Extracts. Mainland Boat Set to Make First Official Trip to Taiwan in 50 Years The first officially-sanctioned trip by a China's mainland boat to Taiwan territory in half a century is set to go ahead on Tuesday, officials said. The "Gulangyu" ferry will leave Xiamen in the southeastern province of Fujian around 9:00 am (0100 GMT), taking about 100 passengers to the small Taiwanese island of Kinmen, just a few kilometers (miles) off the mainland. "The boat will carry more than 90 senior citizens visiting relatives on Kinmen," said a member of staff with Xiamen's semi-official Kinmen Compatriot Federation, who gave his surname as Dai. "There will also be some medical personnel, and a number of Chinese journalists," he said. Although it will last only four days and three nights, and the tour group is not scheduled to meet any Taiwan officials, the trip will have potentially historic significance for relations between Chinese mainland and Taiwan.. The 90 people who are about to set out on the short trip are witnesses to the human cost of this division, as many of them were born on Kinmen and have been barred from visiting for more than 50 years. The "Gulangyu" will be the first mainland vessel to participate in newly-established direct trade, transport and postal links - called the "mini-links" because they connect only Taiwan's outlying Kinmen and Matsu Islands with selected ports in Fujian. Taiwan sent the first two boats to make an official trip to the mainland in nearly 52 years on January 2, in a move hailed by Taiwan as a breakthrough in relations with China's mainland. On Friday, 10 Taiwanese businessmen sailed directly to the mainland from Kinmen, after obtaining special permission from authorities on both sides to make a two-hour voyage. Many expect the three "mini-links" to develop into broader relations as early as the end of the year. China has expressed hopes that full-blown links between Taiwan and China's mainland to be opened at an early date. **** China Succeeds in Exercising Unified Control of River Water Flow News of victory has poured in from China's water resources front as we just crossed the threshold into the new century: With the loving care of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, the Heihe River has successfully realized cross-province water transfer for the first time in history, the Yellow River has realized unceasing flowing the whole year in times of serious drought, the Bosteng Lake has twice brought life-saving water to the downstream of the Tarim River. These three major events mark a major breakthrough made in the unified control and scientific management of the runoff of Chinese rivers. In recent years, due to continued dry weather in China's northern regions, plus excessive utilization and disorderly management of water resources, the Yellow River has begun to dry up since 1972, this situation has occurred almost every years since the beginning of the 1990s. In 1997, this situation extended up to Henan <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/henan.html> ¡¯s Kaifeng City, 780 km from the river mouth, the drying-up continued for 226 days the whole year in the Lijin Hydrometric Station. In the Tarim River, China¡¯s longest inland river, the river section, 363 km from the Daxihaizi Reservoir down the lower reaches, has since 1974 completely dried up, the green corridor on the downstream of the Tahe River has been in a precarious state; the Heihe River has been dried up for more than 10 consecutive years during the flood season, populus diversifolia over a large tract of land in downstream areas has whither away. Eco-environmental problems and social problems arising from water resources have become ever more outstanding. The shortages of water resources in northern rivers have aroused the concern of leaders of the Republic. When Comrade Jiang Zemin <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/leaders/jzm/jzmhome.htm> inspected the Yellow River in 1999, he gave the instruction on the unified control of the volume of river flow; Premier Zhu Rongji <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/leaders/Zhurongji.htm> concerned himself with the problem concerning the transfer of water of the Heihe and Tarim rivers. Cross-province transfer of water affects the relations of interest of the upper and lower reaches and the left and right river banks, which requires the all-out support and coordination of all quarters. In order to guarantee success in cross-province water transfer, Zhangye Prefecture, though hit by drought over a vast area of farmland and forest and grassland, released water downstream four times to Ejin Banner of Inner Mongolia <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/mongolia.html> to ensure that the latter retain a sufficient water amount of 650 million cubic meters; to keep the smooth flow of the Yellow River, staff of the Water Transfer Bureau of the Yellow River Water Resources Committee carefully drew up a water transfer plan and sent out in succession 100 inspection groups to guard every water gate. The key water-control projects in various provinces (regions) along the way made concerted efforts in cooperation, gave the green light to ensure the smooth flow of the Yellow River, the Ningxia <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/ningxia.html> and