sipila
Tue, 27 Mar 2001 18:00:54 -0800
Extracts. Arafat, Assad End Meeting in Amman on Improving Relations Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Amman Tuesday evening on the sidelines of the Arab summit to improve bilateral ties. This was the first formal meeting between the leaders of the two sides since 1993, when their relations soured after the Palestinians signed the Oslo peace accords with Israel. Syria has been opposed to any unilateral action to seek peace with the Jewish state. After a 45-minute meeting, Palestinian Minister of Local Government Saeb Erekat told reporters that the talks were "frank" and that "differences among the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon over the Mideast peace process have been narrowed." "The three sides are now in a better position to face up to the challenges after holding the contacts and consultations," Erekat said. He also said that the leaders did not mention their rift in the past, but agreed to set up a coordination mechanism between them on issues of common concern. **** Putin to Visit Lebanon on Bilateral Relations: Official Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation from his Lebanese counterpart Emile Lahoud to visit Lebanon in the coming few months, the daily Middle East Reporter (MER) said on Tuesday. Quoted by the MER, Lebanese diplomatic sources said that during his planned Middle East tour in a couple of months, which will include Lebanon, Putin will reiterate Moscow's interest and role in the stalled Middle East peace process and boost bilateral relations with countries in the region. The sources said the date of the visit has not been confirmed as Russia will consult with the United States, a major peace broker in the Middle East, on the negotiations between Arab countries and Israel. They also said that Moscow supports Lebanon's demand for the repatriation of all Palestinian refugees in Lebanon in line with UN resolution 194. Some 360,000 Palestinian refugees live in the camps scattered around Lebanon. The Lebanese authorities have reiterated that Lebanon will not accommodate the refugees and they should go back to their homeland. An unidentified senior Russian official was quoted by MER as saying that Moscow supports Lebanon's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as its right to recover the disputed Shebaa Farms occupied by Israel since the Middle East war in 1967. Lebanon and Syria insist the 200-square kilometer farms belong to Lebanon. The U.N. and Israel regard it Syria's land and its fate should be resolved within the Syrian-Israeli peace talks. **** Russian Foreign Minister Warns of Return to Cold War The United States <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/usa.html> and Russia <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/russia.html> bear responsibility for global security and should cooperate instead of opposing each other, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Monday. Speaking on state-controlled ORT television, Ivanov said "an emergency situation" has emerged between the two nations since Washington's order last week to expel 50 Russian diplomats. Moscow responded by ordering 50 Americans out of the country. While reiterating anger at the U.S. move, Ivanov welcomed comments by President Bush indicating that relations should not be affected by the expulsions. "I subscribe to this assessment, because we bear responsibility for security in the world," he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also said the scandal should not harm relations, but other Russian officials have accused the Bush administration of using Cold War-style foreign policy tactics. The U.S. decision was rooted in the arrest of a veteran FBI agent on charges of spying for Russia. Russian-American relations but have been strained lately over U.S. plans for a national missile defense, which Russia strongly opposes; U.S. concern over Russia's relations with countries such as Iran <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/iran.html> and Iraq <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/iraq.html> , and Russia's war in Chechnya. A Russian Cabinet minister on Monday strongly criticized the U.S. State Department for planning a meeting this week with a visiting envoy for Chechen rebels, Ilyas Akhmadov. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said last week the U.S. government will meet with both sides in the conflict, despite Russia's objections that the war is a domestic matter. **** Persistently Implementing Strategy for Developing Agriculture with Science and Education To enhance the efficiency of agriculture and increase farmers' income, it is necessary to persistently implement the strategy for developing agriculture by relying on science and education and vigorously expedite agricultural science and technology progress. At present, agricultural development has changed from being restricted by resource in the past to being doubly restrained by resource and market, it is almost impossible to augment income by relying on increasing "popular" agricultural products and by jacking up prices. The transfer of surplus rural labor power and the growth of farmers' income from labor service are being restrained. This being the case, it is imperative to shift the emphasis onto relying upon scientific and technological progress and improving laborers' qualities in order to increase farmers' income. To persistently carry out the strategy of developing agriculture through science and education, it is first necessary to enhance the awareness of innovation. China has currently established a relatively comprehensive agricultural science and technology system, however, the overall level of agricultural science and technology, particularly innovative abilities, still lags behind the advanced world level, to bridge this gap, we must have new ideas and methods, and work out crucial measures to bring about major breakthroughs in agricultural science and technology, so as to boost development through innovation. To implement the strategy for developing agriculture through science and education, it is imperative to reform the current agricultural science and technology system, gradually establish a globally advanced agricultural science and technology innovative system, an agricultural technology popularization system that can efficiently convert research results into productivity and an agricultural education and training system that can constantly improve farmers' scientific and cultural qualities. Only by so doing can we provide lasting and strong motive power for increasing farmers' income. Deepening the reform of the agricultural science, technology and education system is one of the important tasks of this year's agricultural and rural work. Various localities should adopt measures and, on the principle of making things conducive to an effective combination of science and technology with agriculture, to scientific and technological innovation, and to the industrialization of science and technology, rationally allocate the research forces of the State's agricultural scientific research institutions and agricultural colleges and universities, make full use of the existing foundation, establish a batch of key State-level laboratories, key research centers and agricultural engineering centers and concentrate our efforts on major agricultural basic and applied researches; agricultural research institutes where conditions permit should be gradually transformed into technology development organizations of science-type enterprises or enterprise groups; some research institutions may be transformed into agricultural science and technology and information intermediary consultant organizations; reform and improve the agricultural technology