<F SCMP37.TXT> <U 2697> <D 92:09:01> <P 11> {headline} American rights record under fire {byline} From GEOFFREY CROTHALL in Beijing {article} CHINA yesterday launched another attack on the United States' human rights record, criticising the US Government's persistent refusal to sign the International Convention on Human Rights. {para} A signed commentary in the People's Daily accused the US of trying to enforce its own standards on the convention and refusing to sign when it did not get its own way. {para} The author Liu Xinghan said: ``It is clear that the US took a leading role early on in drafting international human rights legislation in a bid to enforce its own standards on the rest of the world. {para} ``Once it became apparent the convention would reflect the views of under developed and socialist countries, the US resolutely opposed it,'' he said. {para} Following the promulgation of the convention in 1976, Liu claimed the US pursued its own human rights policy based on its own laws as a means of interfering in other countries internal affairs without being bound by the United Nations charter or the International Human Rights Convention. {para} ``How pleasant this must be for the United States,'' Liu said. {para} The author further accused the US and other western countries of trying to maintain their ``colonial interests'' in the Third World by blocking international human rights legislation which would protect the economic interests of developing countries. {para} The US feared that giving Third World countries the right of self determination over their natural resources and assets would harm the interests of individual American businesses, Liu said. {para} The US Government argues it has not signed the convention because it does not conform with its domestic legislation but Liu claimed ``quite a few American scholars say the convention is basically in line with western standards''. {para} Analysts said the commentary was a continuation of China's ``aggressive defence'' of its own human rights record and an attempt to discredit its critics. {para} China has, over the last year, published two ``white papers'' on human rights and criminal reform as well as numerous commentaries in official newspapers designed to explain its concepts of human rights and deflect accusations in the West of human rights abuses. {para} A western diplomat said: ``The constant stream of attacks on its human rights record has clearly got China on the defensive. {para} ``Its response has been to on the one hand lambaste its main critic, the US, while on the other hand churn out endless reams of propaganda about how human rights are safeguarded in China and how well prisoners are treated,'' he said. {para} ``However, while this goes some way to establishing a human rights dialogue, very little has actually been done to improve human rights on the ground in China,'' he added. {para} Analysts were generally sceptical about the impact China's propaganda would have on the international community. {/article} <U 2698> <D 92:08:22> <P 8> {headline} Eight more years for jailed Tibetan {byline} By ROBBIE BARNETT {article} A TIBETAN prisoner serving a 19-year sentence for shouting pro-independence slogans has received an additional eight-year sentence for shouting out more slogans, unofficial reports from Tibet said. {para} The prisoner, 63-year-old primary school teacher Jigme Zangpo, spent 15 years in prison from 1960 for not punishing a child who had written ``Down with Chairman Mao'' on the wall of a school toilet. {para} The prisoner, also known as Tanak Jigme Zangpo or Jigsang, has had his current sentence increased to 27 years because he shouted support for the Dalai Lama while three Swiss diplomats were inspecting the prison last year. {para} The delegation, which included Switzerland's ambassador to China, visited Drapchi prison in Lhasa last December. {para} The diplomats later admitted they had heard shouting from a small group of prisoners who were apparently trying to attract their attention. {para} News of the long sentence handed down to Jigsang will probably cause considerable embarrassment to the Swiss Government. {para} Mr Chris Meuwly, a spokesman for the Swiss Foreign Affairs Department, said: ``We are perfectly aware of the significance of such a sentence.'' {/article} <U 2699> <D 92:09:04> <P 12> {headline} Shen `engaged in illegal activities' {byline} From GEOFFREY CROTHALL in Beijing {article} THE Chinese Government yesterday broke its silence on its arrest of student leader Shen Tong, accusing him of engaging in illegal activities after his return. {para} In its first report on the incident, the New China News Agency yesterday said Shen was arrested because he had never stopped his ``anti-Chinese Government activities which are against the constitution and laws''. {para} It accused him of attempting to set up an ``illegal organisation'', namely, the ``Fund for Democracy in China Beijing Office''. {para} A Foreign Ministry spokesman Mr Wu Jianmin said: ``Shen Tong is a Chinese citizen who engaged in illegal activities after returning to China. The relevant authorities are investigating his case according to law.'' {para} He dismissed United States and French government protests over Shen's detention as ``unreasonable''. {para} When asked what illegal activities Shen was supposed to have engaged in, Mr Wu replied: ``It's pretty obvious, isn't it?'' {para} Quoting from a prepared statement by Shen, the NCNA report said it showed that he had wanted to ``end the old regime'' and ``establish a new political power'' in China. {para} ``This shows that Shen Tong had never stopped his anti-Chinese Government activities. This is not permissible,'' it said. {para} The report also claimed that China's policy towards overseas students would not be affected by the incident. {para} ``The Chinese Government has made clear that we welcome all students to return after their studies regardless of their political stance,'' NCNA quoted an unnamed official as saying. {para} ``It does not matter what their political views are and whether they have joined any anti-Chinese Government organisations. As long as they withdraw from these organisations and stop their anti-Chinese Government and Chinese constitution activities, they are welcome back.'' {para} The report also accused Shen's ``one-month-long tour'' of China as a ``premeditated scheme'' and the publication of Shen's prepared statement in the New York Times on Wednesday when he was arrested was part of the scheme. {para} But neither Mr Wu nor the NCNA report mentioned the whereabouts of Shen's colleagues, Qian Liyun and Qi Dafang, who were arrested with Shen in the early hours of Tuesday morning. {para} A Public Security official reiterated the Government's claim to Shen's mother, Ms Li Yixian, when she visited a local police station to protest against her son's detention yesterday morning. {para} ``They told her we could not see him because he had done something illegal and was under investigation,'' Shen's grandmother, Ms Guang Rubin, said. {para} But the police did say that Shen had been moved to an ``assigned living location''. {para} Ms Guang strongly denied that her grandson had done anything illegal. {para} ``His activities were concerned with democracy and human rights, what's illegal about that?'' she asked. {para} Earlier yesterday, the US State Department said it would continue to pursue the case with the Chinese authorities. {para} ``We will continue to raise these points with the Chinese Government at every opportunity,'' spokesman Mr Richard Boucher said. {/article} <U 2700> <D 92:08:29> <P 2> {headline} Shekou to report on `piracies' {byline} By K. K. CHADHA and PAUL TYRRELL {article} THE New China News Agency (NCNA) is expecting a report from Shekou authorities about recent ``official piracy'' incidents in which ships sailing from Hongkong to Vietnam were detained in the mainland port. {para} The report will then be forwarded to the Political Adviser's Office, which yesterday changed from its previous position and asked the Hongkong branch of the NCNA to provide details of the incidents. There is no word on when the report will be ready. {para} Previously, the Government had refused to become involved in the controversy because no Hongkong registered vessels or citizens from the territory had been on board the ships which had their cargo confiscated under allegations of smuggling. {para} A Security Branch spokesman said the request to the NCNA was low-key and Beijing had not been approached directly. {para} He said: ``We have asked the New China News Agency to provide us with any background information about the series of incidents. {para} ``It was decided to make the official approach because although the ships and their crew are not from Hongkong, they were sailing from the territory and we are concerned about their safety and well-being.'' {para} According to shipping industry sources, five more vessels were intercepted by the Chinese yesterday, taking the number to 14 since the incidents began five weeks ago. {para} The five are: Song Tien 02, Bato, Bac Long Ve, Vietho 02 and Cuulong Giang 02, which were all Vietnamese. {para} Yesterday, the Marine Department received a message from the master of Vietnamese-registered Song Tien 02 at 8.12 am saying that mainland police had boarded the vessel as it entered Chinese waters. {para} A Marine Department official then informed the agent, Junlick Shipping Co. {para} The 1,600-tonne ship had sailed from Yau Ma Tei about two hours earlier and was not heard from again. {para} Its cargo included 25 luxury cars, TVs, VCRs, and 40 tonnes of goods for China's diplomatic mission in Cambodia. {para} According to information reaching Hongkong, the Chinese authorities had started unloading the 7,000- tonne East Wood, which was detained on Tuesday. {para} Industry sources said the East Wood was on its first voyage to Vietnam when intercepted and could not be suspected of smuggling. {para} Meanwhile, the Vietnamese ship Rach Gia 04, which was expected to arrive in Hongkong yesterday minus its cargo, sailed for Vietnam instead. {para} According to the ship's agent, Welltrade Cargo Services, the Chinese authorities had confiscated the ship's registration and trading papers although they were in order, leaving the master no choice but to sail to a home port. {para} The master claimed the ship's crew were detained in the hold for five days with guns to their heads. {para} A possible reason for detaining the cargo could be that the mainland authorities were trying to curb smuggling as well as the lucrative trade carried out under unofficial ``negotiated contracts'' between China and Vietnam through border posts. {/article} <U 2701> <D 92:09:07> <P 8> {headline} Authorities silent on fate of activist {byline} From GEOFFREY CROTHALL in Beijing and FIONA CHAN {article} THE Chinese authorities have yet to inform the family of Qi Dafang, one of the two people arrested at the same time as student leader Shen Tong, of his detention. {para} Qi's wife, who lives in the eastern province of Anhui, said she only heard about her husband's detention through friends, but had received no information from the public security bureau. {para} ``I don't know where he is being held or if he has been charged with any crime,'' she said. {para} ``There is nothing I can do. I have no way of getting to Beijing, all I can do is wait here and hope someone can find out what has happened to him.'' {para} The family of Qian Liyun, who was also arrested with Shen at his mother's house early last Tuesday morning, have apparently been informed that she is being held for questioning at an undisclosed location in Beijing. {para} It has been claimed by American scholar Mr Ross Terrill that Qi and Qian were colleagues of Shen during the 1989 student movement but other intellectuals in Beijing say they only met him for the first time a few weeks ago after Shen returned from three years in exile in the United States. {para} Qian is married to Xiong Yan, listed as one of Beijing's most wanted suspects in what it terms the 1989 ``counter-revolutionary rebellion''. But it is understood she was not directly involved in the student movement at that time. {para} Qi is said to have spent 20 months in detention after the June 4 massacre in Beijing, but again is understood not to have worked with Shen prior to last month. {para} Shen is said by some intellectuals to have sought out Qian and Qi after he arrived in Beijing and ``conned'' them into joining his organisation, the Democracy for China Fund. {para} ``He went to see a lot of people, but most were not interested in what he was doing,'' one academic said. {para} ``It is unfortunate these two people got involved.'' {para} The Chinese authorities are still refusing to say where Shen, Qi and Qian are being held or whether they will be charged with a specific crime. All that has been said so far is that Shen ``engaged in illegal activities'' after returning to China. {para} Despite rumours that Shen was about to be deported, analysts say it now appears he will be held in detention for at least a few weeks. {para} ``The initial international outcry over his detention appears to have died down already and so there is considerably less pressure on China to let him go,'' a diplomat in Beijing said yesterday. {para} In Hongkong, the pro-democracy April 5th Action Group yesterday staged a demonstration outside the branch of the New China News Agency to demand the immediate release of Shen. {para} Holding banners and placards, 10 members of the April 5th chanted slogans and sang the Internationale for about 20 minutes outside China's de facto embassy. {para} Group spokesman Ms Lai Siu-chun said they would approach other human rights groups to find out the whereabouts of ``activists'' who were said to have been arrested by police after meeting Shen. {para} In addition, the radical group said it would organise more protests in tandem with other local groups such as the Hongkong Federation of Students to put pressure on China to release Shen and other activists. {/article} <P 1> {headline} Videos of prisoners to be released main head for pg 1 {headline} Beijing to release videos of prisoners {byline} From GEOFFREY CROTHALL in Beijing {article} THE Chinese Government will release videotapes of three well-known political prisoners to the United Nations Human Rights Commission next week to demonstrate they are in good health and being well treated, it was revealed yesterday. {para} Tapes of 1989 student leader, Wang Dan, and Democracy Wall activists, Xu Wenli and Ren Wanding, are a direct response to Western press reports of their mistreatment, according to human rights campaigner Mr John Kamm. {para} ``They emphatically deny they are ill-treated.'' {para} The authorities also provided Mr Kamm with two photographs, allegedly showing Xu, who has served 11 years of a 15-year sentence in Beijing No 1 prison. {para} The photographs show a slightly built middle-aged man with several teeth missing playing badminton in the prison courtyard, but Mr Kamm said he had not yet been able to verify their authenticity. {para} The man in the pictures has dark hair but according to Mr Robin Munro of the New York-based human rights group Asia Watch, who knows him personally, Xu has white hair. {para} The badminton tournament, at which the authorities say Xu won second prize, was the first activity he had been allowed to participate in for 11 years, Mr Munro claimed. {para} ``Xu has been kept in solitary confinement for 11 years, he is not allowed to do any work or activity, he sits in a cell all day and reads, only being allowed out for occasional exercise,'' he said. {para} ``He is not even allowed to have a pen except for one monthly letter to his family and is not permitted any pictures or family photographs in his cell. {para} ``That is what has happened to Xu Wenli. The fact he has remained sane throughout this period is a miracle and a testimony to his strength of character.'' {para} But Mr Kamm said the authorities had told him Xu now strongly supports paramount leader Mr Deng Xiaoping's policy of opening up to the outside world but refuses to write a statement to that effect. {para} Mr Munro says however, Xu is a Marxist who has always supported Mr Deng. ``He is a moderate, you can't find anything in his writings that could be termed counter-revolutionary.'' {para} Mr Kamm, who has been in Beijing for five days of talks with judicial authorities, says he has detected a trend towards a greater openness on human rights cases. {para} The authorities have been concerned at Western press reports of mistreatment of prisoners and think that by releasing more information on their conditions will deflect some of the negative publicity on China's human rights record, Mr Kamm said. {para} ``I get the impression that certain ministries feel that the release of information on these cases is as good as actually releasing the people concerned,'' he said. {para} Analysts note however that photographic and video evidence can easily be tampered with and is unlikely to convince seasoned observers that actual conditions concur with those being displayed. {para} Meanwhile, according to Mr Kamm, two Shanghai activists, Gu Bin and Yang Zhou, who were arrested in April last year for founding the underground Study Group on Human Rights Issues in China, have been freed. {para} In addition, Zhu Jianbin, a writer from Wuhan, has been freed after he completed his 11-year sentence for taking part in the 1978 Democracy Wall movement. An elderly evangelist, Xie Moshan, was also believed to have been set free too, Mr Kamm said. {para} However, Chen Lantao, a 27-year-old marine biologist, has apparently been denied any leniency and was still serving an 18-year sentence in a prison in Qingdao of Shandong province. {para} ``I was told by officials of the Justice Ministry that they would consider his case if he submits a petition,'' Mr Kamm said. {/article} <U 2702> <D 92:09:03> <P 1> {headline} Expelled scholar fears for US ties {byline} By KENT CHEN {article} AMERICAN scholar, Mr Ross Terrill, who was expelled by China yesterday for ``activities incompatible with his status as a tourist'', said the arrest of dissident Shen Tong and the subsequent expulsion of foreigners would upset relations between China and the United States. {para} ``Expulsion is a small thing in itself but it reminds people of some larger problem,'' Mr Terrill said in Hongkong. {para} If Chinese authorities did not release Shen soon, they risked bringing complications to American-Chinese relations, warned the American author who wrote a biography of Chairman Mao Zedong's wife Jiang Qing. {para} ``If the Shen Tong thing goes on and on and on, combined with how they treated me, the American-Sino knot will be upset because I am someone who has been going there since 1964 and to suddenly say I don't respect Chinese laws is not something people would find believable,'' he said. {para} Mr Terrill had been helping Shen in his quest to return to China and resume attempts to meet and organise pro-democracy activists. {para} He said some of the Chinese communist leaders were still behaving as if they were still living in the days of triangular politics between the Soviet Union, China and the US, believing China was absolutely necessary as balance. {para} ``Of course those days are gone, and the fact is that human rights and democratic values have come into American foreign policy,'' he said. {para} Mr Terrill said that Public Security officers went to his hotel shortly after midnight on Tuesday and made him sign a confession admitting he had distributed Shen's statements to reporters. {para} ``I signed a statement acknowledging that in the unfortunate absence of Shen Tong from his own press conference, when the press arrived I distributed some of the statements that he had prepared to journalists, so that became the gist of my offence,'' he said. {para} He said he was not allowed to telephone the US Embassy or pay his hotel bill before he was hustled to the airport and put on a flight to Hongkong. {para} Mr Terrill said he would continue to encourage those who were working for a different China after returning to the US. {para} ``Don't believe that Ross Terrill will not ever go to China again and that the Chinese will be able to shut up Shen Tong. China will change,'' he said. {para} Mr Terrill admitted that the arrest of Shen indicated that the people he met, including students and underground activists, were in danger. {para} He disclosed that Shen had met a former university president, a famous playwright, and a retired journalist. {para} Meanwhile, the National Committee on US-China Relations yesterday said it was disappointed by the action of the Chinese authorities against Shen. {para} Noting that such an incident would have a substantive impact on relations between China and the US, the group warned Beijing either to control its security apparatus, or be held accountable for the impact of the incident. {para} Chairman of the non-profit organisation, Mr Barber Conable, said at a time when the Chinese authorities were trying to encourage students to return, ``the negative impact by this kind of action is extremely unfortunate''. {para} Even if Shen might not be detained for long, the intimidation of his arrest had an impact on American attitudes towards China, he said. {para} The president of the organisation, Mr David Lampton, also said the action came at a very sensitive time as American foreign policy and foreign trade were under debate during the election campaign. {/article} <U 2703> <D 92:08:20> <P 1> {headline} Lawyers challenge Bao's `state secret' {byline} By DANIEL KWAN {article} LAWYERS for Bao Tong, the former personal aide of disgraced Chinese Communist Party boss Mr Zhao Ziyang, were denied the right to call witnesses to court to testify on an alleged ``state secret'' which the court had used to convict Bao. {para} In a written defence submitted in Bao's appeal, the lawyers claimed he was wrongfully sentenced to seven years' jail for hinting to one of his staff that Mr Zhao had tendered his resignation, and expressing his disapproval of the Government and the imposition of martial law in Beijing in the summer of 1989. {para} The lawyers contended that it was wrong for the court not to specify what state secret Bao had allegedly disclosed because Mr Zhao was no longer the party secretary. {para} In the defence - a copy of which has been obtained by the South China Morning Post - they also claimed this constituted a violation of Bao's right to defend himself. {para} According to the defence, the prosecution based its arguments on evidence given by an assistant of Bao, Gao Shan, and claimed that Bao had revealed to Gao ``the scope of knowledge of [Mr Zhao] Ziyang's stepping down''. {para} The prosecution alleged that in a conversation with Mr Chen Yizhi, a former director of the Economic System Reform Institute, Bao had expressed disapproval of the Government and the imposition of martial law in Beijing. {para} Based on the evidence given by another witness, Mr Liu Xiaofeng, who was an assistant of Mr Chen, the prosecution claimed Bao was guilty of the charge of ``making counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement''. {para} The prosecution said that according to Mr Liu, Bao ``appeared to have approved'' an idea by Mr Chen to print and distribute leaflets in Beijing ``to attack the Government and the imposition of martial law''. {para} ``The prosecution has based its claim that in a meeting on May 20, 1989, Bao attacked the Government and martial law in a conservation with Chen,'' the defence read. ``But in the evidence given by Liu, he only said that Bao seemed to have approved [a suggestion to print the leaflets].'' {para} Mr Liu was detained by police after the military crackdown and was released in late 1989. {para} The defence, which was prepared by Bao's two lawyers, Mr Zhang Sizhi and Mr Yang Dunxian, also revealed for the first time that Mr Zhao had tendered his resignation before the imposition