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-AUGUST, 1999-
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08/29/1999 Dalai Lama Calls On Children To Build Peace
08/29/1999 World's "Highest Hotel" Opens In Shanghai
08/29/1999 China And Russia To Hold Summit In Beijing In Autumn
08/29/1999 More Hong Kong People Detained On Mainland China Since Handover
08/27/1999 Taiwan Plans Live-Fire Test Of Patriot Missile
08/27/1999 Trade With China Pits U.S. Labor Against Gore
08/27/1999 Jiang And Clinton To Have Auckland Summit
08/27/1999 Kyrgyz, Chinese Leaders Sign Key Border Agreement
08/26/1999 U.S. Says Resumption Of China WTO Talks Remains Unofficial
08/25/1999 Paper Says China-U.S. WTO Talks Back On Track
08/25/1999 Papua New Guinea Leader Pledges Loyalty To ‘One China’
08/25/1999 China, Russia, 3 Central Asian States Sign Security Pact
08/25/1999 68,000 People Rounded Up In Pre-Anniversary Clampdown
08/25/1999 U.S. Calls On China To Help Unify U.N. Security Council
08/24/1999 Report Claims China Planning Punitive Attacks Against Taiwan Soon
08/24/1999 Taiwan Ignores China Threats, Puts On Military Show
08/24/1999 State Department, Watchdog Group Worried For American, Tibetan
08/23/1999 Taiwan Says It Will Not Fire First Shot
08/23/1999 Taipei Plans To Build Its Own Missile Shield
08/23/1999 Independence Party Candidate Wants A-Bombs To Fight Mainland
08/23/1999 Lee Accused Of Misleading Taiwan People
08/23/1999 Returned Dissident Beaten In Prison
08/23/1999 Russian, Chinese Presidents Due In Kyrgyzstan Despite Unrest
08/23/1999 On Kinmen Anniversary, China Tells Taiwan: 'U.S. Won't Help You'
08/23/1999 U.S. Delegation To Visit Taiwan, Discuss 'Statehood' Claim
08/21/1999 Hong Kong Proposes Watchdog For Media Privacy Intrusion
08/21/1999 Lee Has "Misled" Taiwan People On Their Sovereignty: China
08/20/1999 Taiwan Premier To Meet With Clinton, Mexican President Zedillo
08/20/1999 Taiwan Appeals For Hong Kong's Press Freedom
08/20/1999 Taiwan Repeats Its Offer Of Dialogue With China
08/20/1999 Taiwan Plan To Seek Missile Shield Cover Denounced
08/20/1999 Politicians Exploiting Taiwan Crisis, Ambassador Says
08/20/1999 Envoy Urges U.S. To Not Raise Bar For China's WTO Accession
08/20/1999 Chinese Dissidents Should Get Nobel, Activists Say
08/19/1999 Hong Kong Police Gearing Up For The Millennium
08/19/1999 Hong Kong Press Instructed To Avoid China-Taiwan Topic
08/19/1999 U.S. Voices 'Concern' Over Renewed Dissident Crackdown
08/19/1999 On Taiwan, China Warns: 'U.S., Do Not Mix In'
08/19/1999 Taiwan Wants In -- Now -- On U.S. Missile Defense System
08/18/1999 Taiwan Seeks Cover From U.S.-Japan Theatre Missile Shield
08/18/1999 U.S. Military Aircraft Cleared For Landing
08/18/1999 China Says It 'Won't Give Up An Inch,' Conducts War Exercises
08/18/1999 Britain Refuses To Bar Falungong Leader
08/18/1999 Cambodia Bans Taiwan National Day Celebrations
08/18/1999 U.S.-Japan Pact To Develop Anti-Missile System Called Veiled Threat
08/17/1999 China ‘Concerned’ About Joint U.S.-South Korean Military Exercises
08/17/1999 China And UNICEF Devise Five-Year Plan To Protect Children
08/17/1999 China Sentences 18 Moslems In Xinjiang For Separatist Activities
08/17/1999 NO NEED TO RETRACT 'SPECIAL STATE-TO-STATE' THEORY: PREMIER
08/17/1999 China Sentences 18 Moslems In Xinjiang For Separatist Activities
08/17/1999 China ‘Concerned’ About Joint U.S.-South Korean Military Exercises
08/16/1999 Activists Appeal To U.N. To Watch Human Rights Situation
08/16/1999 U.S. Presidential Hopefuls Talk Tough On China, Taiwan
08/16/1999 18 Jailed For 'Attempting To Split Motherland' In Xinjiang
08/16/1999 Tanks Make Rehearsal Run Through Beijing
08/16/1999 Vice Premier Says Taiwan's Lee ‘Inherently’ A Separatist
08/16/1999 China To Let U.S. Navy Ship Dock In Hong Kong
08/16/1999 Opposition Party Speaks Out Against Any Armed Attack On Taiwan
08/16/1999 Taiwan Looking Into Report Of Massive Chinese Spying
08/16/1999 Activists Appeal To U.N. To Watch Human Rights Situation
08/16/1999 China Denies It’s Spying On U.S. From Pacific Atoll
08/16/1999 China To Let U.S. Navy Ship Dock In Hong Kong
08/16/1999 Vice Premier Says Taiwan's Lee ‘Inherently’ A Separatist
08/16/1999 18 Jailed For 'Attempting To Split Motherland' In Xinjiang
08/16/1999 U.S. Presidential Hopefuls Talk Tough On China, Taiwan
08/16/1999 Opposition Party Speaks Out Against Any Armed Attack On Taiwan
