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CHINA

Criticisms of Bush are cast in doubt

The State Department said yesterday it will seek clarification from China after contested reports that former senior Chinese official Qian Qichen had strongly criticized the "Bush doctrine" of pre-emptive strikes.

A Chinese Embassy official in Washington said Mr. Qian, a former vice prime minister and former foreign minister, had not been interviewed by China Daily, in which the remarks appeared, nor had he written an article for the newspaper.

The paper also quoted Mr. Qian as saying the invasion of Iraq had "destroyed the hard-won global anti-terror coalition." But a State Department spokesman said the comments were not consistent with views outlined by Chinese officials to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell in Beijing last week.

AFGHANISTAN

U.S. soldier killed, 2 hurt in attack

KABUL -- Militants attacked U.S. troops patrolling in southeastern Afghanistan yesterday, killing one American soldier and wounding two with gunfire and rockets, the military said.

The American patrol came under fire near Orgun, a town in Paktika province, where U.S. troops man a base close to the Pakistani border.