Chronologies
Regional Overview
Chronology from Jul 2005 to Oct 2005
: Japan’s agriculture minister states Japan will not lift ban on U.S. beef based on political pressure, but on science.
: Japan and China hold third round of talks over disputed areas of the East China Sea.
: Asst. Sec. Hill says the next thing DPRK needs to do is tell where its nuclear arms facilities are, noting there could be trouble if DPRK refuses to admit to a uranium enrichment program in the next round of talks.
: ROK Navy sets up hotline with China to avoid accidental armed clashes in the West Sea.
: PRC launches major annual North Sword 2005 war games in Inner Mongolia, pitting 16,000 troops against each other in a mock battle observed by military officers from a record 24 nations.
: Tokyo announces it seeks a cut from 2007 in Japan’s payout to the UN budget and a hike in the contributions of the PRC and Russia.
: Koizumi government institutes 90-day visa waiver for Taiwan tourists.
: IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei confirmed in office for another four years.
: Third round of textile trade talks ended in Washington between U.S. and China without an agreement. The next round is planned for October.
: Hurricane Rita makes landfall between Louisiana-Texas border.
: Annual meetings of World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C.
: Former KMT Chairman Lien Chan conducts six-day private visit to Russia.
: Vietnam is removed from U.S. watch list of major drug producing and transit countries.
: Deputy Secretary Zoellick delivers major speech on U.S.-China relations.
: DPRK states it would not dismantle its nuclear facilities until it receives a light-water reactor.
: Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra visits Pres. Bush in Washington.
: Six-Party Talks participants release joint statement that commits DPRK to abandon its nuclear program and to rejoin the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
: U.S. and Japan announces Strategic Development Alliance to coordinate efforts between the two nations on international aid and development.
: Labor Party wins narrow victory in New Zealand with 40.74 (vs. 39.63) percent of the vote.
: Presidents Putin and Bush meet in Washington.
: The International Convention on Suppressing Acts of Nuclear Terrorism is signed by U.S.
: World Summit held at UN in New York.
: The fourth round of Six-Party Talks resumes in Beijing.
: Opening of 60th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
: Presidents Bush and Hu meet in New York on sidelines of UNGA meetings to discuss Six-Party Talks and trade.
: PM Koizumi’s Liberal Democratic Party wins majority of seats (296 out of 480) in the Lower House and coalition partner New Komeito wins 31 seats.
: FBI analyst and former top Philippine law official are arrested in New Jersey for passing classified FBI information.
: Russia, U.S., and Canada hold Arctic Sarex 2005 search and rescue exercise in Alaska.
: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand agree to conduct joint “eye-in-the-sky” air patrols over the Malacca Strait.
: Philippines Congress dismisses impeachment charges against Pres. Arroyo.
: APEC finance ministers’ meeting in Busan, Korea.
: Pacific Command chief Adm. William Fallon travels to China to promote more military-to-military contact.
: China and Malaysia sign MOU on defense cooperation.
: President Hu’s scheduled Sept. 5-8 visit to Washington is postponed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
: DPRK Red Cross sends a message of sympathy to hurricane-ravaged U.S.
: Civil Aviation of China approves regular overflights by Taiwan airlines.
: 20 DPRK athletes travel south for 16th Asian altletics championships held at Incheon.
: Alexander Vershbow nominated U.S. ambassador to South Korea.
: Taiwan’s Executive Yuan submits pared down arms procurement package.
: Second round of textile trade talks between U.S. and China is held in Beijing; results in no agreement.
: U.S. Congressmen Jim Leach (R-IA) and Tom Lantos (D-CA) travel to Pyongyang.
: Aircraft of U.S. Senators Richard Lugar and Barack Obama is detained in Russian city of Perm. Moscow blames overeager local officials.
: Hurricane Katrina makes landfall on Louisiana.
: China begins cooperation with the Philippines and Vietnam in a joint marine seimic study in the South China Sea.
: PRC Vice Minister Wu meets with DPRK FM Paek in Pyongyang to clarify North Korea’s position prior to start of next phase of six-party dialogue.
: 11th round of North-South separated families reunions at Mt. Kumgang.
: 12th APEC senior ministerial level meeting in Daegu, Korea.
: U.S. and DPRK hold meetings through the New York channel.
: FM Ban voices support for Iran’s peaceful use of nuclear technology in a meeting with Hossein Hashemi, head of the Iran-South Korea Parliamentary Friendship Group.
: Jakarta pulls out first group of over 1,250 Indonesian troops from Aceh province as part of ceasefire agreement with GAM.
: ROK-U.S. stage joint military exercise Ulchi Focus Lens, a computer-driven war simulation exercise.
: William Burns replaces Alexander Vershbow as U.S. ambassador to Russia.
: ROK agrees to provide farming technology, including fertilizer and pesticides, and to set-up joint projects with the DPRK to reduce chronic food shortages.
: Jay Lefkowitz named U.S. special envoy on human rights in North Korea.
: Russia and PRC hold joint military exercise Peace Mission 2005 in Vladivostok and eastern China.