08/15/1999 Presidential Frontrunner Bush Said He Might Defend Taiwan Militarily
08/15/1999 People's Liberation Army Garrison In Hong Kong On Alert
08/15/1999 China President Makes First Remark On Falun Gong.
08/15/1999 China Slams US "Interference" Over Dalai Lama Trip
08/15/1999 Human Rights Watch Denounces Rights Violations In China
08/14/1999 Germany's Ex-Chancellor Kohl Plans China Visit
08/14/1999 Chinese Press Urged To Condemn Lee Teng-Hui
08/14/1999 China To Pressure US Over Taiwan Issue
08/13/1999 Hong Kong Paper Says War Is Imminent; U.S. Military Sees No Signs
08/13/1999 Chinese Premier Shrugs Off Resignation Rumors
08/13/1999 Use Of Force Is Last Resort, Chinese Academic Says
08/13/1999 U.S. Leader 'Disturbed' By Report On Chinese Firm And Panama Canal
08/13/1999 Pope Declines Macao Visit Before China Takes Over
08/13/1999 Jiang To Visit Australia September 6 To 11
08/13/1999 U.S. Energy Secretary Disciplines 3 Workers In Espionage Probe
08/11/1999 China Brags It Could Make Mincemeat Of Taiwan
08/11/1999 Hong Kong Paper Says China May Seize Outer Taiwan Island
08/11/1999 U.S. Offers $500,000 In Flood Aid
08/11/1999 20 Years Later, China's Frontier With Vietnam Demined
08/11/1999 Takijikistan's President Arrives For Goodwill Visit
08/11/1999 China Calls For Restraint After Pakistani Plane Shot Down
08/11/1999 Ex- Military Officer Arrested, May Be Charged With Spying
08/10/1999 Report: China Moves PLA Elite To Taiwan Region
08/09/1999 Chinese Submarines Reportedly Await Orders Near Taiwan Strait
08/09/1999 China Places Jiang Zemin In Line With Stalin
08/09/1999 Bishop: China Says Pope Visit To Hong Kong Is ‘Inconvenient’
08/08/1999 Human Rights Body Calls For Breaking Of Ties With Beijing
08/08/1999 Low-Profile Aerial Display Of Power Held In Taiwan
08/08/1999 Siew Regrets Beijing Refusal Of State-To-State Relations
08/07/1999 Two More Pro-Democracy Activists Arrested In China
08/07/1999 Taiwan's Armed Forces Ordered To Exercise Self-Restraint
08/06/1999 Only 23 Percent Of China's City Tap Water Meets Standard
08/06/1999 Renewed Crackdown Brings Harsh Sentences For China Democracy Party
08/06/1999 Flood Waters Along Yangtze Recede As China Announces Toll Of 725
08/06/1999 China Gives ‘Strike First’ Approval Against Taiwan
08/06/1999 Canada Frees Most Of Last Month’s Arrival Of Chinese Boat People
08/06/1999 Chinese Minister Says Upstart Taiwan Threatening Trade
08/06/1999 China Says It’s Not Ready To Resume U.S. WTO Talks
08/06/1999 It's Fitting: Dancing In The Year Of The Dragon
08/05/1999 China Blasts US Bill, Rejects Taiwan Statement On Ties
08/05/1999 China Warns US To Stay Out Of Taiwan Dispute
08/05/1999 Chinese Dissident Xie Wanjun Begins "Diplomatic" Mission
08/05/1999 US Official: China, Taiwan Tensions Could Still Escalate
08/05/1999 Report: Taiwan, China Fighters Nearly Clash Over Taiwan Strait
08/05/1999 Taipei Sees No Threat From China Jet Sorties
08/04/1999 U.S. Concerned About Accidents In Taiwan Straits
08/04/1999 Sichuan CDP Member To Be Tried Friday
08/04/1999 Report: Falungong Ban Does Not Hurt Religious Freedoms In China
08/04/1999 Report: China To Resume WTO Talks With U.S. In Second Half Of August
08/04/1999 Pentagon Says Launch Of Chinese Missile Not Tied To Taiwan Tension
08/04/1999 China Denies Permission For U.S. Flight To Hong Kong
08/04/1999 Taiwan Says It Will Not Stir Up Further Tensions
08/04/1999 Taiwan To Hold Air Force Aerial Display
08/04/1999 Siew Inaugurates Macedonian Free Trade Zone
08/03/1999 U.S. 'Deeply Concerned' By Sentencing, Dissident Crackdown
08/03/1999 Human Rights Organization Condemns Sentencing Of Dissidents
08/03/1999 India, China Hold Talks On Alleged Border Incursion
08/03/1999 U.S. Fears Accidental Clash Between Chinese, Taiwanese Warplanes
08/03/1999 Chinese Diplomat Leaves Hospital After Attack
08/03/1999 China Set To Put Two More Dissidents On Trial
08/03/1999 Taiwanese PM Returns Favor With Visit To Macedonia
08/02/1999 Xinhua: China Tests New Long-Range Missile
08/02/1999 Report: China Raises Level-Two Military Alert In Southeast Region
08/02/1999 China Berates Taiwan Leader, Sect On Army Day
08/02/1999 China Insists On Taiwan One-China Policy For Talks
08/02/1999 China To Try Two Political Dissidents
08/02/1999 Taiwan Premier To Visit Macedonia
08/02/1999 Taiwan Criticizes China For Boat Seizure
08/01/1999 Chinese Dissident Xie Wanjun Arrives In US
08/01/1999 China's Military Marks 72nd Anniversary With Warning To Taiwan