of martial law. {para} It said Mr Zhao had written a resignation letter on the night of May 17, 1989. {para} According to a December 1991 document prepared by the Chinese Communist Party Secretarial Office, the resignation was then classified as a ``top state secret'', the defence said. {para} Previous reports said that Bao was arrested and sentenced because he had revealed the imposition of martial law to pro-democracy students in Tiananmen Square. {para} In addition, the defence also revealed that despite the significance of Gao's evidence, he was in fact absent from the May 17 meeting at which Bao was accused of hinting that Mr Zhao was stepping down. {para} According to the defence, Gao only learned about the meeting through Ms Yan Jun, a researcher for Bao's office. {para} ``But as Yan's evidence showed, she had not mentioned the stepping down of Zhao in her conservation with Gao,'' the defence read. {para} ``Since Yan had never revealed to Gao about the stepping down of Zhao, this meant that the allegation of Bao disclosing the resignation of Zhao to Gao is without any base,'' it said. {/article} <U 2704> <D 92:08:25> <P 1> {headline} Four decades of hostility overcome as Seoul and Beijing hail agreement {headline} Pact lifts Cold War barrier {byline} From GEOFFREY CROTHALL in Beijing and agencies {article} CHINA and South Korea yesterday put four decades of hostility behind them and signed a pact opening diplomatic relations, punching through one of the last Cold War barriers in Asia. {para} Chinese Prime Minister Mr Li Peng hailed the new agreement as having great significance for the future development of Asia, while South Korean President Mr Roh Tae-woo said the pact marked a turning point for Seoul. {para} ``This is a very important event in relations between China and Korea and has great significance for peace and development in Asia and the world,'' Mr Li told visiting South Korean Foreign Minister Mr Lee Sang- ock. {para} But Taiwan, which lost its last ally in Asia after South Korea switched its recognition to Beijing yesterday, condemned the move, saying Seoul would be ``held in contempt by all lovers of freedom''. {para} ``The South Korean government of Roh Tae-woo violated our trust and trampled on international justice,'' a foreign ministry spokesman said, quoted by the semi-official Central News Agency. {para} North Korea, China's long time military and ideological ally in Asia, has yet to react to the tying of knots between Beijing and Seoul and the national media remained silent over the news yesterday. {para} While Beijing insisted there would be no change, the Korean Central News Agency reported a meeting between North Korean People's Armed Forces Minister Mr O Jin-u and a ``friendship visiting group'' from the Chinese People's Liberation Army led by Mr Song Qingwei, the political commissar of the Jinan military district. {para} In his meeting with Mr Lee, Chinese premier Mr Li said economic and trade relations between China and South Korea had developed rapidly over the last few years and expressed the hope that development would accelerate further with the establishment of diplomatic ties. {para} South Korean companies were most welcome to invest in China, he said. {para} China's trade with South Korea is expected to surpass US$10 billion (HK$77.27 billion) this year. Direct South Korean investment in China is now US$170 million, and an official newspaper in Beijing said yesterday it could grow to US$500 million this year. {para} Mr Lee earlier signed the diplomatic communique with his Chinese counterpart, Mr Qian Qichen, before an audience of beaming officials at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guest House. {para} Mr Lee later met Chinese President Mr Yang Shangkun, who formally invited Mr Roh to visit Beijing soon. {para} In Seoul, Mr Roh announced he would travel to Beijing ``in the near future'' for a summit meeting officials said was expected in early October. {para} Calling the normalisation ``a significant turning point in world history'', Mr Roh said: ``The last external constraint for a peaceful unification of the Korean peninsula is now removed.'' {para} The development ``heralds the beginning of the end of the Cold War in East Asia, which remains as the last legacy of the Cold War era'', he said in a nationally televised speech. {para} Trying to salvage relations with an ally of four decades, he said recognition of China was ``extremely painful and distressing in view of the long and friendly relations we have had with Taiwan''. {para} But his China visit would be a slap in the face for Taiwan which closed down its embassy in Seoul yesterday. Taiwan Economic Minister Mr Vincent Siew announced last Saturday that it would cut direct air links with South Korea in mid-September. {para} Taiwan officials estimated the suspension of air links would cost South Korean airlines about US$100 million in annual revenue, and Taiwan airlines will lose about US$25 million. {para} In other retaliatory moves, Mr Siew also scrapped all preferential trade agreements with Seoul and cancelled plans to import 11,424 vehicles from South Korea. {para} South Korea also shut its embassy in Taipei. Ambassador Mr Park Noh-young would return to South Korea today, the CNA said. {para} Taiwanese protesters hurled eggs at the embassy and trampled on South Korean flags over the weekend, but the scene was quiet yesterday. Some store owners in Taipei covered up signs advertising Korean goods outside their shops. {para} In Beijing, Mr Lee yesterday was quick to play down the rift with Taiwan however, saying Seoul would maintain good economic and trade relations with its former ally. {para} Mr Wu Jianmin, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, also offered a conciliatory note yesterday saying Beijing did not object to South Korea maintaining its economic, scientific and cultural links with Taiwan. {para} Mr Wu also stressed that China's relationship with North Korea would remain unchanged. {para} Diplomatic links to help boost HK trade - Page 8 Editorial - Page 16 {/article} <U 2705> <D 92:08:22> <P 8> {headline} Last big June 4 trial set to start {byline} From GEOFFREY CROTHALL in Beijing {article} THE last prominent political prisoner to be charged in connection with the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing will stand trial on Tuesday. {para} Wu Jiaxiang, a senior aide to deposed Communist Party general secretary Mr Zhao Ziyang, would appear before the Beijing Intermediate Court charged with ``counter-revolutionary incitement and propaganda'', a source close to his family said yesterday. {para} His wife, Ms Li Manying, would be allowed to attend the trial, the first time she would have been able to see her husband since his arrest in 1989, the source said. {para} Wu, 37, is being held in Beijing's maximum security Qincheng prison where he is said to be in good health and living in relatively comfortable conditions. {para} Many observers expect Wu, a prominent political scientist in the 1980s, to be sentenced to a term of five years in prison. The three years he has already spent in jail will be included in the sentence. {para} The former personal secretary to Mr Zhao, Bao Tong, was sentenced last month to five years in prison for the same offence. {para} The trials of Wu and Bao, together with another key Zhao aide, Gao Shan, earlier this month, mark the final chapter in China's three-year-long crackdown on the alleged ``black hands'' behind the 1989 democracy movement. {para} All three men were accused of aiding the student movement by providing sensitive information about the Communist Party and instigating anti-government propaganda. {para} Their trials are being seen by many observers as means of providing scapegoats for the alleged mistakes of Mr Zhao Ziyang and thereby clearing the path for Mr Zhao's rehabilitation. {para} Wu worked closely with Mr Zhao as a senior researcher in the central office of the Communist Party and was one of the chief architects of ``neo-authoritarianism,'' a theory used by the liberal wing of the party to try to bolster Mr Zhao's position while he was under attack from the conservatives. {para} He was one of the first few officials to be targeted by the party's hardliners after Mr Zhao's fall from grace and the crackdown by the People's Liberation Army in Beijing on the night of June 3, 1989. {/article} <U 2706> <D 92:09:01> <P 1> {headline} Yeltsin set to visit Beijing in December {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM and agencies {article} RUSSIAN President Mr Boris Yeltsin will make a historic visit to China in December, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmed. {para} Quoting a ministry spokesman, the semi-official China News Service reported yesterday that Mr Yeltsin was going to China at the invitation of President Mr Yang Shangkun. {para} Diplomatic sources in Beijing and Moscow said the visit, which was discussed during the trip to Beijing last May by Vice-Premier Mr Alexander Shokhin, was originally set for November. {para} But because of concern about domestic issues, Mr Yeltsin had requested a postponement. {para} The exact dates have not been fixed. {para} Diplomats said Mr Yeltsin's trip would have more than the symbolic significance attached to the first visit to China by a Russian head of state. {para} ``In spite of the Chinese Communist Party's long-standing reservations about the Westernised ideology of Yeltsin, the Russian leader could achieve concrete results in China in areas like trade and military co-operation,'' a Western diplomat said. {para} Given Washington's ban on the export of high-technology to China, Beijing is eager to procure sophisticated defence know-how from Russia. {para} The two countries are also keen to promote border trade as well as open up more of their economies. {para} Mr Yeltsin's tour could also provide the impetus for the speedy conclusion of talks on the demilitarisation of borders and the definition of boundaries between China and the Commonwealth of Independent States. {para} The tone for Mr Yeltsin's trip has been set by the tour to Moscow last month of Vice-Premier Mr Tian Jiyun and the current visit by Defence Minister General Qin Jiwei. {para} As the Chinese representative to the bilateral economic commission, Mr Tian reached agreements with his hosts on stepped-up trading and other links. {para} Political observers in Moscow said the Russians' welcome for General Qin, whose trip ends on Monday, was even more effusive. {para} They said General Qin raised the possibility of the purchase of more Russian military hardware, including MiG-27 fighters. {para} The Itar-Tass news agency yesterday quoted Acting Premier Mr Yegor Gaidar as telling General Qin that arm sales to China could help keep Russia's stagnating military industry afloat. {/article} <U 2707> <D 92:09:15> <P 11> {headline} Emperor spared public apology {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} BEIJING has made its clearest indication to date that it will not demand that Emperor Akihito make an apology for war- time atrocities committed by the Japanese imperial army. {para} In a meeting yesterday with a delegation from Japan's Jiji Press, a member of the politburo Standing Committee, Mr Li Ruihuan, also hinted that the emperor might meet patriarch Mr Deng Xiaoping. {para} Asked about Chinese concern for a major speech that Emperor Akihito was scheduled to make soon after his arrival in Beijing on October 23, Mr Li said: ``We will not make difficult requests on His Majesty''. {para} Mr Li's statement has confirmed reports that the Japanese Government had agreed to the emperor's visit only after reassurances from Beijing that he would not have to make a formal apology for the atrocities. {para} The politburo member, who is a protege of Mr Deng, also gave hints about a meeting between the emperor and the patriarch. {para} ``Comrade Xiaoping has seldom met visitors since his retirement,'' Jiji Press quoted Mr Li as saying. {para} ``Whether he will meet a foreign dignitary depends on various factors. However, I am not saying that the meeting will [definitely] not take place.'' {para} Diplomats in Beijing said the Japanese had not formally requested such a meeting. {para} But in the tradition of Chinese diplomatic language, Mr Li's comments augured well for such an historic tete-a-tete, they said. {para} Of the forthcoming 14th Communist Party congress, Mr Li said its main task was to ``substantiate the spirit of Deng Xiaoping's tour to southern China'', during which he made a call for fast- paced reform. {para} The politburo heavyweight said the date for the commencement of the conclave had still not been decided. {para} ``You'll know for certain two months from now,'' he said, implying that the meeting might be postponed until November. {para} Turning to Sino-American relations, Mr Li said he hoped bilateral ties would not worsen as a result of the United States' sale of F-16 jets to Taiwan. {para} But he said Washington's decision was detrimental to regional stability as well as to Chinese reunification. {para} ``China and the US are far apart, being on both sides of the Pacific Ocean,'' Mr Li said. ``There is no fundamental conflict of interests between the two.'' {para} He added that he hoped the crisis that had arisen over the F-16 deal could be resolved through friendly and peaceful negotiation. {para} Of Tokyo's recent decision to send ``peace-keeping forces'' abroad, Mr Li said ``Japan is still a long way from being a strong military power.'' {para} The senior cadre added that Beijing did not wish to see Japan becoming such a power. {para} Mr Tong Zeng, the Beijing-based activist campaigning for Japanese compensation for war-time atrocities, has vowed to join hands with like-minded groups in Korea, Taiwan, Hongkong and other Asian countries and districts. {para} Mr Tong said yesterday that the Japanese Embassy in Beijing had already handed over to the Japanese Government data he had collected on war victims, including ``comfort women'' serving Japanese soldiers. {para} He said he and other volunteers were trying to locate more ``comfort women'', who would be encouraged to seek reparations from Tokyo. {/article} <U 2708> <D 92:09:11> <P 10> {headline} Bid to calm fears over jet deal row {byline} From GEOFFREY CROTHALL in Beijing {article} CHINA has sought to calm fears that its dispute with the United States over the sale of F-16 fighter planes to Taiwan could lead to new arms proliferation in the Middle East and other regions. {para} Beijing has also reiterated the nuclear facility it plans to sell Iran is for peaceful purposes only. {para} In his weekly press conference yesterday, foreign ministry spokesman, Mr Wu Jianmin, said China would continue to adopt a ``responsible'' attitude towards arms sales. ``China has always adopted a prudent and responsible attitude towards its arms exports. This position remains unchanged,'' Mr Wu said. {para} He said the issue of arms sales would not be discussed with Iranian President Mr Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is on his first official visit as president to China. {para} At a press conference last night, Mr Rafsanjani also stressed that military co-operation was not on the agenda during his visit to Beijing. {para} ``I am here as the guest of the President and Prime Minister of China to discuss several bilateral issues but there is no military contract to be signed,'' he said. {para} But Mr Rafsanjani did confirm Iran had agreed to buy a 300-megawatt nuclear power station from China to be used for civilian purposes. {para} Agreements on the supply of subway trains, other technical transfers and political, educational and cultural agreements were also signed, he said. {para} While meeting Mr Rafsanjani yesterday, premier Mr Li Peng said China would co-operate with Iran in the peaceful use of nuclear energy if the latter would accept inspection and supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency. {para} Meanwhile, Mr Wu yesterday denied that China's recent purchase of Su-27 fighters from the former Soviet Union represented a threat to regional stability. {para} ``China has one of the lowest per capita defence budgets in the world and its military capabilities are entirely for self defence. China is committed to the maintenance of peace in Asia and the world,'' he said. {para} ``As a sovereign nation, China is entitled to conduct normal military co-operation and arms trade with other countries for the purpose of self-defence.'' {para} Mr Wu said it was the US decision sell the F-16s that was the real threat to regional stability. {para} ``By blatantly deciding to sell F-16 fighters to Taiwan, the US has infringed on China's sovereignty and interfered in China's internal affairs and created tension in the region, he said. {para} ``We strongly demand that the US Government revoke its decision otherwise it will be held wholly responsible for the serious consequences arising there from.'' {/article} <U 2709> <D 92:09:25> <P 12> {headline} Three new faces for Standing Committee {article} The following are the brief biographies of the three likely new members of the Chinese Communist Party politburo Standing Committee. ZHU RONGJI KNOWN in the West as ``China's Gorbachev'', the 64-year-old Vice-Premier Mr Zhu Rongji, was supreme leader Mr Deng Xiaoping's handpicked successor to oversee the second stage of his reform plan. {para} Born in Changsha City, Hunan province in 1928, Mr Zhu joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 and graduated from the Electric Motor Engineering Department of the elite Qinghua University in 1951. {para} After graduating, Mr Zhu spent more than 30 years with various economic planning bodies under the State Council, gaining experience in national economic planning and policy making. {para} He served as deputy chief of the production planning section of the Planning Office of the Industrial Department under the Northeast China People's Government from 1951 to 1952 and was deputy division chief of the powerful State Planning Commission under the State Council from 1952 to 1957. {para} He was made deputy chief engineer of Electric Power Communications Company of the Pipe Bureau under the Ministry of Petroleum Industry from 1975 to 1978 and director of Industrial Economics Institute attached to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences from 1978 to 1979. {para} In 1979, Mr Zhu was posted to the State Economic Commission under the State Council and became the commission's deputy director in 1983. {para} In 1984, he was appointed president and professor of the Economics Management Institute affiliated to Qinghua University. {para} Mr Zhu became deputy party secretary of the populous and industrialised city, Shanghai, in 1987 and was made Shanghai mayor the following year. {para} During the 1989 pro-democracy movement in Beijing, Mr Zhu managed to keep Shanghai under control by affirming the patriotic spirit of the students in Beijing and refusing to accuse Shanghai students of disruption and turmoil. {para} In August 1989, Mr Zhu was named Shanghai party chief when his predecessor Mr Jiang Zemin was elevated to Beijing to replace reformist leader Mr Zhao Ziyang as the CPC's general secretary. {para} He is regarded as a favourite candidate to succeed Prime Minister Mr Li Peng and a sign of his growing clout are the vastly expanded powers given to the newly created super agency in the State Council, the Economic and Trade Office (ETO) of which he directs. {para} The ETO has direct control over production, foreign trade, resources, energy, high technology, as well as state enterprises, joint ventures and the mushrooming private sector. {para} Analysts say that even if Mr Li gets a second term as premier, his influence in economic affairs will be taken over by Mr Zhu. {para} LIU HUAQING ONE of the few existing Long March veterans, General Liu Huaqing is identified as an ally of senior leader Mr Deng Xiaoping and their relationship could be traced back to as early as the 1940s. {para} His elevation to the Standing Committee of the politburo is seen by analysts as a move by Mr Deng to balance the influence of President Mr Yang Shangkun and his younger brother General Yang Baibing in the Army. {para} After Mr Deng's southern tour, General Liu and other generals pledged to provide an escort for Mr Deng's reform and open door policy. {para} Born in Hubei province in 1916, General Liu joined the Communist Youth League of China in 1929 and the Red Army in 1931. It was not until 1935 that he become a party member. {para} General Liu took part in the Long March, the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation. {para} From 1930 to 1931, General Liu was a section chief in East Hubei Guerilla Force headquarters, and from 1932 to 1934, he was section chief in the Political Department of the 25th Army. {para} During the War of Resistance Against Japan, General Liu was made chief of the Propaganda and Education Section in the 129th division of the Eight Route Army from 1937 to 1939. {para} Towards the end of the war, he had already been promoted to military sub-area deputy political commissar of Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Command. {para} During the War of Liberation, General Liu served as brigade political commissar of Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Area Command, which was headed by Mr Deng. {para} After the founding of the People's Republic, General Liu was sent to the Voroshilov Naval Academy in the former Soviet Union in 1951, and he returned to China in 1958 to become a naval base deputy commander. {para} During the 1960s and the 1970s, the posts General Liu held included vice-minister of the 6th Ministry of Machine-Building Industry, vice-minister of the Commission of Science and Technology for National Defence, and deputy chief of staff of the Navy. {para} From 1980 to 1982, he was made deputy chief of general staff of the People's Liberation Army. In 1982, he returned to the Navy and became its commander. {para} General Liu became deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Communist Party's powerful Central Military Commission in 1987 and made a member of the State Central Military Commission in 1988. {para} China watchers noted that General Liu also had close links with former party boss Mr Hu Yaobang. HU JINTAO CONSIDERED a dark horse, the 50-year-old Mr Hu Jintao, is said to have the backing of conservative leader Mr Song Ping and the reformist camp. {para} A native of Anhui province, Mr Hu graduated from the Water Conservancy Department of the prestigeous Qinghua University in 1965. {para} After graduation, he served as office secretary at the Ministry of Water Conservancy and Power from 1968 to 1973. {para} From 1974, he was appointed deputy division chief and then deputy director of the Gansu Provincial Capital Construction Commission. {para} In 1984, Mr Hu served briefly as the secretary of the Communist Youth League Gansu Committee. {para} It was during this period in Gansu that he got to know Mr Song, who was then the secretary of CPC Gansu Provincial Committee. {para} In a bid to groom Mr Hu for higher positions, Mr Song reportedly sent him to the Central Party School in Beijing for more training. {para} Later he was recruited by Mr Hu Yaobang as the first secretary of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) in 1984, starting his high-flying political career. {para} The CYLC was then the stronghold of Mr Hu Yaobang which had produced a number of ``third tier'' leaders, including Mr Hu Qili and Mr Wang Shaoguo. {para} It was rumoured that Mr Hu took the initiative himself to defuse criticism of his rapid promotion, by requesting another assignment outside Beijing. {para} In 1985, he was made secretary of CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee, a post he held for four years. {para} In 1988, he was transferred to Tibet to become the secretary of CPC Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee. {para} Mr Hu joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1964, but