| Korean Peninsular's denuclearization
goal acknowledged in 6-party talks
2005-02-18 People’s Daily
The denuclearization goal of the Korean Peninsula has been acknowledged
during the six-party talks, and has been accepted by the international
community, said Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan in Beijing
Thursday. "China hopes to resume the six-party talks at
an early date through the efforts of the all relevant parties,"
Kong told a regular news conference. The
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) issued a statement
on Feb. 10 saying that it is suspending its participation in
the six-party talks on the nuclear issue for an "indefinite
period." "We are analyzing and studying the statement,"
Kong said, adding "China has been keeping contact with
the DPRK since the issue of the statement." He said it
is no easy job for the six-party talks to achieve results, which
should be treasured by all relevant parties. ( ) Chinese Foreign
Minister Li Zhaoxing talked over the phone to US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Japanese
Foreign Minister Machimura Nobutaka and Foreign Minister of
the Republic of Korea Ban Ki-moon days ago. All parties showed
their willingness of settling the peninsula's nuclear issue
peacefully. "China supports the Korean Peninsula to go
nuclear free, and its stance is unswerving in safeguarding peace
and stability on the peninsula," said Kong. He also said
that Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of CPC
Central Committee, will visit DPRK at the invitation of the
Worker's Party of Korea shortly. The two sides will have an
exchange of views on the contacts between the parties in 2005,
as well as other regional and international issues of common
concern.
But one thing China will constantly stress during the process
is that the Chinese side adheres to the principle of a nuclear
weapons-free Korean Peninsula and its position in this regard
is unshakable. Beijing is expected to combine friendly and sincere
but firm diplomacy with clear and strong word in private.
China hopes six-party talks continue
2005-02-11 People’s Daily
China says it has noticed the reports saying the DPRK
will suspend its participation in the six-party talks for an
indefinite period, expressing its hope that the nuclear talks
can be continued. Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan made the remarks on
February 10 while asked to comment on the reports which also
said the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has made
nuclear weapon. "China was watching the situation,"
Kong said, noting China persistently stands for the denuclearization
of the Korean Peninsular and maintaining peace and stability
on the Korean Peninsula. "We hope the talks can be continue",
Kong said.( ) A statement from the DPRK Ministry
of Foreign Affairs carried by the official Korean Central
News Agency said, "We have wanted the six-party talks but
we are compelled to suspend our participation in the talks for
an indefinite period."
China condemns CIA's warning on its military efforts
2005-02-18 People’s Daily
China has protested against the US Central Intelligence Agency's
warning that China's military modernization is tilting the balance
of power across the Taiwan
Foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan told the regular Thursday
press conference that China is strongly against the US's irresponsible
act: "The US warning has severely violated the conventions
of international relations and the three Sino-US Joint Communiques.
It sings a different tune compared with the long-standing One
China Policy. US has outrageously interfered with Chinese internal
affairs and sent a false signal to the advocates of Taiwan independence'
". Delivering the agency's annual assessment of worldwide
threats on Wednesday, Porter Goss, the director of the US Central
Intelligence Agency dropped any mention of the co-operative
elements of the US-China relationship that characterised recent
CIA statements. Instead, he warned that China was making determined
military and diplomatic expansion. Kong Quan has demanded that
the US not to do anything to damage Sino-US relations: "We
call for the US to adhere to the One-China Policy against Taiwan
independence. We hope the US will do more to promote China-US
relations and maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait."
China, India forming strategic ties
2005-02-18 People’s Daily
When Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wu Dawei and Indian
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, on behalf of their respective
governments, sat together for a "strategic dialogue,"
the two countries were pushing their bilateral relations onto
a new stage. The world's two most populous nations have for
a long time shown a willingness to shoulder more responsibility
and play larger roles in the regional and international stages
as their regional and international influence continuously surges.
