Asia News Digest
Zhu Rongji Cites Economic Progress in Final Speech To National People's Congress
Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji emphasized the policies which have enabled China's economy to developin a very turbulent worldin his final speech to the National People's Congress in Beijing on March 6.
Zhu Rongji made clear that the "proactive fiscal policy" adopted by China since the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, has fostered real economic growth.
He stated: "Based on the issuance of 660 billion yuan of long-term construction Treasury bonds, 3.28 trillion yuan of bank loans and funds from other sources were generated for investment, allowing us to accomplish many large undertakings we had been wanting but unable to undertake for years for lack of resource."
Prudent management of the debt should not hurt China's economic health or compromise its security, he said. China does have a fiscal deficit of 660 billion yuan, but at the same time, Zhu emphasized, his government is leaving China with 17.2 trillion yuan worth of assets, to develop growth in the next decades.
These important assets include the huge Three Gorges Water Conservancy project, the Qinghai-Tibetan railway, the West-to East cross-country fuel pipeline, and the South-North water diversion project.
In addition, Zhu said that there were big achievements in reducing poverty. The number of impoverished people in the countryside has been reduced from 49.6 million to 28.2 million in the last five years. But he warned that the needs of unemployed workers and poor farmers must be met, for the stability of China.
"We must exert a great deal of effort to resolve the problems of back pay for workers and overburdened farmers," Zhu said. "Agricultural, village and farmers' problems relate to the overall situation of China's reform, opening and modernization... If we do not change these conditions, they will severely dampen farmers' enthusiasm, rock the foundations of agriculture, and even threaten the entire national economy."
Zhu's speech was greeted with what one reporter called "spontaneous" and "thunderous and prolonged applause" from the 3,000 delegates at the NPC.
Anti-War Joint Statement by Russia-France-Germany Gets China's Support
On March 6, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan stated at a press conference in Beijing that China fully supports the statement issued by the Foreign Ministers of France, Russia, and Germany that "we will not allow a [UN Security Council] draft resolution authorizing the recourse to force to pass."
In Beijing, Tang Jiaxuan said: "On March 5, France, Germany, and Russia issued a joint declaration. China's position is consistent with the joint statement. China endorses and supports the content of the joint statement."
However, Tang Jiaxuan would not answer directly whether China might veto any such resolution. "It's a bit too early to raise this question at this point," he said. "Diplomacy at the Security Council is still going on. We are not at the end of the road towards a political solution." Tang's press conference was held one day prior to the UN Security Council report by chief weapons inspector Hans Blix.
"We must continue the inspections until we get to the bottom of this; we must make every effort to avoid war," Tang said. "At the moment it is absolutely unnecessary to put aside UN Resolution 1441 and table a new one at the Security Council" (this said in reference to the British-U.S.-Spanish draft resolution).
China Expands Nuclear Energy in Drive for Development
China's first high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTR) went fully on-line in Beijing recently, the People's Daily reported March 2. This is a "major step in China's safe use of nuclear energy to resolve its energy shortage," stated Prof. Wu Zongxin of the Nuclear Energy Technology Institute of Tsinghua University, outside Beijing.
Construction of the reactor began in 1995. Wu described its efficiency, in having a shorter production circle and lower production cost compared with other types of reactors, and its great safety. Although the technology originated in Germany, several key components of the reactor were designed and produced by China under the country's high-technology research development plan, the "863 Program." The operation of this reactor paves the way for the building of similar or larger nuclear power stations in China, Wu said.
China has already built three nuclear power stations, and another four nuclear generating units, which have pressurized water reactors, are under construction.
However, since spare parts from overseas producers are required, the production costs and the price of electricity are more expensive that thermal and hydroelectric power. But, with China facing an energy crunch, and being a net oil importer, nuclear energy, especially the HTR, is very important. By 2004, China's energy produced by nuclear will have risen from the current 1% to 4%, but this is still far short of the world average of 16%.
Moon Exploration Program Planned by China
China will begin feasibility studies for its lunar exploration program this year, the Chinese National Aerospace Administration announced. In an interview published in People's Daily on March 3, CNAA Vice Minister Luan Enjie explained China's policy on Moon exploration, emphasizing that the Moon program is essential not only for science, but also for economic development.
"The lunar exploration of the 1960s [namely, the Apollo Projected.] proves that space exploration is a high-technology project, [generating] a high rate of economic output. The genuine value it can turn out is much higher than the project itself," Luan Enjie said. "Lunar exploration can become the incubator of science and technology, and can propel technological innovation and revolution related to the national economy....