he was already a member of the CPC's 12th and 13th central committees. {para} In the past year, Mr Hu has been resting in Beijing. A Tibetan official said earlier this year that Mr Hu suffered from altitude sickness and was physically and mentally unfit to work in the oxygen-thin highland. {para} Analysts said the two assignments outside Beijing not only increased his political assets, but also enabled him to keep out of the two political struggles which led to the downfall of Mr Hu Yaobang and Mr Zhao Ziyang. {para} It is reported that Mr Song intended to groom Mr Hu to take over the party's Organisation Department, which oversees crucial personnel affairs. Chinese sources said Mr Hu had started working in the department. {/article} <U 2710> <D 92:09:21> <P 11> {headline} `Comfort women' Koreans {article} A SIZEABLE number of the ``comfort women'' who were forced to provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers in China were Koreans, according to a leading campaigner for war-time reparations from Japan. {para} Mr Tong Zeng, who heads a private committee to press for damages from Tokyo, said yesterday 28 among the 40 ``comfort women'' his organisation had located were Koreans abducted by the Imperial Army. {para} ``These women, most of whom are now in Hubei province, have documents and other evidence showing they are Koreans and that they were forced to become `comfort women','' Mr Tong said. {para} He was liaising with the newly-opened South Korean Embassy in Beijing with a view to finding the relatives of these women. {para} ``The 28 are now in their 70s, but most still have vivid recollections of their life in various places in South Korea,'' Mr Tong said. {para} These ``comfort women'' have written to his committee and asked Mr Tong to negotiate with the Japanese Government for compensation. {para} Mr Tong said volunteers were visiting other provinces, searching for surviving ``comfort women'' or their relatives. {/article} <U 2711> <D 92:09:15> <P 1> {headline} Senators vote on conditions for MFN {byline} From MICHAEL CHUGANI in Washington {article} AMERICAN senators were early this morning heading for a vote on imposing tough conditions on the renewal of China's Most Favoured Nation (MFN) trade benefits. {para} It was widely expected that the Senate would pass the measure, following the lead of the House of Representatives which approved a similar bill by a lopsided 339-62 vote two months ago. {para} With Congress due to adjourn early next month for the general elections, once the Senate approves the MFN bill, the two houses of Congress will have less than three weeks to iron out their differences in order to present an identical bill for President Mr George Bush's signature. {para} Mr Bush has already made it clear he will again veto the bill if it reaches his desk. {para} In a stark departure from previous practice, senators were early this morning expected to cast a voice vote rather than a roll-call vote which would identify which way each voted on the MFN issue. {para} Congressional sources said Republican senators who were under pressure from the Bush administration to support the President's renewal of China MFN had pressed for a voice vote so they would not be seen in an election year to have supported trade benefits for the hardline Beijing regime. {/article} <U 2712> <D 92:09:22> <P 10> {headline} Senior bishop hails progress {byline} By KENT CHEN {article} THE Catholic Church in China has made great progress in the past five years in its organisation and missionary work, according to a senior Chinese religious official. {para} The remarks were made by Bishop Zong Huaide, chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the acting director of the Administrative Commission of the Catholic Church in China. {para} Religious affairs watchers in Hongkong confirmed the achievements. But they also pointed out that there was much to be done to achieve religious freedom. {para} Speaking at a recent national conference of China's Catholic Church in Beijing, Bishop Zong noted that China now had about 3,900 churches and places of worship open to Catholics. {para} More than 30 dioceses across the country had elected bishops or assistant bishops, he added. {para} Bishop Zong was quoted by the New China News Agency yesterday as saying that since 1986, Catholic seminaries in China had trained more than 300 priests, some of whom were sent abroad to study. {para} Seminaries have been set up in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Wuhan, Chengdu, Xian and Shijiazhuang. {para} A local expert in China's religious affairs, who asked not to be named, said religious control in many parts of China had been relaxed during the past five years thanks to the reform and open door policies. {para} But in some areas, especially in northern Hebei, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, the underground Catholic community was faced with greater hostility from local officials because it usually developed into a cohesive force. {para} In the past five years, at least 30 underground church officials had been jailed for refusing to accept the leadership of the official Catholic Church. {para} Mr Anthony Lam Sui-ki, researcher and executive secretary of the Holy Spirit Study Centre, a Hongkong- based diocesan institute monitoring church activities in China, noted that there had been a significant growth in the number of Catholics in the past decade. {para} Mr Lam estimated there were as many as 10 million Catholics in the country, including those registered with official churches and those affiliated with underground churches. {para} In 1988, the official figure was 3.3 million. {/article} <U 2713> <D 92:09:25> <P 13> {headline} A eulogy for the reform architect {byline} By DANIEL KWAN {article} WHEN the 1,991 Chinese Communist Party representatives take their seats in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 12, they will be presented with an agenda that reads like a eulogy to reform architect Mr Deng Xiaoping. {para} Together with the agenda, delegates will be asked to endorse a new line-up in the party leadership. {para} Specifically, they will be asked to vote on membership of the party's Central Committee, with a considerable number of new members expected to be delegates from the coastal areas. {para} In addition, the delegates will formally endorse a new policy-making party politburo, which will be dominated by reformists and moderates who have Mr Deng's blessing. {para} The agenda will elevate the ``Dengist line of reform'' to the same pedestal as the revolutionary theories of the late Mao Zedong, held as the cornerstone of the party since the founding of the People's Republic. {para} But unlike the Mao theories, Mr Deng's reform dictums concentrate on the merits of the market economy and its advantages for China. {para} In addition, it will conclude that the old ``Stalinist model'' of communism is a failure, using the former Soviet Union and the communist bloc as examples. {para} The agenda will also suggest streamlining the bureaucracy. In earlier drafts, the agenda suggested that government ministries be dissolved and specialised enterprises formed to take over their functions. {para} Redundant cadres would be absorbed by the enterprises or forced to look for jobs in the free market. {para} The agenda will also address the question of leftism or remnant Maoism but the final document is likely to focus on the importance of an ideological balance. {para} This means that instead of calling for a leftist witch- hunt, it will stress that ideological purity would not be sacrificed to save the economy. {para} Absent from the agenda will be the issue of the disgraced party boss Mr Zhao Ziyang, sacked three years ago for failing to contain the pro-democracy movement. {/article} <U 2714> <D 92:09:12> <P 8> {headline} Uranium mine blamed for deaths {article} A HIGH proportion of Tibetan villagers living near what is believed to be a uranium mine have died after drinking water polluted by waste from the mine, according to detailed reports from Tibetans in the village. {para} In the past three years at least 35 of the approximately 500 people in the village have died within a few hours of developing a fever, followed by a distinctive form of diarrhoea. Six of the victims died within three days of each other. {para} Doctors have said they are unable to help and have not described the deaths as due to an epidemic or infections disease. {para} ``First they get acute thirst, then indigestion - the stool is black,'' a villager interviewed on several occasions by the London-based, pro-independence Tibet Information Network, said. {para} Locals say many cattle in the area around the mine have also died suddenly, but only after rainstorms, suggesting they are poisoned by a water-borne toxin. {para} ``Animals who drink water coming from the mining area or who inhale the dust die immediately,'' the villager said. {para} ``They seem to have internal burns.'' {para} The evidence suggests the rains wash lethal waste from the mine works into the water supply and locals say they have been told by some Chinese officials not to drink the water from streams flowing from the mining area. {para} The village is in the eastern part of the Tibetan plateau, which is traditionally known as Amdo and now administered under Sichuan province. Reports on the deaths did not give its name. {/article} <U 2715> <D 92:09:17> <P 10> {headline} Third stock exchange put on hold {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} CHINA has shelved the setting up of a third stock exchange and put off the issuing of new stocks in Shenzhen, according to a report by the semi-official Hongkong China News Agency (HKCNA). {para} However, sources in Beijing said the leadership was riven with a fierce debate on the pace with which the ``stocks system'' should be developed. {para} They said in spite of the central Government's efforts to slow down the opening of additional exchanges and the issuing of new shares, Beijing faced ``overwhelming pressure'' from the regions to go in the opposite direction. {para} Quoting ``authoritative figures'' in Beijing, the HKCNA reported last night Beijing had taken steps to cool down the ``stocks fever'' because of rioting in Shenzhen on August 10 and the bear run on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses. {para} The agency said new stocks which originally had been scheduled to go on the Shenzhen market this year had been postponed. {para} And plans to open China's third bourse, probably in Tianjin, had been scuppered at least for the near future. {para} Quoting experts in the field, the HKCNA reported that Beijing's main concern was that the downturn in transactions would affect the future of the ``B'' shares - which are meant for foreigners - and hence the business confidence of overseas investors in general. {para} HKCNA and the pro-Beijing Hongkong daily, Ta Kung Pao, confirmed yesterday that a securities management committee under the State Council would be set up to ensure the steady and balanced development of the stocks system. {para} The committee would pay special attention to ensuring that operations on the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges would be ``internationalised'' and ``standardised''. {para} Vice-Premier Mr Zhu Rongji, who played a key role in the development of the exchanges, will become head of the committee. {para} Analysts in China said after the Shenzhen riots, even Mr Zhu, a key advocate of fast-paced reforms, had agreed to the need to adopt a cautious attitude towards the stocks system. {para} They said Mr Zhu and other reformist leaders, including patriarch Mr Deng Xiaoping, were worried that conservatives in the party might seize upon the setbacks as a pretext to jettison the experiment with stocks and shares. {para} However, the central Government faces formidable opposition from several cities along the coast which desperately want to set up their own exchanges. {para} Guangzhou, Haikou, Tianjin and Shenyang have gone to great lengths in lobbying Beijing. {para} The Chinese-run Hongkong daily Wen Wei Po reported yesterday that Guangzhou had already informed Beijing that 13 enterprises in the city were about to issue shares to the public. {para} The bold move was part of elaborate preparations now underway for the inauguration of the Guangzhou stock exchange. {para} In its dispatch, the HKCNA indicated the mishap in Shenzhen and the drastic drop in share prices would not affect the leadership's determination to pursue ``bold experiments''. {para} Analysts said if the Deng faction could push through a radical, market-oriented platform at the upcoming 14th party congress, one or more new exchanges could be set up early next year. {/article} <U 2716> <D 92:09:14> <P 11> {headline} Open press urged to protect reform {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} LEADING journalists have called for a more open press so that popular opinion can be reflected and reform safeguarded. {para} In a conference on media supervision and reform held in Beijing at the weekend, participants urged that the Government be subjected to the supervision of the press. {para} They also blasted ``leftist thinking'' or remnant Maoism as the ``major obstacle'' to the freedom of expression. {para} ``[The authorities] must not consider critical reports as `negative reporting', nor should they confuse media supervision [of the Government] with `exposing the dark side of society','' the official New China News Agency (NCNA) quoted the journalists as saying. {para} ``Further boosting press supervision is a major means to safeguard and provide an escort for reform.'' {para} The conference, which was sponsored by the ombudsman's office of the party newspaper People's Daily, was the first official conclave after the 1989 Beijing massacre which called for press freedom. {para} Neither the NCNA nor the People's Daily, however, gave the names of the participants, who included top editors in the Beijing media as well as party and government cadres. {para} The journalists accused certain departments and districts of failing to co-operate with newsmen and trying to suppress critical reports. {para} They said some officials even tried to take revenge on people who had given information to reporters. {para} ``At the moment, `leftist' thinking is the chief obstacle to allowing public opinion to assume its proper supervisory role,'' NCNA quoted the participants as saying. {para} ``Only by truly reflecting the calls, requests, opinions and suggestions of the broad mass of people can we create a tolerant and harmonious social atmosphere for reform.'' {para} Journalists attending the session added that aside from media supervision, the executive branch of the Government should also be supervised by the law courts and the masses. {para} They urged the speeding up of media-related legislations to guarantee the rights of newsmen and to raise their professional standards. {para} Political analysts said in the wake of patriarch Mr Deng Xiaoping's call for no- holds-barred economic reform, more journalists and social scientists had appealed for greater press freedoms. {para} They pointed out, however, that in the conference last weekend, participants did not openly challenge the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party in the propagation of a freer media. {para} ``At this stage, press freedom can only be developed under the auspices and guidance of the party,'' a Chinese editor said. {para} ``The goal of press freedom is to facilitate economic reform, not to develop a free political system that may undermine party supremacy.'' {para} Many leftist journalists, including the director of the People's Daily Mr Gao Di, have remained in power despite their having been criticised by Mr Deng. {para} Analysts said it was significant that the Chinese media yesterday failed to report in detail on the speeches made by individual participants. {/article} <U 2717> <D 92:09:15> <P 11> {headline} Order to seize illegal firearms {byline} By KENT CHEN {article} PUBLIC security authorities have issued an administrative order for the confiscation of illegal firearms, warning their proliferation has seriously undermined social order. {para} The Ministry of Public Security has admitted that the problem of illegal manufacturing, trafficking and possession of firearms has become increasingly serious. {para} Just a week ago, an official from the ministry's crime investigation department insisted that most firearms were brought into China by criminals from both the mainland and overseas, including Hongkong and Taiwan. {para} The official noted that since 1988, 1,082 military firearms, 16,700 ammunition and grenades have been seized. {para} However, the content of the circular issued by the Ministry of Public Security suggested that the problem of illegal firearms was more of an internal one. {para} Insiders noted that many of the illegal military firearms came from the warehouses of munitions factories which had switched their production lines to manufacturing consumer products under recent years of economic reform. {para} According to the semi-official China News Service, the circular forbids any units and individuals from illegally manufacturing, trafficking, trading and possessing of military, sport or hunting firearms. {para} It warns that those who steal or seize firearms from the Army, police or the militia would be dealt with in accordance to law. {para} A grace period of 30 days is given for those who breach the regulation to surrender themselves to nearby public security authorities. {para} ``But those who refuse to abide by the regulation would be handled severely in accordance to law,'' the circular states. {para} The circular urges the public to report suspects, with rewards for informants. {/article} <U 2718> <D 92:09:16> <P 14> {headline} Hainan keen on air links with Taiwan {byline} By KENT CHEN {article} HAINAN province, China's largest special economic zone, is anxious to become the first mainland region to establish direct aviation links with Taiwan. {para} Provincial Governor, Mr Liu Jianfeng, said yesterday the idea had been conveyed to the Taiwanese authorities through various channels. {para} But Mr Liu admitted that the success of the bid depended on political breakthroughs between the two old adversaries. {para} Earlier this week, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council released a paper which, among other things, said Beijing must first recognise Taipei as an equal political entity before direct transport, postal and business links could be discussed. {para} Some 277,500 foreigners are visiting Hainan every year, including many Taiwanese who go there via Hongkong. {para} ``We are aware that there are a number of similarities between Taiwan and Hainan. Both are resourceful islands and both have similar climate and tradition,'' said Mr Liu. {para} ``As the first region in China which has been granted the power to issue visas to foreign visitors upon their arrival, it is natural for us to go faster in promoting direct aviation links with Taiwan.'' {para} He said establishing direct aviation links between Hainan and Taiwan would be a lot simpler than for other cities. {para} ``It only needs the approval from both sides without having to establish additional organisations to handle the procedural matters,'' he said. {para} Asked if Hainan was competing with other coastal cities, including Xiamen, Fuzhou and Shanghai, for being the first port to open direct transport links with Taiwan, Mr Liu said: ``The central authorities will support whoever is able to build up direct links with Taiwan.'' {para} Mr Liu, who is paying an official visit to Hongkong, said Hainan's development would be given another boost after the conclusion of the 14th party congress. {para} He said the province would further develop its market economy after the line was officially adopted at the party congress, to be convened next month. {para} As one of the 21 Hainan delegates to the congress, Mr Liu, a Soviet-trained engineer, was expected to be elected to the central committee. {para} Mr Liu yesterday disclosed that the Hongkong Governor, Mr Chris Patten, had accepted an invitation to visit Hainan. {para} The two governors had a 45-minute meeting on Monday and Mr Liu briefed Mr Patten on the economic development of the island. {/article} <U 2719> <D 92:09:18> <P 1> {headline} Activist to visit Europe, Australia {byline} By KENT CHEN {article} CHINESE dissident Mr Han Dongfang is planning to tour Europe and Australia to exchange experiences with other labour activists after receiving medical treatment in the United States. {para} Mr Han, with his pregnant wife, Ms Chen Jingyun, left Hongkong for the US for treatment of tuberculosis which he had contracted in a Chinese prison. {para} The 29-year old Mr Han, referred to as China's Lech Walesa for his role in the country's fledging free trade union movement, was jailed for two years after the 1989 Beijing crackdown. {para} Mr Han was allowed to leave the country on September 1, when he entered Hongkong for medical checkups. {para} Speaking before leaving for New York, Mr Han said doctors concluded that his tuberculosis was not as serious as assessed by mainland doctors. {para} He said his health was expected to recover in about six to eight months and he would meet dissidents living overseas before he returned to China. {para} He said that apart from the US, he was planning to visit Western and Eastern Europe, and Australia if possible, to share experiences in promoting free trade unions. {para} Mr Han is expected to give a press conference at the headquarters of Asia Watch, the human rights watchdog, in New York next Tuesday. {para} Speaking of his impressions of Hongkong, Mr Han said it was a prosperous place with a fast-paced lifestyle. {para} He also expressed confidence on the development of democracy in Hongkong, but urged residents to fight for it. {para} Although he had spoken openly in Hongkong, criticising the Chinese Government, Mr Han said he did not fear further persecution after returning to China. {para} ``Compared with what I had in Beijing, my remarks in Hongkong were much milder'', he said. {/article} <U 2720> <D 92:09:16> <P 14> {headline} 120 held in illegal church meeting {article} AN underground church meeting in central Henan province was raided by Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials, who reportedly arrested up to 120 local Christians and three foreigners. {para} Quoting Chinese eyewitnesses, the religious news service News Network International reported yesterday that some 40 PSB officers broke up a house church meeting in the southern village of Guo Fa, Wuyan district, detaining virtually the entire congregation. {para} Three foreigners - a Chinese-American man, a Singaporean woman and a Malaysian woman, were also taken into police custody and are reportedly still in detention. {para} The foreigners are allegedly accused of ``taking part in illegal religious activities'' and are under police investigation. Their names have not been released. {para} While there have been no reports of serious injuries from the raid, the source claimed both the local Christians and the foreigners were ``roughly handled'' during the incident. {para} According to the source, PSB officials later released some 40 local church members. However, it is believed around 120 others arrested are still being held in a PSB detention centre in Wuyang. {para} It is not yet known if the police action is an isolated incident or part of a wider campaign against religious gatherings. {para} According to informed sources in Hongkong, US Embassy officials in China have faced difficulties in obtaining information from the Chinese Government regarding the status of the American arrested in the raid. {/article} <U 2721> <D 92:09:23> <P 10> {headline} Protests likely by victims of war {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} SMALL groups of individuals will more than likely