: U.S. and Chinese textile negotiators hold talks in San Francisco.
: Aceh peace treaty formally signed.
: Koizumi apologizes for Japanese WWII atrocities on 60th anniversary of war’s end.
: ROK grants amnesty to 4.22 million law-breakers including businessmen and politicians.
: U.S., Singapore, Australia, France, Japan, Britain, among others, conduct Proliferation Security Initiative exercise, Exercise Deep Sabre 2005 to interdict seaborne WMD in Southeast Asian waters.
: DPRK delegates arrive in the ROK to mark the four-day joint celebration of the 60th liberation anniversary.
: Former opposition leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev vows at his presidential inauguration that Kyrgyzstan will maintain its political independence.
: ROK FM Ban confers with counterpart Li in Beijing on Six-Party Talks prior to visiting Washington.
: Cambodia’s King Norodorn Shimamoni makes state visit to China and meets President Hu and Premier Wen.
: Japanese Foreign Ministry protests Chinese pipe-laying operations in the disputed area of the East China Sea.
: DPRK calls for a peace treaty with the U.S. to replace the 1953 armistice.
: CNOOC withdraws its $18.5 billion bid for Unocal Corp.
: North Korean FM Paek says Pyongyang will rejoin the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) after the nuclear issue is resolved.
: Twelve-member U.S. House delegation visits China to build relations and promote congressional and national awareness of U.S.-China relations.
: ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meets. Deputy Secretary Zoellick attends in place of Secretary Rice.
: Chinese FM Li skips ARF; visits Myanmar.
: Uzbekistan gives U.S. 180 days to vacate base at Karshi-Khanabad.
: ROK and DPRK Foreign Ministers Ban Ki-moon and Paek Nam-sun meet in Vientiane.
: Tokyo metropolitan board of education approves disputed junior high school Japanese history textbook for use beginning April 2006. Less than 1 percent of Japan’s public and private middle schools (48 out of 11,035) have adopted the controversial textbook.
: ASEAN+3 ministers meet in Vientiane, Laos.
: China’s State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan meets Pres. Bush, Secretary Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and Treasury Secretary John Snow in Washington.
: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visits President Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing.
: Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe receives “red carpet” welcome from Chinese leader Hu during state visit to Beijing.
: Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick travels to Laos, Hong Kong, and China for the ASEAN meetings, for a meeting with Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, and for the Senior Dialogue in China.
: Beijing hosts first phase of fourth round of Six-Party Talks.
: Defense Secretary Rumsfeld visits Kyrgyzstan to shore up U.S. base agreement in wake of SCO declaration.
: CCP delegation visits Vietnam and Laos.
: ASEAN Ministerial Meetings held in Vientiane, Laos; Myanmar announces it will not assume ASEAN chair in mid-2006.
: Chinese central bank revalues yuan by 2.1 percent.
: PRC and Sudanese militaries agree to increase exchanges and cooperation.
: Australian PM John Howard meets President Bush in Washington.
: After a several month delay, the Pentagon releases its 2005 report on “The Military Power of the People’s Republic of China” as mandated by Congress.
: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets with Pres. Bush in Washington; Bush agrees to share civilian nuclear technology, pending Congressional approval.
: Vietnam President Tran Duc Long makes state visit to China.
: Indonesian and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) agree to Finland-brokered peace treaty ending 3 decades of civil war.
: PRC Gen. Zhu Chenghu says China may use nuclear weapons against U.S. in a Taiwan conflict.
: Japan approves grant of East China Sea exploration rights to Teikoku Oil Company; Beijing lodges protest.
: Singaporean PM Lee Hsien-loong meets with Pres. Bush.
: ROK reveals it has offered the DPRK 2 million kW of electric power, which effectively replaces loss from cancellation of KEDO light-water reactor project.
: PRC State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan visits Pyongyang as special envoy of President Hu Jintao and meets with Kim Jong-il.
: North Korea agrees to return to Six-Party Talks.
: Chinese Communist Party (CCP) delegation visits Laos, DPRK, and ROK.
: Secretary Rice visits South Korea, China, Japan, and Thailand.
: Presidents George Bush and Vladimir Putin meet on sidelines of G-8 Summit.
: ROK, PRC, and Japan conduct 90-minute joint maritime exercise off Shanghai. U.S., Russia, and ASEAN present as observers.
: Philippine Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo asks for all her Cabinet ministers’ resignations and receives them.
: London’s mass transit system is bombed; 50 die and 700 are injured.
: Group of Four – Germany, Japan, Brazil, and India – submits to the General Assembly a resolution to enlarge the 15-seat UN Security Council (UNSC) to 25 seats.
: Yangon releases 240 prisoners, including political detainees and opposition politicians, but not Aung San Sui Ky.
: G-8 leaders meet in Gleneagles, Scotland.
: Taiwan opposition New Party officials visit Guangzhou, Dalian, Beijing, and Nanjing under the theme of “journey of Chinese nation.”
: SCO calls on U.S. to set deadline for withdrawing forces from Central Asia.