Inner Mongolian irrigated areas saved water by 910 million cubic meters and 380 million cubic meters of water respectively to support people on the lower reaches in years of drought, the Xiaolangdi water-control project suspended power generation for 74 days; to guarantee that the Bositeng Lake transfers 350 million cubic meters of water to the green corridor on the downstream of the dried up Tarim River, staff members of the Tarim River Administrative Bureau all turned out to dredge the river course, fighting valiantly day and night in the desolate Gobi Desert. The brilliant achievements gained in harnessing the Heihe, Yellow and Tarim rivers at the turn of the century represent the success gained in the unified control and management of water resources. At present, on the basis of summing up experiences, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Yellow River Water Resources Committee and other departments, to deal specifically with the existing weak links, are studying and adopting related measures in order to do the work related to the unified control of the river water flow even better this year. **** Reporters Invited to Cover Upcoming NPC, CPPCC Sessions Chinese and overseas reporters are invited to cover the upcoming annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), it was announced February 4. The 4th Session of the 9th National People's Congress and the 4th Session of the 9th National Committee of the CPPCC are to be convened on March 5 and March 3 in Beijing <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/beijing.html> respectively, announced the general offices of the NPC Standing Committee and the CPPCC National Committee. A press center will be set up at the Beijing Great Hall of the People Hotel, responsible for arranging Chinese and foreign correspondents to cover the two meetings. Resident foreign correspondents in China should send their applications to the press center, and foreign correspondents who temporarily come for the coverage of the meetings should send their applications to the Chinese embassies and consulates in foreign countries, or commissioner's offices of the Chinese Foreign Ministry <http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/> in Hong Kong <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/HK.html> and Macao <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/macau.html> . Taiwan <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/taiwan.html> reporters who temporarily come to cover the meetings should send their applications to the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. Hong Kong and Macao correspondents should send their applications to the liaison offices of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions. The deadline for applications from non-resident foreign correspondents and Taiwan reporters is March 8. **** Wuhan Closed 188 Polluting Enterprises The municipal government of Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/hubei.html> Province, announced lately that the city's 612 industrial enterprises, which used to be serious sources of pollution, have all met the standard set for emission control. Since last year, Wuhan has tightened control over industrial pollution by enterprises and specially cited and warned 612 such enterprises. Thereafter, 393 enterprises have met the standard. Meanwhile, for a thorough elimination of sources of pollution Wuhan has even dismantled, stopped and changed some manufacture lines and has had a total of 188 polluting enterprises shut according to regulations and environmental standard set. Thanks to these efforts, the air quality and living environment of residents have been largely improved. It is reported that major industrial polluting sewage discharges in Wuhan have decreased over 65 percent. **** Gaddafi to Give Lockerbie Evidence Libyans are preparing themselves for new evidence in the Lockerbie case that the country's leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, has promised to reveal on Monday(Feb.5). The Libyan leader says his evidence will prove that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, is innocent of the 1988 bombing. Libya's defence of Al Megrahi - a former Libyan intelligence agent who received a life sentence for the bombing of the Pan-Am aircraft and the murder of 270 people - received a boost after a Scottish legal expert said the verdict was obtained on "very, very weak" evidence. A Libyan official said the opinion showed that the case was a "racist pretext" to prolong nine years of sanctions against the country. The three Scottish judges who heard the case found Megrahi's alleged accomplice, Al Amin Khalifah Fhimah, not guilty. Colonel Gaddafi has called two days of public holidays on Monday and Tuesday for "people's conferences" to discuss the matter. He is expected to make his announcement in front of a large gathering of supporters early on Monday morning. Correspondents say two possible scenarios are being discussed in Tripoli: Colonel Gaddadi will produce evidence that Washington put pressure on the Scottish judges to convict Al Megrahi or that another non-Libyan perpetrator carried out the bombing. However, there is scepticism outside the country that hard evidence will emerge at this late stage. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
