Extracts. "One-China" Principle Widely Accepted: FM Spokeswoman More and more countries as well as the international community have come to acknowledge the fact that Taiwan is a part of China, said Spokeswoman of China's Foreign Ministry Tuesday. "The recent normalization of relations between China and Macedonia demonstrates that the 'one-China' principle is now widely accepted," spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said at Tuesday's press conference. The Taiwan authority's rejection of such a principle constitutes the ultimate cause for the delayed alleviation in cross-Straits relations, Zhang said in response to a relevant question. "China hopes that the Taiwan authorities will clearly accept the 'one-China' principle at an early date, so as to be conducive to the development of the cross-Straits relations, as well as the social stability and economic development in Taiwan," she said. **** Gatherings Held in Cities to Mark CPC's Anniversary People in many cities have recently held gatherings to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), according to local reports. In Guang'an City, Sichuan Province, the hometown of late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the provincial committee and the city committee of the CPC jointly sponsored an art performance titled "The Glorious Banner". Meanwhile, the province also plans to hold a series of celebrations on eve the forthcoming birthday of the Party which falls on July 1. An exhibition of books, photos and video and audio works to mark the anniversary has started in Zhengzhou. The exhibition, sponsored by the General Administration of Press and Publication, will involve the Xinhua Bookstore's branches in 15 cities. Beijing, the national capital, has staged a number of concerts performed by retired officials who had fought in the CPC-led armed struggles against the Kuomintang regime and imperialists. To mark the occasion, provincial museums of Yunnan and Gansu provinces launched, respectively, large exhibitions with the same title of "The Glorious History -- In Memory of the 80th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China". **** CPC's Efforts for Peace, Development, Progress All-round in-depth inter-party contacts and exchanges through various channels of the Communist Party of China (CPC) have taken shape with various forms of contacts with more than 400 parties and organizations in over 140 countries and regions around the world. Dai Bingguo, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said in his signed article entitled "For Peace, Development and Progress", which is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. The CPC has made more and more friends among foreign parties and its influence in the world has become ever stronger, the article says. This can be attributed to the direction provided through the use of Deng Xiaoping Theory, the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Jiang Zemin at the core, and the concerted efforts of the whole Party. It recalls that ever since its founding in 1921, the CPC has stressed international contacts and cooperation. In the past 80 years, the CPC has always connected China's future and fate with the development and progress of human society. As an important component of the Party's undertakings, the CPC' s contacts with foreign partners have faced different tasks in different historical periods. In the New-Democratic Revolution, the article notes, the CPC kept close contacts with progressive forces and friends around the world, which helped secure extensive international sympathy and support for the final success of China's revolution. After the founding of the new China in 1949, western countries adopted a hostile attitude towards the newly born people's government and tried to block it from the world, continues the article. To safeguard the nation's independence and sovereignty, the CPC first established extensive friendly ties with the ruling parties of the socialist countries and with communist parties and progressive forces in other countries, which promoted a rapid development of its foreign relations. The CPC thus played a prominent role in the smooth development of the diplomacy of the new China, and the CPC's international influence spread rapidly, the article states. It further states that when the Eighth National Congress of the CPC was held in 1956, delegations from communist parties and workers' parties of 56 countries came to offer their congratulations and Chairman Mao addressed the meeting, "We have no sense of being isolated at all. They have come a long way here and given us tremendous encouragement and support!" However, says the article, the international contacts with the CPC did not always enjoy smooth development all the time with its coverage greatly reducing in the 1960s and 1970s as the Party was disturbed by the ultra-"Left" thoughts under the sway of the international communist movement debate and China's Cultural Revolution. It points to the fact that after the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978, China was ushered into a new phase of reform, opening-up and socialist modernization. Based on a scientific judgment of the international situation and characteristics of the times, the Party's collective leadership of the second generation with Deng Xiaoping at the core, drawing lessons from the international communist movement, laid down the four principles guiding the Party's foreign contacts, namely, "independence, complete equality, mutual respect and non- interference in each other's internal affairs," the article says. Then, the article goes on to note, the leadership further mapped out a whole set of plans for a new type of party-to-party relations, the main idea of which is: First, parties should build a "new, healthy and friendly relationship" between them. Second, parties should make decisions on their internal affairs independently in line with their own conditions rather than the interests of other countries or the wills of other parties. Third, parties should not judge parties of other countries based on their own experience; Fourth, parties should stand on an equal basis, respect each other and not meddle in others' internal affairs no matter they are big or small, powerful or weak, in power or not. Fifth, parties should carry out inter-party cooperation and exchanges in the spirit of "seeking common ground and reserving differences" while not being hindered by ideological differences. Sixth, inter-party exchanges and cooperation should be oriented to boosting state-to-state ties. Seventh, parties should look forward into the future rather than haggling over the unpleasant past. Under the guidance of Deng's thoughts for party-to-party relations, the CPC's foreign contacts stepped into a new era of adjustment, recovery and exploration, it points out. At the end of the 1970s, the Party resumed