"The Republic," a leading newspaper in Costa Rica Tuesday called the United States to assume a "careful and measured stance" in the standoff regarding the recent US spy plane incident that resulted in the crash of a Chinese jet fighter.

In an editorial entitled, "The New Geopolitics," the paper said the conflict triggered by the incident has brought to light "results of new geopolitics that needs to be evaluated."

The paper said that since George W. Bush assumed the office of president, he has tried to present a tough image to the world, similar to those of his Republican predecessors Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

A string of similar US events have sent a clear signal, said the paper. The paper cited a recent US bombing outside the no-flight zone in Iraq, imposed by the US and Britain, political pressure from Washington that led to the detention of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, and frequent reconnaissance flights by US planes over Russian territories.

Facts have proven to be wrong regarding the general belief that harmony and security would prevail in international relations with the downfall of the former Soviet Union, which also saw the end of a bipolarity in world politics, the paper lamented.

"It is obvious that the constant threat of the use of force or economic boycott is a double edged sword," said the paper, adding that the threatening U.S. policy could once again sink the world into insecurity, an arms race and nuclear threats.

(People's Daily 04/11/2001)