Extracts.
China-South Africa Bilateral Commission Launched
Chinese President Jiang Zemin and President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki
agreed Monday to bolster friendly and cooperative relations to full scale
and in various sectors between the two countries. Jiang and Mbeki, who is on
a state visit to China, made the pledge when they jointly presided over the
first session of the China-South Africa Bi-National Commission.
The commission was launched in accordance with the principles of a
declaration signed by Mbeki and Jiang in Pretoria, South Africa, during
Jiang's visit there last year.
Political Relations
Jiang spoke highly of the development of political relations between China
and South Africa since the two countries established diplomatic ties some
four years ago.
The two countries have intensified discussions and cooperation in
international affairs through frequent high-level political exchanges, Jiang
said.
The Chinese side appreciates the South African government's adherence to the
"one-China" policy and support for China's stand on national reunification.
Economic Relations
Jiang stressed that continuous development of economic and trade relations
between the two countries has made South Africa China's biggest trade
partner in Africa, and China's investment in South Africa has been
increasing steadily.
Following China's accession to the World Trade Organization, the trade and
economic relations between the two countries will be further promoted, and
their mutual complementary advantages will be brought to full play, Jiang
noted.
With joint efforts between the two governments, the bilateral relations and
cooperation in all fields will be elevated to a higher level in the new
century under the principles of equality, mutual benefit, common prosperity
and with focus on substantial effects, Jiang said.
Bilateral Commission to Promote Overall Relations
Mbeki said that the launching of the bilateral commission is a historic
moment in the bilateral relations, and will play an important role in
promoting cooperative relations in all aspects.
The South African president also briefed Jiang on a new partnership program
for the development of African nations. He said that the African nations are
determined, by implementing this program, to solve their problems of war and
underdevelopment through strengthening solidarity among themselves and
through their own efforts, and with help from outside, to realize the goal
of peace and development on the African continent. In addition, he expressed
the hope that China would support this program.
China Backs S. Africa
Jiang said that China backs all the efforts of the African nations in
pursuit of peace and development. He also spoke highly of the role of South
Africa in formulating the program.
After their talks, both Presidents attended a press conference on the
launching of the new commission. The two countries also signed a treaty on
extradition and notes were exchanged between foreign ministers of the two
governments on the modalities of the China-South Africa Bilateral
Commission.
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki
Personal
* Date of birth: 18 June 1942, Idutywa, Queenstown, one of four children
of Mr Govan and Mrs Epainette Mbeki
* Marital status: Married to Zanele Dlamini (1974)
Current Positions
* President of the Republic of South Africa (since 14 June 1999)
* President of the ANC (since 1997)
People like to identify Thabo Mbeki as an independent and original thinker,
but one who remains close to the more visible leadership. His profile as a
policy shaper and mediator in the movement has been built up over a lifetime
of involvement. "I was born into the struggle," he says. His birth took
place in Idutywa, Transkei, in June 1942.
At the 50th Conference of the ANC at Mafikeng, from 16-20 1997, Thabo Mbeki
was elected as the new President of the African National Congress.
Thabo Mbeki was elected President of South Africa on 14 June 1999 and was
inaugurated as President on 16 June 1999.
****
Falun Gong Devastates Believers' Lives: Spanish Media.
China's Falun Gong is "one of the world's most dangerous doomsday cults,"
said an article with the title: "Falun Gong, Buddhism, Suicide," which was
carried in the Spanish magazine, Interview. Journalist Andres Sanchez, the
author, pointed out in his article that the Falungong cult is a "deceitful"
organization preaching Doomsday, and more and more relatives of Falungong
followers are charging it with wrecking its believers.
The article was written by Interview's journalist Andres Sanchez, who
recently visited China.
Falungong Notorious for Habit of Seeking Death
In his article, Sanchez cited living examples of how believers have become
enthralled by the Falun Gong and often commit suicide as directed by the
doomsday cult.
The article said the cult is notorious for its habit of seeking death. Li
Hongzhi, the leader of the Falun Gong, always encourages his believers to
"leave the dustbin-like world" by killing themselves by hanging, jumping
from precipices, lying on the rails, cutting their arteries or taking
poison.
What's Behind Li's Promise
The article claims the view that behind the suicide and murder cases hides
the disciple's blind believe in Lin Hongzhi, the ringleader of the doomsday
cult "Falun Gong".
The article relates how Li Hongzhi made his career as the founder of the
cult, and points out that "Li Hongzhi is not a prophet, nor disciplinarian,
to say nothing of being a Buddhist monk."
Behind the promise of Li to his followers lies his evil intention to amass
wealth. Some followers cut their bellies with sharp tools to search for the
so called "Fa Lun" which leads only to unfortunate deaths.
Efforts of Chinese Government Praised
The Falungong cult is a "deceitful" organization preaching Doomsday, and
more and more relatives of Falungong followers are charging it with wrecking
its believers, the article said, adding that the fanaticism of Falungong has
dropped sharply in China since the Chinese government declared the doomsday
cult an illegal organization and issued an arrest warrant for Li Hongzhi.
