Extracts. Chinese Scholars Condemn US Annual Report on Human Rights Experts and scholars from China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS) convened Friday to refute the distorted statements concerning China's human rights record in the US annual report on human rights, which was released February 27 by the US State Department. In response to the statement in the annual report accusing Chinese government's autocratic rule and prevailing infringement on human rights, Zhou Jue, President of CSHRS, said that it is a common practice for the US government to fabricate conclusions out of hearsay evidence. Zhou held that the ultimate goal of the annual report was to change the socialist system of Chinese society. Zhu Muzhi, honorary president of CSHRS, said that the annual report's statement admitting China's continuous progress in improving people's living conditions repudiated its groundless censure on China's human rights. To save China's large population from starvation is the best manifestation of China's concern and successful efforts to protect fundamental human rights, he said. Human rights specialists present at Friday's seminar also held that this year's human rights statement by the US government is characterized by taking China's official ban on the Falun Gong cult as a vital proof for persecution on religion. "The annual report turned a deaf ear to the atrocities done by the Falun Gong cult organization. Isn't it the most inhumane and vicious deed for a mother to destroy lives gestated by her at the instigation of Li Hongzhi, the cult's ringleader?" asked Ye Xiaowen, director of the State Administration of Religious Affairs. United Nations human rights specialist Fan Guoxiang said that the US government was using the human rights issue as a pretext to interfere with China's internal affairs and attempting to stall China's rapid social development. Fan said that countries with different cultural and historical backgrounds define human rights differently. It is a hegemonic act of the US State Department to impose their human rights standards on other countries with the release of the annual report. China on February 27 released "U.S. Human Rights Record in 2000 " detailing the rampant infringement of human rights in the United States in response to the U.S. accusation. **** NPC Deputies & CPPCC Members Shoulder Heavy Responsibilities As the saying goes, "making plans for the year in spring", in the first spring of the new century, the "two sessions"-the Fourth Session of the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC) and the Fourth Session of the Ninth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which attract the attention of the whole nation-will he opened in Beijing. The "two sessions" of this year are unusual, NPC deputies and CPPCC members, shouldering the heavy responsibilities entrusted by the people of the whole country, will discuss and examine the 10th Five-year Plan and other major topics, depict the spring beauty of the new century and draw up a blueprint for development in the next five years. NPC Deputy.Yang Renzheng, mayor of Taizhou City of Zhejiang Province, said that the session of this year is of great significance, the 10th Five-year Plan to be discussed and examined at the session will surely play an important role in China's development in the new century. He said Taizhou is the birthplace of China's joint stock system. For the session, he has prepared two proposals: First, the Proposal on Speeding Up the Shareholding System Reform of State-owned Commercial Banks; second, the Proposal for Accelerating the Development of Teacher Education. CPPCC Member Bai Jingzhong, honorary chairman of the China Metrology Association, expressed this view: China's 10th Five-year Plan, the main topic to be discussed and examined at the "two sessions", will be of extremely important significance to our country's social and economic development, invigoration and take-off and to our great national rejuvenation. He said he would fulfill his responsibility as a CPPCC member by contributing his ideas and suggestions to the session. Gan Zhihe, director of the Investment and Planning Department of the State Economic and Trade Commission, said that as clearly stated by the Fifth Plenum of the 15th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), structural readjustment is the main line of the development of the national economy during the 10th Five-year Plan period, and industrialization remains an important part of China's modernization drive, he said we earnestly hoped that all the deputies to the first NPC Congress in the new century would show more concern for structural readjustment, particularly the use of high and new technology to revamp traditional industries and for high and new technological industrialization and put forward constructive opinions and set higher demand on us. General Manager Guo Xiumin with an exclusively ROK-owned enterprise expressed the hope that new State policies related to exclusively owned enterprises would be published, and when the 10th Five-year Plan is discussed and examined at the "two sessions", attention would be paid to the question concerning the development of foreign-funded enterprises and greater efforts to expand the absorption of foreign investment would be encouraged. NPC Deputy Liu Bingyin, president of the Henan Xinfei Electrical Appliance Company, remarked: After China's entry into the WTO, Chinese enterprises will face fierce global market competition. For many years, his company has consistently carried out the name-brand strategy and been further integrated with the world market system. He said as an NPC deputy from an enterprise, he would strive to shoulder the heavy task of invigorating the national industry. Wang Lili, executive deputy director of Beijing's Fangshan District No.1 Clothing Factory, while talking about the relationship between the revamping of State institutions and enterprise reform, said, "on the eve of the 'two sessions', the State Economic and Trade Commission dissolved the Internal Trade Bureau and eight other State bureaus under the administration of the Commission, guidance for their related businesses will be vested in a department of the State Economic and Trade Commission. In this way, the enterprise can directly face the market, but the State still cannot relax its policy and information guidance for the enterprises. He hoped that the final version of the 10th Five-year Plan to be discussed and examined at the "two sessions" could embody relevant State policies supporting enterprises. He Guangwei, director of the National Tourism Administration, said that for many years, China's tourism industry has received all-out support and concern from the People's Congresses