Extracts. Qian's 7 Measures Evoke Hail and Worry on Taiwan Island On the morning of July 12, Chinese Vice-Premier Qian Qichen, in Zhongnanhai (seat of Chinese Party and government), met with the Taiwan New Party "Mainland Affairs Council" Delegation. According to media reports, after talks began, Qian Qichen indicated that in developing cross-Strait relations, the Chinese mainland advocates upholding the "one, two, three" principle, i.e., "one China, negotiations between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits, and starting the 'three exchanges' (exchange of mail, trade and air and shipping services) as soon as possible". **** Former Falun Gong Addicts Visit Anti-Cult Exhibition "I have never thought that Falun Gong could be so shockingly cruel." "It reminds me of my own bitter experience." "I hope that the exhibition can make any person of benevolence keep a cool head." These were remarks made by former Falun Gong addicts, who committed minor offenses and were detained in re-education-through- labor centers, after they visited an anti-cult exhibition Saturday afternoon. At 5 p.m., 100 Falun Gong members from two of Beijing <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/beijing.html> 's re- education-through-labor centers arrived at the downtown Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution after hours of travel from the suburbs to visit the exhibition named "Against Cult and For Civilization." The story behind each picture or each thing on show is bloodcurdling. There are pictures of some Falun Gong followers burning themselves, a young student who committed suicide, a mother killing her innocent daughter, all just to "achieve nirvana " or "go to heaven" as preached by Li Hongzhi. The group was quiet in front of the display of these shocking cases, and their faces became more and more sullen when the stories were unveiled. Dai Jianhai, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Re- Education-Through-Labor Bureau, said all these former Falun Gong addicts have been helped out of the "mental control" of the Falun Gong cult preaching and the visit is expected to further consolidate their educational result. "The exhibition makes me see more clearly the evil nature of the Falun Gong cult, but I never thought that it could be so shockingly cruel," said Li Shuying in her 30s. "One of my fellow practitioners has gone insane for practicing Falun Gong, and now I realize that the stories on display here could happen to anyone of us," she said. The former postal department worker said that she was arrested for spreading flyers which said that more than 40 kinds of torture are used in re-education-through-labor camps. The re-education-through-labor system is an administrative measure against minor crimes exempted from prosecution. The sentences, out of strict legal procedures, range from one to three years. "I thought I was fighting for justice then, but when I was sent to the camp myself, I came to know that I had been wrong and fooled," she said. He Jinghong, an IT technician, said the exhibition reminds him of his own experience of being intoxicated in the Falun Gong theories. "I feel lucky that I'm out of it," he said. "I didn't know the truth before I was transformed," a woman in her 40s said, "I am rather frightened by what I was when I was controlled by the Falun Gong." She patted the shoulder of a woman police officer accompanying her and said that "police officers have been a great help to me." At the conclusion of the 90-minute visit, many wrote down their message on the opinion booklet: "Break away from Cult and Treasure Human Life," "Wipe out Falun Gong and Save Lives," etc. **** Vice President Stresses Party Leadership in Tibet Chinese vice president Hu Jintao said Sunday in Lhasa that the best way to manage Tibetan affairs is to follow the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Hu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, asked officials working in the Tibet Autonomous Region to study President Jiang Zemin's July 1 speech on the Party's history and its leading role in an effort to build a new Tibet in the 21st century. After hearing a report delivered by the Tibetan regional government, Hu noted that Jiang Zemin's speech is focused on the importance of emancipating minds and seeking truth from facts, and that both endeavors can serve as powerful weapons for the Party to be successful in its work in Tibet. He urged officials in Tibet to study the speech and spread the instructions through the Party schools and mass media in the region. Hu also said that the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet have been a success. Hu called for carrying out the policies set at the 4th Tibet work conference held by the CPC central committee and the State Council last month. He said that the work in Tibet is so important that specific measures should be taken to solve key problems. A scientific attitude should be adopted, state funding must used judiciously, and the assistance provided by other parts of China must be treasured, Hu added. According to Hu, every project to be carried out in Tibet must be thoroughly studied beforehand to ensure quality. Hu noted that special attention should be paid to the improvement of Party grass-roots organizations in rural areas. Hu is leading a central government delegation attending the celebration for the 50th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet. On Saturday, deputy head of the delegation Wang Zhongyu visited Sham Nam prefecture of Tibet and sent the local government a banner bearing the words "congratulating the 50th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet" written by Chinese president Jiang Zemin. **** Iran Warns Against US Missile Program-Induced Arms Race Iran on Sunday warned against a new round of arms race, to be triggered by the proposed missile defense program of the United States. The US move to go ahead with its missile defense plan "is a step toward disturbing the world strategic balance," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said. The US justification of the so-called National Missile Defense (NMD) system was "unfounded and exaggerated," Asefi was quoted as saying by Iran's official IRNA news agency. The US says that the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, signed in 1972 with the former Soviet Union, is out-dated, claiming that it needs a missile defense shield in case of any attacks by what it terms as "rogue states." Asefi said that Washington is, in fact, trying to "dominate the world as a unique power" through such military measures. He called for