Extracts.
China Firmly Opposes US Helping Taiwan Test-fire Patriot
China is indignant over and firmly opposes the United States
<http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/usa.html> helping the Taiwan
<http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/taiwan.html> authority
test-fire Patriot missile, Chinese Foreign Ministry
<http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/> spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said Thursday at a
regular press conference.
Zhang said that the United States helping Taiwan test-fire Patriot missile
has violated the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques, especially the August 17
Communique, stressing that the conduct by the U.S. has infringed upon the
sovereignty of China and interfered in China's internal affairs.
This conduct by the United States has not only escalated the tension across
the Taiwan Straits, but also damaged the peace and stability of the
Asia-Pacific region, she noted.
China demands the United States immediately stop arms sales to Taiwan and
end its military cooperation with Taiwan, so as to avoid the damage to
Sino-U.S. relations, she said.
She said that the early reunification of the motherland is the common wish
of all Chinese people including Taiwan compatriots, and it is also an
irreversible historic trend.
She urged the Taiwan authority to have a clear mind about this historic
trend, and come back to the right track of the one-China principle and
reunify with the motherland.
****
Falun Gong Cult Murderous: Chinese Ambassador to the US
Yang Jiechi, Chinese ambassador to the US, pointed out Tuesday that the evil
Falun Gong cult has exerted all its efforts to entangle itself in various
activities against China and turned out to be a political 'cat's-paw' of
international anti-China forces.
"People in the US have seen more clearly the true nature of Falun Gong
cult", Yang made the remarks in a speech on Sino-US relations given to more
than 200 personages from industrial and commercial circles in Florida.
"Iron facts have proved that Falun Gong is an evil cult in nature:
anti-mankind, anti-society and anti-science. Li Hongzhi, the leader of Falun
Gong cult, fabricated a series of heresies to deify himself and preached
about the "doomsday" in an attempt to exercise spiritual control on his
followers. The cult has led to a death toll of over 1660 and caused more
innocent spiritual hampered and families to break. Most practitioners have
waken up and broken away from the cult. By now, the cult has already found
no market in China.
Yang stressed that Falun Gong is a murderous cut, it endangers society,
poisons people's minds and even jeopardizes the country, the Chinese people
have widely backed the government's stand to legally ban and crack down on
it. However, the evil cult has politicized and internationalized its
activities and it has colluded with anti-China forces in the US to oppose
the Chinese government and the Chinese people. "Facts have further
demonstrated that Falun Gong is not Qi Gong or so-called 'spiritual
movement' but entirely a political tool of international anti-China
political organizations and forces", he added.
To deceive American public, Li Hongzhi and his cohorts have altered their
strategy to propagate the evil cult under the mask of 'free brief', 'human
rights', and lately promotion of 'traditional Chinese culture', instead of
fallacies as 'the earth to explode' and 'Falun Gong more powerful than
Christianity and Buddhism'.
The ambassador finally expressed his confidence that people of vision in
American industrial and commercial circles would exert more efforts to
resist the evil cult and foil its ulterior attempt to undermine Sino-US
ties.
****
India, Pak Agree to Cut Down the Rhetoric
India <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/india.html> and Pakistan
<http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/pakistan.html> on Wednesday agreed
to cut down on the political rhetoric to give their summit a chance. Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf talked about
this on the phone.
Musharraf was yet to be sworn in as President when Vajpayee made the call at
10.45 a.m. But New Delhi, which had invited a head of government for talks,
is already preparing to welcome a head of state.
It was Musharraf who brought up the bit about rhetorics during the
five-minute conversation.
According to a foreign office spokesperson, the General said it would be
good if the political rhetoric on both sides could be toned down before the
summit since it had an impact on ``political forces in both countries.''
Vajpayee agreed with the sentiment.
The spokesperson said no specific remarks was discussed. But the
conversation happened to take place a day after Vajpayee's own remarks.
The Prime Minister had said in Mumbai that India will talk about
Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir as well during the summit. And he had reiterated
that India regarded Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of the country.
Vajpayee's remarks was, however, latest in a series of pre-summit verbal
skirmishes. Pakistan has been harping on Kashmir being the ``core'' issue,
and there have been suggestions that it was up to India to show
``flexibility.''
****
United States Has Many Disagreements with Its Allies: Analysis
The Bush Administration has declared that it will regard its relations with
its allies, particularly with European Union and Japan
<http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/japan.html> , as a pillar in its
foreign policies. In fact, however, there exist many problems between the
United States <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/usa.html> and its
allies. Europe and Japan have obviously different views on a series of major
issues from that of the United States.
