Extracts. China Urges Advanced Countries to Help Developing Nations A Chinese central bank official on Sunday urged advanced countries to coordinate their macroeconomic policies and keep the major currencies' exchange rates stable to create an environment conductive to stability and growth for developing countries. Li Ruogu, assistant governor of the People's Bank of China and alternate governor of the Fund for China, made the remarks in Washington at the Third Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the policy-making body of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "It is more important for advanced countries to promote capital and technological transfers to developing countries, especially in terms of official development assistance (ODA), so that the U.N. target of 0.7 percent of gross national product (GNP) for ODA can be achieved," Li said. More importantly, he said, advanced countries should open up their markets to developing countries and eliminate all kinds of trade barriers, especially those imposed on products where developing countries have the comparative advantage. China welcomes the international community's efforts to strengthen the international financial architecture and believes that the implementation of standards and codes introduced by the IMF and other international organizations should adequately reflect differences in members' developmental stages, he said. Referring to elimination of financial crimes, Li said, China will continue to support every effort to combat money laundering and other criminal financial activities. The IMF and the World Bank should, based on their respective mandates, continue to strengthen the international financial system, thereby eliminating environments conducive to money laundering and other financial crimes, he said. "We fully support the IMF managing director's proposal to establish the International Capital Markets Department and hope that it will become operational soon," he said. Meanwhile, Li said the Chinese central bank will continue to implement sound and preemptive monetary policy to ensure adequate growth of aggregate money supply. The central bank of China will also continue to maintain stability of the savings and lending rates of Chinese yuan as well as the relative stability of its exchange rates, improve financial services to small and medium-sized enterprises, take additional measures to promote the development of money and capital markets, and continue to strengthen bank lending supervision, Li added. **** IMF Pledges to Fight Global Economic Slowdown The International Monetary Fund (IMF) pledged Sunday to fight the current global economic slowdown and take measures to meet common objective of open trade for greater global prosperity. The pledge was contained in a communique issued at the end of the meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the Board of Governors of the IMF. "In the increasingly interconnected global economy, we will continue to promote international economic cooperation and work together, adopting a forward looking approach to meeting our common objective of open trade for greater global prosperity," the communique said. The International Monetary and Financial Committee, the policy- making body of the IMF, also promised to maintain the momentum for reform in the international financial system, strengthen economy through structural reform, maintain sound macroeconomic conditions for strong non-inflationary growth, and encourage poverty reduction and growth in the poorest countries. The committee agreed that short-term prospects for global growth have weakened significantly since its September 2000 meeting in Prague. However, the panel considered it likely that the slowdown in global growth will be short-lived, though it notes that the downside risks have increased, the communique said. The committee expressed particular concern that the slowdown in global growth risks adversely affecting the Fund's poorest member countries and stressed that developing countries need to pursue sound and stable policies and to build strong institutions as part of a commitment to poverty reduction and growth, and to create a favorable environment for domestic and foreign investment and private sector activity. On the issue of crisis-prevention, the policy-making body said it will take measures to set up better procedures to prevent a repeat of the Asian currency crisis in 1997-1998, which plunged two-fifths of the world into recession. It stressed that strong and effective crisis prevention should be a top priority for the agency, and asked IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler to proceed with efforts to overhaul the agency's procedures for the prevention of crisis. On the trade liberalization issue, the committee urged all countries to support efforts to launch a new round of multilateral trade liberalization talks later this year. The committee is unanimous in its view that recourse to protectionism would be the wrong response to the global economic slowdown and the attendant difficulties in particular sectors, the communique said. The panel also underscored that money laundering is an issue of global concern requiring strengthened policies and concerted action on the part of governments and a range of institutions. "Effective anti-money laundering measures at the national level are important for all Fund members, including those with large financial markets," the communique added. Crisis-Prevention Mechanism The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said here Sunday that it will take measures to set up better procedures to prevent a repeat of the Asian currency crisis in 1997-1998, which plunged two-fifths of the world into recession. The International Monetary and Financial