and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference at various levels. During the period of the "two sessions" each year, tourism is the hot-spot area attracting the attention of NPC deputies and CPPCC members who have put forward many opinions and proposals with important reference value. The tourism industry, as a new growth point of the national economy, will play a still greater role in speeding up the economic restructuring and improving urban and rural people's living standards during the 10th Five-year Plan period. He hoped that NPC deputies and CPPCC members would show more concern for and give greater support to tourism industry, efforts will be made to achieve the goal of making China a tourism power in 2020. CPPCC Member Zeng Peisheng, vice-president of the All-China Invention Association, presented a copy of written proposal and told the reporters, "Rejuvenating the country through science and education is a major event of merits and virtues for generations to come, it needs the support of leaders at various levels and the attention of the whole people. Our proposal is accelerating construction of a platform for popularization of intelligence education and blazing a trail for training students' creative capability and improving the quality of the whole people." CPPCC Member Ni Guangnan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that he had an unfinished written proposal, which is a question concerning the protection of intellectual property rights. He said, "In the fast developing information industry, particular attention should be paid to the protection of intellectual property rights." In the opinion of Chen Dongsheng, former director with the Western Development Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the large-scale development of the western region is a long-term strategic decision of the State. In an interview with a reporter, Niu Yuru, elected as vice-chairman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region only a few days ago, indicated that if the discussions on the strategy for the large-scale development of the western region conducted at last year's "two sessions" was an issue concerning the exploration of orientation, then this year the task will be, with initial experiences gained, to discuss how to systematically and dramatically push forward this strategy. He maintained that the first Five-year Plan in the new century will mean spurring the massive western development to take an even more solid step forward. Speaking about expectations of the "two session", most people hope that NPC deputies and CPPCC members would bring the topic regarding the eradication of corruption to the "two sessions", and would put forward practical methods for ruling the country according to law and administering the country by morality. Sociology Associate Professor Qian Minhui of Peking University said: The huge size of cases and defendants involved in the Xiamen smuggle case shows that there do exist many loopholes in some of our spheres, and that the supervision mechanism remains to be strengthened and perfected. This major case again shows that the key to solving this problem lies in how to effectively eliminate this corrupt phenomenon from the fountainhead. Senior Engineer Ma Baolin of the Tsinghua Yongxin Environmental Protection Company said: "The more the Communist Party dares to remove the "malignant tumor" from its body, the more it demonstrates its greatness, and the more it gets support from the common people." Xu Junwei with the research office of the Standing Committee of the Weifang City People's Congress in Shandong Province sent a letter to the News Website of the NPC, in which he suggested giving wider reports on the deputies' proposals and opinions they voiced at the "two sessions", thinking that this can not only enhance the readability of the reports, but can draw the people closer to the people's congress and its standing committee. He expressed the hope that the "two sessions" can further carry forward their democratic work style and make the "two sessions" more vivid and lively¡- The ideas and suggestions advanced by various circles reflect the weight of the "two sessions" in China's political life. **** China Promotes Family Planning Among Citizens Maintaining a low birth rate will be very important for China in the coming decade, and therefore, China must promote a scientific concept of birth among citizens, said Zhang Weiqing, head of the State Family Planning Commission, Friday. Although China's birth rate has dropped greatly, the low birth rate is not stable compared with developed countries, Zhang pointed out. China should strengthen the popularization on knowledge in regards to population and family planning through various channels and media to help people to prepare in advance for having a small family after marriage, said Zhang. He stressed whether people support and are satisfied with family planning should be the criterion for judging China's population control work. Zhang made the remarks at an anniversary ceremony marking a decision on maintaining a low birth level issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council. Thousands of Beijing <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/beijing.html> residents participated in the activity. A scroll with more than 10,000 university students' signature, writing about the people's choice on birth decides world future, was dedicated to the State Family Planning Commission. Over the past three decades of 20th century, China's population growth style has shifted from a high birth rate, low death rate, and high increase rate to low birth rate, low death rate and low increase rate, a historical change which took the developed countries more than 100 years to complete, said Zhang. He added that China's population will peak at 1.6 billion and start to drop, while population quality will be steadily increased in the coming decades to form a favorable population environment for China's sustainable development. **** Seoul to Resume Ground-leveling for Inter-Korean Transport System The Army of South Korea Friday said it will restore ground-leveling work in the demilitarized zone next Monday to relink an inter-Korean railroad and a highway. The reconstruction of the inter-Korean railway and highway has been suspended since last December due to the ground freezing. When completed, trains can once again run from Seoul through Pyongyang to Shinuiju, a city on the border between Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/DPRK.html> ) and China, while the highway will reconnect Munsan city of South Korea with Kaesung city of the DPRK. Army engineer corps from both sides will start work simultaneously to level ground in the four-kilometer wide demilitarized