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Dalai Lama Calls On Children To Build Peace

CHICAGO, Aug 29, 1999 -- (Reuters) The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, on Saturday urged children to practice compassion and tolerance, and to build a better world.

On the last leg of a 16-day U.S. visit, which included a stop in New York's Central Park and 11 days of spiritual teachings at his older brother's cultural center in Indiana, the Dalai Lama said humanity had made progress in the 20th century but still had a long way to go.

"In this century, humanity learned many things. I think humanity has become more mature," he told an audience of thousands who paid $75 each to hear him speak at Chicago's Field Museum.

Proceeds from the event benefit the Tibetan Alliance of Chicago and the Field Museum, which holds one of the largest U.S. collections of Tibetan art.

The Dalai Lama, who fled his homeland for India 40 years ago when Chinese troops quelled an uprising against Communist rule, praised the museum for its efforts to preserve Tibetan art and culture, which he said was threatened by "cultural genocide" in Tibet.

Shielding his eyes from a flood of flash bulbs, the Dalai Lama smiled and waved at a group of Tibetan children, who performed traditional Tibetan songs and dances before he spoke.

"You are the people who are shaping a better world," he told them. "One of the secrets of inner peace is the practice of compassion."

He consecrated a "thangka" (pronounced TAHNG-ka), or religious painting on cloth, which was obtained by the Field Museum in 1909.

The 64-year-old Buddhist monk, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, jokingly told the crowd that he had nothing new to say and suggested that those who wanted to learn more about his teachings check out his latest book, "Ethics for the New Millennium."

"If you have an interest, read the book and let me have more rest," he said.

