterday, killing one person and injuring at least six, authorities said.
Neill Osborne, vice president of operations for Petroleum Helicopters Inc. in Lafayette, said 13 people were believed to be aboard the company helicopter that crashed about 170 miles south of Lafayette.
One man's body was found in the wreckage, and 12 crash survivors were picked up by workers from a fire brigade rig, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
"The rig that was out there had two inflatable boats, and they launched those," said Chief Petty Officer Joe Gibson, a Coast Guard representative.
At least six injured people were taken by a Coast Guard helicopter to a hospital near New Orleans, he said.
The helicopter was floating after it crashed, Osborne said. Helicopters from companies like Petroleum Helicopters Inc. are often used to ferry offshore oil and gas rig workers to and from their jobs.
Knight-Ridder Tribune News
Osborne said the helicopter's destination when it left the mainland this morning was an offshore island. The helicopter landed when it crashed about 7:15 a.m.
However, he wasn't sure if it was preparing to land or had taken off for its return trip when it crashed.
Soviet breakup could lead to changes in U. N. membership
The Associated Press
NEW DELHI, India — The Soviet seat on the U.N. Security Council could be relinquished to Russia, and other Soviet republics may soon seek to join the world organization, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said yesterday.
He said the 159-member United Nations could be expanded to include
independent Soviet republics
Ambassador Thomas Pickering said, however, that the question of future representation on the 15-member council should be decided in Moscow.
"We would like to see the issue resolved on the basis of mutual agreement." Pickering told reporters in India's capital. The Soviet Union is one of the five permanent members of the council, along with the United States, China, France and Britain.
But, he said, "We want to study how much independence they have."
Six republics have declared their intention to break away from the Soviet Union, including the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia that were forcibly annexed in 1940.
"The Baltics, for us, are easy," Pickering said. "The United States never recognized their incorporation into the Soviet Union."
Georgia, Byelorussia and the Ukraine also have declared their independence.
Pickering, who was in India on a tour of member states of the council, said he hoped the next U.N. chief would be decided by October, allowing a comfortable transition until Javier Perez de Cuellar leaves the post next Jan. 1 and time to "look at general reforms."
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