-Caveat Lector- World Bank Postpones Vote on China By HARRY DUNPHY Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Amid mounting opposition, the World Bank put off until Thursday a vote on a controversial project to resettle 58,000 poor Chinese farmers on land Tibetans say is traditionally theirs. The bank said Tuesday the decision to delay the meeting of the executive board for two days will enable James D. Wolfensohn, the president of the 182-nation organization, to chair the session. He is in Europe. But the postponement, requested by senior board member Andrei Bugrov of Russia, allows more time to find a compromise. Twelve of the board's 24 members, including the United States, France, Germany and Switzerland, urged Wolfensohn to try to reach a settlement with Beijing. ``For technical and institutional reasons, at this point we do not believe the project can gain sufficient support from the board,'' their letter to Wolfensohn said. Wolfensohn, who has improved the bank's public image since taking over three years ago, is in a difficult position because the United States, the bank's largest shareholder, opposes the $160 million project. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin told the House Banking Committee last month the Clinton administration was ``enormously concerned about the project.'' A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that Jan Piercy, the U.S. board representative, would cast a ``no'' vote. China, the bank's largest borrower, has said it will re-evaluate its relationship with the bank if the project is not approved. Beijing's position has hardened since U.S.-Chinese relations have deteriorated. Last weekend, the New China News Agency quoted Vice Finance Minister Jin Liqun as saying he hoped the board ``will not use the political standard of the West (and) will not believe in the lies of a small number of people of the Tibetan exile forces.'' At the center of the controversy is a plan to move the farmers -- each earning less than $40 a year -- from the crowded over-farmed arid hills in the eastern half of Qinghai, a remote province in Western China, 300 miles farther west. Their planned new home, a sparsely inhabited county called Dulan, has for centuries been populated by Mongol herders and later Tibetans, two groups who share a common Buddhist faith. In recent decades, China's dominant Han Chinese have become the majority. AP-NY-06-22-99 1335EDT Copyright © Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Home | Top of Page 06/22 DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