Backgrounder:
As other evil cults in the world, Falun Gong not only incites its followers
to commit suicides, but also instigates them to kill or injure others, thus
bringing disasters to the victims and deep sorrow to the victims' families.
By February this year, the destructive cult has caused 1,660 deaths of its
practitioners. In detail
The Chinese government is reeducating Falun Gong practitioners who have
violated relevant laws within China's legal framework. A number of Falun
Gong followers are put under reeducation through labor, not simply because
they practiced Falun Gong, but because they have committed slight crimes of
violating law and order.
****
China's Firm Determination to Fight Against Corruption.
China's punishment of four ministerial-level officials within a month in the
latter half of this year has shown its firm stand in the fight against
corruption, which has in turn heartened the general public.
Two Officials Sentenced to Death for Corruption
High-ranking Officials Punished
>From September 26 to October 22, Li Jiating, former governor of southwest
China's Yunnan Province, and Shi Zhaobin,former deputy secretary of the
Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) as well as
former Party secretary of Xiamen City, Fujian, were expelled from the Party
for corruption and were handed over to the courts for trial.
During the same period, Mu Suixin, former deputy governor of Liaoning
Province and former mayor of Shenyang City, Liaoning, and Li Jizhou, former
deputy minister of Public Security, were both given death sentences with
reprieves for taking bribes and dereliction of duty.
Determination to Fight Against Corruption
Ren Jianming, head of the office for research on corruption with Qinghua
University, says the phenomenon of an increased number of high-ranking
officials being prosecuted and tried this year has shown that China is
determined to fight against corruption.
The clear-cut attitude of the government in the fight against corruption has
pleased ordinary Chinese people. A worker with the Environmental Protection
Bureau of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region says: "The fall of some
high-ranking officials shows the Party and the central government have been
taking determined action against corruption."
Top Legislator on Strengthening Supervision to Curb Corruption
Experts believe that corruption is a common global problem. Three
generations of the CPC's leading collectives, with Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping
and Jiang Zemin at the helm, have always paid great attention to the fight
against corruption.
The sixth plenary session of the 15th CPC Central Committee lists
intensifying and improving the work style of the Party and fighting against
corruption as major elements in the construction of a ruling party.
Efforts Fruitful
An official with the Chinese Ministry of Supervision admits that China has
achieved satisfactory results in its fight against corruption.
People are showing more confidence in the government's efforts to fight
corruption and have been actively participating in the drive.
Senior Party Leader on Combating Corruption
Statistics show that since last year hundreds of thousands of Chinese have
reported cases of corruption through various channels. With the support of
Party committees, the media have also moved in to step up supervision of the
anti-corruption drive.
In the meantime, more books, movies and TV plays featuring anti- corruption
are being produced and have become popular. Corruption and anti-corruption
are often talked about in the street.
Cao Qingze, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline
Inspection of the CPC, says the number of major cases being brought to trial
have frightened corruptive elements and have also served as a deterrent to
others.
Anti-corruption Drive
"The central government has taken a range of effective measures, including
not allowing the army or law-enforcing organizations to be engaged in
economic or trade activities, and Party and government organizations are
being ordered to disassociate themselves from money-making businesses. These
measures have played an important role in punishing corruption," said Cao.
This is the first year of the Tenth Five-Year Plan (2001-2005) period. To
ensure a smooth implementation of the plan, China will continue its
anti-corruption drive in a more determined and lasting manner in the years
to come.
Liu Liying, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline
Inspection of the CPC, said at the tenth international anti-corruption
conference that China has been making efforts to curb various kinds of
corruption, and has made successful innovations in key places where
corruption can easily occur in order to prevent and stamp out corruption at
its source.
****
Iraq Gives Priority to Arab Countries in Trade Dealings: Minister.
Iraq has given and will continue to grant priority to Arab countries in its
trade dealings, Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammad Mehdi Salah said on Monday.
Iraq has given and will continue to grant priority to Arab countries in its
trade dealings, Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammad Mehdi Salah said on Monday.
In a statement to the official Iraqi News Agency (INA), Salah said since the
United Nations oil-for-food program was put into effect in December 1996,
Iraq has dealt half of its foreign trade, or 14.5 billion U.S. dollars, with
Arab countries.
Under the U.N. oil-for-food deal, Egypt has been Iraq's largest Arab trade
partner with a volume of 3.5 billion dollars, Jordan ranks the second with
2.8 billion dollars, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Syria with
trade volumes standing at 2.6 billion and 1.5 billion dollars respectively,
Salah said.
Overall, Russia remains Iraq's top trade partner with bilateral trade
exchange boasting 5.5 billion dollars, he added.
The external trade of Iraq, under stringent U.N. sanctions since its 1990
invasion of Kuwait, has been limited within the framework of the U.N.
oil-for-food program.
