Jiang's Speech on Party Building Jiang Zemin <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/leaders/jzm/jzmhome.htm> , general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, called for redoubled efforts to enhance Party building in the new century to improve the Party's work style, solve the problems within the Party organization and fight against corruption. Jiang made the remark in his speech at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 15th CPC Central Committee, which is carried in the latest edition of the Qiu Shi magazine. Jiang said that the essence of Marxism is to emancipate the mind and seek truth from fact, saying that this is the fundamental ideological weapon to enable the Party members to understand new things, adapt themselves to the new situation and accomplish new tasks. He also urged the whole Party to keep studying Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory, and abide by the fundamental theory of Marxism in building socialism. On the Party's style of work, Jiang said that the Party must be resolute in combating formalism and bureaucracy. Jiang urged Party members, especially leading officials, to resolutely implement the Party's guide lines and policies and work hard for the benefits of the people. **** Century's 20 Top Historic Events in China The Xinhua News Agency <http://www.xinhua.org/> has listed the following 20 major events as having impact on China's history in the 20th century, after consulting experts and scholars from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The 20 events are as follows: 1. The Eight-Power Allied Forces (aggressive troops sent by Britain, the United States <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/usa.html> , Germany <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/Germany.html> , France <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/france.html> , Tsarist Russia <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/russia.html> , Japan <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/Japan.html> , Italy <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/Italy.html> and Austria <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/Austria.html> in 1900, to suppress the anti-imperialist Yihetuan Movement) invaded China and forced the Qing court to sign the International Protocol of 1901 in the ninth lunar month of 1901 with 11 countries, which turned China into a semi-colonial and -feudalist society. 2. The Revolution of 1911, the Chinese bourgeois democratic revolution led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, led to the founding of the Republic of China on January 1, 1912, and the fall of the Qing Dynasty on February 12, 1912, ending the 2,000-year-old feudalist society in China. 3. The May 4th Patriotic Movement in 1919, a great anti- imperialist, anti-feudal revolutionary movement, marked the beginning of the new democratic revolution in China. 4. The founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1, 1921, opened a new chapter in the Chinese revolution. 5. The Northern Expeditionary War in 1926 dealt a heavy blow to the reactionary rule of the Northern Warlords and the imperialist powers in China. 6. The Nanchang Uprising, which occurred on August 1, 1927, marked the beginning of the CPC-led armed revolution against the Kuomintang regime. 7. The CPC Central Committee Political Bureau held an enlarged meeting in Zunyi, southwestern Guizhou <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/guizhou.html> Province, from January 15- 17, 1935. The meeting elected Mao Zedong a member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee and established Mao's leading position in both the Red Army and the Party Central Committee. The meeting saved the Party, the Red Army and the Chinese Revolution at a critical juncture. 8. The War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-45) was the first time that China won a complete victory in the fight against foreign invasion in its modern history. 9. The CPC held its Seventh National Congress in 1945, which made Mao Zedong Thought the guiding theory for the Party. 10. The War of Liberation (1945-1949) ended the Kuomintang reactionary rule and the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded on October 1, 1949. 11. The War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53). 12. In 1952, the CPC put forward the general line for the country's transition to socialism and by 1956, China accomplished the socialist transformation. 13. China exploded its first A-bomb, on October 16, 1964, and its first H-bomb, on June 17, 1967, and launched its first satellite on April 24, 1970. These represent an important achievement in New China's construction. 14. The legitimate seat of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations was restored in 1971. 15. The downfall of the "Gang of Four" and the end of the " Cultural Revolution" in 1976 marked a new development stage for China. 16. The National Conference on Science and Technology was convened on March 18, 1978, at which Deng Xiaoping highlighted the important role of science and technology as a productive force. 