The main purpose of the spiritual leader's visit to the United States was to give Buddhist teachings in New York and Bloomington, Indiana.

His trip drew criticism from China, which accused the United States of meddling in its internal affairs after a U.S. State Department official met the Dalai Lama in New York. China considers the Buddhist monk a political activist bent on splitting Tibet from China.

By Reuters

From Inside China Today

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World's "Highest Hotel" Opens In Shanghai

SHANGHAI, Aug 29, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The Grand Hyatt Shanghai, described as the "highest hotel in the world" by the Hyatt group and Chinese officials, was formally opened in spectacular fashion here on Saturday.

The five-star hotel occupies the top 35 floors of the recently completed 88-storey Jinmao Tower, the third tallest building in the world at more than 421 meters (1,389 feet) in height.

In lieu of the traditional ribbon-cutting, corporate and government dignitaries at a grand opening gala in the hotel placed their palms on an electronic device, setting off a display which lit up Shanghai's skyscraper-crowded night-time skyline.

The tower's floors from the ground up illuminated one by one, until the entire hotel stretch at the top was illuminated in color by laser cannons, as hundreds of balloons soared skyward.

The hotel, which features a dramatic 31-storey atrium, overlooks the Huangpu river from Pudong riverbank, which has been designated by Beijing as China's "Wall Street" for the 21st century.

In addition to Shanghai officials, those attending the gala banquet included Wang Daohan, a Communist Party elder and president of China's chief negotiating body on Taiwan, the Straits Exchange Foundation.

Vice Premier Li Lanqing and State Councillor Wu Yi also sent messages of congratulations.

The tower was designed by US architectural firm Skidmore, Owens, and Merrill.

By Agence France Presse

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China And Russia To Hold Summit In Beijing In Autumn

BEIJING, Aug 29, 1999 -- (Reuters) Russian President Boris Yeltsin will visit Beijing in the autumn for a meeting with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

Jiang told visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov that he was looking forward to his second summit this year with Yeltsin in the autumn, Xinhua said.

It did not give an exact date, but autumn in China falls in September and October.

Jiang, Yeltsin and the leaders of three ex-Soviet Central Asian states held a summit in Kyrgyzstan this month at which they vowed to boost economic ties and regional stability.

Jiang said a multi-polar world was not only in the interest of both China and Russia but also conducive to peace and stability in the world and the Asian-Pacific region.

Beijing and Moscow are opposed to a "uni-polar" post-Cold War world dominated by Washington.

Jiang called for a "just and reasonable" political and economic new world order, Xinhua said.

Klebanov, responsible for Russia's defense industry, visited China and had talks to finalize the sale of advanced Sukhoi fighter aircraft, a Russian embassy spokesman told Reuters.

The Russian business daily Kommersant has said state arms dealer Rosvooruzheniye had a preliminary deal, after nearly four years of negotiations, to sell 60 SU-30 planes to China worth about $2 billion.

The SU-30 is equipped with advanced "thrust vectoring" engine nozzles which give it great maneuverability.

China paid Russia $2 billion for 22 SU-27 jets in 1996.

Russia's arms industry has been hit since the breakup of the Soviet Union by a collapse in domestic demand because the struggling armed forces' procurement budget has plummeted. Russia also lost export markets in the ex-Soviet bloc.

Talks on finalizing the SU-30 deal came as Beijing and Taipei were locked in a war of words and military posturing following Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's declaration last month that ties should be on a "special state-to-state" basis.

China, which has threatened to invade if Taiwan declared independence, saw Lee's move as a lurch towards statehood.

Vice-Premier Qian Qichen repeated on Saturday a warning to Taiwan not to underestimate China's determination and strength to prevent the island from declaring independence.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a renegade province and has sought to push it into diplomatic isolation since the Communists won a civil war and drove the defeated Nationalists into exile in 1949.

Western defense analysts doubt whether the 2.5 million-strong People's Liberation Army - the world's biggest armed forces but a backward fighting machine - has the capability to mount a successful invasion of Taiwan.

Taiwan is armed to the teeth with billions of dollars worth of U.S. and French fighters and frigates.

The United States, which sent two naval battle groups to back Taiwan in 1996 when China conducted intimidatory war games and missile tests near the island, could be dragged in again in the wake of a showdown between China and Taiwan, the analysts said.

