Extracts
China Willing to Work for World Peace and Prosperity
The Chinese government and people are willing to work hand in hand with
other countries and peoples for a world of peace and prosperity, cooperation
and development in the 21st century.
Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan made the remarks Friday evening at a New
Year's reception in honor of diplomatic envoys, representatives of
international organizations and their families living in China.
Tang said that China will continue to follow the reform and opening-up
policy and pursue an independent foreign policy of peace.
China is eager to develop friendship and cooperation with all other
countries, based on the five principles of peaceful co-existence, and will
work harder to establish an equitable and rational world order in the
political and economic arenas, he added.
Tang called the year 2000 historically significant for China, saying that
China has scored remarkable achievements in wide-ranging areas.
He said that China has played an increasingly bigger role in international
affairs.
At the dawn of the new century, peoples in the world all expect a lasting
peace and common prosperity, Tang said.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin made clear China's positions on establishing a
new international order at the millennium summit of the United Nations in
September, which reflected the common aspiration of all peace-loving
countries and peoples, Tang said.
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New Rules on Cross-Straits Trade
China issued a set of rules governing trade across the Taiwan Straits, which
trade officials say will "enable cross-Straits trade and economic
cooperation to grow in a sound, orderly manner."
The set of rules was signed by Shi Guangsheng, minister of Foreign Trade and
Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) and became effective as of Friday, December
29.
The rules, in 15 provisions, specify the guiding principles, ways of
management and disputes settlement concerning cross-Straits trade.
MOFTEC Assistant Minister An Min said that drafting of the new rules were
based on three principles: the principle of "one China,two systems," the
principle of the market economy, and the principle of consistency with
existing rules.
He described the rules as a "new initiative to accelerate cross-Straits
trade exchanges" following the promulgation last year of detailed rules
concerning Taiwan investments in the mainland.
China's mainland has for the past 20 years tried to promote direct links in
trade, transportation and postal services (the "three links") across the
Taiwan Straits under the principles of peaceful reunification and the policy
of "one China, two systems."
As a result, cross-Straits trade and economic cooperation has grown
vigorously, he said.
He said the Taiwan authorities' rejection of the "three links" and its
series of counter-policies, which are getting increasingly unpopular, have
undermined the fundamental interests of people on both sides of the Taiwan
Straits, particularly those of the Taiwan compatriots.
The assistant minister called on the Taiwan authorities to lift the ban on
the "three links" at an earlier date, and remove the uncalled-for
restrictions on mainland products with the aim of promoting direct and
mutually-beneficial cross-Straits trade and economic cooperation.
Taiwan is now the fifth largest trade partner and the second largest source
of imports for the mainland, while the mainland is the second largest export
destination of Taiwan goods. Taiwan enjoys the biggest sum of trade surplus
among all mainland's trade partners.
MOFTEC statistics indicate that trade across the Taiwan Straits is expected
to reach US$30 billion this year. By November this year, cross-Straits trade
had totaled US$188.22 billion since 1978, when the figure was only US$46
million.
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China Ready to Combat Challenges in 21st Century
China, a country with a history of more than fifty centuries, is ready to
face the challenges of a new century.
Chinese leaders and economists are fully aware that for China, which has
solved the problem of feeding its 1.26 billion population, the task of
becoming a medium-developed country by the middle of the next century is a
formidable one.
In half a century, China's population will hit its peak of 1.6 billion,
according to the government's population-control plan.
Growing population, decreasing resources, deteriorating environment and
structural imbalance all stand in the way on which China is realizing its
rejuvenation dream, and the problems will pose a severe threat to the
country's sustainable development.
In China's vast rural areas, a large feat was once accomplished by providing
sufficient food to 22 percent of the world's population with 7 percent of
the world's arable land. But problems still persist with low productivity
and the low income level of farmers.
Moreover, it is predicted by the World Bank that more than 9.6 million rural
laborers will be forced to find jobs in other sectors in a decade, posing a
big burden on employment.