stage demonstrations and other protest actions during the visit of Emperor Akihito, according to a college activist in Beijing. {para} And a just-completed survey by the National Affairs Research Centre of Beijing University shows the bulk of students demand war reparations, and that they are fearful of Japan's ``resurgent militarism''. {para} The student activist, who asks not to be named, said yesterday informal groups of the victims of the war as well as their descendants, had plans to hold small-scale, peaceful protest actions. {para} These actions might include demonstrations, assemblies, as well as open letters to be delivered to the emperor or his aides. {para} However, the activist ruled out large-scale demonstrations, because, he said, the students wanted to retain good relations with school authorities. {para} ``Students do not want to upset the political atmosphere in the run-up to the 14th party congress,'' the activist said. {para} ``They will only organise symbolic protest actions as individuals, not as groupings.'' {para} The Heilongjiang province branch of the rapidly-growing nationwide movement the Preparatory Chinese Popular Committee for Compensation met in a church in the provincial capital Harbin yesterday to demand war reparations from Tokyo. {para} Organiser Mr Feng Wanjun told the United Press International news agency the conference, a ``patriotic lecture meeting'', was planned in advance and had no interference from the Government. {para} The meeting coincided with Chinese Vice-Premier Mr Wu Xueqian's visit to Tokyo, where he came out in support of the group's aims. {para} Mr Wu asked Japanese officials on Monday to ``appropriately settle'' the non- governmental group's demands, the first time a government leader had spoken out on the sensitive issue. {para} Meanwhile, the research centre will officially release today the results of last week's survey on Chinese attitude on Emperor Akihito's trip and on bilateral ties. {para} Nearly 2,000 questionnaires were distributed to students and young teachers at Beijing University, People's University and Beijing Normal University. {para} According to an advanced copy of the results, 89.1 per cent of the 2,000 students and faculty surveyed wanted Tokyo to make full reparations to war victims. {para} Another 67.6 per cent of the respondents said Emperor Akihito should make a formal xiezui, or ``apology for grave sins'', while 20.1 per cent said it was not necessary and 12.3 per cent indicated ``it did not matter''. {para} Organisers of the poll said yesterday more students would have answered in the affirmative if the questionnaire had put down daoqian, or a simple apology, as against the harsher xiezui. {para} They added the authorities would be pleased to find that 6 1/2 per cent of the respondents said they ``very much welcomed'' the imperial visit, 43.1 per cent said they ``welcomed'' the trip, while 15.4 per cent indicated opposition. {para} However, most students and teachers decried a resurgent militarism in Japan. {para} See also Page 23 {/article} <U 2722> <D 92:09:15> <P 10> {headline} Military ties with Iran strengthened {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} CHINA and Iran have cemented military ties despite Washington's warnings that Beijing scale down its arms sales in the Middle East. {para} The visiting chief of staff of the Iranian Army, General Ali Shahbazi, held talks yesterday with the Chinese top brass on military co-operation, including the sale of Chinese weapons and co-production of hardware. {para} The official visit, which began on Sunday, followed the just-ended China tours of President Mr Hashemi Rafsanjani and logistics chief General Alastu Tuhidi. {para} The official China News Service yesterday quoted Central Military Commission vice-chairman General Liu Huaqing as telling General Shahbazi that the relationship between the two armies had ``stood the test of time''. {para} ``China and Iran have the same or similar views on many international questions,'' General Liu said. {para} ``There is a very good foundation for the development of relations between the two countries and the two armies. China is willing to ceaselessly develop friendly ties between the two armies.'' {para} General Shahbazi replied that because the Iranian people found China ``trustworthy'', they were willing to boost co-operation with the country. {para} Western diplomats said the visit of the general, who is the first Iranian chief of staff to call on Beijing, marked a high tide in the Sino-Iranian military alliance. {para} They said that by rolling out the red carpet for three top Iranian leaders in a week, Beijing wanted to tell Washington the latter could not interfere with its policies on the Middle East and on arms exports. {para} After Washington's announcement of the sale of 150 F-16 jets to Taiwan, American officials have warned Beijing not to retaliate by expanding its shipment of weapons to the developing world. {para} Chinese and Iranian officials have been tight-lipped about what types of weapons and defence systems Teheran is looking for. {para} They have only announced that Beijing is selling the Iranians a 300 megawatt nuclear power plant. {para} In an article slamming Washington's criticism of the transaction, the semi-official Teheran Times said yesterday its government was committed to the ``peaceful use of nuclear technology''. {para} However, Western military experts said it was probable the three top Iranian leaders had discussed defence co-operation that went much further than the transfer of non-military nuclear technology. {para} They said it was no coincidence that two senior Pakistani officials were due in Beijing next month. {para} The Pakistani media has announced that Prime Minister Mr Nawaz Sharif will be in China from October 6 to 11, and Defence Minister Mr Ghous Ali Shah will also visit Beijing next month. {para} Analysts have described close military links between Beijing, Teheran and Islamabad as the ``iron triangle''. {/article} <U 2723> <D 92:09:11> <P 1> {headline} Go-ahead for Mirage sale to Taiwan {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM and agencies {article} THE French Government has approved the sale of Mirage fighters to Taiwan, authoritative French and Taiwanese sources said yesterday. {para} The deal will be finalised after talks between Dassault Aviation, the main manufacturer, and Taiwan officials, according to reports from French ministries involved in the decision. {para} Representatives from Dassault and three other French companies, which produce the ignition and weapons systems as well as aviation electronics and radars, are in Taipei for last-minute negotiations with Taiwanese officials over issues including prices, specifications and delivery dates. {para} However, political sources in Taiwan said Taipei might postpone the announcement of the deal because of eleventh-hour haggling over specifications and because of the need to mollify Washington. {para} They said the Taiwan government had earlier planned to sign the commercial agreement with the French companies as early as yesterday or today. {para} The sources said after Washington relented and decided F-16 jets could be sold to Taipei, Taiwan officials had been much more aggressive in demanding that more sophisticated weapons and avionics be installed on the French warplanes. {para} And Taipei officials thought a symbolic postponement of the announcement might pacify Washington, which had asked Taiwan to scrap the Mirage transaction after already having clinched the F-16 deal. {para} Citing officials in the Taiwan Air Force, the Taipei-based Broadcasting Corporation of China reported the Mirage agreement would be signed within two weeks. {para} In a press conference yesterday, French Industry and Foreign Trade Minister Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn said his government could not formally announce its decision on the sale of 60 Mirage 2000-5 jets until a commercial agreement was concluded between Taiwan and Dassault Aviation, and until Dassault had applied for an export licence. {para} ``But such a decision . . . would not be considered by the French Government as an act of aggression against the People's Republic of China,'' he said. {para} Mr Strass-Kahn also said his government was prepared against any retaliatory measures from Beijing. {para} When asked how France would react if China took trade measures to protest against the sale, Mr Strauss-Kahn said: ``If there was retaliation, the commercial consequences could lead us to do away with [development] projects which we are currently financing.'' {para} Diplomatic analysts said Paris had made up its mind about the transaction after US President Mr George Bush's decision on the Taiwan deal. {para} An Asian diplomat said: ``Chinese diplomats have threatened tough retaliatory measures against France, including the recall of Beijing's ambassador to Paris and a cut in the import of French products. {para} ``However, after the Bush decision, Paris has decided to call Beijing's bluff.'' {para} French sources said if the deal went through, it would be worth about US$2.6 billion (HK$20.08 billion) for 60 Mirage 2000-5s - a 20 per cent reduction on the planes' original price. {para} French weapons sales abroad are, even under normal conditions, a complicated process. {para} Initial permission must be obtained from the inter- ministerial commission for the study of the export of war materiel - known under its French acronym of CIEEMG - followed by a government permission to negotiate, followed by final official approval once the negotiations are concluded. {para} The sources said that the first two green lights having been obtained, there was no question as far as the Government was concerned that the sale would go through if an agreement was reached. {para} They said the French decision is the result of economic considerations taking the upper hand over political ones. {para} An eventual cash deal with Taiwan, which has the world's biggest foreign exchange reserves, will be a boost for Dassault, which has failed to export any warplanes over the past four years, losing out on major contracts with Finland, Greece and Switzerland. {para} It could also signify a foothold for other French firms, which hope to get a share of Taiwan's US$310 billion 1990-1996 reconstruction plan. {para} France, competing with Japan and Germany, hopes to sell Taiwan its TGV high- speed train for a possible US$20 billion and is in line for the construction of a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power station. {para} This compares with French investors' disappointment with the mainland Chinese market, which, despite a population of 1.2 billion, has so far failed to live up to its promise. {para} China has already demonstrated its unhappiness with French advances towards Taiwan by delaying finalisation of a contract for 12 Airbus A300-600 passenger planes. {para} Analysts say it is unlikely Beijing can take any economic countermeasures, as France's trade deficit with China was already at 10 billion francs (HK$16.15 billion) last year. {/article} <U 2724> <D 92:09:25> <P ?> {headline} Politburo line-up owes loyalty to Deng {article} WITH the pivotal 14th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party three weeks away, it is beyond doubt that patriarch Mr Deng Xiaoping will set the pace for his vision of capitalist reforms for China for the next five years. To reflect this, the new politburo line- up is likely to be dominated by reformists and pragmatists who can now be expected to put economic development before ideology. {para} While Mr Li Peng will likely stay on as Premier, Vice-Premier Mr Zhu Rongji, Mr Deng's latest handpicked successor, has been given the authority to overhaul the economy and introduce market mechanisms. The elevation of Mr Zhu to the politburo could be the clearest signal to the outside world that the party realises reforms are the only way forward. And, despite having sanctioned the removal of disgraced leaders Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, Mr Deng seems prepared to elevate former associates of the disgraced pair into the policy-making body. {para} Observers in Beijing, however, agree that no matter how rosy the post-Congress brave new world may sound, there are dark clouds on the horizon. Mr Deng, the former chief of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the country's most powerful organ, must still rely on the backing of the army to push through his reforms. This could be why General Liu Huaqing, the CMC vice-chairman, is a serious contender for the politburo even though, at 76, he should be retired. There are doubts too whether the CCP, while committed to a market economy and delegating authority to the regions, can reconcile itself to the fact that the country can no longer be run effectively by a centralised and unwieldy bureaucracy. {para} More importantly is whether Mr Deng can fulfil his promise of bringing on a new generation of younger and more reform-minded cadres who can exert a more liberal influence on politics and prise open the time-honoured one party dictatorship and the police-state apparatus. The hope must be that there will be a more liberalising influence on politics as economic reforms get a firmer grip on the country. {para} However, as Mr Deng presides over the behind-the-scenes horse trading now taking place in Beijing ahead of the Congress, he may be less concerned about the way forward over the long term. Mr Deng knows that in spite of Tiananmen Square, his place in history is secure and he is too bound by his near-feudalistic loyalty to the party and obsession with holding on to the reins of power than to attempt one last great leap forward. {para} > {headline} Thailand on right path FOR the first time in years, Thais can look forward to a stable period of government free of the murky self-interest that has clouded the political horizon and undermined overseas business confidence in one of Asia's most promising economies. The formal proclamation of Democrats leader Mr Chuan Leekpai as Thailand's next Prime Minister effectively shuts out the corrupt corporate and military factions that have traditionally divided the political spoils among themselves with almost total disregard for the welfare of their people. {para} By casting a vote for the ``angel'' alliance of pro-democracy parties in the general election earlier this month, Thais rejected the boardroom generals and their provincial cohorts in favour of a new generation of educated administrators with a genuine desire to prepare the country for industrialisation. For their part, the Democrats head a slightly unwieldy coalition that will have to work hard to maintain the trust displayed by a cynical electorate. Mr Chuan's promise of a free parliamentary vote on overturning an amnesty decree that currently protects those responsible for the bloodshed will require deft footwork if he is to avoid provoking a tough military response. Yet, with the right backing from more moderate officers, he will have a rare opportunity to streamline the armed forces into a professional fighting force that has no need of political rewards and will cease to threaten the development of democracy. {para} Watching closely will be the business community, which has already applauded Mr Chuan's pledge to continue the economic reforms set in motion by interim Prime Minister Mr Anand Panyarachun. Thailand has a long way to go before it can lay claim to the right formula for stable and progressive government, but Mr Chuan's administration, the 53rd to rule since the absolute monarchy was ended in 1932, suggests it is finally on the right path. {/article} <U 2725> <D 92:09:21> <P 11> {headline} Pro-market talks `signal consensus' {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} LIBERAL intellectuals have lectured senior cadres on the market economy, a sign that a consensus has been reached within the leadership in the run- up to the 14th party congress. {para} The rising clout of the pro-market academics is also an indication that the proteges of patriarch Mr Deng Xiaoping have made progress in purging the ideological and propaganda establishment of leftist elements. {para} The New China News Agency (NCNA) said at the weekend that a group of ``experts and scholars'' had given a series of lectures to the leadership on ``reform and the open door, making use of capitalism, the socialist market economy, intellectual property rights, the share- holding system and the stock market''. {para} Liberal politburo member Mr Li Ruihuan and 1,000 party, government and army leaders heard the talks at the Zhongnanhai party headquarters. {para} The lectures were organised by the Propaganda Department and three other units. {para} Lecturers included such liberal economists as Beijing University's Professor Li Yining and senior State Council economist Mr Liu Guoguang. {para} Nicknamed ``stocks guru'', Professor Li had advised former party chief Mr Zhao Ziyang on the setting up of stock exchanges. {para} The agency reported that the lectures were suffused with the spirit of fast-paced reform that Mr Deng imparted during his trip to southern China early this year. {para} ``It is important to understand and fully implement the spirit of Deng Xiaoping's speeches'', NCNA quoted Mr Xu Weicheng, vice-director of the Propaganda Department, as saying. {para} Sources in Beijing said it was significant that the lectures did not touch upon such traditional concerns as ``waging class struggles''. {para} Long a bastion of Maoism, the Propaganda Department had until early summer held countless sessions promoting campaigns against ``bourgeois liberalisation''. {para} ``The momentum is going the way of the Deng faction, and such avant-garde economists as Li Yining can openly promote their pro-market theories in Zhongnanhai'', said a source. {para} ``It is clear the 14th congress will concentrate on ways to promote market mechanisms while ideological concerns will be de-emphasised''. {para} He added, however, that it was still not certain whether Mr Deng and his proteges could successfully rid the ideological and propaganda units of leftists. {para} Mr Xu, an ally of the Gang of Four radicals, would be likely to keep his job once he had professed allegiance to the Deng line. {para} Western diplomats said it was strange that news about the lectures only came on the English-language NCNA wire, which was not normally available to Chinese media units. {/article} <U 2726> <D 92:09:25> <P 13> {headline} ANALYSIS {byline} By DANIEL KWAN {headline} Few surprises for the media {article} THERE will be few surprises when the foreign press corps descends on the Great Hall of People to take pictures of the new faces of the Chinese Communist Party politburo after the conclusion of the 14th party congress. {para} Notably absent from their pictures will be the military strongman, General Yang Baibing, who has lost his seat to General Liu Huaqing, a confidante of patriarch Mr Deng Xiaoping. {para} A half-brother of state President Mr Yang Shangkun and currently the secretary-general of the Central Military Commission, the younger Yang was considered a fast moving political star after the Tiananmen Square crackdown. {para} But instead of a promotion to the Standing Committee, he will remain a member of the politburo. {para} His supporters will also be disappointed because, instead of him, it is believed that General Liu will succeed Mr Yang Shangkun as the First Vice-Chairman of the CMC. {para} Although both General Liu and the Yang brothers are vocal supporters of the patriarch, there was strong opposition within the Army to the younger Yang's fast- track promotion. {para} Another couple who will also be under the media spotlight will be the Party General Secretary, Mr Jiang Zemin, and premier Mr Li Peng. {para} While the patriarch has reportedly criticised the pair for failing to push reform strongly enough, they have apparently managed to win back Mr Deng's trust before the congress, and consequently, a second term in office. {para} But all eyes will focus on the ``dark horse'', Mr Hu Jintao, former party secretary of Tibet, and the First Vice-Premier Mr Zhu Rongji, who will become the two youngest members of the politburo Standing Committee. {para} It is thought that Mr Hu's promotion was confirmed soon after the patriarch made his much-publicised tour of southern China early this year, and he was chosen to assist Mr Song Ping, the organisation chief, to prepare for the selection of representatives for the crucial congress. {para} Although conservatives have objected to Mr Hu's promotion, citing his relative youth, it is thought that both the patriarch and Mr Song have spoken out in favour of him. {para} However, the dominance of reformist and moderate forces in the politburo does not necessarily mean a total victory for the patriarch. {para} While the 88-year-old leader has succeeded in introducing a few new young faces to the top echelon, his opponents, headed by conservative elder Mr Chen Yun, have managed to promote a generation of successors who will continue to propagate their hardline message. {para} These new ``leftists'' include Mr Sha Jiansun, a vice- chief of the party Central Committee's research office on party history, and Mr Zhang Yunsheng, a vice-chief editor of the leftist-controlled People Daily. {/article} <U 2727> <D 92:09:26> <P 8> {headline} Students in Australia accused of ingratitude {byline} From SUE GREEN in Melbourne and MICHAEL CHUGANI in Washington {article} CHINESE students who took refuge in Australia after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre have been accused of insulting and offending Australians for protesting against a report recommending their deportation. {para} The conflict between the Chinese students and the Australian Government is in contrast to news that American President Mr George Bush is likely to sign into law a bill that grants permanent refuge for thousands of Chinese nationals in the United States. {para} West Australian Labor Senator Jim McKiernan has told the students that Australia gave them sanctuary in their hour of need, yet they were now ungrateful. {para} Senator McKiernan's attack was made in a letter to the Special Committee for Chinese Students, representing 20 Chinese community organisations, which wrote to members of parliament protesting at the report. {para} The report of the federal parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Migration Relations, of which the senator is a member, says the Chinese students should lose their special status and face the same permanent residence criteria as all other applicants. {para} Senator McKiernan told the students that their complaints about the report were insulting and offending to the committee, the Government and the people of Australia. {para} ``If, after three years of sanctuary and refuge, an important organisation gives thanks by offending and insulting the nation who protected them and gave them refuge, through a letter to members of parliament, then this is a gratitude and repayment we can do without,'' he said. {para} There are 17,000 students in Australia on special four-year visas which expire in June 1994. If the federal Government accepts the committee's recommendations, up to 10,000 of them could be deported to China - a stance the committee's letter to MPs said was ``morally repugnant''. {para} The report, backed by the federal opposition and which has split the Labor Party, is still with the Immigration Minister, Mr Gerry Hand. {para} In Washington, US legislators who guided the refuge bill through Congress have said that Mr Bush was not opposed to it. {para} About 60,000 Chinese students and scholars who arrived in the US soon after the Tiananmen Square crackdown and who now fear returning home can apply for permanent residency under the bill. {/article} <U 2728> <D 92:09:12> <P 8> {headline} Young to be promoted in reshuffle {byline} By DANIEL KWAN and agencies {article} MORE young technocrats are expected to be promoted to the