Extracts. Foreign Weapons Will Not Be Able to Hinder Reunification: Experts Military experts said Tuesday Taiwan's recent test-firing of U.S. Patriot missiles and its plans to procure foreign weapons could only inflate the arrogance of Taiwan separatists, heighten the tensions across the strait, but will fail to stop China's reunification. In the first comment from military experts on the Chinese mainland since the June 20 tests, experts also said they will not make the Chinese people waver in their determination to safeguard the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Chen Hu, a weapons expert with the "World Military Affairs," the most popular military magazine on the mainland, said the " Patriot-II" missiles are an improved version of the Patriot missiles the United States used in the Gulf War, which have all- weather, all-airspace and multi-purpose combat capability. They are also the only type out of Taiwan's missiles that have anti-missile capability, and the only anti-missile missile in the world with war experience, said Chen. The experts said the successful interception of dummy ballistic missiles by Patriot missiles does not mean they have developed mature capability against ballistic missiles. "Anti-ballistic missiles remain a worldwide problem in terms of current air defense technology," he said. He said advanced ballistic missiles could travel at a speed 10 times the velocity of sound, thus the time for the anti-missile system to issue warning and intercept would be extremely short, bringing great difficulty in intercepting. There is no mature air defense system in the world that offers effective interception capability, he added. Li Li, an expert of the Chinese People's Liberation Army University of National Defense, said the dummy missiles used by Taiwan's military are far from the performance of real ballistic missiles. Therefore, the test-firing has in no way proved that Taiwan has acquired anti-missile capability. "The legend of Patriot missiles' victory over Scud missiles in the Gulf War is only the propaganda made by the United States through mass media," said Li. "As a matter of fact, 'the Patriot missiles basically failed to produce effective interception of the Scud missiles." Hu Siyuan, associate professor with the university, said the test-firing was designed by the Taiwan authorities to increase its military capability against reunification with the mainland. Other experts said the tests also displayed the two following connotative purposes of the Taiwan authorities. The authorities attempted to bind itself on the chariot of the U.S. Theater Missile Defense System (TMD) and further increase its strength by relying on foreign forces, they said. It also aimed to send a wrong signal to the general public in Taiwan that its troops are capable of defending mainland missile attacks, said the experts. The United States side is certainly happy to test the performance of the missiles stored for a long period of time overseas, which were purchased with Taiwan taxpayers' money, according to the experts. Taiwan has become the world's largest weaponry buyer in recent years by purchasing advanced weapons from the United States and other countries, they said. It is with these foreign-made weapons and foreign backing, the Taiwan separatists are more than ever feeling safer and publicly challenging the peace across the Taiwan Straits, said the experts. They went on to say that reunification of the motherland is the common aspiration of all Chinese people, including the people of Taiwan, and the historic trend is unstoppable by any force whatsoever. **** US President to Ask Congress for More Fund to Develop Missile Defense US President George W. will ask Congress for 7.9 billion US dollars in fiscal 2002 to speed up a controversial missile defense program, Pentagon documents showed Tuesday. The program would go beyond the limited, ground-based system proposed by former President Bill Clinton, the documents said. The total is 2.2 billion dollars more than the figure included in an earlier "placeholder" defense budget, according to a memorandum approved Friday by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. Under a Clinton plan, funding would have been closer to 5 billion dollars in the fiscal year starting October 1. The documents showed the Pentagon would scrap Clinton's more cautious approach, which centered on using interceptors to be based in Alaska to try to smash missiles in mid-course. Instead, the Bush program will explore "to the fullest extent possible" land, air and space platforms to thwart missiles in all flight stages: boost, or liftoff, midcourse, and terminal. Arms control experts said that the US missile defense plan, opposed by the international community, will not only spark a new arms race, but also threaten world peace and security, and stimulate nuclear proliferation. **** Bumpy Road for Sino-US Relations American public opinion polls taken at the turn of the century show the United States will adopt a containment and engagement strategy towards China, and that Sino-US relations will witness a rough road, alternating between conflicts and co-operation in the early 21st century. A majority of Americans hold an unfavourable view of China and regards China as the greatest "threat'' to US security interests, the poll suggests. In the American public's favourability rating of countries, China comes after Russia and India, with only what the US labels as "rogue countries'' following China on the list. At the same time, most Americans believe that China is of vital importance to the United States. Americans are also divided on whether the United States should take a stronger stand or adopt a more co-operative approach towards China. The biggest controversy among the American public over China is whether the United States should retain normal trade relations or take a firm stand on China's "human rights abuses.'' When the trade issue is raised separately, Americans support trade with China. When faced a choice between trade and human rights, a majority opposes increasing trade with China. Although Americans do want to take a clear and firm stand against China's "human rights violations,'' they do not want to behave in a punitive or antagonizing fashion, or go so far as to cut off all trade. Contrary to the controversy over the issue of trade vs human