Extracts. China Development Forum 2001 Opens in Beijing The 2001 annual meeting of China Development Forum opened here Sunday morning. Chinese Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. The theme of the two-day meeting is "the role of government in the rapidly globalizing economy". Attending the meeting are over 100 participants, including officials from Chinese government departments, leaders of financial circles and other big companies, chairmen and CEOs of some transnationals among the world's top 500 businesses, and representatives from related international organizations, and Chinese and foreign scholars. They will discuss the government's leading role in social and economic reforms, self-improvement of the government, and how to realize both development and stability. **** Arafat Renews Call for U.N. to Send Force to Protect Palestinians Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Saturday renewed a call for the United Nations to send a peace- keeping force to the Palestinian territories to protect the Palestinian people and their properties. Arafat reiterated the call at a meeting with Chinese Representative to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Wu Jiuhong. He briefed Wu on the latest developments in the Palestinian territories and expressed gratitude to the Chinese government and people for their continuous support to the Palestinian causes. Israel still uses force against Palestinian protestors, imposes blockade on the Palestinian territories, and declines to pay tax money it owes to the PNA, which has resulted in a serious economic crisis, Arafat said. He urged the U.N. Security Council to send an international force to the Palestinian territories to protect the Palestinian people and investigate into the causes of the still ongoing Israeli-Palestinian clashes. The violence, triggered by Israeli violation of Islamic holy sites in East Jerusalem last September, have left more than 430 people dead, most of them Palestinians, and thousands of others injured. The new Israeli government under the hardline Prime Minister Ariel Sharon clutches to its preconditions for the resumption of peace negotiations, said Arafat, adding that the ongoing confrontations pose a threat to the regional security and stability. For his part, Wu said that China is concerned about the killing of civilians and the stalled peace process. He expressed hope that the Palestinians and Israel would soon resume peace negotiations. China supports the Middle East peace process based on the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and the land-for-peace principle, Wu added. The implementation of all agreements signed between the two sides is a precondition for rebuilding mutual confidence, he said. The Chinese representative called on the world community to exert further efforts and take effective and practical steps in a bid to revive the peace process. **** China Deeply Concerned About Macedonian Situation China on Friday expressed deep concern over the worsening of the security situation in the Republic of Macedonia and its neighboring areas. "We strongly condemn extremist violence, and believe that the spread of the Kosovo crisis to areas outside the territory of Yugoslavia will cause grave consequences to regional peace and stability," foreign ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said in a statement. He said China supports the 1345 resolution adopted by the UN Security Council, and understands the worries of the Macedonian and Yugoslav governments on the current situation and their concerns over national sovereignty and territorial integrity. "We welcome the efforts made by Macedonia, Yugoslavia and other relevant countries to ease the tense situation," he added. The Chinese government has always upheld the stance of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Macedonia, Yugoslavia and other countries in the region, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of all nationalities, and properly settling all problems involved on the basis of comprehensively carrying out resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council, Sun said in the statement. He said China does not have or seek any self interests in the region. The stand China takes is proceeding from safeguarding the United Nations Charter and the widely acknowledged norms of international laws, and safeguarding the common interests of the peoples in the region. As a permanent member of the Security Council, he said, China will continue to closely follow the development of the situation in the region, and make its due efforts to properly settle the issue. **** Falun Gong, Cult Ruining Families, Human Lives: Qian Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen said in Washington Friday that Falun Gong is not a religion at all but a cult that ruins families and human lives. "The (Chinese) Government protects the freedom of religious belief and normal religious activities in accordance with law. In fact, more than 100 million people in China believe in one religion or another," Qian said while addressing a welcome luncheon jointly hosted by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, U.S.-China Business Council, U.S.-China Policy Foundation and the Nixon Center. "But cult is a poisonous tumor of a society. Falun Gong is precisely such a cult that ruins families and human lives," the vice premier said. He said Falun Gong not only despises Protestantism, Catholicism and Buddhism but also fools and entraps people. "In order to safeguard the human rights and freedoms of the Chinese people, the (Chinese) Government has outlawed the organization in accordance with law," he said. Talking about human rights issue, Qian said that "never before has the human rights situation in China been so good," adding that it is still improving. "China has a population of 1.26 billion. It is by no means an easy job to ensure so many people their subsistence, development and political rights. It can't be done overnight. Progress can only be made step by step," the vice premier pointed out. "Democracy, freedom and human rights are the common pursuit of humanity. Countries differ from one another. So it is nothing strange for them not to see eye to eye on these issues," Qian said. "What is most important is to respect each other, seek common ground while putting aside differences and refrain from confrontation," he noted. "We sincerely hope to increase mutual understanding and expand common ground with the U.S. side through dialogue on an equal footing," Qian said, expressing hope that the U.S. side will respond to this positively. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