senior echelon of the Chinese leadership after the 14th Party Congress, it was reported yesterday. {para} The reshuffle was reported by the pro-Beijing newspaper Ta Kung Pao, which said as many as one-third of provincial government and party positions would be filled by young technocrats after the crucial congress. {para} ``This time - from year end to early next year - will be a critical period as both the central Government and the regional leadership will have a major reshuffle,'' the newspaper said. {para} The scale of change would be most obvious at the provincial level because more than half of the local legislators were too old for re-election and would be replaced by young delegates, the report said. {para} It said that based on the requirements set by central authorities, about 80 cadres aged under 50 would be needed to join the provincial leadership across the country. {para} Ta Kung Pao also quoted from a meeting of the Organisation Department held last month saying the criteria for selection would be a cadre's ``dedication to economic construction''. {para} ``Members of the leadership, regardless of their responsibilities, must understand and care about the overall importance of economic construction and reform and open policy,'' it said. {para} Quotas based on age have been set in order to bring in younger officials. Three leading members of provincial Communist Party committees must be aged under 50. {para} The same age ceiling was applied to provincial governments. But instead of three, two of the leading positions - governor and vice- governor - must be filled by people below 50. {para} The report said in order to achieve these goals, the selection must be open-minded. {para} ``We should make full use of cadres who are courageous in reform and dare to explore . . . as well as people who have made mistakes in reform because of their lack of experience,'' it said. {para} Meanwhile, the Minister of the State Commission for Restructuring the Economy, Mr Chen Jinhua, was quoted as saying China would continue to push price reform as part of its drive to implement free market policies. {para} The state would raise the state purchasing prices of the main farm products, he said, and allow regional governments to liberalise prices for grain and farm produce. {para} Mr Chen said the aim was to move China from a two-tiered price system to a market economy. {para} Commenting on overall economic reform, Mr Chen said about 10,000 enterprises had merged and 46 had gone bankrupt since the start of this year. {para} ``The implementation of the reform and opening policy is developing in a healthy direction, but some problems remain,'' he said. {para} Government departments were still intervening in business operations. {para} Price reform has been one of the main battles fought between reformers and conservatives. {para} Reforms to allow markets to set prices were raised at the 13th Party Congress in 1987, but conservatives blocked any concrete steps from being taken. {/article} <U 2729> <D 92:09:18> <P 12> {headline} Economists berate leftist ideologues {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} LIBERAL economists have openly berated leftist ideologues and central planners for opposing the development of the market economy. {para} The pro-market intellectuals have also warned that while reform is irreversible, imprudent steps taken by reformists might retard economic liberalisation. {para} In a bold article, the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily pointed out that, as early as 1988, theorists in Guangdong argued that a socialist country must implement a market economy. {para} The editors of Nanfang, who report to the provincial party committee, revealed that during a conference in late 1988, local social scientists mapped out plans for ``a march towards a market economy''. {para} Their viewpoints were gathered in a classified report that the New China News Agency produced for the top leadership in November that year. {para} ``Regrettably, that conference was later subjected to unwarranted criticism and attack,'' the editors said. {para} The gist of the Nanfang article was reproduced yesterday by the semi-official China News Service. {para} Chinese analysts said the unusual step taken by Nanfang and the CNS was an attempt to discredit remnant Maoists who still held sway in many ideological and propaganda departments in the capital. {para} They said it was the same group of ideologues who had criticised the Guangdong economists in 1988. {para} Moreover, politicians, economists and journalists in Guangdong are eager to rehabilitate policies undertaken in 1987 and 1988 by deposed party chief Mr Zhao Ziyang. {para} However, while the liberal theorists are confidant that the move towards a ``socialist market economy'' will be endorsed by the 14th party congress, they have warned that the battle is the reformists' to lose. {para} In an address carried yesterday by the semi-official Hongkong China News Agency, former Zhao adviser and senior economist Mr Wu Jinglian indicated ``no forces could block the advance of market economists''. {para} However, Mr Wu warned that ``the main danger is reformists themselves'' in view of the mistakes they might make. {para} The economists pointed to danger signals in the areas of the stock market, price reform, and the cessation of life tenure for workers. {para} For example, he said, the prices of many shares did not reflect the viability of the companies concerned, and a collapse in the market might predispose stock owners against further reform. {para} Meanwhile, the vice-governor of Guangdong, Mr Liu Weiming, yesterday unveiled a plan to regularise the stocks system in the province. {para} Companies in cities other than Guangzhou and Shenzhen will have to seek the approval of a Joint Provincial Adjudication Committee before they can issue shares, while companies who want their shares to be sold on the open market must get the permission of central authorities. {/article} <U 2730> <D 92:09:21> <P 10> {headline} Inner Mongolia cadre gets top Tibetan job {byline} By ROBERT BARNETT {article} A CHINESE cadre from Inner Mongolia has been transferred to Lhasa to take over the running of Tibet, replacing a Tibetan who briefly held the post last year. {para} The new acting party secretary of Tibet is Mr Chen Kuiyuan, Vice-Governor of Inner Mongolia before his appointment to Tibet. {para} Mr Chen was made a member of the Party Committee in Inner Mongolia with responsibility for higher education in 1990, but details of his earlier career are sketchy. {para} The appointment suggests that in spite of its apparent commitment to ``localisation'', Beijing is not yet ready to appoint a Tibetan to the highest position of the autonomous region. {para} Chinese sources said Mr Chen, whose star is rising, was well-placed to be appointed party secretary. The incumbent, Mr Hu Jintao, returned to Beijing in early 1991 for health reasons. {para} A former chief of the Communist Youth League and protege of the late party general-secretary Mr Hu Yaobang, Mr Hu Jintao is tipped to be promoted to head of the party's Organisation Department at the 14th party congress. {para} Mr Chen has been officially described as one of several deputy secretaries in the Tibet Regional Party Committee, but in official documents his name appears before Mr Gyaltsen Norbu, the Tibet Governor. {para} Mr Norbu, a Tibetan who was appointed Governor in May 1990, has been a deputy party secretary since 1985 and, until Mr Chen's arrival, was named ahead of the other deputy secretaries. {para} Now both Mr Chen and Mr Raidi, another deputy secretary, are listed before Mr Norbu, who appears to be losing status. {para} Mr Chen has given several speeches on the need to speed up economic reform in Tibet but has also emphasised ``stability'', a euphemism for repression of dissent. {para} In one speech Mr Chen called on the party to be ``tough'' in the fight against ``sinful attempts . . . to split the motherland''. {para} Mr Chen was first introduced to top Chinese cadres as the new leader in Tibet at a closed meeting in Lhasa on March 3, according to unofficial sources in the Tibetan capital, who said that the meeting was timed to take place while Tibetan cadres were absent during preparations for Tibetan New Year. {para} On July 5, 1991, deputy secretary Mr Raidi was described by Tibet Television as ``executive deputy secretary'' of the Regional Party Committee, indicating that he had become the first- ever Tibetan to run the party in Tibet, but he seems to have kept his position for only a few weeks. {para} Mr Raidi, who comes from a family of nomads in Nagchu, 300 kilometres north of Lhasa, is regarded as a leftist. He joined the Party Committee in 1971, during the Cultural Revolution, and became a member of the party's Central Committee in 1982. {/article} <U 2731> <D 92:09:25> <P 1> {headline} Reformers tipped to dominate politburo {byline} By a Staff Reporter {article} PATRIARCH Mr Deng Xiaoping has put together a new politburo where reformist and moderate cadres have a clear-cut majority. {para} But the leftists, or remnant Maoists, are expected to continue to dominate the crucial ideological and propaganda departments. {para} Authoritative sources said yesterday that, barring last-minute horse-trading, three cadres would be inducted into the supreme politburo Standing Committee during the forthcoming 14th congress of the Chinese Communist Party. {para} They are Vice-Premier Mr Zhu Rongji, Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) General Liu Huaqing, and the former party secretary of Tibet, Mr Hu Jintao. {para} The trio will replace hard-liners; Vice-Premier Mr Yao Yilin and chief of organisation and personnel Mr Song Ping. {para} A charismatic reformist, Mr Zhu, 64, is Mr Deng's handpicked successor, on whose shoulders falls the task of ushering in a ``socialist market economy''. {para} General Liu, who will later this year replace President Mr Yang Shangkun as the CMC's First Vice-Chairman, has been a close follower of Mr Deng since the 1940s. {para} The formal naval chief will probably be foremost in reaching the Army's much- publicised goal of ``protecting the emperor [Deng] and providing an escort for his voyage''. {para} In ideological terms, however, General Liu, 76, is deemed a moderate who does not have clear-cut positions on matters such as market reforms and political liberalisation. {para} The surprising elevation of Mr Hu, 50, is considered a result of a compromise between Mr Deng and the conservative party elders. {para} A former chief of the Communist Youth League, Mr Hu is a protege of the late party general secretary Mr Hu Yaobang, one of the most liberal leaders of the party. {para} But Mr Hu is also acceptable to the hard-liners. He served under Mr Song in Gansu province, where the former Tibet chief was head of the local youth league. {para} And after Mr Hu Yaobang was ousted in a palace coup in January 1987, Mr Hu Jintao, then party boss of Guizhou province, was the first to signal his support for the dismissal of his mentor. {para} The promotion of Mr Hu, who will probably take over the powerful organisation portfolio, is believed to have the endorsement of Mr Song and other conservative party elders. {para} While Mr Hu has usually been classified a ``liberal'' by sinologists, he has since early this year disappointed many followers of Mr Deng by failing to push either radical reform or the fight against leftism. {para} Four incumbents on the politburo Standing Committee will be given a second five-year term. {para} They are General Secretary Mr Jiang Zemin, a moderate; Prime Minister Mr Li Peng, a conservative; security chief Mr Qiao Shi, a reformist; and ideology and propaganda chief Mr Li Ruihuan, a reformist. {para} Political sources in Beijing said many were disappointed that because of opposition from hardline elders, Vice-Premier Mr Tian Jiyun had apparently failed to be elevated to the politburo Standing Committee. {para} A radical reformist and the nemesis of leftists, Mr Tian is instead slated for a prominent position, perhaps the chairmanship, of the National People's Congress. {para} The sources added, however, that even without Mr Tian, the politburo Standing Committee would be dominated by cadres who would second Mr Deng's economic reforms while at the same time maintaining tight political control over the populace. {para} Eleventh-hour give-and-take is believed to be taking place regarding who will be elevated to the politburo. {para} Insiders say that as well as Mr Zhu, Mr Hu and General Liu, six other heavyweights are almost sure to be promoted. {para} They include Vice-Premier Mr Zou Jiahua; secretary-general of the CMC General Yang Baibing; United Front chief Mr Ding Guan'gen; head of the Central Committee General Office Mr Wen Jiabao; party boss of Shanghai Mr Wu Bangguo; and Foreign Minister Mr Qian Qichen. {para} A moderate technocrat, Mr Zou, 66, is also head of the State Planning Commission. {para} Because of his military background, Mr Zou, a former ordnance minister, will function as the ``intermediary'' between the central Government and the powerful military establishment. {para} General Yang Baibing, 72, who is also a moderate, is expected to play a similar role to that of General Liu. {para} A bridge partner of Mr Deng, Mr Ding, 63, a solid reformist, will take over the portfolio of persuading the Kuomintang in Taiwan to come to the negotiating table with the Communist Party. {para} Mr Zhu's successor as party boss of Shanghai, Mr Wu, 51, is not credited with either the flair or vision of his predecessor. {para} However, the moderate technocrat is expected to toe Beijing's line on the ambitious development of Shanghai and Pudong. {para} Mr Qian, 64, one of China's best diplomats, is deemed a moderate on political and ideological issues. {para} Mr Wen, 50, who is rumoured to be a candidate to succeed Maoist Mr Li Ximing as party secretary of Beijing, is a solid reformist and protege of former party boss Mr Zhao Ziyang. {para} Aside from Mr Yao and Mr Song, at least six incumbents will leave the politburo. {para} They are Mr Yang Shangkun, a moderate; Vice-Premier Mr Wu Xueqian, a moderate; Defence Minister General Qin Jiwei, a reformist; National People's Congress chairman Mr Wan Li, a reformist; Sichuan party chief Mr Yang Rudai, a reformist, and Beijing party boss Mr Li Ximing, a conservative. {para} Incumbents who will stay on include Mr Tian and education chief Mr Li Tieying, a moderate. {para} A major disappointment for the partisans of reform, however, is that Mr Deng does not seem to have been able to pick reformist or at least moderate leaders to run the leftist-dominated ideological and propaganda establishment. {para} At or after the 14th party congress, three die-hard conservatives who have been criticised by Mr Deng will be forced to resign. {para} They are the head of the Propaganda Department, Mr Wang Renzhi; director of People's Daily Mr Gao Di; and the Acting Culture Minister Mr He Jingzhi. {para} Sources said a ``fierce battle'' was being waged over who would succeed Mr Wang. {para} The liberal faction is pushing the vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Mr Zheng Bijian, who had been a personal secretary of Mr Hu Yaobang. {para} However, insiders said one of Mr Wang's deputies, leftist ideologue Mr Liu Zhongde, now had the edge over Mr Zheng. {para} Mr Liu, who is a protege of both conservative patriarch Mr Deng Liqun and Mr Li Peng, has been asked to look after propaganda and public-relations matters for the 14th congress. {para} Mr Liu, who is currently a deputy secretary-general of the State Council and had been a vice-minister at the State Education Commission, is also considered a candidate to succeed Mr He as Culture Minister. {para} Sources in the People's Daily said chief editor Mr Shao Huaze had emerged as a front-runner to succeed Mr Gao. {para} Deemed a ``moderate conservative'', Mr Shao had previously worked for newspapers and army propaganda units. {para} Two proteges of Mr Deng Liqun - Mr Sha Jiansun and Mr Zhang Yunsheng - have a good chance of becoming the chief editor of the conservative party mouthpiece. {para} A rising star among leftists, Mr Sha is a vice-chief of the Central Committee's research office on party history and a former vice-president of Beijing University. {para} Also considered a candidate to take over the Propaganda Department, Mr Sha has had a high profile since the spring. {para} Appointed vice-chief editor of the People's Daily after the June 4 crackdown, Mr Zhang had worked with Mr Deng Liqun at the research office of the Central Committee Secretariat. {para} Analysts said the continued dominance of the conservatives in ideology and propaganda meant tight censorship on liberal ideas and works of art would persist in the near future. {para} They also said that despite much speculation, Mr Deng Xiaoping had finally agreed to keep the so-called ``Jiang-Li system'' although Mr Jiang and Mr Li Peng would have to share much of their work with other members of the politburo Standing Committee. {para} They said that although Mr Deng was unhappy about the performance of Mr Jiang and Mr Li, he believed it would be inappropriate to replace his third hand-picked successor, Mr Jiang, who took over from the disgraced party boss Mr Zhao three years ago. {/article} <U 2732> <D 92:09:10> <P 10> {headline} `Surrender' a lie, says Han {article} LABOUR leader Mr Han Dongfang has accused the Chinese police and judicial authorities of telling lies and breaking their own laws. {para} Speaking at a press conference in Hongkong, Mr Han said that to break the will of the dissident community, the authorities had fabricated a story that he had surrendered to police. {para} The dissident said he had walked into the Public Security Bureau on June 19, 1989, to confront the authorities with the truth about the democracy movement. {para} ``Beijing had called the democracy crusade a counter-revolutionary rebellion and I wanted to set the record straight,'' Mr Han said. {para} ``I wanted to challenge the authorities and tell them that democracy activists can pursue their goals in an open manner.'' {para} According to the labour leader, the officers laughed at his naivete and told him that ``the police station is not a place for telling right from wrong''. {para} Despite his protests, the Chinese media reported that he had surrendered, in a bid to weaken the morale of dissidents on the run, Mr Han said. {para} Last November, he was told he was being released because the authorities had decided not to prosecute him on the grounds that ``he had turned himself in and had behaved himself well during detention''. {para} ``I told them I actually wanted a harsher treatment as I never surrendered to the police and I could not have behaved well because I had exposed their fabrications,'' Mr Han said. {para} The police had told him they had never come across a detainee seeking harsh, rather than lenient, treatment. {para} The labour leader also said the court of the Dongcheng District in Beijing had tried to delay his departure from China by postponing deliberation of a case in which a government unit accused him of illegal occupation of a flat. {para} ``On the grounds that a citizen with a pending lawsuit cannot leave the country, the Dongcheng court was deliberately erecting roadblocks to my departure,'' he said. {para} Mr Han said that on the advice of the police, he made a declaration disowning possession of the property in the flat. {para} ``The police admitted that the Dongcheng court was breaking the law,'' he said. ``And I made it clear in my statement that I retain the right to live in that flat.'' {byline} - WILLY WO-LAP LAM {/article} <U 2733> <D 92:09:19> <P 12> {headline} Students to mark Japan's invasion {article} STUDENTS at Beijing University will hold a gathering on campus today to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the September 18 Incident, which marked Japan's incursion into northeast China. {para} It is the first time since the mid-1980s that the authorities have allowed students to organise public functions that could be construed as ``anti-Japanese''. {para} Coming ahead of the October 23 to 29 visit to China by Emperor Akihito, the event is expected to galvanise widespread sentiments in the capital and elsewhere for seeking war reparations from Tokyo. {para} Sources on campus said about a dozen top historians, social scientists and witnesses of the war had been invited to speak at the gathering, which would be held in a lecture hall. {para} Among the speakers are a few retired generals who will talk about their personal experience of atrocities committed by the Imperial Army. {para} ``The meeting, which is organised by several graduate students, is an entirely spontaneous act reflecting the intelligentsia's feelings about Japan,'' an informed source said. {para} ``Obviously, the students could go from remembering the September 18 Incident to demanding that Akihito deliver a formal apology and promise to make compensations''. {para} War-related commemorative activities by college students in the mid-1980s led to small-scale street demonstrations which called for, among other things, an end to Tokyo's ``economic invasion'' of China. {para} The students were also aware that conservatives within the leadership might accuse them of using the Japan issue as a pretext to re-launch a pro-democracy movement. {byline} - WILLY WO-LAP LAM {/article} <U 2734> <D 92:09:12> <P 4> {headline} 20 million tune in to hear top pop stars {byline} From BELINDA WALLIS in Guangzhou {article} ONE of the biggest pop extravaganzas ever staged in China took place last night with more than a little help from Hongkong. {para} An estimated 20 million people caught the live radio broadcast of the Guangzhou- Hongkong Mid-Autumn Festival benefit concert. {para} Seven of Hongkong's leading pop stars performed in the Radio GuangdongRadio Television Hongkong co-production, which went out on five channels on both sides of the border. {para} Superstar Andy Lau, who was performing for the first time in mainland China, was joined by pop stars Jacky Cheung, Sandy Lam, Lui Fong, Alex To, Hacken Lee and Shirley Kwan. {para} Also featured were local singing stars and RTHK disc jockeys. {para} The 8,000 tickets for the benefit concert were snapped up within two hours of going on sale and ticket scalpers were reportedly asking 800 yuan (HK$1,130) each - 10 times their face value. {para} It was not just teen Canto-pop fans who queued up for the tickets - top government officials and high ranking Army personnel were among the audience. {para} Even the Governor of Guangdong province, Mr Zhou Shenglin, made sure he had a prized ticket. {para} It was the third co-broadcast between RTHK and Radio Guangdong in the past 18 months and by far the most ambitious. {para} A staff of 400 from Guangzhou and Hongkong was mobilised and hi-tech equipment was brought in from Hongkong to make sure the show at the Tian He Gymnasium was visually spectacular. {para} It is hoped that as much as six million yuan was raised from the concert. {para} Proceeds will go to the non-government Guangdong Education Advancement Fund, which takes education to isolated rural areas in China. {para} Highlights of the three-hour concert, which started at 8 pm, will be screened tomorrow night on TVB Jade and ATV Home. {/article} <U 2735> <D 92:09:16> <P 2> {headline} Viet captain `targeted' by authorities {byline} By GREG TORODE and agencies {article} CHINESE authorities targeted a ship intercepted off Hongkong this week because its captain had spoken out against earlier treatment at the hands of the Shekou Public Security Bureau, agents said yesterday. {para} Konwa Shipping managing director, Mr Tang Chan- pui, said the Chinese were employing ``bullying tactics'' on Monday by firing on and intercepting the East Wood just inside Chinese waters off Waglan Island. {para} The ship and crew had earlier spent 10 days under armed guard in Shekou after it was seized making