Extracts. Sharon Rejects Palestinian Peace Proposal: PM Office Officials in the Israeli Prime Minister's office said that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has rejected the peace proposal put forth by Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala), Israeli Radio reported Thursday. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, however, is said to be studying the proposal with great interest. Under the peace proposal, both Israelis and the Palestinians would take steps to stem the violence and fully implement signed agreements. In addition, the proposal also demands, as part of efforts to renew peace negotiations, that Israel lift its blockades on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, stop its policy of assassinating Palestinian militants, freeze settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories and free up tax revenues it owes to the Palestinian National Authority. While some Israeli officials received the proposal positively as it did not include a former demand to resume peace talks from where they were left off in negotiation with Israeli previous government led by Ehud Barak, right-wing Likud lawmaker Moshe Arens rejected the proposal Thursday, saying that the Palestinians first "had to reach the conclusion that violence does not pay." Arens, a former defense minister, added that once Peres completed reading the document, he would no doubt reach the conclusion "that it is not so interesting," quoted by the radio. Zehava Gal-On, Knesset (parliament) member from the left-wing Meretz Party rebuffed Arens' argument, saying that the government should take Abu Ala's initiative seriously and military might would not solve the conflict. "It's possible to conquer more homes, leave more people without a roof over their heads and continue with the assassinations and then the Palestinian (National) Authority will collapse," she said. She said that the Israeli government should discard its vow not to talk under fire. "You have to talk in order to end the fire. And it is not possible to talk only about renewing security cooperation," she added. **** Hu Jintao to Attend Vietnam's CPV National Congress Chinese vice-president Hu Jintao will go to Vietnam to attend the 9th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) as guest of the CPV Central Committee, scheduled to open April 19. Hu, also a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will head a delegation of the CPC for the Congress. A spokesman for the International Department of the CPC Central Committee made the announcement Thursday morning. **** China, US to Continue Negotiations on Plane Collision Incident China and the US will continue negotiations on the April 1 plane collision incident and other related issues starting from April 18, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said Thursday at a press conference. Zhang said negotiations will include such topics as the cause for the collision, the stop of US reconnaissance activities near the Chinese coastal areas, and the prevention of recurrence of such incidents, and other related issues. Zhang stressed that the US spy plane had intruded into China's airspace and caused the crash of a Chinese fighter jet and the loss of the Chinese pilot. "This case has not concluded," Zhang said, demanding the US to provide convincing explanations to the Chinese people, to stop sending aircraft to the vicinity of China's coast for reconnaissance activities and take effective measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. **** China Makes Achievements in Human Rights Studies President of the China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS) Zhou Jue said here Thursday that China has made outstanding achievements in human rights studies and boasts a contingent of experts on human rights. Sichuan People's Publishing House donated 21,800 volumes of 10 books on human rights to nationwide research and education bodies. Together with the CSHRS, the publishing house organized a seminar Thursday afternoon. The academic achievements made by the Chinese experts include introduction to basic theories of human rights, China's practice of human rights, and translation of foreign human rights writings, Zhou said at the seminar. As the nation is faced with new domestic and international situations, the Chinese human rights experts must stick to the basic principle of Marxism when studying human rights in modern times, Zhou said. He urged the researchers to make further contributions to the academic field. As China's first publisher for human rights books, Sichuan People's Publishing House has produced about 20 varieties of related books since 1990, including the well-known World Documents of Human Rights and the Encyclopedia of Human Rights. **** Hu Jintao to Attend Vietnam's CPV National Congress Chinese vice-president Hu Jintao <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/leaders/vpresident.html> will go to Vietnam <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/vietnam.html> to attend the 9th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) as guest of the CPV Central Committee, scheduled to open April 19. Hu, also a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will head a delegation of the CPC for the Congress. A spokesman for the International Department of the CPC Central Committee made the announcement Thursday morning. **** Jiang Proposes Ways to Boost Sino-Brazil Ties Visiting Chinese President Jiang Zemin <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/leaders/jzm/jzmhome.htm> put forward proposals Brasilia on Wednesday to boost cooperation with Brazil <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/brazil.html> in economy, science and technology and international affairs. Jiang made the proposals during his talks with Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso. China and Brazil, the two largest developing countries in the Eastern Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere respectively, have the obligations to play a positive role in pushing forward the healthy development of world politics and economy, Jiang said. Enhanced coordination and increased cooperation and the deepening of strategic partnership between the two nations are of major significance to augmenting the overall strength of the developing countries and to establishing a fair and rational new international political and economic order. In this regard, the Chinese president proposed to maintain top-level contacts and personnel exchanges between the two countries so as to help coordinate their stances to safeguard the two countries' interests and those of the whole developing world, he said. He also suggested that mutually beneficial cooperation in trade and economy and science and technology be strengthened so as to add more substance to the strategic partnership. "There are still potentials to tap in this regard," he added. Bilateral trade and investment could be expanded, Jiang said. " The governments of the two countries should strengthen marco- economic adjustment in a bid to support, direct and regulate the trade and economic cooperation among the enterprises," he told Cardoso. Assistance and convenience should be given to those projects that are competitive and beneficial to the market prosperity and economic development of the two nations, he said. "We are confident of achieving yet another breakthrough in bilateral trade and economic cooperation," he said. Scientific and technological cooperation, in particular the high-tech cooperation, can also be expanded, he said. Saying that China and Brazil have already carried out fruitful cooperation in the aerospace area, Jiang called for