Extracts. Commentary on Evil Nature of Falun Gong: People's Daily Our Daily, China's leading newspaper, published a byline commentary Friday, denouncing the evil nature of the Falun Gong cult which suborned five practitioners to set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square on January 23. The suicidal attempts, which left one dead and four others seriously injured, were a terrible tragedy on the eve of the Chinese New Year, says the commentator. Similar to other evil cults worldwide, Falun Gong idolizes its ringleader, Li Hongzhi, who fled to the United States, tortures human life, endangers the whole society and infringes on human rights, the article says. Since founding Falun Gong, Li has carried out spiritual worship for himself and disseminated malicious theories of doomsday and sin eradication among practitioners. Li fabricates malicious fallacies and proclaims that the law of Falun is a kind of supernatural science. Under the disguise of pursuing truthfulness, goodness and forbearance, the cult leader advocates fatalism and organizes underground activities in order to subvert the government, the commentary says. The Falun Gong cult attempts to spiritually control its practitioners, many of whom have gone too far and become maniacal, the writer says. Before the ban on Falun Gong, many of its members beguiled by Li refused to take medicine when ill and some even committed suicide. Official statistics show that in the last couple of years, more than 1,600 Falun Gong practitioners have died unnatural deaths throughout the country, which has affected thousands of families. On April 5, 2000, a Falun Gong practitioner in Jiutaihe City, northeast Jilin Province, burnt himself to death, leaving only a letter to his wife and family. In the suicide incident in Tiananmen Square on January 23, the cult bewitched a 19 year old college student and a 12-year-old girl to set themselves on fire. The Chinese government announced on July 22, 1999 that Falun Gong is an evil cult, and afterwards began operating crackdown activities. After meticulous education and persuasion by various levels of governments, most of the Falun Gong practitioners left the cult and began to live a normal life again. A retired shoe-maker in Baicheng City, Jilin Province, finally revealed the falsehood of Li's so-called principles such as truthfulness, goodness and forbearance. While Falun Gong believers shed blood in China, Li and his family have led a luxurious life in the United States, with the money they gained through cheating practitioners and other benefactors, the newspaper says. A Beijing Economics College graduate was formerly a die-hard member of Falun Gong. She gradually became suspect of her beliefs and discovered the evil nature of the cult. After learning of some incidents involving suicide, she said that she is really happy to be responsible to her family, the state and society, the commentary says. In tandem with striking against the cult, the Chinese government is foiling Li Hongzhi's ugly attempts. The cult leader throws himself into the lap of Western anti-China forces and acts as their tool for subverting the Chinese government. Meanwhile, he continues cheating his followers through the Internet and provokes them to sacrifice their lives for his ulterior political motives. The suicide incident on January 23 exposed again the evil nature of the Falun Gong cult, which must be rooted out for the sake of long-term social stability and safety of the people, the commentary says. **** Forum on World and China Scheduled An international forum on topics concerning the world and China in the 21st century will be held in Beijing this fall, according to the organizer - the Chinese People 's Institute of Foreign Affairs in Beijing Thursday. Participants, including world-renowned statesmen, experts and entrepreneurs, will focus on the development trends of the global situation, opportunities and challenges facing China, and in particular China's effect on the world in the new century. They will also exchange views on such issues as world political and security environment around China in the next decade, China's economic and social development trend, its WTO entry, and investment environment. Meanwhile, government officials will elaborate on China's policies on security and foreign affairs, economic development strategy, opening-up, and prospects of foreign trade and economic cooperation. **** Senior Official on Party Building in Rural Areas Zeng Qinghong, head of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, recently urged Party officials in rural areas to improve their overall performance and to solve hot issues facing farmers. While touring rural areas in east Jiangsu and central Hunan provinces, Zeng, who is also an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said that grassroots Party officials must earnestly follow the instructions of Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, on the Party construction. In a study tour of south China's Guangdong Province, Jiang Zemin once said that the communist Party will remain successful and enjoy the heartfelt support of the people of China and lead them to constantly advance so long as it always earnestly represents the development requirements of China's advanced social productive forces, the progressive course of China's advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people. Zeng urged the officials to hear people's complaints with real earnest and accept supervision from the common people when implementing their duties. In addition, Zeng encouraged local officials to go to farmers' homes to solicit their opinions. While consolidating Party construction in rural areas, Zeng urged the officials to effectively arrange