Extracts. CPC's History Condensed into First Conference Site Number 76 Xingye Street, Shanghai, looks like an ordinary residence. However, with thousands of people visiting it everyday to pay tribute, the cradle of the Communist Party of China (CPC), where the party's first national conference was held 80 years ago, has its own stateliness touching every visitor. The building is now a museum that houses exhibits left from the revolutionary era. Items like stained pictures and brochures and patched cotton-padded clothes each tell a story, which thread the history of CPC. In 1921, 13 delegates that represented 53 party members were present at the first national conference in this building. Like a sparkle in the darkness, a revolutionary fire soon spread every corner of China, which was concentrated into a solemn oath firmly believed by over 63 million party members now. Standing in front of the five-star national flag, 39 soldiers, who joined the campaign to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, sighed with emotion, "This was where the Communist Party enkindled the first torch, guiding the oppressed Chinese to fight for their own rights." It is the solemn significance that attracts Pan Weimin to pilgrimage to the place on every birthday of the party, July 1. As a worker with the Shanghai Paper-Making Mechanical Plant, Pan started to collect clippings about the party history, when he was 25 years old. For over 20 years, the materials he gathered were compiled into some 220,000 documents. Over the years of China's economic take-off, the austere and simple brick-building has never been ignored. It has stood to greet school-aged children taking oaths before they wear red scarves, and even weddings with hand-in-hand couples. A month before the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, renovation work of the building was finished, expanding the floor space to 2,316 square meters, some 2.5 times larger than before. The expansion was made under the pressure of a heavy tourist flow. The building can receive some 1,500 tourists every day. However, the daily tourist flow has exceeded 3,000 since April, reaching a maximum number of some 10,000. The renovated conference site will continue to witness the Party's progress, people's recollection of the past and their promise to the new century. **** Senior CPC Official Meets Libyan Guests China and Libya enjoy a long-term friendship, and have supported each other in the struggle against hegemonism and power politics, and safeguarding legitimate rights and interest of the developing countries. Wei Jianxing, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks in a meeting with Abudulah Idrris Ibrahim, general secretary of the Trade Unions Federation of Producers of Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, and his party. Wei, who is also a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and president of All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) said that China holds that international disputes should be resolved through negotiation and consultation and that China will continue to support Palestine people in their struggle for resuming national rights and interest. He noted that the international community is obliged to take further actions to help the Middle East peace process make substantial progress. He also hoped that the ACFTU and the Libyan Trade Unions Federation of Producers would advance their cooperation and friendship. Abudulah Idrris Ibrahim expressed his willingness to further the friendly relations between the two countries and peoples, and promote the cooperation between the Libyan Trade Unions Federation of Producers and the ACFTU. The general secretary also thanked the Chinese government and the Chinese people for their support to Libya. **** Russia Opposes Scrapping ABM Treatys Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Monday brusquely shrugged off a U.S. proposal to purchase Russian missiles in exchange for Moscow's consent to amending the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, saying the 1972 agreement must remain intact. ``If such proposals come �� we have not yet received them �� I am sure that they will not solve the ABM issue,'' Ivanov told a news conference, referring to the treaty's abbreviated name. His was the first official Russian response to reports that the Bush administration hoped to buy Moscow's agreement to Washington's withdrawal from the treaty with joint exercises, promises of military aid and possible purchase of Russian S-300 surface-to-air missiles to be integrated into a joint missile shield over Russia and Europe. A senior administration official said the package is being prepared for President Bush's meetings in June and July with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was first reported in The New York Times on Monday. Russia has already sold S-300s to many countries and could sell more, Ivanov said. But he added, ``I cannot link this issue with ABM plans.'' The U.S. offer appeared to echo Moscow's own proposal to the European NATO members to create a shared anti-missile defense in Europe. That proposal, which Putin made in February, would envisage consultations, joint assessment of risks and the deployment of anti-missile defenses as a last resort. Russian military officials at the time mentioned the S-300 and the brand-new S-400 as possible components of such a system. The ABM treaty prohibits a nationwide defense against ballistic missiles, and the U.S. administration has tried unsuccessfully to persuade Moscow to amend the treaty to allow Washington to develop a limited missile defense system. **** NATO Refrains from Backing US Missile Defense Plan NATO foreign ministers decided not to back the US missile defense plan, while agreeing to continue consultations with Washington on the issue. The final statement by the council of NATO foreign ministers, the decision-making body of the western military alliance, at its meeting here said the NATO allies welcomed consultations initiated by US President George W. Bush on the American strategic review, including missile defense. Although US Secretary of State Colin Powell hoped to persuade skeptical European allies to be more supportive of