The contradictions and differences between Europe and the United States have
never been so prominent as they are at present. As President Bush paid his
first visit to Europe, the general public of EU expressed strong anti-US
sentiment, EU leaders were disobedient to the United States over the crucial
issues of security and environment. European allies of the United States do
not want to remain the "second-class countries" under US protection and
sandwiched between US-Soviet antagonism during the Cold War age, rather,
they want to form a common foreign policy on the basis of unified economies
and establish an armed force which is at least relatively independent of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and is capable of handling
Europe's own security affairs. Proceeding from their own conditions, they do
not agree to bring their own economic models closer to that of the US
economy, their views on certain issues are quite different from that of the
United States, particularly over the question concerning their attitude
toward death penalty and the management of firearms.
Compared with European allies, Japan has all along been much more submissive
to the United States, because Japan has the tradition of "dissociating
itself from Asia and joining Europe" and "breaking away from Asia and
joining the United States", moreover, today's Japan mainly relies on the
United States for its security. Nevertheless, over some major issues, Japan
is almost in disagreements with the United States. Apart from the problem of
environmental protection, on the crucial issue concerning the United States'
NMD system, Japan, after thinking over the question again and again, has
finally declared recently that it will not join the system for the time
being. Undoubtedly, this is a positive, major decision of the new Japanese
government.
There are a variety of deep-seated reasons for the disagreements between
Japan and the United States. The Kyoto Protocol reached in Japan is denied
by the new American government. As the only country that has so far been
subjected to nuclear weapon attack, Japan's domestic peace forces are
dissatisfied with the Bush Administration's development of a missile defense
system. What is more, over 50 years have passed since World War II and 10
years since the Cold War, Japan still has to allow US armed forces, which
have consistently brought Japan trouble and harm, to linger on its own
territory, hurting Japan's feeling of national self-respect.
The Cold War has been over, and Europe had long ago ceased to be the Europe
in those years, Europe cannot accept the American-style single polar world.
An initial constructive strategic partnership has been formed between EU and
Russia <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/russia.html> , and Russia
has begun to realize its own European nature. Europe wants to settle its
security problem on its own, it needs the cooperation and support of the
United States, but it does not need America's arrogant airs.
There exist basically common interests between Europe, Japan and the United
States, it is logical for the United States to strengthen its relations with
its allies, but the interests of Europe and Japan are, after all, not
entirely the same as that of the United States. Therefore, under changed
conditions, the United States underestimates the differences between Europe,
Japan and itself and constrains its allies to accept the American
unilateral-ism, judged from the situation of this year, it will, at least,
bump its head against the neither hard nor soft nails.
****
Chinese Ambassador Hail China-Ethiopia Relations
Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Ai Ping has said that Sino-Ethiopia bilateral
cooperation have been increasing steadily following Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi's visit to China in 1995 and President Jiang Zemin's visit to
Ethiopia in 1996.
The Chinese ambassador made the remarks in a recent interview with local
media, saying that trade relations between the two countries have been
increasing significantly over the past two years while the volume of trade
exchange between the two sides currently stands at nearly 58 million U.S.
dollars.
Chinese economic cooperation projects in Ethiopia mainly focused on
infrastructure development, vocational training, hydroelectric power
generation and enterprise management.
The Chinese government has provided about a 12-million-dollar interest-free
loan in support of the construction of the ring road project in the capital
of Addis Ababa and constructed low-cost houses in the metropolis.
Ai Ping noted that China has supplied an interest-free loan of nearly 2.4
million dollars and 1 million dollars to a textile factory in Awassa,
capital of the Southern National Nationalities Peoples' state, in support of
its production expansion program.
Besides, he added that relevant ministries from the two countries are
conducting intensive consultations aimed at relieving Ethiopia's debt
liabilities to China.
In a related development, a Chinese trade delegation headed by Zhou Keren,
Vice Minister of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic
Cooperation is currently in Addis Ababa for a three- day working visit to
Ethiopia.
During the visit, the Chinese delegation held talks with Ethiopian
government officials and discussed the issues of the relief of Ethiopian
debt owed to China and the further cooperation between the two countries.
****
China Urges Israel, Palestine to Earnestly Observe Ceasefire
China calls on Israel and Palestine to really abide by the ceasefire
agreement and take constructive actions to create conditions for the early
resumption of peace negotiations.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said this at a regular
press conference Thursday when asked to comment on the present Mideast
situation.
The Mideast peace process is facing severe challenges, said Zhang, adding
that although both sides have declared they would accept the ceasefire
agreement of the international community, the regional situation is still
far from being stable.
"We sincerely hope the Mideast issue will be solved justly and reasonably on
the basis of pertinent principles laid down by the United Nations," she
said.
China has consistently supported the Mideast peace process and is ready to
make its own contributions to this endeavor, Zhang added.
****
People Celebrate CPC's Anniversary Nationwide
A high-level forum attended by well-known Chinese sociologists was held here
Thursday at the People's University of China to celebrate the 80th
anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Peng Peiyun, vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress, and Song Ping, a former member of the Standing Committee
of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, were among the 100-strong
participants.