gradually its long- severed relations with communist parties of some countries, and forged various forms of exchange and cooperative relationship with ruling national, democratic parties in Africa, Latin America and Asia, the article recalls. In the early 1980s, the Party, in the spirit of disregarding ideological disparities and seeking understanding and cooperation, established relations with socialist parties, social democratic parties, labor parties and international organizations of European countries, according to the article. In the middle of that decade, it began to contact with the rightist parties in west European countries in a bid to promote the development of healthy and stable relations with developed countries, it says. At the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, drastic changes took place in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and a surge of adopting the multi-party system rose in Africa. However, the CPC, unswervingly sticking to the four principles guiding party-to-party relations, has continued to carry out contacts with various foreign parties with a flourishing result, it says. Summing up the experiences gained in the new historical period, the CPC put forward the guidelines for foreign contacts in 1997 when its 15th National Congress was convened, stating that it is ready to, on the basis of the four principles guiding party-to- party relations, foster a new type of party-to-party relationship of exchange and cooperation with various political parties wishing to have exchanges with the CPC with those want to promote the development of state-to-state relations, notes the article. After the CPC's 15th National Congress, the CPC's foreign contacts have turned to a new page characterized by an overall and further development of exchanges with foreign counterparts, it states. Through the development of party-to-party relations, the CPC has spread its views on peace and development and its resolution on further reforms and opening up, and expressed its sincerity to conduct friendly cooperation with foreign countries and parties, which has helped make the parties and statesmen of different countries better understand the CPC's positive efforts for China's national rejuvenation and prosperity, peace, and the stability and development of the world at large, the article points out. Through party-to-party contacts, the article notes, the CPC has come to understand the world better, grasp the general trend of changing international situations more accurately, and further study the experience and lessons of other parties for China's national development and the CPC's self-construction. The Party's foreign contacts in the new era have become an indispensable part of the country's diplomacy, and made more and new contributions to promoting relationships with other countries, exhibiting a good image of the CPC and the socialist China to the world, and winning a more favorable peaceful international environment for its modernization drive. The splendid achievements that Chinese people have accomplished in the past 80 years under the leadership of the CPC is the guarantee for the development of the CPC's efforts in foreign contacts and exchanges, it stresses. When China is moving forward on a socialist path, more and more foreign parties and statesmen would like to know the CPC better, and to communicate and cooperate with this largest ruling party in the world which boasts 64 million members and rich political experience, says the article. The CPC's diplomacy will have brighter prospects in the new century. The International Department of the CPC Central Committee, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee, will further exploit its potential and advantages as well, centering on a national development strategy and overall diplomacy. The CPC will actively promote the establishment, consolidation and development of China's friendly ties with all countries of the world, it points out. It will make a great effort to create a favorable international environment of peace and stability for China's revitalization, stressed the article, adding that it will also make new and greater contributions to world peace, development and progress. **** China Helps 80 million People Out of Poverty in 7 Years China has basically achieved its goal of reducing the poor population by 80 million in the last seven years, according to a press conference held Tuesday by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. Gao Hongbin, director of the office, told the conference that at the end of 2000, the number of rural poor in China who were inadequately fed and clothed declined to 30 million, accounting for approximately 3 percent of the rural population. Gao said, "In the poor counties under the national poverty line, economic development has advanced in stride with economic indicators higher than the national average." According to the statistics provided by the office, the agricultural output value increased by 54 percent since the year of 1994, representing an annual growth rate of 7.5 percent; industrial output value shot up by 99.3 percent, averaging annual growth of 12.2 percent; local financial revenue nearly doubled; grain output grew at 1.9 percent annually; per capita net annual income of farmers increased from 684 yuan (82 U.S. dollars) to 1337 yuan (161 U.S. dollars), with an annual growth rate of 12.8 percent. Thanks to the fast development, production and living conditions have improved dramatically, said the director. During the past seven years, some 592 poor countries developed 60.12 million-mu of farm land, built 320,000-km roads and installed 360,000-km power transmission and distribution lines. A total of 53.51 million people and 48.36 million animals now have access to enough water supply. Statistics show that almost 95.5 percent of rural villages have access to eclectricity. Roads, postal service and telephones are accessible to 89 percent, 69 percent and 67.7 percent of all villages respectively. Priorities for Poverty Reduction China will give priority to four categories of areas in its poverty reduction efforts in the next ten years. The four include ethnic minority-inhabited areas, those that used to be old revolutionary bases, border areas and some destitute poor areas in central and western China where poor people concentrate, according to Gao Hongbin, director of the State Council's Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. China will push forward the continuous and arduous work of poverty reduction in early years of the new century, he said here Tuesday at a press conference held by Information Office of the State Council. A list of counties with heavy tasks of poverty reduction will be selected from the above four categories of poor areas as the key targeted areas, he said. The central government will enhance its support to these counties for them to