rights, the American public has voiced its unequivocal opposition to the protection of Taiwan with armed forces. Of course a comprehensive analysis of the poll results should be made for a better understanding of what the public really thinks. And the form of the poll also deserves investigation. The wording of the questions directly affects the results. For the same issue, different wordings may result in different, sometimes diametrically opposed results, such as on the issue of trade vs human rights mentioned above. Media reports also exert noticeable influence on public opinions. Individual opinion is affected by educational background and income level. For example, skepticism towards PNTR (Permanent Normal Trade Relations) runs strongest among Americans with lower incomes and less education. Some implications for Sino-US relations can be drawn from the public opinion poll results. The United States will adopt a containment and engagement (congagement) strategy towards China, leaning towards containment. The US strategy towards China is based on US global strategy on the one hand, and China's foreign strategy on the other hand. At the turn of the 21st century, with a relative gain in American strength, the Americans feel more secure and confident, believing that the United States should play a more active role in the world. Hawkish US foreign policies in the recent past reflect its global strategy and its attempt to retain world leadership. In the foreseeable future, the United States will take full advantage of its superior position to adopt a hegemonic foreign policy, in an effort to realize its strategic goal. On the contrary, China's foreign strategy is to seek a peaceful external environment for its modernization, which necessitates opposing hegemony and safeguarding world peace. Clearly, the foreign strategies of the two countries are at odds with each other and the United States will regard China as a strategic adversary. US President George W. Bush's remark during the presidential campaign and Colin Powell's remark after he was nominated as Secretary of State that China is a "strategic competitor" of the United States is actually a declaration of the Bush administration's strategy towards China. However, in the trends of globalization that lead to an ever increasingly interdependent world, the United States needs China's co-operation in many transnational issues, among which terrorism and nuclear proliferation are two top foreign policy concerns and priorities of Americans. Above all, since the United States has great economic interests in China, the United States cannot afford to disengage from China and let go of the huge Chinese market. The congagement strategy towards China is basically consistent with American public opinion. Furthermore, as the polls reveal, Republicans are much more leery of China than Democrats and independents, which may mean some changes in the US China policy by the Bush administration. As Colin Powell said during his visit with departing Chinese Ambassador Li Zhaoxing, the United States does not see China "as an inevitable foe,'' believes in the one-China Policy and will follow the communiques and other obligations with regard to China, as well as the obligations to meet the "defence needs of Taiwan.'' As to the Taiwan question, the most important and the most sensitive one in Sino-US relations, both sides are well aware of each other's basic stance and bottom line. Therefore, in the near future, the US Government is unlikely to make substantive changes to its mainland-Taiwan policy. Considering American public opinion, we can infer that the United States will continue its arms sales to Taiwan, but it will also adhere to the one-China principle. The American public's opposition to US' defending Taiwan with armed forces will constrain the US Government in its decision-making. Keeping the status quo across the Taiwan Straits is most advantageous to the United States in that it entails no risk for the United States. This may not only keep the United States out of a possible military conflict with China, but also holds China in check. It can be predicted that US arms sales to Taiwan will be a major point in disputes between the two countries. The United States will continue to make use of the "human rights" issue to put pressure on China. One of the pillars of the US post-Cold-War global strategy is to promote American democracy, which includes human rights. This means that US interference in the internal affairs of other countries under the pretext of human rights has considerable public support, and vice versa, a foreign policy that ignores human rights will lose public support. The polls show that most Americans want the government to take a strong stand against China on human rights issues, even at the expense of certain economic interests. The American public is also highly prejudiced against China, regarding China as a country without human rights and fails to see the efforts and progress the Chinese Government has made in matters of human rights. This is partly due to the biased and unfavourable reports on China by the US media. Therefore, human rights issue will remain a point of conflict between the two countries. China and the United States have diametrically opposed strategies -- maintaining hegemony vs opposing hegemony. This means that there are bound to be disagreements and conflicts between the two countries, which may lead to crises. However, the two countries also share common interests. Furthermore, the international situation makes it impossible for the United States to isolate China or impose a comprehensive containment policy against China in a Cold War fashion. Therefore, the two countries have areas in which they can co-operate. Sino-US relations will develop along a rough road of co-operation and conflicts. (Editor's note: Li Qikeng is an associate professor with Jiangxi Finance & Economics University, and a PhD candidate in the American Studies Programme at Beijing Foreign Studies University; Mei Renyi is a professor and director of the American Studies Programme and in the English Department at Beijing Foreign Studies University.) **** CPC Leads China to Become Powerful, Says Zyuganov On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Gennady Zyuganov, chairman of the Russian Communist Party, said during an exclusive interview with