17. The convening of the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee in late 1978 marked the beginning of China's ongoing reform and opening. 18. Deng Xiaoping's inspection tour of South China in early 1992 and the 14th CPC National Congress marked the start of a new stage of China's reform, opening and modernization drive. 19. The return to the motherland of Hong Kong <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/HK.html> and Macao <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/macau.html> , in 1997 and 1999, respectively, put an end to the history of humiliation for China in its modern history and represented a big step forward toward the country's complete reunification. 20. The CPC held its 15th National Congress in September 1997, at which Deng Xiaoping Theory was made the Party's guiding ideology. **** Israeli, Palestinian Leaders Face Off on Peace Israel <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/Israel.html> i and Palestinian leaders drew lines in the sand over peace terms Friday, highlighting obstacles to a bid by President Clinton to secure a Middle East settlement before he leaves office. A Palestinian policeman was killed in a battle involving Israeli tank fire near the Israel-Gaza border earlier in the day, another blow to U.S. efforts to mediate a peace accord before Clinton steps down on January 20. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (news - web sites) said he would not sign a peace deal granting Palestinian sovereignty over a Jerusalem holy site or the right to return of Palestinian refugees -- both key Palestinian demands for reaching a final peace deal. "The government under my authority will not accept any agreement in any form that will recognize...the right of return. Period...I do not intend to sign any document that will transfer sovereignty over the Temple Mount to Palestinians,'' Barak said in an interview on Channel Two television. Meanwhile, a top adviser to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said Palestinians would not sign a peace deal with Israel that failed to give them sovereignty over all of Arab East Jerusalem or allow the return of refugees. "We will not sign on any agreement that does not give Palestinians full sovereignty over Jerusalem, al-Haram al-Sharif and all other Islamic and Christian holy sites,'' Nabil Abu Rdainah told Reuters. 'Just Solution' On Refugees "We are demanding a just solution to the issue of refugees according to (U.N. resolution) 194,'' he said, referring to a resolution that mandates the return of the refugees. A Clinton proposal last week to kickstart stalled negotiations was reported to give the Palestinians sovereignty over the Jerusalem shrine, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Arabs as al-Haram al-Sharif. Palestinians in return would accept a restriction on the right of refugees to return to the homes which they left, or from which they were forced to flee, in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The Palestinians had said more clarifications were needed Palestinians said the policeman was killed by an Israeli tank shell fired in a gun battle that broke out after Israeli soldiers bulldozed trees near a Palestinian military post. The army says it does this to prevent gunmen from using the foliage for cover. The Israeli army said it fired one tank shell after its soldiers came under what it called massive gunfire from Palestinian gunmen. During the battle, one of the fiercest in more than a week, Palestinian police and snipers exchanged fire with Israeli soldiers near the Erez crossing on the Israel-Gaza border, according to witnesses. The death brought the toll to at least 346 people killed in a three-month-old Palestinian Intifada (uprising) that erupted in the vacuum of deadlocked peace talks. More than 300 of the dead are Palestinians and Israeli Arabs while 41 Israelis have also died. Four Palestinians were also wounded in a clash at a regular flashpoint north of the West Bank town of Ramallah. The Israeli army said Palestinian gunmen fired at two army jeeps and soldiers returned fire. The violence further undercut a U.S. effort to forge a final agreement, a day after two Israelis were killed in a Palestinian bomb attack on the Israel-Gaza border and 14 people were wounded by a pipe bomb blast on a Tel Aviv bus. A Palestinian cabinet minister said earlier that wide differences remained on key issues of Clinton's proposed framework for a final peace deal. "They need to be clarified and developed in order to really go forward with them as the basis for future negotiations and we are in the process of trying very positively to do that,'' the minister, Nabil Shaath, told Reuters. Most Israelis Oppose Clinton Blueprint Opinion polls showed a majority of Israelis opposed a peace accord based on Clinton's blueprint and that Barak's popularity had sunk to a new low ahead of Israel's February 6 election. Clinton said at the White House Thursday that the bomb attacks were a sign