popularization system, speed up the popularization and application of advanced and practical technologies, and encourage and support enterprises and civilian-run agricultural science and technology organizations to participate in agricultural science research and technology popularization. To implement the strategy for developing agriculture through science and education, it is necessary to take constantly satisfying farmers' urgent demand for agricultural science and technology and boosting increase of income for farmers as the fundamental starting point and end-result of agricultural scientific and technological work. The various departments concerned and localities should try every possible means to increase input and establish a multi-channeled input system based mainly on government input for agricultural science and education; adjust the orientation for agricultural scientific research and development, put the emphasis on strengthening the tackling of technical problems and the popularization of research results in the fields of the selection of fine-quality new varieties, water-saving, the intensive processing and storage and transport of agricultural products, the improvement of ecological environment, and sand prevention and control; construct a policy-related environment conducive to agricultural science and technology innovation and the conversion of research results into productivity; pay attention to the construction of rural science, technology and information networks, strengthen education of farmers, technology and technique training and the popularization of and publicity on agricultural science, and do a good job of appraisal of agricultural professional technique training. We believe that so long as we do all these items of work simultaneously and persistently implement the strategy for developing agriculture by relying on science and education, accelerate the universality of modern science and technology of agriculture, China's agricultural productive forces and economic benefits will be constantly enhanced, and increase of income for farmers will be reliably guaranteed. **** US Economic Slowdown Has Limited Impact on Chinese Exports The recent slowdown of the US economy is expected to have but only a limited impact on China's exports, according to local analysts. Since the beginning of the year, the United States has lowered interest rates three times in a row in a bid to restore investors' confidence and steer the US economy off the trend toward a sharp downturn. Matt Salmon, former member of the US House of Representatives and executive vice-president of APCO Worldwide in Beijing, said the current upheavals at the US stock market are caused by the psyche of consumers. The US economy has adequate vigor to keep growing and will pose no serious threat to China's exports to the US, he said. A report the US Interparliamentary Committee released last Thursday indicated that the US economy has not shown any signs of recession, as the anticipated economic index remained at a high level during the first two months of the year. However, some economists warned that the weakening consumer confidence is still a big problem of the US economy, which is expected to see zero growth in the first quarter this year following a drastic drop since the latter half of last year. Zhao Jinping, economist with the think tank Development Research Center under the Chinese government, said that as long as the US economy does not go through a recession or major upheaval, China's exports to the US will remain basically unaffected. China's exports to the US account for about one-third of its total and are mainly cheap labor-intensive products such as textiles, apparel, shoes, toys and umbrellas. Given an economic slowdown in the US, consumers would reduce their demand for luxury goods and turn to cheap commodities, which Zhao believes will not have a big impact on Chinese products in the US market. Official figures showed that China's exports grew 14.5 percent year-on-year in the first two months this year, compared to 41.2 percent in the same period of last year. Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng attributed the sharp drop to the record growth rate gained in the last two years and a slowdown in the world economy. But he said the achievements of the last two months indicated that China is expected to maintain a steady growth momentum in exports this year. Salmon was optimistic about the huge potential market in China. He said "The Chinese market has become increasingly attractive to overseas investors through times of global economy slowdown." He predicted that given a slowdown of the US economy, multinational companies would quicken their steps to invest in and move their operations to China. Many international companies, such as Motorola, have taken China as an important production base in their global strategy, he added. Local analysts estimate that the China's exports growth rate may decrease to less than 10 percent this year, but exports would contribute one percentage point to the growth of industrial production. **** NPC Vice Chairman Leaves for Cuba to Attend IPU Conference A delegation of the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC) headed by Jiang Zhenghua, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC, left Beijing <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/beijing.html> Tuesday for Havana, capital of Cuba, to attend the 105th Conference of Inter-Parliamentary Union. **** Cuba Vows to Foil US Move at UN Human Rights Meeting Cuba <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/cuba.html> has vowed to foil a US- sponsored resolution against the island at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, the official Granma newspaper reported Monday. "This year we are waging a battle, not only for Cuba, but also because winning there and confronting the Yankee motion, we are fighting for the Third World and avoiding to have a precedent in the use of a UN mechanism against our countries," Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque was quoted as saying. Perez Roque left Havana on Sunday evening for Geneva, Switzerland <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/switzerland.html> , to participate in the annual U.N. commission meeting. The resolution, presented by the Czech <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/czech.html> Republic and "directed by the United States <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/usa.html> " to condemn Cuba for alleged human rights violations, will be subject to vote in mid-April. "Cuba is working to derail the resolution. We hope that a majority of commission members will see the unjust, discriminatory and selective nature of the resolution Washington is pushing against Cuba," AFP quoted Perez Roque as saying over the weekend. Reports said that for the past several weeks Cuba has pressed its case with other Latin American countries and sent top officials around the world to rally support for its cause, especially aiming at the U.N. human rights commission's 13 new members, such as Algeria <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/algeria.html> , Libya, Syria <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/Syria.html> , Vietnam <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/vietnam.html> and South Africa <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/southAfrica.html> . "The situation seems quite balanced, and I am optimistic," Perez Roque said. In 1999 and 1998, the U.N. Human Rights Commission passed a resolution criticizing Cuba for its human rights record. The 53-member commission is holding its annual meeting in Geneva from March 19 through April 27. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________