develop agriculture and animal husbandry based on market needs and combined with economic restructuring in an effort to generate more income for the poor. Meanwhile, all these rural areas should develop science and technology, education, culture and health to facilitate all-round social progress. Gao said Chinese government will increasingly expand poverty reduction funds and use them more efficiently. However, most of the eastern provinces with relatively developed economies will have to mainly rely on themselves to help their own poor people get out of poverty, the official said. **** Seoul to Continue Fight Against Distorted-History Japanese Textbooks South Korea will continue its fight for revision of passages in eight distorted-history middle school textbooks of Japan through bilateral and multilateral channels. Addressing the South Korean National Assembly or parliament on the issue, Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo said Tuesday said swift action by the Japanese government will serve the bilateral relationship oriented toward future cooperation. Japan has promised to seriously consider the South Korean government's demand and a Japanese government committee is currently deliberating the revisions sought, said Han. The textbook issue broke out in early April when the Japanese Education Ministry approved eight new middle school history textbooks which glossed over or beautified atrocities committed by Japanese troops last century. It has caused strong indignation and reactions from the international community. Earlier, the Japanese government said it could not revise the textbooks as long as clear-cut factual errors do not exist. Some Japanese publishing companies began selling the distorted- history textbooks from early this month. **** President Jiang Zemin to Visit DPRK: FM Spokeswoman China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have the tradition of exchanging visits between their leaders, said spokeswoman of China's Foreign Ministry Tuesday. Spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told Tuesday's press conference that Kim Jong Il, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, has extended an invitation for Chinese President Jiang Zemin to visit the DPRK at his convenience, which Jiang has accepted with pleasure. The exact timing of the visit is subject to further discussions by relevant departments of the two countries, Zhang said. **** Russian President Refutes U.S. Criticism on Chechnya Issue Russian President Vladimir V. Putin has firmly refuted America's criticism of Moscow's handling of the Chechnya issue, stressing that Russia's military campaign in the war-torn region is to prevent it from becoming a "launching pad for terrorist acts." Putin said this on Monday during a meeting with a group of American correspondents in Kremlin, Moscow, just one day after he concluded his first summit with U.S. President George W. Bush in Slovenia. During the summit meeting, Putin said, he spent some time responding to President Bush's criticism of Russian's military campaign in the republic of Chechnya. The Russian leader told the reporters that he asked President Bush what the American leader would have done if terrorist bands " from down south" of Texas, Bush's home state, had seized "half the state" and used it as a base of terrorism, the New York Times reported. So, Putin said, it is "not a fundamental question to us whether Chechnya becomes independence or stays within Russia," but rather that Russia's goal is to ensure that it never again serves as a " launching pad for terrorist acts." He pointed out that the growing Islamic extremism and rise of warlords have divided the republic of Chechnya into "criminal fields." In the meeting, Putin also called on the United States to take concrete steps to enhance cooperation with Russia in fighting Islamic extremists now on rampage in Afghanistan. He said that terrorist camps in Afghanistan, known to both U.S. and Russian intelligence services, have trained terrorists that have caused deaths of both Russian and American citizens. **** Putin Warns Against Dismantling Treaty Russian President Vladimir Putin said he and President Bush reached a ``very high level'' of trust during their weekend summit, but warned that Russia would strengthen its nuclear arsenal if the United States developed missile defenses that undermined key security treaties. In a 2 1/2 -hour interview Monday night with American reporters in the wood-paneled Kremlin library, Putin said Bush was a ``very attentive listener'' during the meeting in Slovenia. Putin said he was pleased America no longer considered Russia an enemy. The mini-summit was the first between Bush and Putin, and the meeting the Kremlin had arduously pursued was a prize for Putin. The globe-trotting Russian leader had visited China just before Slovenia and made lightning stops in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and in Kosovo on his way home. While acknowledging that Russia is not an equal partner in its relationship with the United States, Putin seemed confident and optimistic about Russia's future and pleased by Bush's assessment that he was a man who could be trusted. Putin said he and Bush agreed to work together to identify security threats. The United States has cited so-called rogue states as the reason for wanting to change the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty to allow for a missile shield Russia opposes. Putin said he was worried about possible unilateral action such as U.S. abrogation of nuclear treaty commitments. But he said Russia would strengthen its nuclear capability �� a claim Russia has made in the past �� if America insisted on going it alone. ``But at least for the next 25 years, unilateral action will not cause substantial detriment to the national security interests of Russia,'' he said. Putin also repeated Russia's position that the United States should not abandon the ABM treaty, saying that would undermine efforts to limit the numbers of nuclear weapons. ``If one would imagine that we would throw away the ABM treaty, it would mean that automatically the START I and START II (treaties) are thrown in the trash immediately,'' he said. Disposal of the treaties would compel Russia to reinforce its nuclear capability, he said. ``Our nuclear potential will be strengthened,'' he said, adding that it wouldn't take much money to upgrade the nuclear arsenal and that it would be done by putting multiple warheads on strategic missiles. He also insisted that Bush's proposed missile defense shield would never work. ``It's like a bullet hitting a bullet. Is it possible today or not? Today experts say that it is impossible to achieve this,'' Putin said. It was the first time Putin had invited a group of U.S. journalists for a sit-down in the Kremlin since his election in March 2000. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
