Week of February 9, 2001The U.S. and China This Week
U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS: Senator Lugar Highlights Importance of China to U.S.attentive to our relations with China now, as we would be if we were in a crisis situation.?He maintained that for now, what he deemed the current U.S. policy of “cautious engagement?of China is the best one to bring about cooperation. But he said the U.S. needs to convince China to be more stringent towards exports and increase its commitment to the Missile Technology Control Regime, for otherwise China will be strengthening the position in America of those who support stringent sanctions against it. Lugar said that the greater China is engaged through trade, foreign investment and the WTO, the more likely it will be to act responsibly. Lugar also suggested that the U.S. should sponsor and support a resolution condemning China’s human rights abuses at the spring meeting of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. He said the new administration should be against the use of force to resolve the Taiwan issue and should oppose a unilateral steps toward independence by Taiwan. He added that the U.S. should make clear that it will assist Taiwan in the event of an unprovoked attack by China.
DOMESTIC: Beijing Urges Hong Kong to Ban Falun GongFalun Gong, saying that no group can “use Hong Kong as an anti-China base.?The statement, carried by the official Chinese Xinhua news agency, maintained Falun Gong in Hong Kong had “already stripped away their pretensions to be non-political, non-anti-government.?#060;/font> On February 3, Hong Kong Executive Councilor Nellie
Fong Wong Kut-man said Falun Gong should be banned on
The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s statement accused
Falun Gong of tarnishing the “one country, two systems?principle as
Falun Gong is banned in mainland China. There
are more than 10,000 Falun Gong members in Chinese labor camps and
DOMESTIC: Chinese Attack on Falun Gong Draws Internal Criticismincluding Communist Party officials, are becoming critical. A recent essay in the Liberation Army Daily, the official army newspaper, declared that “Western anti-Chinese forces have spared no effort to engage in ideological infiltration to achieve their goal of overturning our socialist system and subverting our state.?It added, “How closely this chimes with Li Hongzhi’s political ambitions!?Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, now lives in New York. An article in the Legal Daily referred to Falun Gong members as “running dogs of foreign anti-Chinese forces.?The Liberation Army Daily piece, referring to Li, also said that “Any scum who betrays the interests of the state and people will ultimately never escape a despicable end of disgrace and ruin and ten thousand years of infamy.? One Communist Party official was quoted in the New York Times as saying
that “The way they’ve [the government]
INTERNATIONAL: Dutch Foreign Minister Cancels Trip To China
According to Beijing-based diplomats, China could face difficulties
if others follow Van Aartsen’s example. A Falun
Meanwhile, former Indian chief justice P.N. Bhagwati, one of two U.N.
delegates visiting Hong Kong to assess the
INTERNATIONAL: China Expresses Concern As India Grants Refugee Status to Karmapa LamaKarmapa Lama, to whom India has granted refugee status. “The Indian government has clearly expressed that it will not allow the Karmapa to engage in any anti-Chinese activities, nor will it allow any foreign force to use him to engage in such activities,?the foreign ministry maintained. It said it hoped India would stick to such a policy. In January 2000, at age 14, the Karmapa Lama fled across the snow-capped
Himalayas from China to Dharamsala,
DOMESTIC: Tibetan Farmer Dies in Chinese Prisonto the Tibet Information Network (TIN). Tsering Wangdrag, who was in his 30s, was arrested after being involved in a protest against the arrest of Sonam Phuntsog, an assistant of Phuntsog’s and another monk in October 1999. The protest occurred in Kardze (Ganzi in Chinese), a Tibetan prefecture in Sichuan. TIN claims Tsering Wangdrag was beaten several times in custody, including at least one time to the point of unconsciousness. He was serving a sentence of three years and eight months in southwestern Sichuan province when he died in August. TIN reported the cause of death as unknown. Sonam Phuntsog remains in custody, while the other two individuals arrested with him have been released, TIN reported.
Mainland Chinese Reporters Allowed Extended Stay In TaiwanFebruary 8. Fan Liqing and Hen Binhua will stay for a month, during which time they will cover topics ranging from politics to economics to culture. “Hopefully our news coverage would help cross-strait relations move in a healthy direction,?said Fan. China and Taiwan have had civil contacts since 1987, and Taiwanese journalists have worked on rotation in mainland China for several years. In November, Taiwan decided to allow mainland Chinese journalists to work on monthly rotation in the province. An official from Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said the mainland
reporters will be allowed to cover all press
Last updated: 12 January 2001 |