In related developments, the office workers of the National Committee of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) held a conference
Thursday afternoon for the same purpose. Vice chairmen of the CPPCC National
Committee Chen Junsheng, Zhu Guangya, Wan Guoquan, Chen Jinhua, Zhao Nanqi,
Jing Shuping, Luo Haocai, Zhou Tienong and Wang Wenyuan attended the
gathering.
Zheng Wantong, the secretary-general of the CPPCC National Committee, made a
speech saying that history proves that the CPC is creditably a great,
glorious and correct party, and that the leadership of the Party is the
choice of history and the Chinese people.
In recent days, people across the country have been celebrating the 80th
birthday of the CPC in various forms.
Local organizations of the Chinese Communist Youth League in this national
capital have launched a series of programs including symposiums, art
performances and other kinds of activities to mark the occasion.
In Hunan Province, home province of late Chinese leaders Mao Zedong and Liu
Shaoqi, local publishers are taking the opportunity to publish a large
number of books and other publications on the history of China and the
Party.
Local people in Jilin Province, in the northeast, have been involved in
various kinds of large-scaled art performances and exhibitions in
celebration of the Party's anniversary.
The students of Shanxi University, in Taiyuan City, the capital of Shanxi
Province, are being entertained with a film week to mark the Party's
anniversary.
Private entrepreneurs in Shenyang, the capital of northeast China's Liaoning
Province, recently sponsored a concert, with all programs written, directed
and performed by these private business people.
At the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), in Beijing, and
at army barracks around the country, artists and amateurs in uniform have
been rehearsing or performing a large number of concerts and other forms of
art performances to mark the anniversary of the CPC.
The media are among the busiest groups celebrating the Party's anniversary.
Xinhua, the People's Daily, China Central Television, the Guangming Daily,
the Economic Daily and other major media units have published a large number
of commentaries, articles and news stories to promote the festive mood among
the public.
****
Women in Tibet Enjoy Equal Political and Economic Rights
Women in the Tibet Autonomous Region enjoy equal political and economic
rights as statistics show that currently one-third of officials in the
region are women.
More and more women have not simply stayed at home. They have gone out for
their desired job, which they would not have dreamed about 50 years ago when
Tibet was ruled by a primitive and cruel slavery system.
Since its peaceful liberation in 1951, Tibet has witnessed an increase of
women technicians, teachers, doctors, judges, public prosecutors, artists
and athletes.
Under the slavery system, women, no matter of what ethnic group, could never
have had equal social status as men. They were suppressed at the bottom of
the social ranking. The old code of the former Tibetan authorities
stipulated clearly that women were forbidden to engage in political affairs.
For slave-owners women were just like livestock and were able to be traded
or sent to others as gifts.
Things have changed since the peaceful liberation in Tibet as the government
of the new autonomous region declared women would enjoy the same rights as
men and so are entitled to taking part in social affairs and activities.
Since the first election of representatives to the people's legislatures at
grassroots level in the autonomous region, 90 percent of women have involved
themselves the successive elections.
A number of women of capability, literacy and achievement have been elected
to the people's congress and people's political consultative conference at
all levels in Tibet, enacting their legal rights in managing public affairs
and formulating development policies for the region.
Statistics show that the percentage rate for women members in the autonomous
region's 7th people's congress and 7th people's political consultative
conference were 20.1 percent and 16.5 percent respectively.
Women officials accounted for 33.7 percent of the total number of officials
in Tibet. Women made up 14.3 percent, 11.3 percent and 11 percent of
officials at provincial, city, and county levels respectively.
The governments of all seven cities under the autonomous region have women
officials and 80 percent of county-level governments have women officials,
according to statistics.
As women have been enjoying rising status, they are also making more
contributions to the social and economic development of the region.
Women have played an equal role with men in the agricultural and stock
raising sector. In towns, female workers have accounted for 35.1 percent of
the total; and women technicians have even accounted for 42.6 percent of the
total technological personnel of the region. Some 277 women in the region
have got senior professional titles.
****
Tibetans Enjoy Religious Belief Freedom
Tibet currently has 1,787 lamaseries of all sizes with a total of 460,000
monks and nuns, according to the executive vice president of Tibet Buddhism
Association.
Cemolin Danzengcelie, the vice president made this announcement at the
symposium to mark the 50th anniversary of peaceful liberation of Tibet.
He said that since China initiated the reform and opening-up drive in 1979,
the central government has appropriated over 340 million yuan (about 40
million US dollars) for repairing the lamaseries in Tibet, meeting by and
large the needs of believers in Tibet Buddhism to conduct normal religious
activities.
Another symbol indicates the respect for Tibetans' religious belief is that
some patriots from the religious community are now leaders in the people's
congresses, the political consultative conferences and the governments of
different levels.
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