Extracts.
China, UN Agency Sign MOU on Human Rights China and the Office of United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reached an agreement on November
20 with officials from both sides signing a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU), under which the two sides will carry out a technical cooperation
program in the area of human rights.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson,
described the MOU as "a milestone in China's development of its human
rights programs with reference to the international human rights standards"
and "a significant move made by China."
She said that the Chinese government has signed two key international human
rights conventions and has made considerable progress in promoting
economic, social and cultural rights since 1997.
Robinson made the remark to the media after signing the MOU on the
Development and Implementation of Human Rights Technical Cooperation
Programs with Chinese vice foreign minister Wang Guangya.
Under the MOU, China and the UN agency will carry out cooperative projects
in the coming two years in the areas of judicial administration, human
rights education, legal affairs, the right of development and economic,
social and cultural rights.
He expressed the hope that the implementation of the projects could enhance
mutual understanding between China and the international community in these
fields.
Wang said China has always set great store by the promotion and protection
of human rights.
"We will continue to make efforts to enhance human rights in the process of
promoting modernization and developing democracy and the legal system," he
added.
Meanwhile, the vice foreign minister pointed out that China maintains that
international cooperation in human rights should be conducted through
dialogue and exchanges.
In this regard, he said, China would positively comment on the roles played
by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and
the high commissioner.
He said the signing of the MOU marks a new beginning of the cooperation
between China and the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights.
****
Japanese Opposition Submit No-Confidence Motion Against PM Japan's four
main opposition parties on Monday evening submitted to the House of
Representatives (lower house) a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister
Yoshiro Mori's cabinet.
The motion, submitted by the Democratic Party of Japan, the Japanese
Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party, is
expected to be voted on at a lower house plenary session Monday night.
If the motion is passed, Mori's cabinet must resign, unless the prime
minister dissolves the lower house within 10 days to call a snap general
election.
The opposition parties would normally be unable to get the motion passed in
the lower house, where the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)and its two
coalition partners hold a majority, but this time they have a chance to
pass the motion as leaders of two key LDP factions have said they will vote
in favor of the motion.
Koichi Kato and Taku Yamasaki, two leaders of the LDP's "rebel" factions,
have moved to oust Mori on ground of his poor popularity.
The two leaders have said they will vote in favor of the motion despite a
decision by the LDP leadership to expel them if they insist on doing so.
If most of the two factions' 64 members follow them, the motion will be passed.
Mori, 63, became prime minister in April, succeeding the late Japanese
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, who suffered a stroke. Public support ratings
for Mori's cabinet have dropped to below 20 percent in recent polls.
****
Monday, November 20, 2000, updated at 09:58(GMT+8)
Developing Countries Urged to Tap Available Resources
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad November 19
urged developing nations to ensure that all available
resources are tapped.
Developing economies must wake up to the reality of
being unable to generate wealth and sustain
development in the face of irrefutable economic laws
and irrepressible market forces, he said November 19
night when opening the Langkawi International
Dialogue (LID) 2000 in Langkawi, northern Malaysia,
according to Bernama news agency.
He called for the lop-sidedness of representation by
developing economies in key international fora to be
addressed urgently and said that although developing
economies make up three-fourths of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) membership, they still have to
depend on the larger economies.
He said the developing countries have to equip
themselves and build their strength because failure
to do so is tantamount to surrendering their
collective destinies.
"We must strive for greater technological know-how,
stronger representation in world fora," he was quoted
as saying.
Mahathir called for the formation of a network among
developing countries to ensure an effective system of
global governance against ills that may infiltrate
their economies, saying this could be done through
strengthened international cooperation among them.
The Malaysian prime minister said the spirit of smart
partnership is a workable entity that promises real,
tangible results.
Smart partnership practices are instrumental in
ensuring the social accessibility of knowledge, he
said, adding, "It is in this spirit that the Group of
77 at the South Summit in Havana, Cuba, called for
greater South-South cooperation in the area of
information technology."
The LID 2000 opening was attended by heads of state
and government from several African countries
including Mozambican President Joaquim Alberto
Chissano, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and
Namibian President Sam Nujoma.
The four-day LID 2000, themed "Global Trends and
Emerging Economies," is the second leg of the Global
2000 Smart Partnership Dialogue with the first leg
known as the Southern Africa International Dialogue
(SAID 2000), held in Maputo, Mozambique, last August.
****
Monday, November 20, 2000, updated at 09:45(GMT+8)
Embattled Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has
received another blow ahead of Monday's no-confidence
vote which threatens to split his ruling Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP).
Two vice-ministers belonging to factions led by Mr
Mori's leading challenger, Koichi Kato, have
resigned.
Reports say they did so in order to vote in favour of
the no-confidence motion.
Mr Kato, the leader of the LDP's second largest
faction, has threatened to vote with the opposition
unless the gaffe-prone Mr Mori quits.
But the prime minister said on Sunday there was no
question of his resigning without a fight.
"It's obvious that I would not step down before the
voting takes place in parliament," he told a fellow
LDP politician.
Ruling LDP leaders met behind closed doors on Sunday,
trying to reach a deal to stave off defeat by the
rebels.
If Mr Mori loses the vote, he will have to step down
or call a general election within 10 days.
Earlier on Sunday, the LDP Secretary-General, Hirmou
Nonaka, said Mr Mori might stand down if the rebels
dropped their threat to topple the government.
****
Sunday, November 19, 2000, updated at 21:24(GMT+8)
Seventy Percent of Officials in Tibet Are Tibetans:
Survey
An official system dominated by native Tibetans has
been formed in Tibet after some 40 years of effort by
both the Tibet regional government and the central
government of China.
According to the latest statistics, in Tibet there
are now more than 50,000 officials who are Tibetan or
other ethnic minorities and the proportion of all
officials who are Tibetan has exceeded 70 percent.
The central government of China started to help
training Tibetan officials during the 1950s and so
far a total of over 1 billion yuan (about US$125
million) has been spent on this purpose.
Every year, thousands of young Tibetans travel to
other parts of China to receive better middle school
and college education.
With the help of the central government and other
provinces in China, Tibet has set up four
universities and over 4,000 middle and primary
schools across the autonomous region, enrolling a
total of 300,000 students.
_______________________________________________________
KOMINFORM
P.O. Box 66
00841 Helsinki - Finland
+358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081
e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.kominf.pp.fi
_______________________________________________________
Kominform list for general information.
Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news.
Subscribe/unsubscribe messages:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
_______________________________________________________