militants would try to sabotage his efforts to mediate an end to decades of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed before he leave office. Clinton said the sides were closer than ever to an agreement and he was awaiting a formal Palestinian response to his proposals on crucial issues such as the fate of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, Jewish settlements and borders. Israel conditionally accepted Clinton's blueprint for peace after a late-night security cabinet meeting Wednesday. The Palestinians sent Clinton a letter that raised strong reservations over key elements of the proposal. Polls in Israel's two biggest newspapers, Yedioth Ahronoth and Maariv, put opposition to Clinton's proposals at between 51 percent and 53 percent of the Israeli public and support for his ideas at 38 percent to 44 percent. A Gallup poll of 597 people indicated Barak would win only 24 percent of the vote, compared with 45 for his challenger, top hawk Ariel Sharon, if the prime ministerial ballot was held now. It was Barak's lowest rating since the Labor Party leader took office in July 1999 after defeating right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud by a 56 percent to 44 percent margin. Clinton's ideas would reportedly give the Palestinians sovereignty over the al-Aqsa mosque plaza. Israel would control the area beneath, including Judaism's holy Western Wall. The proposals, which Palestinian officials said needed to be more detailed, would give the Palestinians all of the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) and around 95 percent of the West Bank for a future state. In exchange for land adjoining Gaza, Israel would annex several West Bank settlement blocs where 80 percent of the 200,000 settlers now live on land captured in the 1967 conflict. (Agencies) **** China's Economy Grows 8% This Year China's economy is estimated to have scored an 8 percent growth this year, 0.9 percentage points more than in 1999, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Saturday morning. The gross domestic product (GDP) reached more than 8.9 trillion yuan (US$1,072 billion) this year, surpassing US$1 trillion for the first time in the nation's history at the current exchange rate, according to the NBS's preliminary estimates. The country's GDP increased 8.3 percent annually on average during the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000) period. The industrial added value reached 2,132.7 billion yuan (US$257 billion) in the first 11 months of this year, up 11.5 percent from a year earlier. The growth rate was 2.5 percentage points more than that of the same period in 1999. China invested 360.9 billion yuan (US$43.5 billion) in renovating and upgrading traditional industries in the 11-month period, up 17.2 percent. The development of high-tech industries has accelerated. The manufacturing of electronic and telecommunication products has become the largest manufacturing industry in China; its growth rate was over 20 percentage points more than that of industry as a whole. China eliminated some obsolete production capacity with emphasis being put on the coal, metallurgical and sugar industries this year, the NBS said. The accumulated profits of China's industrial enterprises reached 371.4 billion yuan (US$44.7 billion) in the first 11 months of this year, up 92 percent from a year earlier. >From that figure, state-owned enterprises report combined profits of 208.3 billion yuan (US$25.1 billion), up 1.4 times, an all-time record since 1990. The NBS said China's grain output will drop 9 percent this year due to the decrease in the acreage sown to grain crops and severe droughts, while the output of cotton, oil, vegetables, animal products and aquatics will increase steadily. China invested 1,819.1 billion yuan (US$219.2 billion) in fixed assets in the first 11 months of this year, up 11.7 percent year on year, according to NBS figures. The investment in western areas increased 17.9 percent, 2.7 and 6.1 percentage points more than the growth rates for central and eastern areas, respectively. The combined retail sales volume stood at 3,047.3 billion yuan (US$367.1 billion) in the 11-month period, up 9.8 percent. The increase in urban areas was 2.4 percentage points more than that of rural areas. The NBS said the consumer price index increased 0.2 percent year on year in the 11-month period, reversing the sustained drop over the past few years. China's imports and exports reached US$430.9 billion in the first 11 months of this year, up 33.4 percent. From that amount, the exports stood at US$227.2 billion, up 30.1 percent; the imports stood at US$203.7 billion, up 37.4 percent. The trade surplus reached US$23.6 billion, US$2.8 billion less than the same period in 1999, the NBS said. The contracted foreign direct investment (FDI) reached US$48.6 billion in the 11-month period, up 36.3 percent. The actually-utilized FDI reached US$36.2 billion, down 2.3 percent. According to the NBS, China's foreign exchange reserves have continued to increase, and the exchange rate of RMB has basically remained stable. The per capita income of urban and rural residents increased 7 and 2 percent, respectively, in the year 2000. The NBS expects China's economy to keep growing in a fast and healthy manner in 2001. **** China Willing to Work for World Peace and Prosperity The Chinese government and people are willing to work hand in hand with other countries and peoples for a world of peace and prosperity, cooperation and development in the 21st century. Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan made the remarks Friday evening at a New Year's reception in honor of diplomatic envoys, representatives of international organizations and their families living in China. Tang said that China will continue to follow the reform and opening-up policy and pursue an independent foreign policy of peace. China is eager to develop friendship and cooperation with all other countries, based on the five principles of peaceful co-existence, and will work harder to establish an equitable and rational world order in the political and economic arenas, he added. Tang called the year 2000 historically significant for China, saying that China has scored remarkable achievements in wide-ranging areas. He said that China has played an increasingly bigger role in international affairs. At the dawn of the new century, peoples in the world all expect a lasting peace and common prosperity, Tang said. Chinese President Jiang Zemin made clear China's positions on establishing a new international order at the millennium summit of the United Nations in September, which reflected the common aspiration of all peace-loving countries and peoples, Tang said. **** New Rules on Cross-Straits Trade China issued a set of rules governing trade across the Taiwan Straits, which trade officials say will "enable cross-Straits trade and economic cooperation to grow in a sound, orderly manner." The set of rules was signed by Shi Guangsheng, minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) and became effective as of Friday, December 29. The rules, in 15 provisions, specify the guiding principles, ways of management and disputes settlement concerning cross-Straits trade. MOFTEC Assistant Minister An Min said that drafting of the new rules were based on three principles: the principle of "one China,two systems," the principle of the market economy, and the principle of consistency with existing rules. He described the rules as a "new initiative to accelerate cross-Straits trade exchanges" following the promulgation last year of detailed rules concerning Taiwan investments in the mainland. China's mainland has for the past 20 years tried to promote direct links in trade, transportation and postal services (the "three links") across the Taiwan Straits under the principles of peaceful reunification and the policy of "one China, two systems." As a result, cross-Straits trade and economic cooperation has grown vigorously, he said. He said the Taiwan authorities' rejection of the "three links" and its series of counter-policies, which are getting increasingly unpopular, have undermined the fundamental interests of people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, particularly those of the Taiwan compatriots. The assistant minister called on the Taiwan authorities to lift the ban on the "three links" at an earlier date, and remove the uncalled-for restrictions on mainland products with the aim of promoting direct and mutually-beneficial cross-Straits trade and economic cooperation. Taiwan is now the fifth largest trade partner and the second largest source of imports for the mainland, while the mainland is the second largest export destination of Taiwan goods. Taiwan enjoys the biggest sum of trade surplus among all mainland's trade partners. MOFTEC statistics indicate that trade across the Taiwan Straits is expected to reach US$30 billion this year. By November this year, cross-Straits trade had totaled US$188.22 billion since 1978, when the figure was only US$46 million. **** China Ready to Combat Challenges in 21st Century China, a country with a history of more than fifty centuries, is ready to face the challenges of a new century. Chinese leaders and economists are fully aware that for China, which has solved the problem of feeding its 1.26 billion population, the task of becoming a medium-developed country by the middle of the next century is a formidable one. In half a century, China's population will hit its peak of 1.6 billion, according to the government's population-control plan. Growing population, decreasing resources, deteriorating environment and structural imbalance all stand in the way on which China is realizing its rejuvenation dream, and the problems will pose a severe threat to the country's sustainable development. In China's vast rural areas, a large feat was once accomplished by providing sufficient food to 22 percent of the world's population with 7 percent of the world's arable land. But problems still persist with low productivity and the low income level of farmers. Moreover, it is predicted by the World