Extracts
Friday, December 22, 2000, updated at 08:34(GMT+8)
Jiang's Speech Warmly Received in Macao SAR
The speech made by Chinese President Jiang Zemin at
Wednesday's celebration gathering marking the first
anniversary of the establishment of the Macao Special
Administrative Region (SAR) has aroused a warm
response among local people and media who hailed it
as a guideline for maintaining Macao's long-term
stability and development and the implementation of
the "one country, two systems" policy.
Major local newspapers Thursday published the full
text of Jiang's speech and reports on his visit to
some historic sites in Macao and talks with local
residents.
In the speech, Jiang reiterated the attitude of the
central government on matters concerning the Macao
SAR and urged all departments and individuals
throughout China to abide by the Basic Law and called
on the Macao people to continue to support the chief
executive in fulfilling his duties, said a commentary
of the Macao Daily News.
Jornal "Va Kio", (The Huaqiao Journal), commented
that Jiang's visit to Macao this time has brought
happiness and joy as well as encouragement and
confidence.
Jiang's address was full of lofty sentiments, sincere
words and earnest wishes, observed Ma Man Kei, a
vice-chairman of the National Committee of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Vitor Ng, a member of the Macao SAR Executive
Council, told Xinhua that Jiang's speech is of great
importance for Macao at present and in the future and
it will further consolidate the Macao people's
confidence to carry out the "one country, two
systems" policy, follow the Basic Law, and build a
better future for the territory.
Local women are completely in favor of the president
for his four-point requirements, said Ho Lizhen,
chairperson of the Macao Women's Federation, who
pledged to carry out Jiang's instructions and make
contribution in assisting the SAR government's work
for a long-term stability and development in Macao.
****
Friday, December 22, 2000, updated at 10:02(GMT+8)
2,700 Corrupt Officials Cracked Between January to
November
Between January and November, prosecutors cracked
nearly 43,000 cases of corruption involving 2,700
officials at county and division level, recouping
3.67 billion yuan (US$442 million), according to
statistics released by the Supreme People's
Procuratorate Thursday, December 21.
Among these cases, 1,270 involved funds of more than
1 million yuan (US$120,000), according to Friday's
Chinadaily.
The stern reality calls for more concerted efforts by
the country's prosecutors in their campaign to track
down dishonest officials next year, said Han Zhubin,
procurator-general of China's Supreme People's
Procuratorate,
He made the remark while outlining the task facing
China's 160,000 prosecutors at a national conference
in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.
Han said prosecutors will continue their crackdown on
dereliction of duty and graft by government
officials. They will also investigate bribery,
perverting the course of justice and extracting
confessions by torture, said Han.
Inquiries on bribes was previously an area not often
investigated by prosecutors.
Han pledged that there will be more effort to weed
out corruption in the new year, following the
establishment of a new department this summer to
carry out the work.
"In particular, prosecutors will work with financial,
securities, medical, judicial, commercial, tax and
construction departments, as well as customs and
State-owned enterprises, to prevent graft," said Han.
China's anti-corruption campaign gathered steam this
year after former vice-governor of Jiangxi Province,
Hu Changqing, and former vice-chairman of the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress,
Cheng Kejie, were executed for corruption.
Last month, 14 officials were also sentenced to death
by courts in East China's Fujian Province for their
role in the Yuanhua smuggling case, the largest such
incident in China since 1949.
To back up their more effective crackdown on
corruption, prosecution centres nationwide will forge
ahead with reforms so as to guarantee justice and
higher efficiency next year, according to Han.
The reforms will include the appointment of more
chief prosecutors and the use of modern technology.
A new round of nationwide training programmes has
been implemented among China's prosecutors in order
to improve standards.
Prosecutors now need to pass a national examination
before being given a job.
****
China Puts Second Navigation Positioning Satellite into Orbit
China Puts Second Navigation Positioning Satellite into Orbit
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
China successfully put its second home-made navigation positioning
satellite, the Beidou Navigation Testing Satellite, into orbit early
Thursday, marking that the country will have its first generation of
satellite navigation positioning system.
The carrier rocket, Long March 3-A, blasted off at 00:20 ( Beijing time)
from the Xichang Satellite Launching Center in southwest China's Sichuan
Province.
The second satellite of its kind, together with the first Beidou Navigation
Testing Satellite which was put into orbit on October 31, completes a
home-made satellite navigation positioning system for the country,
aerospace scientists said.
An official said that China has developed the advanced system to meet the
demand for satellite navigation in the country.
It is an all-weather regional navigation system that provides
satellite-guided information around the clock for such sectors as highway
and railway transportation and seafaring, said the official, adding that
the Beidou Navigation System will play a positive role in promoting China's
economic growth.
The navigation system, regarded as a radio beacon in outer space, can help
any subscriber zero in its location, with accurate longitude, latitude and
altitude statistics.
Before China's successful research and development in the field, only a few
developed countries in the world were able to construct such a system, the
scientists said.
The satellite and the carrier rocket were developed and built mainly by the
Research Institute of Space Technology under the China Space Science and
Technology Group.
Sources said that this is the 64th flight for China's Long March series
rockets and the 22nd consecutive successful launch for the country's space
industry since October 1996.
****
Sinn Fein Urges Demilitarization in N.Ireland A senior official of Sinn
Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Wednesday
called on British Prime Minister Tony Blair to live up to commitments he
made on demilitarization.
Martin McGuinness, who is also Northern Ireland's education minister, said
the political deadlock could be broken but that there needed to be "serious
and meaningful demilitarization."
"The reality is that all of the watchtowers and lookout posts and soldiers
and helicopters in South Armagh did not stop the Omagh bomb," he said.
Within a few hours of his comments, the British army announced that
demolition would begin on three patrol bases near the border with the
Republic of Ireland.
Bulldozers will start clearing the sites at Mullan Bridge, Clonatty Bridge
and Annaghmartin after Christmas.
McGuinness dismissed claims by Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson
that the price for making a mistake on border security could be another
attack like the Omagh bombing which claimed 29 lives.
Sinn Fein has demanded that British military installations should be
removed from the border area of south Armagh.
But police and army chiefs have resisted the pressure claiming the lookout
posts are crucial to security in the area.
The education minister from Sinn Fein was speaking amid continuing efforts
in Belfast, London and Dublin to find a way out of the political impasse.
Relations between the British government and Sinn Fein have been strained
in recent months because of republican disappointment at policing reforms
and the pace of demilitarization.
Northern Ireland's First Minister David Trimble has banned Sinn Fein
ministers from attending official cross-border meetings to try to force the
IRA to "substantially re-engage" with the body overseeing decommissioning.
Officials in London and Dublin have, however, been trying to build on the
momentum created by last week's visit to Northern Ireland by United States
President Bill Clinton.
McGuinness said Sinn Fein was playing its full part in those negotiations
but said all sides, especially the British government, must agree to honor
all their commitments.
"There are very serious negotiations taking place. We in Sinn Fein are
involved in speaking with the two governments. I hope that all of that will
lead to the breaking of the deadlock," he said.
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