U.S. Senate Deplores China's Use Of Force At Sea

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution on Monday that deplored China's use of force against Vietnamese and Philippine ships in the South China Sea. China has shown increasing assertiveness in its claim to the entire South China Sea, believed to be rich in oil and gas. In its nonbinding resolution, the U.S. Senate urged all parties to refrain from using force to assert territorial claims. "The Senate ... deplores the use of force by naval and maritime security vessels from China in the South China Sea," the resolution said. Senator Jim Webb, chair of an east Asian and Pacific affairs subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that "a growing number of nations around the South China Sea are now voicing serious concerns about China's pattern of intimidation." Chinese vessels have harassed Vietnamese oil exploration ships and the Philippines has also complained that one of its ships has been rammed, according to the Senate resolution. On Sunday, China and Vietnam pledged to resolve their maritime dispute through peaceful negotiations, a sign of possibly easing tension. The dispute was one of several subjects discussed in the first set of talks in Hawaii between the United States and China over the weekend.

Heads Must roll Over Karachi Attack

Heads must roll over the terror attack at a key Karachi military base, said a Pakistani daily, declaring that the 'trust in the hitherto unquestioned competence of our armed forces' had been lost. Heavily armed terrorists stormed the naval base Sunday night and targeted two surveillance aircraft. Fourteen people, including four terrorists, were killed in the 16-hour siege that ended Monday afternoon. An editorial in the Daily Times Wednesday said: 'The attack on PNS Mehran in Karachi has shaken the people of Pakistan. When the country's most powerful institution, the armed forces, is not safe from such a brutal attack, how can the common man feel safe?' On navy chief Admiral Noman Bashir's statement that the attack was not due to any security breach, it said: 'If losing 10 soldiers, two Orion aircraft and being under siege for 16 hours does not constitute a security failure, then our guardians must share their 'wisdom' with the rest of the nation and let us know what they consider 'failure'.' 'Admiral Bashir's response is typical of all high officials... They never accept their mistakes. But this culture of impunity, particularly where the armed forces are concerned, must be changed.' The editorial bluntly said that 'heads must roll and the terrorists who got away should be found and prosecuted'. It added that this is not just a security breach but 'also an intelligence failure of the highest order. We lost our soldiers, we lost millions of dollars worth of aircraft and we also lost our trust in the hitherto unquestioned competence of our armed forces'. 'All this is a result of the decline in professionalism in the military.' Criticising the country's armed forces, the editorial said: 'Pakistan's military is busy meddling in politics, keeping tabs on civilians and making money. Instead of wasting time on things that are not central to their concerns, the military should go back to the barracks in letter and spirit.' 'Pakistan has suffered immense damage because of the military's decline in professionalism. In these trying times when the terrorists make it seem so easy to attack any place at will, we need our soldiers to concentrate on the fight against the scourge of terrorism.