By Reuters

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More Hong Kong People Detained On Mainland China Since Handover

HONG KONG, Aug 29, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The number of Hong Kong people detained on mainland China has been on the rise since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, but there has been little progress in getting them the consular-type representation enjoyed by foreign detainees.

Statistics released by the territory's Security Bureau last week showed 42 Hong Kong people were held on the mainland between July 1997 and May 1999, but since May, another 35 people have been placed under indefinite detention.

Thirty-six of the total 77 reported detainees have been released, but 41 remained in detention, mostly held without charges over business disputes between their employers and the employers' mainland business counterparts.

Unlike foreigners detained in China, Hong Kong people have no consular representation as Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in July 1997 and is now a part of China, although with special status and limited autonomy in all but matters of defense and foreign relations.

They are often held for months before the Hong Kong government or their families receive any word.

The Hong Kong government has practiced a hands-off approach, insisting Hong Kong people detained must go through China's legal system.

Secretary for Security Regina Ip on Saturday said there was a limit to what the Hong Kong government could do for the detainees.

"Our office in Beijing, not being a diplomatic office, has no right to consular visits and under Chinese law, while cases are being investigated, contacts with relatives not allowed," Ip said on radio RTHK.

"We have considered the feasibility of providing some legal advice, but apart from preliminary legal advice, a lot of people affected need legal representation. We can't substitute legal advice for legal representation."

She said Hong Kong's office in Beijing was compiling a booklet to help families of the detainees learn how they could seek legal help.

A government spokesman told AFP Hong Kong had suggested to mainland authorities that a notification system be set up to inform Hong Kong officials as soon as a Hong Kong person has been arrested on the mainland.

"We will do our best to help them and relay their needs to the appropriate party in China and we will monitor these cases," the spokesman said.

But he maintained Hong Kong could not interfere in mainland China's legal procedures as it operates under the "one country, two systems" policy which guides the territory's relationship with China after its return to Chinese rule.

Government officials said the rise in the number of detainees was due to more families reporting the cases as a result of more publicity on the issue. It did not mean Hong Kong people were at more risk of being arrested, they said.

John Wong, whose father-in-law has been detained in Inner Mongolia for 14 months without charge, told AFP he believed the increase in detentions reported was due to families becoming more aware that they should seek help from the government.

"No one complained in the past. People would simply use their money to get their relative out, they didn't tell anybody," Wong said.

He added there were also more Hong Kong people working in the mainland since the handover as the territory is enjoying a closer economic relationship with China.

Wong's father-in-law, Lok Yuk-shing, 63, has been detained since June 12, 1998 over a four million Hong Kong dollar (519,000 US) debt owed by Lok's former employer, who is believed to have fled to Canada.

"I can't say the Hong Kong government didn't do anything. I admit they've written letters, but I feel sending letters here and there is useless if they don't follow it up when the other party doesn't respond to the letters," Wong said.

The family has been told to produce 4.7 million Hong Kong dollars in bail or have a mainland resident stand surety for his release. They have refused to pay the bail, as they said Lok did not commit any crime.

"We've waited for more than 440 days for my father-in-law to be released," Wong said. "The Hong Kong government should be more proactive."

By Agence France Presse

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Taiwan Plans Live-Fire Test Of Patriot Missile

LINYUAN, TAIWAN, Aug 27, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwan plans a live-fire test of U.S.-made Patriot missile weaponry amid calls for the establishment of a nationwide low-altitude missile shield to counter any threat from China's missile program.

"The three Patriot batteries now serving the army have been verified by the United States...after they passed mock tests," said Major-General Wang Chao-tai, the commander of a Tienkung missile base in the southern county of Kaohsiung. "We're working to prepare for a live-five test."

But mindful of the tensions with rival China following President Lee Teng-hui's controversial statehood claim, Wang said a "live-fire test would be conducted only after U.S. approval."

Defying Beijing's anger, Washington sold three PAC-II batteries to Taiwan in 1993. The three units have been put into service to defend the populous greater Taipei area.

Wang would not say if Taiwan plans to buy more Patriot batteries, saying it would be up to defense budget and political considerations.

Local media have said Taiwan has plans to procure up to six batteries of PAC-III, the improved version of PAC-II, to protect built-up areas in central and southern Taiwan.