farming production in the coming Spring plowing period. **** China to Guarantee Cultivated Land No Less than 1.92bn Mu China will make efforts in coming five years to achieve a balance between occupancy and supplement of farmland to secure a national cultivated land of no less than 1.92bn mu (15 mu = one hectare), said Tian Fengshan, minister of Land and Resources. To this end, related departments will tighten control over land use and intensify examination and approval of farmland to be diverted to other purposes, and plan the use and management of land according to law; they will conscientiously implement the basic farmland protection system and will strictly control the use of basic farmland for the construction of various types of projects; they will legally institute the system of compensation for the cultivated land used for construction purpose; persist in connecting the use of land for construction projects with the projects of development and improvement, and introduce a project assessment system regarding a balance between the occupancy and replenishment of cultivated land, guaranteeing implementation of the responsibility, fund and plan regarding supplemented arable land. A farmland reserve system will also be introduced to gradually ensure that supplement precedes occupation of cultivated land. China will strengthen management of farmland and prevent the destruction of cultivated land; it will press ahead with improvement of land, intensify reclamation efforts and appropriately exploit the reserve resources of cultivated land. Meanwhile, it will pursue the policy of tapping the potential of land for construction purpose and vigorously promote the intensive use of land. Strengthening management of land property is an important measure for intensified protection of cultivated land under the condition of the market economy. The Ministry demands that land investigation work be done in the next five years to further clarify the land ownership of the rural collective, and that license-issuing work be completed which regards the right to use land for construction projects. **** Integrating Rule of Country by Law and by Morality In his speech delivered at the National Conference of Heads of Publicity Departments of CPC, Comrade Jiang Zemin <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/leaders/jzm/jzmhome.htm> put forward a very important idea, that is, in the process of building socialism with Chinese characteristics and developing a socialist market economy, we should unremittingly strengthen socialist legal system construction, and run the country by morals, at the same time, we should untiringly strengthen socialist morality construction and run the country by morality. This important idea represents the application and development of our Party's strategic thinking known as "doing two types of work at the same time and attaching equal importance to both", it is a sublimation of our understanding of the law governing the building of socialism with Chinese characteristics, a perfection and innovation of the basic strategy for our Party to lead the people in the administration of the country, and enrichment of and contribution to the Marxist theory on the State. Conscientious study and resolute implementation of this important idea will definitely yield major and far-reaching influence on China's development in the new century. Rule by law and rule by morality complement and promote each other, neither of them can be dispensed with and neither should be overemphasized at the expense of the other. Many people in Chinese history have advocated the simultaneous use of Confucianism and law. During the Tang Dynasty, a period of prosperity of Chinese feudal society, the rulers, on the one hand, formulated a set of feudal morality systems for properly running the family and bringing stability to the world; on the other hand, they enacted laws, which formed the most compact and most systematic feudal code-the law of the Tang Dynasty in Chinese history. This practice not only expressed in legal form the will of the ruling class, but also required the forcible implementation of their moral concepts in the form of law. Its aim was to "formulate rites to express one's respect, and establish law of penalty to show one's might", so as to promote social development. Today, as we practice administration of the country according to law and running the country by morality, our fundamental aim is to guarantee that the masses of the people genuinely become masters of the country. Ruling the country according to law means that the Party-led State organs of power, administrative organizations, judicial organs and other social organizations should administer the country in accordance with the law and systems that express the will and interests of the people. Running the country with morality means that taking Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory as the guide, we should actively establish a socialist ideological and moral system that is adapted to the development of the socialist market economy, and develop socialist culture and ethics. This system takes serving the people as the core, collectivism as the principle, and loving the motherland, the people, labor, science and socialism as the basic requirements. Through energetically initiating social morality, such as promoting ethics and courtesy, taking pleasure in helping others, cherishing public property, protecting the environment, observing discipline and abiding by law, vigorously advocating professional ethics as expressed in the love for one's job and devotion to one's career, being honest and keeping faith, handling affairs with fairness and justice, serving the masses, and being dedicated to society, and forcefully