"Returning to the Moon and building permanent bases is a vitally important first step in human development of outer space resources and expansion of living space. Through this project, human beings are enabled to learn how to 'leave the Earthly homeland,' " and eventually create an extraterrestrial homeland. Such development is vital for the "sustainable development of human society."
Russian Duma Leader Calls for Increased Trade with China
The head of the Russian Duma's [Parliament] international affairs committee, Dmitri Rogozin, called on Russia to increase its economic and trade cooperation with China, reported Itar Tass on March 2. See RUSSIAN NEWS DIGEST.
Indonesian Statesman, in Washington, Hits Iraq War
Speaking in Washington, D.C. on March 3, Indonesian senior statesman Emil Salim told a Washington, D.C. audience that a unilateral U.S. war on Iraq would be a "bomb" more destructive than the Bali terror bombing. He pointed to the Non-Aligned Movement resolution from last week against the war, and warned that the war will turn many groups in Indonesia against the United States. He said that the series of terrorist acts in Indonesia since the 1998 [East Timor] crisis had forced Indonesians to ask: "What happened to us?" But a war on Iraq "would force us all to ask the question: 'What happened to humanity?' " Salim, one of the original "Berkeley mafia" economists who ran the Suharto-era economic development, is a leading adviser to the past, and current, Indonesian Presidents.
EIR asked about the role of China and Asia in replacing the dependence on the West, especially the United States, to which he answered, in paraphrase: This is what we call the "China factor." The OECD has reported that Asia will be the center of world growth in the futurethis means China, India, and Southeast Asia in particular. There will be a gradual shift away from Europe and the U.S., towards China. Their economy is large enough to accommodate all of us in Southeast Asia, and our economies are complementarywe have the tropical resources they need, and they want to apply their technology toward building our infrastructure. While we are dependent on the West, our economies are dominated by "footloose industries," like shoes and textiles, "that can pick up and go anytime."
Hindutva Chariot Grinds to a Halt
In the state assembly elections held during early March in four smaller states of India, the BJP Party, using its new-found aggressive Hindutva campaign, did worse than expected. On the morning of March 3, the BJP central secretariat met to agonize over the results and blame each other.
The elections were held in the provinces of Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Tripura. Himachal Pradesh, bordering Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and China, and not too distant from Pakistan, is the largest of the four, and the BJP was the ruling party there. In this election, the BJP was routed, with the Congress Party securing two-thirds of the assembly seats. In other states votes went pretty much as expected. However, in every state the BJP received far fewer votes than the BJP bigwigs were expecting. But the real heartburn for the BJP is Himachal.
But the BJP should not have set their hopes too high on Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh has virtually no Muslims, and the vote were decided on the basis of governance, not the polarization of religious tensions between the Hindu BJP, and Muslim parties. BJP, whose record as the governing party is very poor, was simply outvoted by the Congress Party, which ran this campaign by projecting itself as a party which knows how to govern better. That worked.
However, the Himachal Pradesh result may not be the trend in the coming days. Where the Hindutva campaign may work, if the Congress Party does not succeed in setting up its own agenda, is what is known as the heartland of IndiaBihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Rajasthan. Delhi, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh state assemblies are up for election this year. A clearer picture of the political polarization will emerge in the coming weeks.
Mahathir Calls on World Jewry To Help Bring Peace to Palestine
"World Jewry must persuade Israelis to stop the killing of Palestinians. Only then can we expect Palestinians not to retaliate in kind," said Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, in opening remarks as the first head of state to address the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) on March 6 in Qatar. In this appeal, he added, "The bulldozing of Palestinian houses in order to kill the families of suspected terrorists is totally immoral. The Jews who suffered so much during the Holocaust should know the suffering that they are causing."
Dr. Mahathir also said that "only a miracle" can stop the impending military strike on Iraq, and called on the OIC leaders to make the miracle happen. He said the Iraq situation could not be resolved without recognizing that Israel was using the excuse of the fight against terrorism to conduct terror attacks against Palestinians.
Dr. Mahathir, who has been one of the strongest organizers of global condemnation of the Iraq war, also had a long private meeting with Turkey's Prime Minister Abdullah Gul. Turkey's Parliament has voted against allowing their country to be used as a base for a U.S. invasion of Iraq.
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