"What we have to face is unprecedented and toughest of all, which is to
achieve modernization in rural areas," said Mi Jianguo, director of the
macro-economic department of the Development and Research Center under the
State Council.
Currently, China's annual per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is less
than 800 U.S. dollars, much lower than that of the world's average of 4,600
U.S. dollars. The added-value of the high-technology industry contributes
only 2 percent to the country's GDP.
Naturally, the challenges that China came across are inevitable ones in
progress and they are nothing but annoyance in growth, said Wang Mengkui, a
renowned Chinese economist.
To tackle these problems, China has issued a White Paper on Population,
Development for the 21st Century, the first historic guidance on sustainable
development.
China also set population-control targets for the next five, ten and fifty
years, and stressed the promotion of the family planning policy and low
birth rates.
At the turn of the century, China launched great development of west China
region to help the resource-rich and vast western areas to achieve a measure
of prosperity.
When the strategy is fully implemented, more than 300 million people can be
settled in the west and the tendency of ecological deterioration will be
checked and rooted out, experts noted.
To narrow its gap with the developed countries, China put forward the policy
of rejuvenating the country through science and education. The country is
set to raise the proportion of high-technology output value to 30 percent in
China's GDP in a decade period.
As China's economy becomes global, China is committed to opening more
sectors to the outside world, including telecommunication and finance, and
meanwhile, it is encouraging domestic enterprises to invest abroad.
With China's entry into the World Trade Organization, more and
more opportunities and competitions are ahead for Chinese enterprises to
face. "We can survive by our active participation in global competition ,"
said Hai'er's CEO Zhang Ruimin, who had established ten research centers in
developed countries.
At the turn of the epoch, China outlined its 10th Five-Year Plan, putting
economic restructuring on top of the government's agenda for the first five
years in the new century.
Observers considered it a significant move for China to remove all obstacles
and establish itself among world powers in the future.
They predicted that China's economy will leap up by three or places in the
world list in the coming 20 years.
China has drawn world attention in its efforts for meeting the challenges in
the new century, just as Jonathan D. Spence, a professor from the History
Department of Yale University, once commented, if China can tackle all its
problems, the 21st century will become "a century of China."
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Iran Says Iran-Russia Relations Enter New Phase
Iran's Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani on Thursday said that Iran-Russia
relations have entered a new phase, adding his Russian counterpart Igor
Sergeyev's visit has met the strategic objectives of both countries.
At a joint press conference with the Russian defence minister, shamkhani
reiterated that Iran's development of missile technology is in line with its
national interests and for peaceful ends.
Iran relies on its indigenous strength and domestic hardware and software
potentials for national security, he said, adding that his country has
gained power in guiding and controlling various kinds of missiles.
Meanwhile, Sergeyev said that Iran and Russia are determined to start a new
phase of military and technical cooperation.
The suspension of defense cooperation between Iran and Russia since 1995 had
inflicted irreparable damages to both parties, he said.
The Russian minister also said that he had held discussions with Iranian
officials on security-related issues, military cooperation and the threats
facing both countries.
Sergeyev arrived here on Tuesday for a three-day visit, the first by a
Russian defense minister since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.
During his visit, Sergeyev held talks with President Mohammad Khatami, his
counterpart Shamkhani and other senior political and military officials on
the expansion of military cooperation, regional security and other topics of
common concern.
He also visited military and industrial bases in Tehran and the central
industrial city of Isfahan to see what Russia can do to help Iran improve
its military technology.
The visit came only one month after Moscow announced that it would no longer
observe a five-year-old secret deal with Washington that banned Russia from
selling arms to Iran.
The move prompted threats of economic sanctions from Washington, which has
long prohibited other countries from shipping arms to Iran, a country it
accuses of sponsoring international terrorism and trying to acquire weapons
of mass destruction.
