Extracts.
DPRK and ROK to Hold Third Reunion of Separated Families
DPRK and ROK wrapped up their Red Cross talks in Seoul Wednesday without
coming to an agreement on where to set up a permanent meeting place to
enable hundreds of thousands of families separated by the Korean War to meet
on a regular basis.
In a six-point joint press statement, both sides agreed to continue
discussing the permanent meeting place in the next round of talks, April
3-5.
Under the new agreement, 300 people from each side will be able to exchange
letters with their relatives across the border beginning March 15 and will
be able to attach one or two family pictures. On Monday,
The two sides agreed to hold the third reunion of separated families Feb.
26- 28 in each other's capitals.
As in the two previous reunions, 100 people from each side will cross the
border for temporary meetings with their families. Family reunions are
considered one of the most important inter-Korean issues since many old
people could die before being reunited with relatives they have not seen
since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
****
Chinese Religious Leaders Indignant over Falun Gong
Upon learning of the suicide incident by Falun Gong followers who set
themselves on fire, leaders from five major religions in China were appalled
by and indignant over the crimes committed by this evil cult.
The incident completely demonstrates the anti-society and anti- human nature
of the evil cult because the cult turns a blind eye to human rights and
life, Chinese religious leaders said Wednesday.
Michael Fu Tieshan, chairman of the China Catholic Patriotic Association,
was angered by the appalling incident.
Fu said the incident further proves that Falun Gong is by no means a
religion, but an out-and-out evil cult.
The incident demonstrates that the leaders of the Falun Gong cult have
embraced the overseas anti-China cliques, he said, noting that Li Hongzhi
intended to damage the social stability and the auspicious atmosphere of the
Spring Festival at the cost of the lives of his followers.
Fu's viewpoints were echoed by other religious leaders.
Hoodwinked by the malicious fallacies of Li Hongzhi, founder of the Falun
Gong cult, five Falun Gong practitioners, including a 12- year-old girl,
soaked themselves in gasoline and set themselves on fire at around 2:40 PM
on the eve of China's Lunar New Year. Another two practitioners failed to
commit suicide after they were stopped by policemen.
One died on the spot and the four others injured in the suicide attempts.
The police on duty rushed to their rescue and immediately sent the injured
to the local hospital.
Yanjue, a Buddhist master from the Guangji Temple in Beijing, believes that
the suicide case, a tragedy directed by Li Hongzhi, has time and again
offered a lesson to the ignorant Falun Gong practitioners.
Yuan Zhihong, deputy secretary general of the China Taoist Association, said
the Falun Gong cult has made its followers lose a normal sense of morality
and it has become a common enemy of the general public, calling upon the
Taoism adherents to support the struggle against the evil cult.
Akhund Ma Yunfu, vice-chairman of the Islamic Association of China, pointed
out that the Falun Gong has turned out to be equivalent to those evil cults
in America and Africa, saying that cracking down on the cult is the utmost
protection of human rights.
Priest Shi Zesheng, vice-chairman of Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee
of Protestant Churches of China, said that while organizing the incident,
the leaders of the Falun Gong cult came to deny its relevance with the
incident.
The incident has time and again proven that the cult is a malign tumor in
society, he said, calling on the general public to remove the tumor.
All religious leaders called for tighter measures against the Falun Gong
cult in order to avoid the occurrence of a similar tragedy.
****
Russia, North Korea Agree Summit Date
Dates have been fixed for a Moscow summit between Russia
<http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/russia.html> n President
Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, the foreign ministry
said Tuesday.
"We have concrete dates for the official visit by Kim but have agreed with
Pyongyang to delay in making the announcement," of the actual dates, Deputy
Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov told the ITAR-TASS news agency.
He added that December's statements declaring that Kim would visit in the
first six months of the year were still applicable.
Putin invited Kim to Moscow during a landmark two-day visit to Pyongyang
last July, part of a drive to increase Russian influence in the region.
The reclusive North Korean leader only emerged into the public spotlight in
June during a historic summit with South Korean
<http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/rok.html> President Kim Dae-Jung.
****
Beijing Reports Higher GDP in 2000
The Chinese capital Beijing
<http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/beijing.html> scored 246
billion yuan (US$29.6 billion) in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2000, an
increase of 11 percent over the previous year.
The per capita GDP for 2000 was 22,000 yuan (US$2,650), the highest in the
past five years, a municipal government official said Wednesday.
Rapid industrial growth is regarded as the leading cause of the local
economic development. The city's industrial added value increased at an
average of 13 percent annually in the past two years.
Local fiscal revenue, which grew at an annual rate of more than 20 percent
for the past five consecutive years, is expected to reach 34.24 billion yuan
(US$4.125 billion) in 2000, doubling the figure five years ago.
The high-tech industry is expected to generate a total added value of 20.5
billion yuan (US$2.47 billion) for 2000, or 27.8 percent of the city's total
industrial added value.
The fast economic growth in 2000 is also attributed to the successful
technical innovation in traditional industrial enterprises, the improved
performance of state-owned enterprises and adjustment of the agricultural
structure and export product mix.
Beijing's agricultural added value for 2000 is projected to exceed nine
billion yuan (US$1.08 billion), up four percent from 1999.
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