promoting the family virtue featuring respect for the old and care for the young, equality between man and woman, harmony between husband and wife, diligence and thrifty in running the household and unity between neighbors. We should set down rules of conduct to be generally confirmed and consciously observed by all people; and we should establish an inter-personal relationship featuring unity and mutual-aid, equality, fraternity and common progress. Ruling the country according to law and running the country with morality are a closely integrated whole. The rule of law belongs to political construction and to political civilization; while rule by morality belongs to ideological construction and to advanced culture and ethics. They both have their respective positions and functions. Rule by law regulates the conduct of social members with its authoritative and coercive means; while rule with morality enhances the ideological understanding and moral consciousness with its moving and inspiring force and its strength of exhortation. Socialist rule of law provides a legal guarantee for establishing, safeguarding and practicing socialist morality. Socialist rule of morality is to regulate the conduct of all social members with socialist ideology and morality and raise the moral level of the entire nation. Success in rule by morality makes it possible to administer the country according to law. In the new historical period of the reform, opening up and modernization drive, ruling the country by morality requires strengthening the building of socialist culture and ethics. Through painstaking, in-depth and careful ideological-political work, we should form a favorable public opinion environment, so that Marxism and the ideological theory on the building of socialism with Chinese characteristics will go deep into the minds of all Party members and cadres and the entire people, and that the ideology of patriotism, collectivism and socialism can really become a strong spiritual pillar for rallying and uniting the whole Party and the people of the whole country. The establishment of a socialist ideological and moral system compatible with the socialist market economy is a colossal social systematic project. Centering around the establishment of a correct outlook on world, life and value, we must integrate the inheritance of the fine tradition with the promotion of the spirit of the times, unify the respect for personal legal rights and interests with the shouldering of social responsibility, coordinate attention to efficiency and the safeguarding of social justice, combine advanced requirement with extensive requirement, and strive to set down a healthy, harmonious, and progressive ideological and moral standard adaptable to economic and social development. We must carefully formulate and earnestly implement a guidance plan for moral construction, blend the requirement of basic moral concepts with related laws, regulations and various specific policies and mix it in various fields of social management, and constantly promote the formation and perfection of the socialist ideological and moral system. We must, in compliance with the requirements of the "three representatives" (representing advanced culture, advanced productive forces and the fundamental interests of the people), strengthen Party building, so that the broad masses of Party members and cadres will become models in carrying out the "three representatives" and in pursuing socialist and communist morality, and that the Party members can become examples of the entire people and Party cadres at all levels can become examples for all Party members. We are convinced that under the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core, as long as members of the whole Party and people of the whole country adhere to the basic strategy of ruling the country according to law and running the country with morality, the great cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics will definitely develop even faster and better. **** Mainland Boat Expected to Sail for Taiwan Island of Kinmen on Tuesday China's southeastern Fujian <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/fujian.html> Province is planning to send a boat on a historic trip to the small Taiwan <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/taiwan.html> island of Kinmen off the mainland coast early next week, officials in the province said Thursday. The crossing, which has tentatively been set for Tuesday, will be the first officially sanctioned trip by China's mainland to Taiwan in more than 50 years. "We are shooting for a trip to take place on February 6," said a staff member with the semi-official Kinmen Compatriot Federation in the Fujian port city of Xiamen, who said his surname was Dai. "We are trying to work out the formalities with the Taiwan side." The boat is expected to carry about 100 passengers, most of them senior citizens who intend to visit relatives in the island, he said. If the trip goes ahead as planned, the boat will be the first mainland vessel to sail for Taiwan in about 50 years. Taiwan authorities released a "three mini-links" policy at the end of 2000, which opened direct shipping between Kinmen and Matsu Islands and mainland's Fujian province. Taiwan sent its first two boats to travel directly between Taiwan and the mainland in nearly 52 years on January 2, in a move hailed by Taipei as a breakthrough in cross-Strait relations and a move toward removing tensions across the straits. The three "mini-links" -- direct transport, trade and postal services -- between the two islands and Fujian are expected to develop into broader relations as early as the end of the year, sources said. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
