In a rare commentary by former vice-premier and former longtime foreign minister Qian Qichen, China broke its practice of not commenting on US presidential candidates and chastised Bush for his foreign policies.

"The philosophy of the 'Bush Doctrine' is in essence force," Qian said in the government-run English-language China Daily.

"It advocates the United States should rule over the whole world with overwhelming force, military force in particular."

While backing Bush's anti-terrorism efforts, China opposed the war in Iraq and sees the US policies as an example of superpower hegemonism, which Beijing frequently rails against.

"The current US predicament in Iraq serves as another example that when a country's superiority psychology inflates beyond its real capability, a lot of trouble can be caused," Qian said.

"But the troubles and disasters the United States has met do not stem from threats by others, but from its own cocksureness and arrogance."

Far from winning peace for itself and the Arab world, Washington has "opened a Pandora's box", intensifying ethnic and religious conflicts, he argued.

Mounting hostile sentiments in the Muslim world towards the United States have already helped al-Qaeda recruit more followers, Qian said.

The commentary came a day before the elections Tuesday.

Prominent Thai commentator Kavi Chongkittavorn, writing in the English-language Nation, went further than Qian and said: "A vote for Bush is a vote for more violence and more anti-Americanism and therefore a more dangerous world.

"Conversely, a vote for (Democrat candidate John) Kerry is a vote for a more humble America that is willing to listen and mend fences. An America that is not hated overseas will make the world safer," Kavi said.

The Japanese press yesterday was preoccupied with the killing of a 24-year-old Japanese man in Iraq, but the liberal daily Asahi Shimbun used the occasion to criticise Bush.