Extracts. Social Scientists Urged to Enrich Marxism Chinese social scientists should make more contributions to enrich Marxism in modern times, Li Tieying <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/people/litieying.shtml> , president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said Monday in Beijing <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/beijing.html> . While attending the CASS' celebration marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC)��Li, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said social scientists should focus on social changes in modern times and help resolve practical issues in the country. Learning from the pioneering spirit of the masses, the experts should consistently push forward theoretical innovation for Marxism�� Li urged. They should also fight against any ideological trend which is contradictory to Marxism�� he added. In the 21st century, Li said�� CPC members should bear the responsibility of sticking to and carrying forward Marxism. The development of Marxism in China is important to the future of the CPC and the nation as well, he said. Li expounded enrichments created by the CPC to Marxism in the past eight decades, including Marxist philosophy, the revolutionary theory with Chinese characteristics, the theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the theory on the Party building. At the celebration function, the CASS also presented awards to 10 outstanding CPC members, six outstanding organizers and 10 outstanding grassroots organizations. **** Exhibition on Nationwide Assistance to Tibet Opens in Beijing An exhibition opened Sunday in the Ethnic Culture Palace in central Beijing <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/beijing.html> to display the fruits of the Chinese nationwide assistance to Tibet <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/tibet.html> . The exhibition is composed of eleven sections, such as "62 projects," "educational aid" and "Tibetan Towns." With hundreds of photos, movies, scale models and stage performance, it provides a systematic show of the assistance the Chinese interior has offered to Tibet over the past five decades. This well-organized event attracted a large number of visitors, many of whom have worked in Tibet and came to review the contributions they have made to the region. The exhibition is organized to encourage people to acquire a better understanding of and offer more care for Tibet, and thus further promote nationwide assistance to Tibet, sources said. Zhang Yongfa, director of the Chinese Ethnic Culture Museum, said he and his wife went to Tibet soon after graduating from medical school in 1976, and had worked there until 1997. "We had worked in Xigaze County for many years, and the mountains and people there are still fresh in my mind," he recollected, saying he hopes very much to revisit there someday. "During the early days in Tibet, we were not used to the alpine climate." "Anyway, we overcame the difficulties and managed to settle down." "I felt very proud to have spent my golden period in the place where our compatriots need us most, and I will never regret for my choice," he said. Statistics show that in 1976 there had been an entrance of more than 2,000 Chinese interior graduates into Tibet, who chose to devote themselves to the region's well-being. According to Baiba Cering, vice-commissioner of the Shannan Prefecture of Tibet, a good number of interior officials and professionals have come to work there, speeding up the progress of local education, engineering, and medical services. "The financial aid the interior has offered us is undoubtedly a strong boost to our development, however, the 'spiritual treasure ' those interior talents have brought us is deemed as more precious," Cering said. "They have liberated local people's minds and enlarged their horizon....What they have done is potentially invaluable." "Only a tiny number of separatists deny or stigmatize the assistance as unkind, but they can never attain a position," he said, noting the Tibetan people are looking forward to and grateful to the interior assistance. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet, with rich solid facts reflecting the prosperity enjoyed by Tibet people and the unity of all Chinese ethnic groups, the exhibition will strongly refute the fallacies preached by the Dalai Lama and anti-china forces, Sun Jiazheng, Chinese cultural minister, said at the opening ceremony. Luo Gan <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/people/luogan.shtml> , member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) as well as a state councilor, Legqog, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and other related officials also attended the opening ceremony. The exhibition is expected to run through June 29. **** Hezbollah Fires at Israeli Warplanes over South Lebanon Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah on Sunday fired at Israel <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/israel.html> i warplanes over south Lebanon <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/lebanon.html> but missed the targets, the official NNA news agency reported. The Israeli planes aggressed Lebanese airspace earlier in the day over the region of Iqlim Tuffah, some 50 kilometers south of Beirut, NNA quoted witnesses as saying. Hezbollah's anti-aircraft guns fired at the planes but failed to hit anyone, it added. It was the third time the resistance group fired at Israeli planes over Lebanon in the month. Hezbollah has confirmed that it "took military actions at Israeli planes that invaded Lebanon." Israeli warplanes resumed air intrusion into Lebanon last October after Hezbollah captured three Israeli soldiers from the disputed Shebaa Farms. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has said that Israeli warplanes have invaded Lebanon more than 400 times since last October. It accused Israel of violating the U.N.