The two-day strategic talks, held on January 24 in New Delhi,
is aimed at broadening the scope of Sino-Indian relationship
while providing both countries with a platform to exchange notes
on regional and global issues of common concern. Among the topics
discussed were the issues of globalization, energy security,
democratization of international relations, reform of the United
Nations (UN), non-proliferation, anti-terrorism and the situation
in Iraq
and on the Korean Peninsula. The two sides also briefed each
other on their respective foreign and security policies and
reached common ground on a wide range of issues. The launching
of the first ever "strategic dialogue" mechanism fully
demonstrates that the two neighbours have already raised relations
above a lingering and plaguing border dispute that once plunged
their relationship into an icy period. At this meeting of historical
significance, both sides did not camouflage their strong desire
to look beyond bilateral disputes and develop and upgrade ties
in a global perspective. Both countries stressed the importance
of reforming international institutions, including the UN and
its Security Council. Both sides regarded the possibility of
weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and sensitive technologies
falling in the hands of terrorists as "a grave threat."
And both recognized the importance of international co-operation
instead of unilateral actions to combat penetrative global dangers.
Also, both sides basically reached an agreement on the next
round of talks to be held in China on mutually agreed dates
and necessary preparations for a visit to India by Chinese Premier
Wen
Jiabao set for March, which is expected to mark a new phase
in bilateral ties. At the talks, the Chinese also expressed
its understanding of the Indian wishes to pursue a permanent
seat in the UN Security Council and supports India in playing
a bigger role in the international arena. The strategic dialogue
is a key step forward in developing and deepening bilateral
ties under the two neighbours' unambiguous strategy for a larger
engagement with each other. ( ) Since the 1962 border clash,
which saw bilateral relations enter the abyss, Beijing and New
Delhi had for many years made sluggish progress in the process
of contacts and misgivings. However, since the then Indian Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit to China in June 2003,
during which the two countries vowed to promote a long-term
constructive and co-operative partnership, compromised bilateral
ties have been back on the way of rapid restoration and improvement.
The two countries have since then been engaged in discussions
to resolve the lingering thorny boundary dispute, with special
representatives holding several rounds of talks. In economic
fields, trade and investment are also booming, with total trade
volume exceeding US$12 billion by November last year, according
to the China General Administration of Customs. Co-operation
in other fields, such as culture, tourism and sports, is also
expanding. Bilateral military relations, in particular, have
been rapidly boosted in recent years. Following the then Indian
Defence Minister George Fernandes' visit to China in 2003, the
two countries have conducted frequent military training exchanges
and contacts. Late that year, Indian naval ships paid a visit
to Shanghai
and held with the Chinese forces the first ever joint military
exercises off the city. That year, Wu Quanshu, deputy chief
of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army of China,
visited India. Last year, Chinese Defence Minister and Vice-Chairman
of the Central Military Commission Cao
Gangchuan went to India. And late last year, Indian Chief
of Army Staff General NC Vij paid a week-long visit to China.
The visit to China by the highest-ranking Indian army official
in a decade has added much mutual trust to bilateral military
ties and injected new vitality into the overall Sino-Indian
relations. China and India have good reasons to discard past
enmity and join hand-in-hand for the sake of themselves and
others. The world's two largest developing countries share a
similar history and are both eager to rejuvenate themselves
under a peaceful international and internal environment to become
a more important actor in the international community. Both
countries have adopted an independent foreign policy and share
common or similar views and stances on numerous major international
issues. Both are exploring and pursuing a development model
suitable for their own national conditions. More importantly,
the two neighbours are economically complementary and can benefit
much from making good use of each other's advantages. Fully
aware of a wide space for co-operation, the two countries have
on many occasions reiterated their wishes to improve their ties
at all levels and in all areas while addressing their outstanding
differences, including the boundary dispute, in a negotiable,
fair, reasonable and mutually satisfactory manner. "We
hope that, with India's co-operation, we will be able to solve
the border issue so that bilateral ties will witness faster
development on a new basis," Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan, said following the
first round of strategic dialogue. ( )
Chinese protest against Tokyo's move on islands
2005-02-15 People’s Daily
Dozens of Chinese demonstrated outside Japan's
embassy in Beijing
on Tuesday, protesting against Tokyo's moves to take over a
lighthouse on a disputed group of islands in the East China
Sea. The lighthouse was built by Japanese right-wing activists
years ago on the islands, which are small and uninhabited but
provide access to rich fishing ground and possible oil deposits.
"I am here because I am Chinese," said 22-year-old
Jiao Wei, one of the approximately 50 protesters who turned
out in the heavy snow. "We are here to tell Japan that
the Diaoyu Islands belong to China forever. Japan's behaviour
has no justification under international law," he said.