Bank that more than 9.6 million rural laborers will be forced to find jobs in other sectors in a decade, posing a big burden on employment. "What we have to face is unprecedented and toughest of all, which is to achieve modernization in rural areas," said Mi Jianguo, director of the macro-economic department of the Development and Research Center under the State Council. Currently, China's annual per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is less than 800 U.S. dollars, much lower than that of the world's average of 4,600 U.S. dollars. The added-value of the high-technology industry contributes only 2 percent to the country's GDP. Naturally, the challenges that China came across are inevitable ones in progress and they are nothing but annoyance in growth, said Wang Mengkui, a renowned Chinese economist. To tackle these problems, China has issued a White Paper on Population, Development for the 21st Century, the first historic guidance on sustainable development. China also set population-control targets for the next five, ten and fifty years, and stressed the promotion of the family planning policy and low birth rates. At the turn of the century, China launched great development of west China region to help the resource-rich and vast western areas to achieve a measure of prosperity. When the strategy is fully implemented, more than 300 million people can be settled in the west and the tendency of ecological deterioration will be checked and rooted out, experts noted. To narrow its gap with the developed countries, China put forward the policy of rejuvenating the country through science and education. The country is set to raise the proportion of high-technology output value to 30 percent in China's GDP in a decade period. As China's economy becomes global, China is committed to opening more sectors to the outside world, including telecommunication and finance, and meanwhile, it is encouraging domestic enterprises to invest abroad. With China's entry into the World Trade Organization, more and more opportunities and competitions are ahead for Chinese enterprises to face. "We can survive by our active participation in global competition ," said Hai'er's CEO Zhang Ruimin, who had established ten research centers in developed countries. At the turn of the epoch, China outlined its 10th Five-Year Plan, putting economic restructuring on top of the government's agenda for the first five years in the new century. Observers considered it a significant move for China to remove all obstacles and establish itself among world powers in the future. They predicted that China's economy will leap up by three or places in the world list in the coming 20 years. China has drawn world attention in its efforts for meeting the challenges in the new century, just as Jonathan D. Spence, a professor from the History Department of Yale University, once commented, if China can tackle all its problems, the 21st century will become "a century of China." **** Iran Says Iran-Russia Relations Enter New Phase Iran's Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani on Thursday said that Iran-Russia relations have entered a new phase, adding his Russian counterpart Igor Sergeyev's visit has met the strategic objectives of both countries. At a joint press conference with the Russian defence minister, shamkhani reiterated that Iran's development of missile technology is in line with its national interests and for peaceful ends. Iran relies on its indigenous strength and domestic hardware and software potentials for national security, he said, adding that his country has gained power in guiding and controlling various kinds of missiles. Meanwhile, Sergeyev said that Iran and Russia are determined to start a new phase of military and technical cooperation. The suspension of defense cooperation between Iran and Russia since 1995 had inflicted irreparable damages to both parties, he said. The Russian minister also said that he had held discussions with Iranian officials on security-related issues, military cooperation and the threats facing both countries. Sergeyev arrived here on Tuesday for a three-day visit, the first by a Russian defense minister since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. During his visit, Sergeyev held talks with President Mohammad Khatami, his counterpart Shamkhani and other senior political and military officials on the expansion of military cooperation, regional security and other topics of common concern. He also visited military and industrial bases in Tehran and the central industrial city of Isfahan to see what Russia can do to help Iran improve its military technology. The visit came only one month after Moscow announced that it would no longer observe a five-year-old secret deal with Washington that banned Russia from selling arms to Iran. The move prompted threats of economic sanctions from Washington, which has long prohibited other countries from shipping arms to Iran, a country it accuses of sponsoring international terrorism and trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