-drawn Blue Line authenticating the completion of Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon in May 2000. Lebanon has complained Israeli air infringement to the U.N. and called on the international community to press Israel to stop violating its airspace. **** Iran Ready to Mend Ties With Iraq: Spokesman Iran <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/iran.html> on Monday reaffirmed its readiness to remove the barriers stone-walling normalization of ties with neighboring Iraq <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/iraq.html> , the official IRNA news agency reported. Iran has said many times that it is ready to take necessary steps to find a solution to the problems with Iraq, above all, the issue of prisoners of war (POWs), if the Iraqi side shows its political will, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said at a press conference here. Iran and Iraq fought an eight-year bloody war from 1980 to 1988, costing each side some 1 million lives. Though 13 years have passed since the end of the war, the two sides have still accused each other of holding thousands of POWs. Asefi said that "lack of cooperation on part of the Iraqi officials" is the main cause behind a halt in exchange of POWs between the two neighbors. "If the Iraqi government intimates its readiness, the Iranian government is ready to cooperate in this field as it has thus far shown its goodwill," he added. Iran and Iraq have yet to sign a formal peace treaty ending the war. The POW issue and the presence of opposition groups on each other's territory are among the main obstacles to a normalization of bilateral ties. **** Iraq Urges Arab Nations to Reject "Smart Sanctions" An Iraq <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/iraq.html> i newspaper Monday urged Arab and friendly nations to reject a UN Security Council draft resolution on "smart sanctions" proposed by the US and Britain. Al Thawra, mouthpiece of Iraq's ruling Baath Party, said on Monday that the smart sanctions will certainly harm the interests of Iraq as well as those of Arab countries. "Criticizing the draft resolution behind closed doors or seeking to have some of its paragraphs amended is not enough," the newspaper said, "the draft resolution and its "colonial" principles should be completely rejected." Iraq hopes that its Arab sisterly countries and friends will take a bold and brave position to reject the draft resolution, it said. The U.S.-British proposal is a conspiracy against Arab nations as well as all peoples struggling for their independence and sovereignty, it added. Iraq has recently launched a diplomatic, media and political campaign against "smart sanctions," designed to ease Iraqi import of civilian goods and tighten curbs on military-related materials. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has sent special envoys to neighboring and friendly countries to explain Iraq's position on " smart sanctions." Earlier this month, Hussein also urged Russia <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/russia.html> to use veto against the draft resolution. Iraq has been under the international sanctions since 1990 for its invasion of neighboring Kuwait <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/kuwait.html> . **** Milosevic's Lawyers to Ask Court to Scrap Government Decree Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic's lawyers will appeal to the Constitutional Court on Monday to take measures to prohibit the government from implementing a decree on extraditing war crime suspects, the Tanjug news agency reported Monday. Toma Fila, a lawyer for the former president, was quoted as saying that the lawyers would submit a written application to the court asking it to take measures to prohibit the government from implementing the decree that could pave way for transferring Milosevic to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Milosevic, who has been jailed since April 1 on domestic charges of corruption and abuse of power, on Sunday categorically defied the government decree saying it violated the country's constitution. The decree, which was issued on Saturday and sets out legal procedures for the handover of indictees, came into force on Sunday. Yugoslavia has been under intense Western pressure, particularly from the United States <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/usa.html> , to agree to hand over Milosevic to The Hague before an international donors' conference scheduled for June 29. **** Israeli Opposition Leader Calls for Freeze on Settlement Activities Israel <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/israel.html> 's opposition leader Yossi Sarid on Monday urged the Israeli government to declare an immediate freeze on settlement activities without waiting for an end of Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. Sarid, also leader of the left Meretz Party, told the Israeli radio that an absolute quiet of the conflicts is impossible so long as Israel remains as an "occupier." "As long as we are the occupier and they (Palestinians) are the occupied, there will be no absolute quiet...therefore (Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon will need to make do with less than absolute quiet," he said. "So Sharon and his government would be well-served, here and now, before all the pressures, to prepare themselves for a peace process, in the stage, with an absolute settlement freeze without maneuvers, without tricks," he added. Both the U.S.-brokered ceasefire plan and the Mitchell report on ending Israeli-Palestinian conflicts stated that Israel must freeze its settlement activities as part of confidence-building measures for ending the conflicts. Sharon, who is on a visit to the United States <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/usa.html> , will discuss the settlement freeze with U.S. President George W. Bush. Commenting on reports that Bush would press Sharon to spell out specific commitments on the settlement freeze in their meeting, Israeli Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit said on Monday that the prime minister could not agree to any change in the settlement policy until Palestinian-linked violence ends. "As long as the present situation of confrontation with the Palestinians continues, there is no intention whatsoever of evacuating any settlement, or change the situation in the settlements," he said. Figures issued by Israel showed that it has 17 settlements in the Gaza Strip and 144 in the West Bank, and around 200,000 settlers live in the West Bank settlements alone. **** At least 35,000 Flee Ethnic Clashes in Nigeria According to an initial assessment of two of four camps set up for displaced by the ethnic clashes, 25,000 people are sheltered in the camp at Daudu and 10,000 in the grounds of the primary school at Uikpam, both of which are located in Makurdi, the capital of Benue State. "We are sending a team now to do a further assessment and to extend that to any other camps," spokesman for the International Red Cross Patrick Bawa said. Triggered by the grisly murder of a local Azeri traditional ruler, the clashes between people from the ethnic Tiv minority, who are blamed for his murder, and majority Hausa-speaking Azeri community erupted on June 12 and swept through towns and villages in the southeast of Nasarawa. The Tiv community, a minority ethnic group in Nasarawa, have since then fled to central Benue and Plateau states to escape attacks. Following the clashes, Benue State has set up four camps at Dauda, Uikpam, Tokura and Kaseyo for these Tiv refugees. In addition, two camps were reported to have been set up in Plateau State. The relations between the Tiv and the Azeri have long been strained and upsurges of unrest in the area have occurred many times in recent years, pushed by growing competition over land and age-old ethnic and political rivalries. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
