Thursday, May 24, 1999 -- HONG KONG -- Y'know, those survivalist types who live in the mountains atop huge bunkers full of canned food etc., might actually know something the rest of us don't. Not for the first time I have wished I were financially secure enough to buy a small cottage way up in the Scottish Highlands and spend my day in front of the computer or out walking the dogs. Or perhaps Jersey in the Channel Islands. They have an award winning beer there and lots of pretty English/French girls. I'm quite serious. No, very serious.

Interviews can be done over the phone, research can be done on the internet. With an ISDN line I can do hourly news updates for any radio station anywhere in the world. Why do I need to live in a hugely expensive box in the middle of a heaving mass of humanity?

In the middle of a target area. There's a Peoples' Liberation Army barracks just around the corner from where I live. They took over an old British Army facility, and those (we) Brits did like to put our soldiers in the nicest parts of town! At least here in Hong Kong, anyway. I am sure they are not on anyone's target list just yet, but I have to say, I think this world of ours is really inching towards the brink of, er, I am not quite sure. But mass Lemmingesque political suicide springs immediately to mind.

And as any trick-cyclist worth his salt will tell you, a lot of suicide candidates like to take a few others along -- just for company. At least in my wee stone cottage I'd be well away from the potential collateral damage zone. Why am I concerned? I'll tell you -- and if you ain't concerned now -- you will be. Or should be.

The indictment of Milosevic. The guy deserved it -- no question. Too much nastiness has happened for him not to have had his pudgy little hand in it. Way to go International Tribunal.

But why only Milosevic and a handful of his cronies, and why now? Croatia's Franjo Tudjman, Bosnia's Alija Izetbegovic, Haris Siladzic and Ejup Ganic are all equally to blame for the carnage in Bosnia. And let's face it, NATO is on the verge of doing to Belgrade what the Serbs did to Sarajevo, so why not indict Javier Solana and Wesley Clark too?

This was a politically inspired indictment -- and I don't care how much that indictment is deserved -- it still sucks. And it worries me. If some of the other very deserving Balkan leaders were named at the same time I would grudgingly concede that it may have just been one of those unfortunate coincidences. But Milosevic, right now? Milosevic is still at the helm, but as an indicted war-criminal his ability to negotiate is rather more than limited. He also now has a very good reason to use every ounce of his power to continue the war.

With the diplomatic initiative now effectively blocked, NATO has no choice but to prosecute this war to the very end, something the hawks like Tony Blair wanted to do from the very start. I thought this was a 'war' aimed at saving lives? Secretary of State Madeleine Albright could hardly contain her delight at the indictment -- despite the fact that it will undoubtedly lengthen the war, lead to more refugees and inevitable death and suffering for possibly millions of innocent people. This is very dangerous territory we are treading. Political interference in a supposedly independent judicial process sets a very bad precedent.

And then there's the 'theft' of American nuclear secrets. I hate that word; 'theft'. If, and I know it is a highly unlikely example, the CIA managed to get the goods on some foreign power, they would describe it as a 'coup' or 'success'. If the CIA wanted to publicise their achievement, I doubt they would consider using the words 'theft' or 'steal'. We're the good guys, right? We acquire intelligence -- the bad guys steal it. This too, is very dangerous. It puts a very negative image in people's heads. Rather than credit the Chinese for their deft ability to acquire intelligence from under the somewhat blundering nose of the CIA/F.B.I, they are being painted as thieves! This sort of talk breeds racism.

Do you remember the quick to judge Moslem witch-hunt that followed the Oklahoma City bombing? Turns out it was one of your guys. If Terry Nichols hadn't been such an idiot, I wonder where the witch-hunt would have ended? One really has to be very careful when one starts the process of name-calling.

The thing that troubles me most about this affair is the willingness to admit that China has 'stolen' every last nuclear secret in the U.S. arsenal. Credit where credit is due, they'd have to be pretty clever 'thieves' to do that. Despite the fact that I am a Brit and we love to poke fun at Americans, I seriously doubt you guys are that stupid. Though I might wish to revise that opinion at some later date.

Why are the Republicans telling every oil-rich despot in the world that Beijing is the place to go for the very latest in nuclear weapons technology? They're saying there is a bargain basement of tools for potential world domination to be had for the right price. If it was stupid to stop screening scientists from 'suspect' countries entering Los Alamos, then this is -- just reaching for the thesaurus -- lunacy, deranged, absurd.

I reckon that the Chinese didn't get everything, or even close to everything. But the scare tactic will prompt Congress to pass every bill available that will resurrect 'Star Wars' and massive defense budgets. Welcome home to the Cold War. I can just see those same G.O.P. Congressmen now:

"I really didn't want to vote for this bill, but considering the circumstances I had no choice. It really frosts my ass when I think of the amount of money now being spent on defense that could have gone on social welfare programs."

To balance this piece I feel compelled to add some criticism of the Beijing response to the 'theft' allegations. And remember that 'theft' is synonymous with 'acquire' -- depending on your perspective. A Foreign Ministry spokesman claimed that China has never 'stolen' secrets from a foreign country. If this is true and if I was Jiang Zemin, I'd fire my intelligence chief. No, I'd probably execute him for incompetence.

Politicians say all sorts of things that stretch credibility. And we believe them? Yeah, right.