its way to Hon Gai in north Vietnam. Its $15 million worth of cargo, including 50 new cars, remains confiscated. {para} On his return to Hongkong, Captain Cheng Wan- chun said he and his crew had been forced to sign statements saying the goods had been smuggled. {para} This time the 7,000-tonne ship was loaded with construction steel bound for Shanghai. {para} Mr Tang said: ``Clearly, it had a cargo that was not suspicious and it was not bound for Vietnam. {para} ``They just wanted to scare the master, they seem to know all about the movements of the ships.'' {para} It was the third ship in a week to be intercepted off Waglan Island, an area which lies near restricted waters surrounding a sensitive Chinese naval base on Lema Island. {para} A patrol boat appeared to be waiting for the ship as it crossed the border at about 10.30 pm, Mr Tang said. {para} One warning shot was fired and seven armed officers boarded the East Wood and demanded to check papers and cargo. {para} They left seven minutes later and the ship continued north. None of the crew was injured. {para} Government sources said yesterday that they also feared the ship was targeted for no other reason than it had been previously under detention. {para} ``The sooner we are in a position to explain to the shipping industry what is going on, the better for everyone,'' a source said. {para} ``But until the Chinese tell us why these ships are being targeted, we cannot do anything.'' {para} China has acknowledged it mistakenly entered Hongkong waters during one of two recent incursions, but there have been no replies to government and Foreign Office demands for explanations on why coastal freighters are being stopped. {para} China explained the latest incursion by saying it was on anti-smuggling patrols but sailors and Hongkong shipping agents say all their cargoes are fully manifested. {para} However, a report yesterday from a Vietnamese newspaper says traders have discovered they can dodge Chinese import tariffs by shipping cars, trucks and other merchandise to northeast Vietnam and truck it into China. {para} The Liberated Saigon newspaper said Hon Gai had earned a reputation as a ``hot spot'' for car trafficking, with local authorities collaborating with smugglers in the lucrative trade. {para} The network was sophisticated, with Chinese companies ordering cars from Hongkong firms and then hiring a firm in Quang Ninh province to transport them into China. {para} Evidence of the thriving ``transit'' business could be easily seen in Hon Gai, where parking lots were full of late-model cars, small trucks and vans, the newspaper said. {para} According to Hon Gai Customs, 1,832 cars were shipped into the port in the three months ending August 20 by the 15 Quang Ninh companies licensed for ``transit'' trade. {para} In other cases, Vietnamese shippers skipped north Vietnam altogether and delivered their Hongkong cargos directly to a secluded southern Chinese port. {para} A sailor was quoted as saying that shipping companies based all over Vietnam were rushing to Hon Gai to transport contraband merchandise. {para} Transport companies usually charged about 10 to 15 per cent of the car's price. After paying ``taxes'' to various local authorities, the companies could net about US$1,000 (HK$7,730) profit per car, the newspaper said. {para} The Hongkong Government believes trade between Hongkong and Hon Gai is legitimate. {/article} <U 2736> <D 92:09:22> <P 11> {headline} Sichuan leading way on cutbacks {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} SICHUAN province has led the country in reaching the goal of ``small government, big society'', deemed the key to the reform of China's administrative structure. {para} The leadership of Sichuan, China's largest province, has announced bold plans to trim the bureaucracy, cut down on fiats and quotas, and render government units into ``service- oriented entities''. {para} According to a report in the Economic Daily yesterday, the thrust of the just-announced measures was to ``delegate the Government's management powers to enterprises and to return powers to the enterprises''. {para} ``Let the Government do governmental work, and enterprises do what they should do,'' the Daily quoted instructions from provincial authorities. {para} In accordance with the principle of the separation of government and business, enterprises will have ``expanded powers'' in areas including personnel, investment, income distribution, imports and exports and the fixing of prices. {para} In most instances, government departments will no longer issue direct orders to business units. {para} For example, the total number of mandatory targets in the industrial sector will shrink from 32 in 1992 to 16 next year. {para} Non-obligatory, for-guidance-only targets will also be cut from 67 this year to 30 in 1993. {para} The function of the Government will be shifted from ``control and management'' to providing services for the gradual formation of a ``socialist market economy''. {para} Government units, especially those dealing with specialist areas like production, trading or technology, will be converted into corporations which will no longer have executive authority. {para} Other departments will have their staff drastically trimmed. {para} So far, only the leaders of Sichuan and Hainan provinces, who have enjoyed the patronage of former party chief Mr Zhao Ziyang, have announced detailed plans for the reform of administration. {para} Similar goals, which will be enshrined in the forthcoming 14th party Congress, have been laid down for the central Government. {para} However, analysts doubt whether such radical steps would be adopted in the conservative heartland and northeast provinces, which have taken over the Stalinist structure of government and industrial management. {para} In a talk carried by the China News Service yesterday, liberal economist Mr Wu Mingyu expressed worries that the implementation of the socialist market economy would ``involve [taking away] the powers and vested interests of many departments''. {para} Mr Wu, who thinks that the teachings of patriarch Mr Deng Xiaoping this year represented a ``second ideological liberation'', said the country must jettison ``the ossified, highly centralised system of central planning''. {para} While the economist fully acknowledged that those who stand to lose from reform would put up resistance, he urged the authorities ``not to make compromises and accommodations''. {para} ``I trust the politicians can adequately handle these thorny problems,'' Mr Wu said. {/article} <U 2737> <D 92:09:25> <P 15> {headline} Planning body set for revamp {byline} By KENT CHEN {article} THE State Planning Commission under the State Council, which formulates strategic goals for the national economy and social development, is facing a major revamp which will result in a drastic reduction in its power. {para} A senior official said yesterday that the commission, as the top think-tank of the State Council, should take the lead in the reform of government functions and be an example to other departments. {para} ``It is also necessary for the commission to adapt to the new situation in the development of a socialist market economy, under which traditional central planning is replaced by a market mechanism,'' the official said. {para} The China News Service quoted the official as saying that a new macro economic control system should be established to provide guidance for the market. {para} The revamp was seen as a response to the inception of an Economic and Trade Office (ETO), headed by Vice-Premier Mr Zhu Rongji. {para} The ETO, branded a ``super agency'' in the State Council, has taken over the control of areas such as production, foreign trade, resources and high technology, in addition to state enterprises, joint ventures and the private sector. {para} The head of the commission, Mr Zou Jiahua, and Mr Zhu are both considered candidates to succeed Premier Mr Li Peng. {para} The latest development could lead to a loss of power for Mr Zou. {para} According to the official, a key responsibility of the revamped commission will be to gather economic information and make predictions to provide guidance for the market. {para} Its second responsibility is to monitor the performance of the economy, to detect any irregularities, and provide constructive suggestions, rather than issuing administrative orders. {para} In line with the shift in its duties, the commission would reform its thinking and administrative structure, the official said. {/article} <U 2738> <D 92:09:25> <P 13> {headline} `Last chance' for patriarch {byline} By KENT CHEN {article} THE 14th congress will be the last chance for senior leader Mr Deng Xiaoping to put his own men in leading positions, according to prominent sinologist Dr Thomas Chan Man-hung. {para} Dr Chan, the co-ordinator of Hongkong Polytechnic's China Business Centre, said personnel issues would take precedence during the congress, because many other issues hinged on the distribution of power. {para} ``Without a definitive settlement on the distribution of power, the leadership will have to devote much of their energy to internal struggles,'' he said. {para} While official media stressed that the shift to a so-called ``socialist market economy'' was a main theme of the congress, Dr Chan said the slogan was meaningless because polices already in place would not change. {para} On the leadership changes, Dr Chan said a lot of new faces could be expected on the Central Committee as young provincial and municipal heads were promoted to replace ageing leaders. {para} Eventually, these members would be elevated to higher positions. {para} Dr Chan believed there would be no major surprises in the line-up of the Standing Committee of the powerful politburo. {para} Commenting on the possible elevation of Vice-Premier Mr Zhu Rongji, army leader Mr Liu Huaqing and Tibetan party head Mr Hu Jintao, Dr Chan said Mr Zhu was not doing as well as reported by the media. {para} He said Mr Liu was too old and Mr Hu's association with former party chief Mr Hu Yaobang was not enough for his elevation. {/article} <U 2739> <D 92:09:21> <P 1> {headline} Beijing attacked for military build-up {headline} US attacks Beijing for massive arms build-up {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} A SENIOR American official has accused Beijing of engaging in a massive military build-up which has caused alarm among its neighbours. {para} Assistant Secretary of Defence for International Security Affairs, Mr James Lilley, also hinted that one reason for Washington's decision to sell F-16 fighters to Taiwan was to counter-balance Beijing's purchase of SU-27 aircraft from Russia. {para} Mr Lilley, who passed through Hongkong over the weekend, said countries in the region were concerned by the Chinese Army's aggressive programme of weapons acquisition, which had been accomplished partly through the procurement of Russian hardware. {para} ``China has sovereign rights to buy weapons from various countries,'' Mr Lilley said in an interview with the South China Morning Post. {para} ``But when a country like China is increasing its military budget and is out on a shopping tour of Russia and the other [former Soviet] republics, it is a cause for concern for the US and China's neighbours.'' {para} A former ambassador to China, Mr Lilley, 64, said Beijing's military acquisitions from Russia had begun in 1989 and the weapons Beijing had set its eyes on or acquired ``involved power projection capabilities''. {para} He confirmed widespread reports that Beijing was actively engaged in talks with the Ukraine Government over the purchase of an aircraft carrier. {para} ``There seems to be some activity in attempts to procure an aircraft carrier even though, as far as we can tell, it has not been consummated yet,'' the defence official said. {para} Mr Lilley said Beijing's recent acquisition of SU-27 jet fighters from Russia had been particularly disquieting. {para} ``The SU-27s have certainly added a new capability to the Chinese Air Force which was not there before,'' he said. {para} ``These fighters are a first-class aircraft. They have a good performance record, and I do not see there is anything to match it among China's neighbouring countries. {para} ``In terms of sheer number, the Chinese Air Force, with 4,000 to 5,000 aircraft, is by far the dominant military force in the region. What the SU-27s do is to give it a major quality edge.'' {para} Mr Lilley indicated the dramatic upgrading of the Chinese Air Force was a factor behind the decision by President Mr George Bush to sell 150 F-16 fighters to Taiwan. {para} He said the pros and cons for the F-16 deal had been ``carefully analysed'' by various branches of the US Government for some time. {para} ``Numerous factors go into a decision like that, one of which was the disintegration of the Taiwan Air Force,'' the Assistant Secretary said. {para} ``One would be the effect on the US economy, including the aircraft industry.'' {para} However, Mr Lilley said another factor was ``the maintenance of equilibrium in the area, where you will not have great differences in force levels''. {para} ``When there are great differences in force levels, this often is an invitation for adventurous activities. {para} ``Experience in Asia and other areas has shown that a balance of forces is more contributive to stability and tranquillity than an imbalance.'' {para} Turning to the post-Cold War world order, the senior official said the world trend was towards military cut-backs and the reduction of armies. {para} ``Some countries have expressed concern about the increased budget of the Chinese military,'' he said. {para} ``This is in the face of decreasing budgets in most countries, certainly in my country and Russia.'' {para} Mr Lilley said Washington had expressed regrets over Beijing's recent decision to at least temporarily withdraw from Middle East- related arms control talks in retaliation for the F-16 transaction. {para} ``Bilateral relations should not be confused with international obligations,'' he said. ``There may be differences between ourselves and China but arms control in the Middle East is a major international initiative that involves the Permanent Five members of the United Nations. {para} ``It is very important that China join the arms control talks,'' he said, adding Washington would welcome China back into the process. {para} Mr Lilley added, however, that even if Beijing remained outside of the initiative, Washington hoped it would abide by the principle that the Permanent Five members would report to each other their weapons exports to the Middle East. {para} ``The Chinese have submitted one list of weapons they have sold to the Middle East arms control initiative,'' he said. {para} ``People feel that perhaps it was not a complete list and they have urged China to continue to report these sorts of things. We hope China will do that.'' {para} Mr Lilley acknowledged that Beijing had exercised restraint in its arms sales to the Middle East since signing in late 1991 the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and the Missile Technology Control Regime. {para} He hinted, however, that Beijing had not cut off all shipments of arms even after acceding to the two agreements. {para} ``Since China signed [the two protocols], there is evidence it has curtailed some of its activities [in shipment of weapons to the Middle East],'' he said. ``I cannot say whether it is complete or not.'' {para} Concerning the recent controversy among several Asian countries over the sovereignty of the Spratly Islands, the Assistant Secretary said he welcomed multilateral talks among the claimants. {para} ``I think regional powers in the South China Sea area have sought to engage China in multilateral talks on the Spratlys, which seems to be one way to deal with the problem. {para} ``The Chinese prefer bilateral talks. The [other] countries feel a great disadvantage [in this approach] because of China's overwhelming powers and size.'' {/article} <U 2740> <D 92:09:19> <P 11> {headline} Tight security measures as students mark invasion {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM and DANIEL KWAN {article} BEIJING University officials imposed tight security measures for a gathering organised by Chinese students to commemorate the September 18 incident which marked Japan's invasion of northeast China 61 years ago. {para} All ``uninvited'' people were barred by university officials from the three-hour meeting, which was attended by about 40 historians, students and social scientists. {para} Sources said that in addition to the scholars and students, a few former government officials, several senior Chinese Communist Party leaders and senior Beijing University representatives had attended the meeting. {para} To accommodate the ``important'' guests, university officials moved the meeting from the originally scheduled cultural centre to a small conference room in the university executive building, the sources said. {para} It is the first time since the mid-1980s that the Chinese authorities have allowed students to organise public functions that could be construed as ``anti-Japanese''. {para} Among those invited to the gathering were the Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, General Lu Zhengchao, now retired, and Mr Chen Haosu, a vice-president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. {para} Other guests included Professor Yuan Hongbing, Mr Tong Zeng, a social activist, Mr Sha Jiansun, deputy director of the Central Party History Research Centre of the Chinese Communist Party, and Professor Chen Ku-ying. {para} According to Chinese sources, yesterday's meeting focused on the Sino-Japanese war, and General Lu reportedly gave a personal account of the war atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers. {para} Mr Tong, who has campaigned for an official apology and war reparations from the Japanese Government, said the Chinese Government should allow dissenting voices because many Chinese still felt deeply about the tragedy. {para} Professor Chen reportedly said that history should be respected, although it was important to maintain good Sino-Japanese relations. {para} He pointed out that while the Japanese often remembered themselves as victims of the atomic bombs, there was little mention of the 300,000 Chinese massacred by Japanese troops in Nanjing, near Shanghai, during the invasion. {para} He compared the Nanjing massacre to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany during World War II, but said that while the Jews had succeeded in drawing world attention to their plight, China had made little effort to record the Nanjing massacre, which was ignored in Japanese history textbooks. {/article} <U 2741> <D 92:09:16> <P 12> {headline} Private bid for war reparations {byline} From GEOFFREY CROTHALL in Beijing and WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} A FAST-GROWING private organisation has called on ethnic Chinese all over the world to demand that Japanese Emperor Akihito make compensation for war victims in China and apologise for atrocities. {para} Mr Tong Zeng, the head of the China Non-Governmental Committee to Claim Compensation from Japan, also disclosed he had found at least 12 ``comfort women'' who were forced to serve Japanese soldiers in China. {para} Mr Tong, a researcher at China's Centre for Gerentological Research, yesterday sent an open letter to Chinese groups in Hongkong and around the world asking them to sign a petition demanding damages from Tokyo. {para} Mr Tong claimed his committee, which encompasses more than 20 local groupings, had collected 300,000 signatures demanding reparations. {para} He also indicated that it had the support of more than 100 members of the National People's Congress. {para} Mr Tong and his group hope to extract an apology from the emperor during his visit late next month, but senior Chinese officials have already indicated that Beijing will not be applying any pressure for a formal apology. {para} Mr Tong did not specify what action his committee planned during the imperial visit, but observers said it was unlikely members would be given permission to demonstrate. {para} ``I do not want to say whether there will be demonstrations,'' he said yesterday. ``I hope the emperor will promise to deliver an apology before he arrives.'' {para} Mr Tong said he planned to formally register his grassroots organisation with the Government as soon as possible. {para} However, analysts said the authorities were unlikely to approve the committee until well after Emperor Akihito's visit to avoid diplomatic upsets. {para} Mr Tong said the 1,000- odd volunteers working for the committee had found at least 12 ``comfort women'' in the provinces of Hubei, Shanxi, Shandong, and Hebei. {para} ``Several in Hubei are ethnic Koreans who were kidnapped by Japanese soldiers and brought into China,'' he said. {para} ``They have lived and worked in China since the war, and they want compensations from the Japanese Government.'' {para} The activist said the ``comfort women'' and their relatives had demanded damages ranging from US$40,000 (HK$309,080) to US$120,000 per person. {para} Preliminary research showed 2,000 to 4,000 Chinese women were forced to serve as sex slaves for the imperial army. {para} Mr Tong said the activities of the volunteers had received ``neither obstruction nor encouragement'' from the Government. {para} In his petition, he says that only through adequate compensation ``can the souls of the dead be consoled'' and ``ruthless militarism punished''. {para} ``Although there are many reasons why Japan has played the role of a fierce neighbour so many times, an important one is that it has not received due punishment,'' the petition says. {para} ``Who can guarantee that Japan will not invade our country on an even larger scale next century. Who can guarantee that our descendants won't suffer even greater killing and insult in the future.'' {/article} <U 2742> <D 92:09:11> <P 1> {headline} Congress to endorse Deng line {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} DELEGATES to the Chinese Communist Party's 14th Congress, set to convene on or around October 15, will endorse Mr Deng Xiaoping's line of fast-paced market reforms. {para} Chinese sources said the patriarch had secured the support of the majority of the 1,991 delegates, whose elections were completed by early summer. {para} The sources added Mr Deng had been able to stick to the original commencement date of around October 15. {para} This is despite efforts by the conservative camp to postpone it to late November or December in an apparent bid to blunt the momentum that Mr Deng initiated in his trip to southern China earlier this year. {para} In a dispatch yesterday, the New China News Agency said the delegates had ``strengthened their conscientiousness in implementing the party's basic line and made up their minds to accelerate reform and economic development''. {para} The NCNA added that the delegates had also ``made great efforts to study and carry out comrade Deng Xiaoping's theory on building socialism with Chinese characteristics.'' {para} The delegates, who represent the country's 51 million members, will endorse a fresh party platform and pick a new Central Committee and Politburo. {para} Sources in Beijing said the patriarch was ``by and large satisfied'' with the Political Report to the Congress, which had gone through at least five drafts. {para} The report would focus on the fact that the party would implement the ``theory of Deng Xiaoping'' for at least 100 years. {para} Moreover, the report would also commit the country to bringing about a ``socialist market economy'' where state planning would be phased out in the course of the decade. {para} The sources said, however, that wrangling over who would be elected to the policy-setting Central Committee as well as the supreme Politburo and its Standing Committee would go on until the eve of the opening ceremony. {para} But they said the composition of the 