zone which straddles the border, said an Army spokesman. Under an agreement signed between Seoul and Pyongyang, the recontruction of the inter-Korean transport system will be completed before October this year. **** African Union Proclaimed in Libya Some 45 heads of state and government attending a special summit of the Organization of African Unity here proclaimed the establishment the African Union on Friday. The establishment of the African Union, initiated by Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi in September 1999, was agreed upon by African leaders in the Declaration of Sirte at the 36th OAU summit in Lome, Togo, last July. Its goal was to promote political and economic integration of the African continent in the face of challenges of economic globalization. **** "863" Hi-Tech Program Blueprinting China's Future World's first man-loading HTS maglev test vehicle On in Beijing <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/beijing.html> now is a "863" Program Exhibition, scheduled Feb. 26 - Mar. 6, jointly held by the Ministry of Science and Technology <http://www.most.gov.cn/English/index.htm> and the General Armament Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. A national hi-tech exhibition, it showcases China's hi-tech successes achieved under the "863" Program initiated in March 1986 following four Chinese scientists' suggestion aiming at making breakthroughs in some sophisticated fields of science and technology to which late Deng Xiaoping had given his nod. Fifteen years have gone by since four Chinese scientists including Wang Dayan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, had been with their "863 Program" demanding keeping in track world advanced technologies in bringing a springtime of China's hi-tech development. With the strong backing of central authorities and a concerted effort made throughout China, as is shown by the exhibition, "863" Program has fulfilled its targets as originally planned which have, in many areas, much narrowed the country's gap with other hi-tech powers. On display at the exhibition are a great many of hi-tech achievements marking China's hi-tech advances in the fields of biology, bioengineering and medicine, communication, high-performance computer, automation, information platform, artificial eyeball and photoelectric materials, amongst others. Sources say hi-tech successes, nearly 50 percent as shown at the exhibition, had started from scratch. Among many of these are 230 research projects involving six industrial areas. Most outstanding is the research on human gene conducted in 1998 which affects hearing impairment. Some years back, Professor Cao Yilin had the first mouse with human being's ear growing on back developed thanks to introduction of gene project and tissue engineering technology in China. The striking small mouse on display has aroused wide interest in the exhibition due to the fact that doctors will be enabled with it, as is expected, to restore human being's organs in the near future. Intelligent robots as Blue Superman developed by Harbin Industry University for outdoors operation and robots for manufacturing on show also create a hit in the exhibition area as visitors are told the possibility to use robots instead of human beings in risky situations. Robots for soccer games from China Northeast University also bring people new fun for entertainment. Mouse with human being's ear on back In the information technology sector, homegrown hi-performance DAWNING (Shuguang) computer series form an example to augur the prospect of commercialization of hi-tech products in China. With a peak floating speed of 403.2 billion times per second, Dawning (Shuguang) 3000 superserver has a designed storage capacity of up to 16.8 gigabits (GB) of data by its EMI memory and 3,630 gigabits by its magnetic disks. The product may be used for many a varied purpose as of computing, network, information, liquidation, settlement, billing, data, and E-commerce. Tank farming and fish breeding, insect-resistant GM cotton and high-yield hybrid rice seeding also catch people's attention for their wide prospects to benefit the Chinese farmers on a nationwide scale. So far, China has been bountifully rewarded and a cluster of world-level hi-tech achievements reaped for its "863" Program for it has had a total of 5.7 billion yuan of input made in advancing the country's hi-technology. Over 200 billion yuan of economic return has been gained. Many hi-technologies have been directly or indirectly used in helping China's economic construction, strengthening of national defense and social development. A large contingent of Sci-tech personnel have been brought forth and come to their name over 2,000 patents and 47,000 theses, realizing an accumulated output value up to 56 billion yuan and an indirect benefit worth of 200 billion yuan. Furthermore, new technologies with commercial users targeted have been developed and these include a fairly good number that have been directly used in people's daily life. A great many have been used to a multitudinous purpose as HD POS, part of 863 Program developed in Shanghai <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/Shanghai.html> and used in nearly 200 enterprises to help reform their traditional business mode and enhance their competitiveness in 21 provinces in China. Statistics show that the value of sales volume by all users in China topped over 20 billion yuan annually. In Shanghai alone, 36 items involving robot technology, gene development, network technology, etc. have been industrialized to take up a sales volume of over 2.6 billion yuan. Robot used in welding and assembling in Auto Manufacture For the future operation of the "863" Program there are over 6,900 high-tech projects backed by state funds and a sum of 15 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion) to be further made in coming five years. According to Ma Songde, vice minister of Science and Technology, China will focus on independent development of hi-technologies on its own instead of tracing on customary prints of world advanced. Topping China's hi-tech development is seeking new developments by its information industry centering on information security. Microelectronics development will receive unprecedented support from the government. Hi-technologies will also be used in modernizing China's traditional industries such as agriculture and herbal medicines making. As a part of the effort, the Ministry of Science and Technology will further open most programs on the Internet and invite public bid to attract first-rate scientists to participate in programs blueprinting China's development. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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