The Gulf of Tonkin issue is only a small part
of a larger regional problem surrounding claims made by China and many
Southeast Asian nations on sovereignty over islands
in the South China Sea. Even after the agreement is signed, the
two countries will likely remain at odds over
other mutually claimed islands in the Paracel and Spratly islands.
In response to this development, China’s assistant trade minister Long
Yongtu expressed appreciation to Japan for two
decades of overseas development aid (ODA) assistance, which has totaled
24 billion dollars since 1979. He also stated
that China had a growing need for financial aid, especially in the
agriculture sector and efforts to protect the
environment, to provide stability in China.
Zhang Weiqing, director of the State Family Planning
Commission noted that maintaining China’s huge population was
extremely important in order to raise the nation’s
living standards and prevent poverty. “It would be unthinkable for
a
state which accounts for on fifth of the world’s
population not to have this family planning program…China would
forever stay in poverty and the poverty of China
will be a disaster for the world,?Zhang said.
Zhang admitted the two-decade-old policy has been
peppered with problems and abuses. These include infanticide of
baby girls by couples seeking a male heir and
coercive family planning workers who have forced abortions on women
and wrecked the homes of those who violated the
policy.
However, the white paper noted more incentives,
rather than punishment, will be offered to couples to have only one
child, including bonuses, stronger social security
system and retirement funds. Wide spread education will also play
a
significant role in helping people realize the
financial benefits to a smaller family.
Without the one-child policy, the document also
said, China’s population today would have 300 million more people.
Currently, the populations stands at about 1.26
billion and is expected to reach 1.33 billion by 2005, 1.4 billion by 2010
and finally peak to 1.6 billion by 2050.
Ethnic and religious tensions between Han Chinese
and Hui Muslims began September, in Yangxin, after a vendor put
up a religiously insulting sign offering “Islamic
pork? Violence was triggered when Muslims removed the sign, leaving
the vendor and another Han Chinese dead.
Since then, a feud between Muslims and the Han Chinese community has
occurred over the past three months.
Last week Tuesday, around 2000 Muslims from Mengcun
county in Hebei province traveled to neighboring Shangdong
province to support fellow Muslims in Yangxin.
According to witnesses, Shangdong’s paramilitary police set up three
roadblocks in anticipation of the group’s arrival.
After letting the Muslims through the first roadblock, the police
opened fire when they reached the second one,
killing six people and wounding more than 40.
As Muslim communities around Mengcun county conducted
funerals for the dead, security was tightened, while officials
urged angry demonstrators not to over react about
the incident. Ethnic tensions and violence remains one of the
Chinese government’s sensitive domestic challenges.
The Chinese government is increasingly weary of
the growing appeal for religion and the loss in faith in the Chinese
government and communist party. The major
crackdowns on the Falun Gong, underground Protestants, and other
groups over the past year reflect the increasing
official concern. While the Chinese government justifies these
crackdowns on the basis that they are protecting
people from superstitious and harmful cults, the real reason is thought
to be the growing fear of mobilized organization
which operates in defiance of official policies and preferences.
In the past five years, the popularity of Christmas
has seen a boom, with churches renting hotels to accommodate
numbers of curious people who want to participate
in the religious celebrations. However, for most Chinese Christmas
seems to be a time just to have some fun, more
for personal enjoyment with friends rather than the family holiday it is
in
the West.
Last updated: 12 January 2001