1,991 delegates, part of which was revealed by the NCNA yesterday, showed beyond doubt that most would cast their ballots for reformist-orientated candidates. {para} Seventy-eight per cent of the delegates are cadres of various levels, with the rest being professionals, soldiers, advanced workers and ``proletarian models'' in fields including industry, agriculture, defence, politics, technology and education. {para} More than half - 58.9 per cent - of the representatives are below 55; 70.7 per cent have college educations, which is 11 per cent more than for the 13th Party Congress in 1987. {para} Party sources said of most significance was the fact that 40 per cent of the delegates hailed from the provinces and localities, while around 10 per cent were military representatives. {para} ``Being beneficiaries of the open door policy, representatives from the regions will lobby for more radical economic reforms, while the Army is the bastion of Deng Xiaoping,'' a source said. {para} That Mr Deng cannot win a total victory, however, is evident from the fact that a minority of the delegates are well-known leftists, including Maoists who have been criticised by the patriarch by name. {para} Western diplomats say Mr Deng has returned to the capital and will personally oversee the preparations for the Congress. {/article} <U 2743> <D 92:09:26> <P 5> {headline} Trade in rare animals rampant {byline} By LUISA TAM in Guangzhou {article} THE illegal sale of endangered species is still flourishing in Guangzhou, catering for local and Hongkong customers despite new laws aimed at stamping it out. {para} The Guangzhou government recently announced new measures to tighten protection of exotic animals such as pangolins, owls and wild cats. But black-market trading in these animals continues, although customers are screened more carefully. {para} The South China Morning Post yesterday visited the notorious Qing Ping market in Guangzhou city and we were offered live pangolins by two stall owners at prices ranging from 60 to 100 yuan (HK$84 to HK$140) per catty. A small pangolin weighs about four to five catties. {para} We were not shown the animal because the hawkers wanted us to pay immediately. It was like buying fake Rolex watches in Yau Ma Tei's Temple Street, where money has to change hands before the goods can be delivered. {para} A local resident told the South China Morning Post: ``If you know the right places and the right people you can buy all kinds of endangered species you want here, but they conduct their business quietly.'' {para} Pangolins are code-named ``little rats'' to avoid police detection. {para} When approached by the Post, the first hawker wanted to sell us a pangolin, but later became suspicious and tried to push us away. {para} The second hawker was enthusiastic but also insisted on payment first. He quoted a cheaper price of 60 yuan per catty. {para} There are about 100 stalls, each operated by several men, lining the 250-metre-long Qing Ping market. {para} Although owls and other precious creatures such as giant lizards and wild cats are also protected under Chinese laws, pangolins are the most popular. {para} Pangolins are believed to be the ``most useful'' of all game food. The Chinese believe pangolin meat can help cure certain types of cancer, and its blood and scale-like skin can be used as medicine. {para} Local residents eat pangolins every winter and some Hongkong people still travel to Guangzhou to make secret purchases. Overseas tourists flock to the market out of curiosity. {para} An American tourist, Mr Christopher Edel, told the Post he learnt about the market from a travellers' guide book published by Lonely Planet. {para} Some Hongkong animal welfare activists believe endangered species are still being smuggled into Hongkong in large numbers to be served up as winter delicacies for wealthy Hongkong people. {para} Hongkong demand for these protected animals is believed to be a major factor that keeps the illicit trade alive. {para} The infamous Qing Ping market is operated like a take-away zoo, featuring all kinds of game food and some rare wildlife species. There are chickens, ducks and pigeons, cats, wild pigs and the rare muntjac - a member of the deer family. {para} Although the sale of these animals is legal, the cruel treatment of them by stall owners drew anger from tourists and some local passers-by. {para} At one stall, about 50 cats were locked up in a tiny cage. The cats had to lie on top of each other because there was not enough space. There was no water bowl inside the cage. {para} At a nearby stall, a muntjac was being put into a plastic bag to prevent it from running away. The hawker gave it a couple of hard kicks to subdue it. {para} There were dead animals dumped at the side of the road and many of the animals in cages looked sick. {/article} <U 2744> <D 92:09:17> <P 10> {headline} Increase in crime `under control' {byline} By KENT CHEN and agencies {article} A SENIOR public security official claimed China's social order was stable although more than 125,000 serious criminal cases were uncovered and 61,000 gangs broken up in the first half of this year. {para} A vice-minister of the Ministry of Public Security, Mr Jiang Xianjin, said the increase in criminal cases was kept under control and remained at a stable level. {para} Mr Jiang also disclosed that 1,859 police officers were involved in 1,546 cases of violations of disciplines and regulations in the second quarter of the year, a drop of 2.3 per cent compared with the same period last year. {para} As part of the effort to clean up the force, more than 9,000 officers were dismissed in recent years and the campaign is expected to be concluded before the end of this year, said Mr Jiang. {para} ``In general, the police force in China is good. But because of various reasons, there are some unqualified officers who seriously undermine the image of the force,'' he said. {para} The senior official said four separate documents aiming to rectify the discipline within the force had been issued. {para} Meanwhile, Chinese authorities uncovered more than 90,000 cases of economic crime in the first half of the year, with a rapid rise in freewheeling in coastal areas, the Economic Daily reported yesterday. {para} The total was a slight drop from the corresponding period last year, but the number of big cases rose 9.15 per cent to 7,315 and 335 million yuan (HK$473.68 million) was recovered in fines or confiscated money, up 11.6 per cent. {para} Guangdong and Fujian provinces, the pioneers of China's capitalist-style experiment in economic reform, accounted for one half of the total amount of money recovered. {para} The general trend saw an increase in economic crimes in coastal and border regions, the newspaper said. {/article} <U 2745> <D 92:09:26> <P 9> {headline} Boom in rural enterprise predicted {byline} By KENT CHEN {article} RURAL and township enterprises will become the backbone of China's commodity economy following rapid development in recent years, renowned sociologist Professor Fei Xiaotong said yesterday. {para} ``China is relatively stable compared with the former Soviet Union, because farmers, who make up the majority of China's population, are contented with their current living standard,'' he said. {para} Professor Fei, 82, was speaking at an academic conference to commemorate his late teacher, Mr Pan Guangdan, a pioneer in genetics, sociology and anthropology in China at the beginning of this century. {para} Professor Fei is known in the West for his best-selling book, Economic Situation of a Riparian Village - a Portrayal of the Life of Chinese Farmers, written when he was studying in Britain in the 1930s. {para} ``Farmers in China have found a way out of their century-old poverty with its own characteristics. I am convinced that their living standard will be much higher in a few years,'' he said yesterday. {para} ``The main reasons for the prolonged poverty in the countryside were imbalanced distribution of land and a huge population.'' {para} A series of land reforms after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 had failed to solve the problem because farmers were not allowed to engage in other businesses until the early 1980s, Professor Fei said. {para} With the implementation of rural reform, farmers were enthusiastically entering sideline businesses and establishing their own factories. {/article} <U 2746> <D 92:09:17> <P 11> {headline} Tourists offered sex services at hair salons {byline} By KENT CHEN {article} HAIR salons in Guangdong's Yangjiang city are offering sex-related services despite repeated campaigns launched by the Government to combat prostitution, it was reported yesterday. {para} The hair salons in the coastal city are offering young women as ``swimming partners'' for clients. {para} The women also provide massage services and in some instances, sex, according to the semi-official Hongkong China News Agency. {para} The agency quoted tourists who recently returned from the city as saying that the ``swimming partners'' were mostly unemployed young women from Sichuan province who were willing to do anything for a price. {para} The tourists said although hair salons operated vice businesses openly, such activities were not stopped by government departments. {para} ``The services provided by these hair saloons actually have nothing to do with hair. The main attractions are young women from other provinces dressing in sexy swimming suits,'' reported a tourist. {para} If a male tourist is impressed by a girl, he can pay 40 yuan (HK$56.50) to hire the girl for one hour to swim together in the sea. {para} The young women, aged between 15 and 20, are recruited by local businessmen who provide food and accommodation, but do not pay the girls a salary. Their income comes from providing vice services to customers. {para} In April, Guangdong launched a massive clampdown on prostitution in hotels and massage parlours. {/article} <U 2747> <D 92:09:19> <P 10> {headline} Liu and Lin in a dream after nightmare ordeal {byline} From SHIRLEY YAM in Vancouver {article} WALKING in the autumn breeze on sunbeamed Vancouver streets, Chinese dissidents Ms Liu Yijung and Ms Lin Lin were still wondering how their dream had come true. {para} Ms Liu said Canada never came up in their struggle for political asylum until the last minute. {para} ``But I dreamed of wandering around nice houses like these when I was in Victoria Prison in Hongkong - life is so strange,'' she said. {para} ``[I was] too excited to sleep last night, I hit my hand to see if it's a dream. {para} ``It is such a peaceful and orderly place. Why can't my country be the same?'' {para} The pair was granted political asylum by the Canadian Government after a nine- month ordeal in Hongkong after they were arrested as illegal immigrants. Their pleas for refuge were repeatedly rejected by the Hongkong and British authorities. {para} Looking pale but cheerful, the pair yesterday spent their first day in Canada ``experiencing the freedom of deciding where to go''. {para} Ms Liu, a 29-year-old journalist, said she had completed the first part of her book, A Hare on the Barren, which gives a vivid account of her life, especially the three years she spent in hiding. {para} She was planning to submit the draft to a publisher in Hongkong just a day before the pair left for Canada. {para} ``It looks more like deportation,'' she said of her departure from Hongkong. {para} ``[We were) woken up at seven and taken out from jail with nobody telling us where we were going.'' {para} Ms Liu and Ms Lin were kept in separate rooms at Kai Tak airport for five hours and at one point both thought they had lost their battle for freedom until they were met by Canadian officials. {para} Ms Lin hopes to work as a computer programmer in Canada and Ms Liu plans to continue her book. {para} ``After all this, I don't think anything in Canada will be a real difficulty for us,'' Ms Liu said. {para} Pledging to strive for democracy in China, the pair said they needed time to decide whether to join dissident groups in Canada. {para} ``My role has never been slogan chanting - I will do it with my pen,'' Ms Liu said. {/article} <U 2748> <D 92:09:11> <P 10> {headline} Leader's son in trip to Taipei {byline} By KENT CHEN {article} A PROMINENT member of the so-called Gang of Princelings, or offspring of China's top leaders, is believed to be paying a secret visit to Taiwan. {para} Mr Larry Yung Chi-kin, son of vice-chairman of the National People's Congress Mr Yong Yiren, is the chairman of the China International Trust and Investment Corporation (Hongkong). {para} The company, which is under the State Council, recently bought into Hongkong's key industries, including aviation, telecommunications and the cross-harbour tunnel. {para} The Entry and Exit Administration Bureau under Taiwan's Interior Ministry yesterday confirmed that Mr Yung's application to visit the island had been approved. {para} But an official said it was not known if Mr Yung, who also holds a US passport, had entered Taiwan. {para} Taiwan newspapers yesterday reported that Mr Yung had a meeting with two leading businessmen, Mr Gu Zhenpu and Mr Gu Liansong last Saturday. {para} Mr Gu Zhenpu is also the chairman of the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), which handles bilateral affairs with the mainland on behalf of the Taiwan authorities. {para} Mr Yung's father is honorary chairman of the SEF's corresponding body on the mainland, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. {para} But analysts believed business matters, rather than politics, were the focus of the meeting. {para} Another member of the Gang of Princelings to have visited Taiwan was Mr Liu Yazhou, the son-in-law of communist elder and former state president Mr Li Xiannian. {/article} <U 2749> <D 92:09:10> <P 11> {headline} Zhu warning on `runaway' economies {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} VICE-PREMIER Mr Zhu Rongji has taken steps to cool down the economy amid signs that Beijing has lost control over efforts by departments and localities to aim for high-speed development. {para} This is despite claims by the State Statistical Bureau yesterday that industrial production, which jumped 19.2 per cent in the first eight months of the year, was still ``on track''. {para} In a meeting this month with senior officials, Mr Zhu, who has been empowered by patriarch Mr Deng Xiaoping to oversee economic reform, warned against unrealistic and over- ambitious growth targets. {para} The Vice-Premier said while Mr Deng had advocated a high-speed model, growth must take place ``on the basis of good efficiency, high qualify [of products] and [an adequate] export orientation''. {para} Mr Zhu, who has assumed day-to-day administration over the economy, said the growth rate this year had already exceeded the targets by huge margins. {para} ``No major problems have yet been discovered,'' he said. ``Yet problems may arise if the trend continues.'' {para} The Vice-Premier also warned against excessive speculation in the securities and real-estate markets. {para} Economists in the capital said Mr Zhu was worried that the momentum for reform would be blunted by such signs of dislocations as inflation and excessive capital construction. {para} In the past decade, conservatives, including central planners, have slowed down reform on the pretext of forestalling inflation and runaway investments. {para} Moreover, they said, since Mr Deng issued his call for market reforms, localities and government departments had upwardly revised their targets without adequate consultation with the central Government. {para} The Beijing-run Wen Wei Po newspaper in Hongkong yesterday reported that various regional administrations and government departments had recently revised their development plans. {para} For example, the Beijing municipality had revised its plans so that targets for the year 2000 could be reached three years earlier. {para} The Wen Wei Po reported that some provinces and cities had submitted their new plans to the State Planning Commission of the central Government. {para} However, sources said the senior leadership was worried that Beijing had lost control over the development of localities, which were no longer dependent on central funds to finance expansion plans. {para} The State Statistical Bureau yesterday reported that industrial production in the first eight months of the year had jumped 19.2 per cent, with the August figure of 232.1 billion yuan (HK$328.18 billion) 21.2 per cent over the same month last year. {para} Officials from the bureau ascribed the high growth to faster economic development along the southeast coast, with some provinces registering a growth rate of above 20 per cent in August. {para} The New China News Agency quoted the officials as saying that China's economic performance was ``still on track''. {para} However, sources said, after Mr Zhu's directives, the central Government had taken steps to restrict credit and to oblige local governments to scale down ``over- ambitious projects''. <U 2750> <D 92:08:31> <P 1> {headline} Fifteen feared dead after lightning triggers blast {article} THE death toll from a blast at a construction site near Shenzhen which was struck by lightning could rise to 15, it was revealed yesterday. {para} Rescue workers had found nine bodies and were still searching for six missing people, according to Shenzhen reporters quoted by Reuter yesterday. {para} Shenzhen Party Secretary Mr Li Hao and Mayor Zheng Liangyu have reportedly visited the site to supervise the rescue operation. {para} According to one news report, the accident happened on Thursday when lightning struck the site at Jiujingkou in Yantian Bay, about 20 kilometres from Shenzhen. {para} The report said lightning struck a 30-cubic-metre cache filled with about 10 tonnes of explosives. {para} The 15 workers who died were believed to have been buried in the blast. {para} The report said the bodies of nine workers had been identified and several injured workers have been treated at nearby hospitals. But rescue work was apparently hampered because at least 20 tonnes of explosives remained at the site. {para} Several ad hoc groups have been set up by the Shenzhen Government to look into the accident, it was reported. {para} According to a report by the Yancheng Evening News, workers were planning to use the dynamite to blast a road through the hills. {/article} <U 2751> <D 92:10:16> <P 13> {headline} Political club for elders to stay in force {article} THE Chinese Communist Party has decided against replacing the decade-old Central Advisory Commission (CAC), a political club for elderly revolutionary leaders, with a smaller advisory committee. {para} The decision was announced by senior party leaders at small group discussions with delegates attending the ongoing 14th congress, according to the pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po. {para} Although the 199-member commission does not have executive authority, it is considered a stronghold of the conservatives who are opposed to reform. {para} It is currently chaired by conservative economist Mr Chen Yun, who is considered a key opponent to senior leader Mr Deng Xiaoping. {para} Mr Deng was said to be in favour of disbanding the 10-year-old CAC as a step towards political reform. {para} The party leadership also ruled against setting up another advisory body, the Central Advisory Committee which would comprise far less members. {para} After securing the backing of President Mr Yang Shangkun, Mr Deng managed to have the proposal for an advisory committee killed at the preparatory meeting of the 14th congress even before it was openly discussed. {para} Meanwhile, it was reported yesterday that the party has also decided not to establish the new position of deputy secretary- general. {para} The proposal was said to go against the principle of streamlining the organisation and collective leadership within the politburo. {para} - KENT CHEN {/article} <U 2752> <D 92:10:15> <P 11> {headline} Committee candidates rejected {article} THE presidium of the 14th congress yesterday put together a new list of candidates for its ruling Central Committee after a previous version had been rejected for containing too many conservative cadres. {para} The new list of candidates will be referred to various delegations for deliberation. {para} Five per cent of the candidates will be eliminated by way of a ``differential voting system'' at a plenary session of the congress to be held tomorrow. {para} However, this tentative line-up for the new Central Committee will still have to be vetted by the presidium. {para} A final list, with the number of candidates equalling the number of vacancies, will then be rubber-stamped by the 1,989 congress delegates at the closing session on Sunday. {para} At a preparatory meeting before the 14th Party Congress, Central Committee members had expressed reservations about the initial list of names, which was compiled by the politburo. {para} It is understood that as many as 30 per cent of the candidates were considered too conservative to be charged with the responsibility of carrying forward senior leader Mr Deng Xiaoping's reform crusade into the next century. {para} At the presidium yesterday, party leaders also adopted draft resolutions on the Political Report to the congress, and the reports of the Central Advisory Commission and the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection. {para} They also vetted amendments to be made to the party charter. {para} The presidium decided to refer these documents to the 34 delegations for deliberation, according to the official New China News Agency. {/article} <U 2753> <D 92:10:16> <P 9> {headline} Akihito looks to the future {headline} `We must build lasting relations' {byline} From JEREMY LAU in Tokyo {article} LASTING relations and friendship between China and Japan must be built with a grasp of the unfortunate past, Japan's Emperor Akihito said yesterday. {para} ``The relationship between Japan and China has long been one of peaceful exchanges,'' he said. {para} ``However, there was a period of unfortunate history between our nations. {para} ``I think that, with a grasp of such history, we must, from now on, build lasting relations of friendship for the future.'' {para} Emperor Akihito, who is due to arrive in Beijing next Friday with his wife, Empress Michiko, and a 34-member encourage for a state visit, fell short of apologising for wartime atrocities. {para} An estimated 20 million Chinese people were killed and injured during Japan's invasion of China from 1931 to 1945. {para} Nor did he indicate the possibility of making a formal apology to the Chinese people. {para} Right-wing extremists have been staging demonstrations, voicing fears that the trip could be used politically by China's hard-line communist Government. {para} They dread the idea of the emperor being forced to apologise for Japan's aggression towards China during World War II, as Akihito and his father, the late Emperor Hirohito, had to do on important diplomatic missions in the past. {para} When Emperor Akihito toured Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia a year ago on his first overseas trip since his enthronement in January 1989, he vowed that Japan would never repeat the ``horrors of that most unfortunate war.'' {para} ``I understand there are various opinions,'' he said, in reference to criticisms against his trip to China. {para} ``Freedom of speech is a principle of democratic society. {para} ``The Government has taken this into consideration as it discussed the matter seriously and made the decision''. {para} He conceded yesterday that Japan had learned a great deal from China - but in ancient periods. {para} He cited examples of the dispatches of envoys during China's Sui and Tang dynasties - one of China's brightest historical periods. {para} The culture and social systems of that period had been copied by Japan, he said. {para} He said he would be happy if the ``present attitude of Japan, aspiring