the US missile defense plan, the US approach met resistance from France and Germany at the meeting of the council of NATO foreign ministers in Budapest, capital of Hungary. The French and German foreign ministers resisted the stronger language proposed by Powell to be used in the final statement, according to sources close to the council meeting. "We intend to pursue these consultations vigorously, and welcome the United States' assurance that the views of allies will be taken into account as it considers its plans further," said the statement released after the first day of the two-day council meeting. Powell, however, managed to persuade the European allies to omit from the joint statement any mention of the 1972 anti- ballistic missile treaty that was signed between the United States and the then Soviet Union to put a brake to the arms race. The NATO joint statement signed in 2000 described the 1972 treaty as "the cornerstone for strategic stability." The Bush administration wants to scrap or at least heavily modify the treaty, which is said to stand in the way of the planned US missile defense development. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said it was still at the beginning of the consultation process and it would be unwise to rush to a hasty conclusion with an agreement among NATO allies to support the U.S. plan. German Joschka Fischer also said that no decisions should be made on the missile defense issue until further consultations have occurred. A U.S. missile defense plan must not lead to another round of arms races and has to add to the common security and stability of NATO allies, he added. The Bush administration sent out earlier this month several military expert groups to lobby the European NATO members about the missile defense plan. The rounding of European support for the U.S. plan is expected when Bush attends an informal NATO summit slated for June 13 in Brussels before he attends a planned EU-U.S. summit in Gothenburg in the course of the EU (European Union) summit in the Swedish city. **** Israel Confirms Endorsement of New Settlement Building Tenders Israeli Housing and Construction Minister Natan Sharansky confirmed Tuesday that his office has endorsed two settlement building tenders prepared by the previous government of Ehud Barak for about 700 housing units in the West Bank. In an interview with Israel Radio, Sharansky said that 496 housing units are planned for the settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, and another 217 at Alfei Menashe, close to the 1967 Green Line Border near the Israeli town of Kfar Sava. The minister claimed that there was no reason to get into a discussion about the construction of these settlements when it was still unclear whether Israel had a partner on the Palestinian side. He said that it was clear to everyone, including U.S. President George W. Bush, that the issue of settlements was not the reason for the continuing violence. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who has been working on a settlement formula that will be acceptable to both Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said Tuesday morning that Israel would not build new settlements and would not expropriate land in the occupied Palestinian territories for the settlement construction, but the daily needs of the settlers would be met. "We will not use the definition of 'day-to-day' needs to expand the settlements," he said. Israel's policy of building settlements on the occupied Palestinian territories, which is illegal under international laws, has been widely criticized. The Palestinians have set Israel's freeze of its settlement activity as one of the conditions for a cessation of violence. Sharon's government says it will not build new settlements, nor will it seize more land, but will continue to meet the ongoing need of the "natural growth" of the existing settlements. Under the definition of "natural growth," the settlements were expanded considerably under former governments led by Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak. The international inquiry committee led by former US senator George Mitchell to investigate the causes of the eight months of Israeli-Palestinian violence has also called on Israel to freeze its settlement construction to pave the way for a ceasefire. Israel has rejected any link between its settlement activity and the Palestinian violence, saying that the settlement issue can only be discussed at a later stage. **** China Hopes to See Resumption of ME Peace Talks: FM China is willing to continue contributing to the Middle East peace process along with the international community, said Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan during his talks with visiting Saudi Arabia Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Nizar O. Madani Tuesday. The eight-month-long violent clashes between Israel and Palestine have resulted in heavy casualties and losses as well as escalating tension in the region, Tang said. "The Chinese government is very concerned about this, and does not want to see the efforts and achievements over the past decade turn out to be fruitless," he added. Tang pointed out that diplomatic activities addressing the Middle East issue are in full swing, and China welcomes every effort by the international community aimed at helping ease tension, appeasing conflict and resuming peace talks. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has always supported the Middle East peace process, opposed Israel's abuse of force, which endangers the lives and property of Palestinian civilians, and opposed Israel's economic sanctions on Palestine. "We have always held that the UN resolutions on the Middle East issue and the 'land for peace' principle are the basis of Middle East peace talks, and the implementation of the agreements and understanding by all sides constitutes a prerequisite for the establishment of mutual trust between the Arab World and Israel," Tang said. It is therefore a top priority for Israel and Palestine to alleviate conflicts, actively cooperate with the international community in the mediation efforts, and resume peace talks at an early date, he added. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