The group, which called itself the China Federation of Defending
Diaoyutai Islands, wore T-shirts with "Defend Diaoyutai"
written on them and shouted "Down with the Japanese imperialists."
They carried banners with the single character, "Shame!".
The Chinese know the islands as Diaoyu while Japan calls them
the Senkakus Despite economic interdependence, relations between
the two China and Japan have never fully recovered from wartime
aggression, a legacy exacerbated by Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi's periodic visits to a Tokyo shrine honouring
its war dead. Koizumi said the move by the Japan Coast Guard
to take over maintenance of the lighthouse was simply because
private citizens had given up their claim and were no longer
maintaining it. But China's Foreign Ministry has called the
action "illegal and invalid" and a "severe provocation
and infringement on China's territorial sovereignty". Tuesday's
protesters said in a statement Japan's moves on the lighthouse
were a "naked invasion of Chinese territory". "Today
also opens a new chapter in the Chinese people resisting the
Japanese invaders," the statement said.
|
| 211 confirmed dead in coal mine blast
2005-02-18 People’s Daily
Rescuers have found another corpse in Sunjiawan coal mine in
Fuxin City, northeast China's Liaoning
Province, where a gas explosion occurred on Monday, bringing
the death toll to 211. Four miners were still missing by 16:10
Thursday, according to sources with the local rescue headquarters.
New regulations on press cards to be effective on March
1
2005-02-17 People’s Daily
China's new media regulations, concerning the press cards, will
go into effect on March 1, the General Administration of Press
and Publication, the country's press watchdog, said in Beijing
on February 16. Nearly 150,000 journalists throughout the country
have so far received the newly designed press cards. According
to the relevant stipulations, Chinese reporters should change
their press cards every five years. The work for current press
card change began in November 2003. By January 2005, the General
Administration of Press and Publication had issued 146, 541
new press cards. Taking advantage of the reissuing of the cards,
the government launched a series of reforms on the making, issuance,
checking and management of press cards. ( ) The cards are all
registered in the administration's official website, press.gapp.gov.cn,
allowing interviewees to check the authenticity of the cards.
The new regulations also order reporters to carry and show press
cards on their own initiative in interviews. The regulations
also stipulate that government officials should not hold concurrent
posts in local offices of newspapers. The law also forbids newspaper
offices from engaging in commercial activities. The government
used the issuing of the new cards to create update statistics
about journalists working in China. Of the 150,000 journalists
in China, more than 70,000 are writers for newspapers and magazines.
More than 60,000 are from broadcasting and TV stations and others
represent news agencies. Statistics from the General Administration
of Press and Publication show that 98 percent of Chinese journalists
have received higher education; 64 percent joined the occupation
after undergraduate work and 13 percent earned master's degrees.
According to the statistics, most of the reporters are young
and middle-aged, with those aged between 20 and 30 accounting
for 29 percent, those 30 to 40 making up 27 percent and reporters
aged 40 to 50 accounting for 24 percent. Women have hold up
the "half sky" of the press, as they account for 41
percent of total reporters. With 1,300 journalists working for
magazines, 700 are women.
Beijing's per capita disposable income up in 2004
2005-02-14 People’s Daily
Beijing
reported 15,638 yuan (1,884 US dollars) of per capita disposable
income for urban households in 2004, up 12.6 percent from the
previous year. According to Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau,
the hike of disposable income in urban Beijing brought the average
urban citizens' expenditure to 12,200 yuan (1,470 US dollars),
up 9.7 percent. Rural Beijing residents' income topped 7,172
yuan (864 US dollars) in 2004, up 10.4 year on year, and their
expenditure reached 4,886 yuan (590 US dollars), up 5 percent.
The average housing area of urban residents was expanded by
0.3square meters to 19 square meters, while that of rural residents
also extended by 0.3 square meters to 34 square meters.
One third of China's private businessmen are CPC members
2005-02-14 People’s Daily
One out of every three owners of private businesses in the country
is a member of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), according
to an official survey. The survey was jointly conducted by the
Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the All-China
Federation of Industry and Commerce, and the China society for
the study of non-government (private) enterprises. The survey
shows that the number of CPC members among private business
people has risen dramatically. The percentage of CPC members
among large private companies is even larger. Many of these
"red capitalists" were CPC members before they opened
their own businesses. A large number of officials and CPC members
have quit their jobs in government or state-owned firms, experts
participating in the survey said.
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