Committee, the policy- making body of the IMF, said in a communique that strong and effective crisis prevention should be a top priority for the agency. "The committee strongly supports the redoubling of the Fund's efforts to put crisis prevention at the heart of its activities, and especially of its bilateral and multilateral surveillance," the communique said. The panel welcomes the steps being taken -- including the recent reforms of the Fund's financing facilities -- to strengthen the Fund's capacity to respond to financial crises in member countries and to minimize their adverse impact. The committee asked IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler to proceed with efforts to overhaul the agency's procedures for the prevention of crisis. New Round of Multilateral Trade Talks The International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged all countries Sunday to support efforts to launch a new round of multilateral trade liberalization talks later this year. The opening of markets will enhance growth prospects for developing countries, said the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the policy-making body of the IMF, in a communique issued at the end of a meeting. Therefore, the committee called on all developed and developing countries to find a common ground for the launch of new multilateral trade negotiations this year. The committee is unanimous in its view that recourse to protectionism would be the wrong response to the global economic slowdown and the attendant difficulties in particular sectors, the communique said. It also urged all countries to resist protectionist pressures and to reduce or eliminate trade barriers and trade-distorting subsidies. Disagreements between developed and developing nations contributed to the failure of World Trade Organization (WTO) ministers to launch a new round of talks in Seattle, the United States, in December 1999. In particular, non-industrialized nations resented efforts by certain rich countries, notably the United States, to have a trade accord linked to provisions protecting workers' rights and the environment. The International Monetary and Financial Committee stressed that protectionism in any form would be the wrong response to the world's current economic woes. The World Bank has estimated that eliminating such obstacles would yield an estimated 100 billion dollars in export earnings in the developing world. **** NATO Holds Joint Military Exercise in Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia Military forces from four NATO countries -- Italy, Holland, Poland and the United States -- began a series of joint military exercises Saturday in the Balkans with Albania, Romania and Argentina. Albania and Romania are among the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-led "Partnership for Peace" ( PFP) program while Argentina is not a PFP country. Infantry soldiers, parachutists, commandos and armed police from these countries are participating in the military exercises in Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina. During the exercise in Elbasan, central Albania, the troops are practicing search for illegal weapons, escort for armed motorcades and patrolling. A spokesman for the Albanian defense ministry said the main purpose of the exercises is to display NATO's ability to stabilize the Balkan situation and enhance cooperation among PFP countries in peacekeeping operations. The exercises are scheduled to end on May 10. **** China Urges US not Allow Stopovers by Chen Shui-bian Chinese Foreign Ministry on Saturday urged the United States not to grant a transit visa for Chen Shui-bian to make a stopover in the United States en route to Latin America. "We firmly oppose to any official contacts and exchanges between the United States and Taiwan in any form and to Chen Shui-bian making stopovers in the United States," a ministry statement says. The statement says that China has made repeated solemn representations to the US side concerning this matter. China hopes that the US side can earnestly honor its one-China policy, strictly adhere to the three China-US Joint Communiques and the relevant commitments it has made, put an end to official exchanges and contacts with Taiwan and not allow Chen Shui-bian to make stopovers in the United States so as to prevent damages to China-US relations. On Wednesday, a US official said the US is "almost certain" to grant Chen a transit visa, but the US State Department on Friday declined to say whether a decision to grant Chen a transit visa has been made. Chen is planning a trip to Latin America in late May. **** Egyptian, Saudi Air Forces to Hold Joint Exercises Egyptian and Saudi air forces will hold joint military exercises code-named "Faisal-2" in the Gulf kingdom on Sunday, Egypt's Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. The Egyptian air force will send an unspecified number of fighters to take part in the maneuver, held for the second consecutive year "with the aim of exchanging expertise and promoting the two countries' air skills," MENA said. Khaled Ben Sultan Ben Abdel Aziz, Saudi assistant minister of defense and aviation, termed as "important" the Saudi-Egyptian drills, which will last for "several days," the news agency added. "The exercises will help Saudi Arabia promote its air skills and capabilities," Aziz said, quoted by MENA. Last June, the two countries launched the first joint air maneuver called "Faisal-1" in Egypt, during which fighter jets, multi-task jets and early-warning planes carried out exercises for offensive operations and troops transportation. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have then decided to hold such exercises alternately early summer each year. The two countries have strong and long-standing relations, enabling them to cooperate at bilateral and regional levels. **** Putin to Visit China Twice This Year -- Ivanov Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China twice before the end of the year, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Sunday at the start of talks with his Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan, news agencies reported. Ivanov declined to give precise details of the visits, but Putin is scheduled to attend a summit of the "Shanghai Five" group of nations in Shanghai on June 15. The Russian foreign minister said Sunday that Putin would "visit China twice" during 2001, Interfax reported, but the timing of a subsequent visit is not yet known. The Shanghai Five comprises China and the four former Soviet republics with which it shares a border -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Chinese President Jiang Zemin is expected to pay an official visit to Moscow before the beginning of July, while Premier Zhu Rongji is due to hold talks with his Russian counterpart in Moscow in September. Ivanov hailed this year's flurry of diplomatic visits as "very fruitful." "It will be a culmination for Russia and China," Interfax quoted Ivanov as saying. After his meeting with Ivanov, Tang Jiaxuan was due to hold separate talks with Putin at the Kremlin on Sunday. **** U.S. Knight Ridder to Cut Jobs at Most Papers Knight Ridder plans to eliminate jobs at most of its 32 daily newspapers in the face of plunging advertising revenue and rising newsprint prices. The nation's second-largest newspaper company did not specify how many jobs will be lost in the reorganization or where the cuts would occur. San Jose-based Knight Ridder employs about 22,000 workers. Knight Ridder Chief Executive Tony Ridder said in a statement Friday that the number of jobs lost will vary from paper to paper, based on local market conditions. Knight Ridder will offer early retirement packages in an effort to avoid layoffs. Other newspaper publishers have also announced staff reductions recently in response to the steep advertising slump. Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, laid off 202 workers and eliminated 300 open positions, and The New York Times Co. made a second round of job cuts at its online unit and plans to offer buyouts to other employees. Earlier this month, Knight Ridder reported a sharp decline in first-quarter profits. Excluding one-time gains or losses, income fell 31% to $47.8 million from $68.9 million. Knight Ridder's financial goals at the San Jose Mercury News became a hot topic in the industry last month after the veteran publisher, Jay T. Harris, resigned to protest the company's cost-cutting plans there. Labor leaders representing Knight Ridder employees say the company already has eliminated jobs at two of its papers �� the Mercury News and the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio. The cuts, mostly affecting jobs outside the newsroom, have been made in the past few weeks. After enjoying several years of increasing profits since Ridder became CEO in 1995, Knight Ridder expects earnings to decline this year because of an advertising slump and a sharp increase in the cost of newsprint. After a 2.7% decrease in ad revenue during February, Knight Ridder's ad revenue fell 6% in March. The erosion this month "appears even more substantial," the company said. "I never have seen a fall-off as sudden or as steep as this one. I don't know anyone who is confident of a near-term, or a dramatic, uptick," Ridder said. At the same time, Knight Ridder's newsprint expenses are up by 20% from the same time last year. Newsprint typically represents a newspaper's second-largest expense after labor. **** S. California Chinese-Americans Slam Bush's China Policy Representatives from southern California's Chinese-American communities Saturday slammed US President George W. Bush's China policy for attempting to prevent Taiwan's reunification with mainland China. At the Symposium on Sino-US and Cross Strait Relations, speakers agreed that the current US government erred in adopting policies of containing China by taking advantage of the Taiwan issue. The symposium was held days after Bush decided to sell a number of advanced weapons to Taiwan and made remarks that he would do whatever it takes to defend the island. The latest hawkish acts taken by the Bush Administration have further chilled the Sino-US relations already soured by a US spy plane's destruction of a Chinese fighter plane in earlier April over the South China Sea. Zhang Wenji, a professor from the Institute of Sino Strategic Studies, said Bush Administration's China policy is in fact consistent with that of various former US governments, which is aimed at preventing China from becoming a power in Asia that can confront the US in future. After the defeats in Korea and Vietnam, the US has been worried about China's strength once it reunites with Taiwan. Bush's latest remarks on defending Taiwan exposed Washington's plots to encourage Taiwan's independence forces, Zhang added. Wang Ziqing, a cross-strait relations expert from Chinese Strategic Studies Society in America, lashed out at the ill-intended goals of the Bush Administration in shifting the China policy from engagement to containment and besiegement. Liu Hongkui of the Center of American-Chinese Policy Studies said it is a shame for the current US government to break the agreements on Taiwan reached with the Chinese government, by selling so many advanced weapons to Taiwan and promising to defend the island with forces. The participants strongly attacked Taiwan's independence forces for their dirty acts of trying to divide China through begging for support of a foreign power. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