efforts to explore more areas for bilateral cooperation, including information technology, bio-engineering, pharmaceutics and new materials. He also called for efforts to speed up the application of the scientific achievements to serve their countries' economic development. Jiang said China and Brazil should support each other in regional and international affairs. He said both sides should consolidate existing consultative mechanisms and open up new dialogue and coordination channels. Expressing China's willingness to work with Brazil to continue promoting their strategic partnership, Jiang said: "We can strengthen cooperation within the framework of the World Trade Organization." Cardoso agreed with Jiang's comments and proposals. He told Jiang that Brazil would play its due part in the endeavors. Jiang, now on his second visit to Brazil, arrived in Brasilia earlier Wednesday for a working visit. **** Sinn Fein Delivers Warning on N.Ireland Peace The IRA's political ally Sinn Fein expressed concern Thursday that a widely tipped British general election on June 7 could put hard-line Protestants in a position to wreck the Northern Ireland <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/ireland.html> peace process. Hard-line Protestants, who oppose the British province's 1998 Good Friday peace accord, could gain the upper hand over moderates in the election, Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin told the Guardian newspaper in an interview. He said the accord must be "reconfigured" to ensure its survival. David Trimble's Ulster Unionists are the main Protestant party in the province and hold the most number of Northern Ireland seats in the British parliament, but he faces a tough challenge from hard-liners in the election. Even now he has only a narrow majority in his own party backing the peace process. The peace process has been bogged down for months by disputes between Protestant and Catholic politicians over guerrilla disarmament, policing and Britain's military presence in the province. **** Turn Patriotic Enthusiasm into Strength to Build a Powerful Nation: Commentary The People's Daily <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/GB/paper464/> publishes a commentary Thursday on the US government's letter expressing that the US side is "very sorry" about that the Chinese pilot is missing and "very sorry" about that the US surveillance plane entered China's territory without approval on April 1. The firm struggle by the Chinese government and people against US hegemony has forced the US government to change from its initial rude and unreasonable attitude to saying "very sorry" to the Chinese people, says the commentary titled "To Turn Patriotic Enthusiasm into Strength to Build a Powerful Nation". In handling the issue, the Chinese government has adhered to the principled stance of safeguarding state sovereignty and national dignity and opposing hegemonism and power politics, it says. Despite China's opposition, the United States <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/usa.html> has, for years, frequently sent aircraft to conduct surveillance activities along China's coast, which was the root of the incident, the commentary says, stressing that the United States should take full responsibility for the "aircraft collision incident". What the United States has done is against international laws and commonly recognized principles on international relations, and has infringed China's laws and regulations, invaded China's territorial space and violated China's sovereignty, and damaged China's national security interests, the commentary says. The Chinese government has voiced solemn and just requests and protests to the US side and carried out a justified, advantageous and restrained struggle against US hegemonism, which has once again displayed the ability to cope with complicated situations and to handle complicated issues of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Jiang Zemin <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/leaders/jzm/jzmhome.htm> at the core, commentary says. "Human life is the most valuable thing on earth," the commentary emphasizes. The safety of the missing pilot is what the CPC and the Chinese government care most about and what millions of Chinese people have been worrying about. By April 10, the Chinese Navy had dispatched 107 aircraft and 95 vessels to undertake the largest-ever rescue effort in the history of the Chinese armed forces, it says. The commentary points out that all Chinese people from every ethnic group firmly support the solemn and just stance of the Chinese government and have shown strong patriotic enthusiasm and high spirits. The Chinese nation is a great nation which advocates justice and fears no powers, it stresses. The anti-hegemonism struggle by the Chinese people has won strong support from the international community, the commentary says. It goes on to say that China has won initial success in its struggle, which still continues, noting that the struggle between the pursuers and opponents of hegemony and the uni-polar world and the multi-polar world is a long-term and complicated one and it will not be completed through one event or one round of encounters. China believes in the irresistible historic trend that justice and truth will win, it says. The direction for the development of China-US relations is extremely important to the whole world, the commentary stresses. The majority of American people are friendly to China, though in the Untied States there are anti-China forces who are hostile to China and interfere in China's internal affairs, it says. Improving and developing China-US relations are not only compatible with the fundamental interests of the two nations but favorable to world peace and stability, the commentary says. Through the struggle, all Chinese people from all ethnic groups have further reached a common understanding that China needs development, the nation needs reinvigoration, and society needs stability, the commentary says. A strong will has formed to strenuously prosper the nation, strengthen the Chinese nation, and strengthen national power, it says. This is a very precious spiritual wealth, it stresses. **** Iraq Urges UNIKOM to Report US, British Airspace Violations Iraq on Thursday urged the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) to perform its duties and report the almost daily violations of its airspace by US and British warplanes, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported. Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahaf made the appeal in a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the INA said. Sahaf also demanded Annan's intervention to stop the armed patrols over southern and northern Iraq by US and British jets since the 1991 Gulf War, the INA said. "The UN should take legal procedures to stop these aggressions," Sahaf said in the letter. US and British planes have been patrolling the two no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq with the claimed aim of protecting the Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south from possible attacks by Baghdad. Iraq has never recognized the air exclusion zones for lack of clear UN authorization and has criticized the UNIKOM for remaining silent over Western planes' patrols over the no-fly zones. The UNIKOM has been patrolling the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait since a US-led multinational coalition force ousted Iraqi troops from Kuwait in 1991 after a seven-month occupation. It is charged with reporting any violations of either nation's territory to the UN Security Council. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