for world peace and endeavouring to contribute to the international community hand-in-hand with neighbouring countries, would be understood'' during his trip to China. {para} The emperor, whose role is limited by the post-war pacifist constitution as a ``symbol of state'', hoped that Sino-Japanese relations would be improved ``on the basis of mutual trust''. {para} An invitation by the South Korean Government for the emperor to make an unprecedented visit to Seoul is still being examined by the Japanese Government. {para} ``Visits that I make abroad are decided upon by the Government. I have heard that the Government made the decision regarding this visit after giving it serious consideration,'' he said. {para} The emperor reckoned that mutual exchanges between Japan and China and between Japan and Hongkong in a wide range of areas had to be continued. {para} The royal couple will visit Xian and Shanghai during their stay in China. {/article} <U 2754> <D 92:10:16> <P 14> {headline} UN arms list `needs Beijing' {byline} From DAVID WALLEN in London {article} UK Foreign Secretary Mr Douglas Hurd has appealed for China to rejoin United Nations efforts to set up a full register of all arms sales. {para} The European Community and Japan, at Britain's suggestion, recently sponsored work on a United Nations Register of Arms Transfers. {para} It was designed to monitor the build-up of weaponry in unstable parts of the world following the Gulf War which was caused in part by Iraq's huge stockpile of conventional forces. {para} The five members of the UN Security Council, including China, began talks last year and agreed on a set of guidelines meant to restrain arms sales. Some 85 per cent of all arms sales are controlled by the five - China, the US, Russia, France and Britain. {para} But now China, a principal supplier of missile equipment to the Middle East, has pulled out. {para} Mr Hurd told an audience of diplomats and senior military figures at the Royal United Services Institute in London that China needed to come back into the talks. {para} ``No one is suggesting a moratorium on arms sales,'' he said. ``Countries are entitled to defend themselves. There will still be opportunities for manufacturers to sell abroad. {para} ``When the Chinese come back there will be a chance to negotiate further steps for clarification and consultation on significant sales,'' he said. {/article} <U 2755> <D 92:08:31> <P 6> {headline} Shenzhen arrests pair over share riots {byline} By DANIEL KWAN {article} SHENZHEN police have arrested two people and detained 10 others for stirring up street riots during the Shenzhen stock market crisis two weeks ago. {para} A report by the Hongkong China News Agency said yesterday five ``hooligans'' from Jiexi County between Guangdong and Fujian, led by a man identified as Wang Xiaoyan, were found to be responsible for the August 10 riots. {para} The report said the five men damaged three vehicles and turned over a mini-van before they went over to a McDonald restaurant where they caused havoc. {para} ``They crashed the [shops'] windows, turned over a police watchpost and set up barricades on the road,'' it said. {para} ``They were reported to the police by citizens and later arrested. They have admitted their crime,'' it added. {para} The HKCNA said another gang led by a man identified as Yang Yawang from Dianbai County and a Shenzhen worker, Wu Xianbiao, were also responsible. {para} It said the two had used a motorcycle to set up a road barricade turn over a goods van and a police vehicle. {para} A total of five vehicles and three motorcycles were destroyed, the report said. {para} But it did not mention the Government's investigation of corruption, said to be the main cause of the Shenzhen riots. {/article} <U 2756> <D 92:10:06> <P 1> {headline} Market reforms to be stepped up by leaders {headline} China to free reins on reform {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} THE 14th congress of the Chinese Communist Party has committed the nation to market reforms unprecedented in any socialist country. {para} In outlining the contours of a ``socialist market economy'', the Political Report to the congress points out that while ``macro-level adjustments and control'' by the state will be retained, market forces will have untrammelled development. {para} However, the final draft of the report, a copy of which has been obtained by the South China Morning Post, also warns against ``corrupt bourgeois thoughts'' and the plot to turn China capitalist through ``peaceful evolution''. {para} The 27,000-character document of the party's Central Committee is entitled ``Speed up the Pace of Reform, the Open Door and Modernisation Construction in order to Accomplish Greater Triumphs for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics''. {para} It will be presented by General Secretary Mr Jiang Zemin to the congress, which opens in Beijing next Monday. {para} The manifesto says that the ``strategic thoughts and theories of comrade Deng Xiaoping'' will be upheld as the party's guiding philosophy. {para} Repeating verbatim speeches made by the 88-year-old patriarch in southern China early this year, the report has for the first time in communist China's history heaped praise on the forces of supply and demand. {para} ``Practice has shown that wherever the functions of the market have been given a relatively free rein, economic vitality will be relatively strong and the development posture relatively good,'' the document says. {para} Quoting Mr Deng, it adds: ``The market economy is not equivalent to capitalism; socialism also has markets. Both planning and the market are means [for managing] the economy. {para} ``To rationalise the economic structure, raise productivity, speed up development and join in global competition, we must continue to strengthen the functions of market mechanisms''. {para} The report suggests four ways to establish the ``system of the socialist market economy''. {para} Business corporations will be separated from government, which must change from being an omnipresent ``mother-in-law'' to a humble provider of services. {para} Government companies, which still account for at least 55 per cent of the economy, will be rendered into financially self-sufficient units that respond to market signals instead of state fiats. {para} The manifesto highly recommends the stocks system, which it describes as ``beneficial to the separation of government and business, transforming the management mechanism of enterprises and accumulating funds in society''. {para} Markets, including those for raw materials, securities, stocks, technology, labour, information and real estate, will be speedily propagated. {para} The distribution of economic gains among the state, enterprises and individuals will be rejigged to reflect the forces of supply and demand. {para} Tax bases will be re-divided between the central Government and localities, and a social insurance scheme will be created, primarily to help laid-off workers. {para} The functions of the Government will be restricted to ``overall planning, the grasping of policies, organisation and co-ordination, the rendering of services, and inspection and supervision''. {para} On attracting foreign capital, the report says the open door policy will be extended from the coast to border areas, as well as inland regions, particularly the Yangtze River Delta, whose ``dragon head'' is Shanghai and Pudong. {para} It discloses that overseas investment will be guided towards the transformation of the knowhow of key industries, as well as capital- and technological-intensive enterprises. {para} Again echoing Mr Deng, the Central Committee recommends a fast-paced development model. {para} The manifesto suggests an annual growth rate of eight to nine per cent, as against the six per cent suggested by Prime Minister Mr Li Peng as late as April. {para} However, the clip falls short of the ideal of ``10 per cent or more'' originally lobbied for by the patriarch. {para} And the document issues a severe warning against an overheated economy, pointing out that localities and enterprises must avoid the ``old road'' of blind expansionism that was marred by redundancy and low efficiency. {para} In an apparent bid to reassure the conservative wing of the party, the report makes it clear that the country will remain on the socialist road. {para} Thus, new experiments with the market merely amount to ``the self-perfection and development of socialism'', and the publicly- owned sector will remain predominant. {para} ``The market also has its innate weaknesses and negative aspects,'' the document warns. ``We should not neglect the macro-level regulation and control which the state will exercise.'' {para} On ideological matters, the manifesto cleaves to Mr Deng's dictum that while the party must guard against ``rightism'', ``its major task is fighting leftism'', or remnant Maoism. {para} However, it follows the arguments of leftists that the pro-democracy movement of 1989 was a ``counter-revolutionary turmoil''. {para} The Central Committee claims that the crushing of the ``rebellion'' has ``defended the socialist administration and safeguarded the people's fundamental interests''. {para} The report makes no reference to ousted party chief Mr Zhao Ziyang, a sign that the Central Committee still finds the Zhao question too divisive to handle. {para} Informed sources in Beijing said that while a high- level investigation committee had failed to find incriminating evidence, Mr Zhao's name would not be cleared in public. {para} Again using the language of leftist ideologues, the report says that the party, especially senior cadres, must never lower its guard against the plots of ``peaceful evolution'', which it says will persist over a long period. {para} About 30 per cent of the report is devoted to the reform of the political structure and the ``construction'' of the Communist Party. {para} However, the Central Committee makes it clear it will ``never implement the multi-party system and the parliamentary system of the West''. {para} It vows to use any means, including dictatorship enforced by the Army, to crush efforts to ``cast doubt on, curtail, or negate the ruling and leadership functions of the party''. {para} Perhaps the only ground broken by the manifesto concerns an iron-clad commitment to trim the government bureaucracy. {para} The Central Committee pledges to restructure party and government departments and to drastically slash personnel within three years. {para} A key recommendation for party construction is the promotion of cadres who are ``revolutionary, young, knowledgeable and professionalised''. {para} However, it seems clear the Central Committee has abandoned the goal, set at the 13th congress, of the promotion of the separation of party and government. {para} It recommends instead the strengthening of party cells in units including government departments, schools and factories. {para} See also Page 11 {/article} <U 2757> <D 92:10:15> <P 11> {headline} Liberals defy leadership on economy {byline} By WILLY WO-LAP LAM {article} LIBERAL economists have openly defied conservative leaders by calling for the creation of a full- fledged market economy, instead of the ``socialist market economy'' as laid down by the 14th congress. {para} In interviews with the Chinese media yesterday, the social scientists also blasted remnant Maoists for sabotaging market reforms while paying lip service to patriarch Mr Deng Xiaoping's offensive. {para} While talking about the way ahead for reform, senior State Council economists Mr Wu Jinglian, Mr Wu Mingyu and Mr Ma Hong all extolled the virtues of an untrammelled market. {para} In his Political Report to the Congress on Monday, however, party chief Mr Jiang Zemin had bowed to the wishes of the conservatives and instead advocated a ``socialist market economy'' where the public sector would remain predominant. {para} Apparently disagreeing with Mr Jiang, Mr Wu Jinglian said: ``The goal of reform is the market economy, meaning the distribution of resources will be guided by the market, not by government orders.'' {para} He added: ``Some economic `theorists' in the mainland used to oppose the market economy. While they are now waxing eloquent on the market economy, they are in reality reviving the old argument about the `surnames'.'' {para} Mr Wu was referring to the favourite argument of leftists that a reform policy should only be adopted if it is surnamed ``socialist'', not surnamed ``capitalist''. {para} The economist also blasted as ``anti-reformists'' officials who wanted to return to central planning in order to cure economic problems such as inflation and discrepancy in income levels. {para} Mr Wu's assertions were endorsed by his colleague Mr Wu Mingyu, who pointed out that in spite of the advances made by the 14th congress, ``obstacles erected by `leftist' thinking have been far from eradicated''. {para} He said: ``Some people who are opposed to the market economy have not really or thoroughly given up their viewpoints. {para} ``It is only that given the general trend, they have ceased to publicly oppose [the market economy].'' {para} Meanwhile, Mr Ma, a moderate economist who heads the State Council's major think-tank, has also sung the praises of a market economy. {para} ``Only when products are traded on the market can supply meets demand,'' Mr Ma was quoted by the China News Service as saying. {para} ``Enterprises can only become energetic when they unreservedly go to the marketplace and take up the risk of competition. Social resources can only be effectively disposed of under the conditions of a wholesome market system.'' {para} The liberal views of the three economists were seconded by the Communist Party secretary of northeastern Jilin province, Mr He Zhukang. {para} ``The new system of a socialist market economy means market adjustments will become a direct means for the distribution of social resources,'' Mr He said. {para} ``And planning must be built upon the foundation of the economic laws of the market.'' {/article} <U 2758> <D 92:10:12> <P 1> {article} PARAMOUNT leader Mr Deng Xiaoping has accepted an invitation to attend the 14th Party Congress although it is not certain whether Mr Deng would make an appearance at today's opening ceremony. {para} Congress spokesman Mr Liu Zhongde yesterday said Mr Deng was one of 46 specially invited delegates. {para} Mr Deng was elected as a special delegate to the Congress, the week-long conclave which will emphatically endorse his reform policies, writes Geoffrey Crothall from Beijing. {para} The only other special delegate named by Mr Liu was the 90-year-old former chairman of the National People's Congress, Mr Peng Zhen. {para} The China News Service reported that Mr Deng was also elected a member of the Congress Presidium as well as one of its 31 executive members. {para} Mr Deng's chief rival, Mr Chen Yun, was an official delegate to the Congress, Mr Liu said, although he refused to specify if the 87-year-old conservative would be attending. {/article} <U 2759> <D 92:10:13> <P 1> {headline} Clinton attacked on MFN policy {byline} From MICHAEL CHUGANI in Washington {article} AMERICAN President Mr George Bush has accused challenger Mr Bill Clinton of pursuing a China policy that would undermine Hongkong. {para} Mr Bush launched his broadside during the first televised debate. {para} He sharply criticised Mr Clinton and the Democrat- controlled Congress for threatening to cut China's Most Favoured Nation (MFN) trade status unless Beijing improved human rights. {para} ``To do what the Congress and Mr Clinton is suggesting, you'd isolate and ruin Hongkong,'' Mr Bush said. {para} Mr Bush said imposing human rights conditions on trade with China to ``humiliate'' Beijing ``is not the way you make the kind of progress we are getting''. {para} He conceded there had been limited progress in changing China's behaviour on human rights and other areas despite his lenient policy but warned that it would be ``a tremendous mistake'' to isolate Beijing. {para} ``I'm not going to do it,'' said Mr Bush who last month successfully vetoed for the third time an MFN conditions bill passed by Congress. {para} Mr Clinton who has accused Mr Bush of ``coddling tyrants'' said during the debate that he did not want to isolate China which he said was an important country. {para} But he claimed it was only after pressure from Congress that Beijing agreed to end prison labour exports and sign an agreement last week to open up its markets to US goods. {para} Mr Clinton said that as president he would be firm with China on the MFN issue by telling Beijing to ``observe human rights, open your society''. {para} Mr Bush countered that it was his policy that resulted in China making the concessions. {para} ``We're the ones that worked out the prison labour deal. We're the ones that have lowered the barriers to products,'' he said. {para} The other candidate, Mr Ross Perot, said the US had a ``delicate tightrope to walk'' regarding China policy because ``Asia will be our largest trading partner in the future''. {para} He said capitalism was ``growing and thriving'' across large parts of China. {para} But he made it clear the US had to make sure ``we do not cosy up to tyrants, to make sure they don't get the impression that they can suppress their people''. {/article} <U 2760> <D 92:10:06> <P 11> {headline} Deng compromises with conservatives {article} THE Political Report of the 14th party congress, which will lay down the nation's path well into the 21st century, is a product of compromise between the Deng Xiaoping Faction and the conservative wing of the Chinese Communist Party. {para} On the surface, the patriarch has been given full rein in pushing market reforms, but the 88-year-old leader has to offer reassurances to central planners led by his long-time opponent, conservative elder Mr Chen Yun. {para} In the crucial arena of political reform, the report represents a retreat from the achievements scored by ousted party chief Mr Zhao Ziyang at the 13th congress in October 1987. {para} Intellectuals and businessmen in Beijing welcome the fact that the party has finally enshrined in its most authoritative document the need for pushing market economics. {para} As the document points out, in the past, the party insisted that market forces would be subordinate to state planning. {para} At the 13th congress, Mr Zhao merely raised the goal of a ``planned commodity economy'', where ``the state regulates the market and the market provides guidance to enterprises''. {para} While presenting his report to the Congress next week, General Secretary Mr Jiang Zemin will argue that the sky is the limit for the marketplace in areas including finances, labour, raw materials and real estate. {para} However, intellectuals in Beijing are disappointed that the party is endorsing a ``socialist market economy'' instead of a simple and forthright market economy. {para} When Mr Deng kicked off his counter-offensive in southern China early this year, he pointed out that ``whether it is surnamed socialist or capitalist, a policy is worth pursuing so long as it promotes the economy''. {para} Very clearly, the ideal of a ``socialist market economy'' goes against Mr Deng's eminently pragmatic credo. {para} Maoists and other ideological purists can now say that there are ``socialist'' as well as ``capitalistic'' ways of building up a market economy - and that only the former should be adopted. {para} Moreover, the report falls short of saying market forces will reign supreme. {para} ``The perimeters, extent and format for the synthesis of planning and the market can be different for different periods, areas and districts'', it says. {para} The report also highlights the need for ``macro- level regulation and control'' to correct the ``innate weaknesses'' of the market. {para} Economists in Beijing fear that should the economy go on overheating - or should the stock and real-estate markets collapse - central planners could again try to roll back reform in the name of ``curing and restructuring'' the economy. {para} On the political front, the report is heartening in that it repeats Mr Deng's dictum that ``while we must be on guard against the right, the major task is to counter the left''. {para} And while pro forma references are made to fighting ``bourgeois liberalisation'' as well as ``peaceful evolution'', space devoted to these concerns of the leftists is relatively small. {para} However, while an entire section of the report is devoted to the reform of the political structure, the document represents a retrogression in this vital pursuit. {para} A key thrust of Mr Zhao's report in 1987 is the separation of party and government, which will be accomplished through the curtailment of party units and their authority. {para} The 14th congress report, however, makes it doubly clear the party's elite is committed to maintaining absolute power through means including the military. {para} ``Any viewpoints or actions that cast into doubt, curtail, or negate the ruling and leadership status of the party are fundamentally wrong and very harmful'', it says. {para} It reiterates that the Army is a ``steel Great Wall'' for maintaining ``people's democratic dictatorship'', a euphemism for the party's monopoly on power. {para} Contravening the spirit of the last congress, the document says party committees in state enterprises must further develop their functions as the ``political core''. {/article} <U 2761> <D 92:10:14> <P 11> {headline} Jiang report dashes hopes {byline} By DANIEL KWAN {article} THE political report delivered by Communist Party General Secretary Mr Jiang Zemin has dashed hopes that the leadership would reverse its verdict on the 1989 pro-democracy movement. {para} The report also reflected his determination to maintain tight political control. {para} Divided in four sections, Mr Jiang's report focused on the importance of party leadership, supremacy of Mr Deng Xiaoping's reformist teachings and set priorities of future party work. {para} But a comparison with its earlier drafts revealed Mr Jiang had made last-minute changes to reinforce the message of control and made it clear that there would be no mercy for people who defied the party's rule. {para} For instance, both the terms ``political turmoil'' and ``counter-revolutionary rebellion'' were used to describe the 1989 pro-democracy movement. {para} Mr Jiang also hailed the military crackdown which had killed hundreds of pro- democracy demonstrators saying it ``defended the socialist state and fundamental interests of the people''. {para} He said China's 14-year- old reform enterprise would have crumbled had the party failed to suppress the rebellion. {para} In addition, changes were also made in other parts of his text to emphasise the importance of party leadership. {para} For example, the party boss stressed that Chinese leaders must never deviate from the ``basic party line'' in the course of the economic construction and deleted clauses which extolled the virtue of capitalism. {para} In fact, a paragraph which explained the complementary nature of capitalism and socialism was removed from his speech. {para} Mr Jiang's report also appeared to be a major step backward compared with the political report delivered by his predecessor Mr Zhao Ziyang especially in areas such as political reform. {para} Although Mr Jiang said China would give up central planning and the party must heighten its guard against ``leftism'' or remnant Maoism, he strongly indicated that Western-style democracy would not be suitable for China. {para} Mr Zhao who was sacked for his handling of the pro- democracy movement had called for greater democracy in his 13th party congress report and said it was important for the authorities to consult the people in formulating policies. {para} However, Mr Jiang stressed that the leadership would not give up on Marxism and the party would never stop its struggle against ``bourgeoise liberalisation'' - a phrase referring to Western ideas and value. {/article}