Week of July 6, 2001The U.S. and China This Week
DOMESTIC: Chinese Entrepreneurs Can Join Communist PartyThe Party banned businessmen from joining after the Tiananmen Square incident of June 1989. The theoretician said the ban occurred because the leaders of private companies were seen as “exploiters? and their employees as being taken advantage of. Private businessmen also played a large role in the latter stages of the Tiananmen incident, organizing motor cycle-riding entrepreneurs who informed leading protesters of the movements of the military. “This is a path-breaking speech in redefining
the role of the party and its relationship to the rest of society,?commented
Dali Yang, a political science professor at the University of Chicago.
“It will be seen as a fundamental document setting the tone for rebuilding
the party.?#060;/font>
Yang said the CCP could prolong its dominance
for a long time if it could “accommodate the best and brightest and most
economically influential and at the same time curb corruption??But Lin
Yanzhi, deputy secretary of Jilin province and the son of a revolutionary
leader, wrote in the Pursuit of Truth magazine, “If these people really
join the party they will use their strength to first seize power within
the party and then to change the party’s nature.?#060;/font>
Private firms make up more than 20 percent of
China’s $1 trillion gross domestic product. The Party reform package maintains
that the Party, made up of 64.5 million members, should be representative
of all walks of life in China, not just the proletariat.
INTERNATIONAL: North Korean Asylum Seekers Allowed Into South Koreagranted entry into South Korea, where they are seeking asylum. “China had no objection to their departure,?said Colin Mitchell, chief representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Beijing. The family left China June 29 and went to Singapore before arriving in South Korea June 30 to lessen the embarrassment for the North Koreans. They also spent a night in transit in the Philippines, which refused to formally admit them into the country out of deference to North Korea. China has an agreement with North Korea to send back North Korean refugees.
It is estimated that between 150,000-300,000 such individuals reside in
The seven refugees now in South Korea had been living underground in
China since 1999. A Japanese journalist said there were 10 others
in the group
North Korea lambasted the U.N. for its handling of the refugees. “The
UNHCR official illegally dealt with the issue ?beyond its authority, (and)
thus laid
South Korean political parties welcomed the family into the country.
The main opposition Grand National Party released a statement calling on
the
DOMESTIC: Dispute Arises Over Death of Falun Gong Prisonersaccording to Xinhua news agency. The official agency reported Tang invited Powell to visit China following an ASEAN Regional Forum meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam at the end of July. Tang reportedly told Powell he was glad U.S.-China
relations “have seen improvement recently after experiencing difficulties?
he was most likely referring
Tang also was said to have told Powell that China
was readying for October’s meeting between Chinese President Jiang Zemin
and U.S. President George
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Last updated: 16 July 2001 |
