Week of March 14 , 2003The U.S. and China This Week
DOMESTIC: Premier Zhu Rongji Opens Annual CongresOutgoing Premier Zhu Rongji opened the annual National People’s Congress with a speech both extolling the economic progress made under his tenure, and encouraging even more radical capitalist-style reforms. He focused on the emerging problem of income disparity between the rich and the poor by acknowledging “that there are still some outstanding problems in China's economic and social life," and demanding that China “must exert a great deal of effort to resolve the problems of back pay for workers and overburdened farmers.” A National People’s Congress delegate praised Zhu, saying “When Zhu Rongji first took office, China was in a very difficult time: we had lay-offs, severe floods, the Asia financial crisis, but the government faced them with confidence and achieved a lot." The People’s Congress is set to last 13 days and is expected to be the first orderly transfer of power in China’s communist history. In addition to Zhu stepping down, President Jiang Zemin is expected to shift the presidency to Hu Jintao.
INTERNATIONAL: GE and Boeing Pay Fines for Tech Transfer to ChinaHughes Electronic Corporation, a unit of General Motors, and Boeing Satellite Systems agreed March 4th to pay a record $32 million dollar fine and appoint a “separate third party” to monitor compliance after the State Department accused them of 123 counts of exporting controlled data to China. These transfers of rocket and satellite data occurred in the 1990’s and contributed to China’s ability to successfully launch satellite rockets. The State Department administers these export laws due to the close relationship between launching satellite rockets and launching missiles. The companies issued a joint statement in which they expressed “regret for not having obtained licenses that should have been obtained, " and acknowledged “the nature and seriousness of the offenses charged by the Department of State, including the harm such offenses could cause to the security and foreign policy interests of the United States." In 1999 the United States banned the use of American satellites for Chinese aerospace use, and in 2000 China agreed not export ballistic missile technology that would be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
Last updated: 17 January 2001 |