Our Staff Reporter that today's China has become a large, influential country in the world and, it is precisely under the correct leadership of the CPC that China has scored such enormous achievements.. The interview took place in the office of Zyuganov. On behalf of the Russian Communist Party, he first extended his congratulations on the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. He said the unique reform being carried out by the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC has led China to become one of the most powerful countries in the world. The Communist Party of China has organically combined the socialist concept of value with the traditional Chinese concept of value, and effectively integrated national culture and wisdom with modern science, technology and management and has thus built China into a big power being held in esteem and filled with vigor. Zyuganov said , "China's success gained over the past 20 years tells the world how reform should be correctly carried out." He said he has been conscientiously reading the works of Deng Xiaoping, adding that anyone who wants to successfully conduct reform should earnestly read Deng Xiaoping's books which contain many useful experiences. He said China has chosen the correct road of reform: First, China has maintained the stability of political power and avoided the split of society, this is most important to any reform; second, China's reform has not only drawn on the experiences of other countries, but has also followed the principle formulated in light of the country's specific characteristics and suited to China's national condition. The Russian Party chief pointed out that socialism represents the ideals and intelligence of humankind, the noble concept of value and the fundamental interests of the masses of the people, and so it has great vitality and a bright future. Zyuganov has visited China's Beijing, Shanghai and other places. He said that the development speed of Chinese cities has made people gasp with admiration. At the end of the interview, Zyuganov disclosed that he would visit China again on invitation and that he was prepared to available himself of this opportunity to conscientiously investigate and study the successful experiences gained by the Chinese people in building socialism under the leadership of the CPC. Finally, he once again expressed his congratulations on the CPC's 80th birthday. And he expressed his belief that the Communist Party of China will certainly be able to lead the Chinese people to a better future. **** China Announces Plan for Industrial Development in Five Years China has mapped out a plan for the overall development of the industrial sector in the next five years, sources from the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC) announced Monday. Bai Rongchun, director of SETC's industry planning department, said at a press conference that the plan, based on China's 10th five-year plan for social and economic development (2001-2005), is aimed to promote the restructuring and upgrading of the industrial sector. It is also a component of China's overall plan for development in the five-year period. The overall plan also includes an outline plan for social and economic development, and special plans for major issues that are crucial to the national economy. The five-year plan covers 13 industries, namely machinery, motor vehicles, metallurgy, non-ferrous metals, oil, petrochemicals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, coal, building materials, light industry, textiles and power. "The plan is instructive, rather than compulsory," said Bai, adding that the role of the government is on macro-control and coordination, while enterprises are the main body of the restructuring. Earlier this year, China axed nine state administrations under the SETC to streamline the government, and announced that the administrative functions of the administrations would transfer to the SETC. "The announcement of the plan is crucial to SETC's transfer of administrative functions," said Bai Rongchun, who added that the Commission is striving to change from a government organization that mainly focuses on releasing files and granting approvals to one that guides enterprises with state policies. The plan highlights the development of equipment manufacturing, the improvement of energy resources and raw materials, and the provision of consumer goods that will improve people's living standard. **** Land Contract Law Aims to Protect Farmers Interests China will pass legislation designed to ensure that farmers rights to use land under contract will not be changed for at least 30 years. A draft law on contracted use of land in rural areas was tabled Tuesday at the 22nd session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's legislature. According to the rules of the draft law, the term of the contract of land use on a household basis in rural areas should be "at least" 30 years. China began to adopt the contract responsibility system based on household management in rural areas more than 20 years ago. Under the system, farmer households struck contracts with rural authorities to use and manage land for their own benefits. In 1993, the government decided to extend the term of such land use contracts by another 30 years. However, some local authorities arbitrarily shortened the term of contracts and frequently changed the ownership of land use rights with administrative decrees. In order to address this problem, the draft law stipulates that ownership of the rights of land use cannot be changed before the expiration of the contract. The draft law stipulates that within the valid term of contracts, the contractors cannot take back their land and that the farmers can legally transfer, re-contract, put into share-holding ventures and exchange the rights of land use. The draft law also recognizes the existing land use contracts that farmer households signed with rural authorities according to government regulations. Liu Suinian, vice chairman of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee of the NPC, said the passage of the law will have great significance for promoting agricultural development, increasing farmers' incomes and maintaining social stability in rural areas. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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