The program allows sanctions-hit Iraq to sell oil in return for
U.N.-monitored imports of food, medicine and other essentials to offset the
impact of the sanctions.
The minister said that the program has been turned into a program paying for
the U.N. expenses, war compensations, and balancing oil prices at the
international market, rather than easing the hardship of the Iraqi people.
Salah told the INA that since December 1996, a total of 18 billion dollars
have been deducted by the U.N. to cover its activities and pay war
compensations, while only 15 billion dollars worth of humanitarian goods
arrived in Iraq, in sharp comparison with Iraq's oil export totalled at 50
billion dollars.
To make the situation worse, humanitarian contracts valued at 6. 36 billion
dollars have been put on hold by the U.N. Sanctions Committee, in which the
U.S. and Britain are key members, Salah said.
The contracts Iraq signed with other countries under the U.N. oil-for-food
deal must be vetted and approved by the U.N. Sanctions Committee.
Monday marked the fifth anniversary of Iraq's resumption of oil outflow
after a halt for more than six years.
On December 10, 1996, Iraq's oil export via the Turkish Mediterranean port
of Ceyhan was resumed following the long interruption since August 6, 1990
when the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on the country.
Iraq has often chastised the oil-for-food program for failing to meet the
humanitarian needs of its 22 million people.
Nevertheless, Iraq on December 1 accepted the rollover of the program, of
which its 11th phase was extended by the U.N. Security Council for another
six months to May 30, 2002.
****
Dow Index Falls Below 10,000.
Wall Street stocks ended lower Monday, with the Dow index falling below
10,000 mark and the Nasdaq composite breaking its 2,000 resistance level, as
investors continued to take their profits one day ahead of the Federal
Reserve's meeting.
Wall Street stocks ended lower Monday, with the Dow index falling below
10,000 mark and the Nasdaq composite breaking its 2,000 resistance level, as
investors continued to take their profits one day ahead of the Federal
Reserve's meeting.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 128.01 points, or 1.27 percent, to
9,921.45 after declining 49.68 points on Friday. The index topped 10,000
benchmark last week for the first time in three months.
Broader stock indicators were down. The technology heavy Nasdaq composite
index fell 29.14 points, or 1.44 percent, to 1,992.12 after surpassing 2,000
last week for the first time since August. The Standard & Poor's 500 index
lost 18.38 points, or 1.59 percent, to 1,139.93.
The market fell in most of the session amid investors' profit- taking
activity after the Dow index gained 2 percent, the Nasdaq composite soared
4.7 percent, and the Standard & Poor's index advanced 1.7 percent last week,
as they waited to see if the Federal Reserve would lower interest rates
further.
Analysts hope the Fed will decide on Tuesday to reduce its key federal funds
rate by 0.25 percentage point to 1.75 percent, the 11th cut in the year to
revive the economy, which now was in a recession after its ten-year
expansion. But they feared that a downbeat assessment of the economy by the
Fed' Chairman Alan Greenspan would accompany its interest rates cut.
Only four of the Dow's 30 components closed higher, with Procter & Gamble
rising 1.7 percent to 76.72 dollars, but Hewlett- Packard lost 52 cents, or
2.2 percent, to 23.00 dollars on reports that its largest shareholder will
vote against its planned merger with Compaq Computer. Compaq fell 1.62
dollars, or 14 percent, to 9.70 dollars.
Among other technology stocks, Oracle sank 49 cents to 15.42 dollars, Intel
slipped 29 cents to 32.95 dollars, Cisco Systems skid 42 cents to 20.74
dollars, Microsoft lost 77 cents to 67.06 dollars, and Sun Microsystems was
off 8 cents at 13.31 dollars.
The NYSE index closed down 8.95 points at 578.25, the American Stock
Exchange index declined 4.50 points to 819.22, and the Russell 2000 index of
smaller companies slipped 7.03 points to 474. 17.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 9-to-4 margin on the New York
Stock Exchange, with 967 up, 2,161 down and 214 unchanged.
NYSE volume decreased to 1.19 billion shares from 1.24 billion in the
previous session.
****
Powell Fails to Win Over Putin.
Russia and the United States agreed yesterday to draw up new accords on
strategic arms reduction before a visit by President Bush to Moscow next
year. But in talks with President Putin, Colin Powell, the US Secretary of
State, failed to break the impasse over Moscow's objections to a US missile
defence shield.
Russia and the United States agreed yesterday to draw up new accords on
strategic arms reduction before a visit by President Bush to Moscow next
year. But in talks with President Putin, Colin Powell, the US Secretary of
State, failed to break the impasse over Moscow's objections to a US missile
defence shield.
At talks a month ago with Mr Putin and Igor Ivanov, the Russian Foreign
Minister, Mr Bush said that the US would cut operational nuclear warheads
from 7,000 to 1,700-2,200 over the next decade. Mr Putin said Russia would
respond in kind.
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