an "immediate end" to the US plan, which he said is pushing the world to the verge of arms race. In the year designated by the United Nations as the "year of dialog among civilizations," all governments should conduct such dialogs through peaceful means, he said. The US conducted a fourth test for the controversial NMD system on July 14. The U.S. military described the test as " successful," pledging more tests in the coming years. The plan has caused widespread concern, even among many of the U.S. NATO allies, who also fear that the NMD would spark nuclear proliferation. **** Iran Protests "Unauthorized" Exploration of Caspian Oil Iran expressed strong objection on Sunday to what it called "unauthorized" exploration studies in the oil-rich Caspian Sea, warning any such moves are "illegal." The official IRNA news agency quoted a statement of the Iranian Oil Ministry as saying that it protests prospecting by foreign companies in Iran's 20 percent sector of the Caspian Sea. The warning came a day after Iran summoned Azerbaijan's charge d'affaires in Tehran to protest plans by the state-run oil company of Azerbaijan, Socar, to carry out oil exploration studies with unidentified foreign companies at the Alborz oil field "in Iran's sector of the Caspian Sea." Iran is estimated to have the world's third largest reserves of oil and gas in its sector of the Caspian Sea, after the Persian Gulf and Siberia. "The (Iranian) authorities will stop the prospecting activities of any company in the mentioned (Iran-owned) sector and the Oil Ministry will no more enter into a contract with such companies," the ministry said in the statement, adding that "any contract signed with other countries in the sector (which is owned by Iran) is invalid." The Caspian Sea is also shared by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. Iran has pushed for division of the sea into five equal sectors. But Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan contend that the sea floor should be divided into national sectors, which would leave Iran with the smallest slice. Last June, the five littoral states held their fourth meeting of deputy foreign ministers in the Azerbaijan's capital of Baku, where they agreed that bilateral or trilateral agreement in the absence of the collective consensus will not be effective. The question of how to divide the resource-rich Caspian Sea is supposed to be on top of the agenda of a summit of the five littoral countries in October. The summit has been postponed several times since last April. **** Sharon Vows to Keep "Restraint" Despite Criticism Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed on Sunday that his government would keep the self- declared policy of "restraint" regarding clashes with the Palestinians. Addressing a meeting of his Likud Party Central Committee in Tel Aviv, Sharon said that Israel would refrain from launching massive attacks against the Palestinians. He was interrupted repeatedly by yelling and shouting from Likud members, who urged his government to take more vigorous measures against the Palestinians and "restore Israel's security." Sharon stressed that his government has two options to deal with the violence, which has been rocking the region since last September and left more than 600 people dead, most of them Palestinians. One of the options is to undertake a massive attack against the Palestinian National Authority, led by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, he said. But obviously Sharon did not think that it is the "right path." He said that "the second option is to act differently," namely fast reactions to "Palestinian attacks," active defense measures, including target killing and kidnapping of Palestinian activists, and urging Arafat to stop violence. But observers said that the second option has few differences with the current strategy adopted by the Sharon government. Sharon said that in his recent discussions with world leaders, he has made it clear that "in return for a genuine peace, we will be prepared to make extensive concessions, but we will never be prepared to relinquish anything with regard to the security of Israel and the security of its citizens." Sharon's speech, televised by Israeli Channel One television, was repeatedly interrupted by Likud extremists, who urged Sharon to oust Arafat. "Yelling and shouting would never hurt anyone, not terrorism and certainly not me ... You are shouting and I have to deal with terrorism," Sharon said, retorting the right-wing members. Before Sharon's speech, the atmosphere at the Likud Central Committee meeting was already tense as former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched attacks against Sharon in a speech. Netanyahu was defeated by former Labor Prime Minister Ehud Barak in the 1999 elections, after which Netanyahu left politics. Sharon succeeded Netanyahu as Likud leader and won the prime ministerial election over Barak last February. Shortly before the election, Netanyahu announced his return to politics but decided not to take part in the election. It was the first time Sharon and Netanyahu appeared at the same stage since the February election. In his speech, Netanyahu reminded his party colleagues that he was sceptical of the Oslo peace process with the Palestinians from the very beginning. He claimed that he issued warnings at that time that "the Oslo Accord will create an infrastructure for terror. It will allow the Palestinians to bring mortars, anti-aircraft missiles ..." Netanyahu severely criticized Sharon's policy of restraint, saying that "the restraint only encouraged terror and brought about more demands from the international community." He also hinted that the national unity government, led by Sharon, is actually led by his coalition ally Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, interim leader of the left-wing Labor Party. However, he said that he supports the national unity government, "but a government with a Likud policy." Netanyahu also expressed pessimism over a diplomatic end to the violence. "Is it possible to reduce the terror? Yes, it is possible. Is it possible to end the conflict? To my regret, apparently not," he asserted. Although Netanyahu opened his remarks by saying that his criticism was nothing personal against Sharon, a scuffle still broke out between supporters of Sharon and Netanyahu in the Central Committee. Netanyahu hopes that Sunday's Likud meeting would give him political strength and momentum that will greatly hasten his return to the Likud leadership and the prime minister's office. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