Wang made the remarks in the first ever opening of the Tienkung missile base to the media, a move the state-funded Central News Agency said would help boost the public confidence when Beijing repeatedly said it would not renounce the option of force against the Nationalist island.

"Our major task is to safeguard the southern area," Wang said.

The base sits atop a hill overlooking the greater Kaohsiung area, which houses the island's leading steel and shipbuilding plants and the prime naval base.

The underground missile cells, each housing four homemade Tienkung ground-to-air missiles, is protected by a concrete wall measuring one meter in width.

"It is able to resist earthquakes and attacks by bombs and chemical weapons," a proud Major-General Ma Ying-chu said.

But Wang said the weaponry was not designed to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles, although he did say it proved to be effective sometimes in intercepting missiles.

Tienkung II missile, brainchild of the Chungshan Institute of Science of Technology, has a range of 200 kilometers (124 miles), twice that of the Tienkung I.

The People's Liberation Army lobbed ballistic missiles into the shipping lanes off Taiwan in mid-1996 to intimidate the island's first direct presidential elections.

Defense Minister Tang Fei said last week Taipei planned to build a low-altitude missile shield.

He said the defense system would come under a "national missile defense" project, which he said had been mistaken as being part of the American-led Theatre Missile Defense (TMD).

"Many said we want to join the TMD. No, we're not going to join it," Tang said in an interview with state television. "We want to set up our own."

Tang added the system would target China's ballistic and other missiles and any attacks launched by the mainland's military aircraft.

Establishing such a shield could take 10 years and cost Taiwan up to $300 billion Taiwan dollars ($9.38 billion), he said.

The United States and Japan agreed last week to start research on a multi-billion dollar missile umbrella.

China has been expressing opposition to the project for several months. The shield would take in Japan, and China suspects it will also include Taiwan, which it considers a renegade province.

By Agence France Presse

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Trade With China Pits U.S. Labor Against Gore

WASHINGTON, Aug 27, 1999 -- (Reuters) China's bid to join the World Trade Organization has put U.S. President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore on a collision course with labor groups mounting a campaign to keep Beijing out of the trade body.

Organized labor has been a longtime friend of Democrats, and Gore, the party's presidential front-runner, is counting on union support in next year's election.

But White House plans to bring China into the 134-member WTO have upset some of the most powerful unions in the country, including the 13-million member AFL-CIO as well as the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.

Allied with environmental, human rights and consumer activists, labor groups said they would step up their lobbying campaign in the coming months to defeat a WTO pact with China by putting pressure on Gore and congressional Democrats seeking reelection in 2000.

"Please call, write, or meet with your representatives on this critical trade issue," the UAW said in a letter to members. "Because the China trade issue has a direct impact on the jobs of thousands of UAW members, we attach the highest priority to the defeat of China's WTO trade deal."

Thea Lee, the AFL-CIO's assistant director of public policy, said groups within the union movement felt strongly about the issue. "It certainly will be a factor in how they engage in the election."

It was unclear what effect the labor campaign would have, besides politicizing the issue. Like the unions, business groups are mounting their own campaign to shore up congressional support for a market-opening pact with China.

The Gore campaign played down the rift with labor, pointing out that Gore had won dozens of union endorsements.

"We feel that the vice president has a very strong record on labor issues, and he's going to continue to talk to working men and women of this country and convince them that he's the right candidate for them. We're not going to take it for granted," said Gore campaign spokesman Roger Salazar.

To join the WTO, which sets world trading rules, China must complete a series of trade agreements with individual countries, including the United States.

Washington and Beijing were close to reaching an agreement in April. But Clinton backed away from a deal to try to win more concessions on textiles, banking and anti-dumping issues.

Beijing put the WTO talks on hold in May after NATO bombers destroyed its embassy in Belgrade. But officials are hopeful negotiations will resume in September and believe a final agreement would be reached soon thereafter, clearing the way for Beijing's accession into the world trade body.

The Republican-controlled Congress would not vote on the pact itself.

Instead, lawmakers would have to decide whether to give Beijing permanent trading privileges - what used to be called most-favored-nation (MFN) status. Eager to end the annual debate in Congress, Beijing expects the United States to grant it permanent trading privileges as part of any WTO pact.

Clinton administration officials are hopeful Congress will support an agreement with China later this year, even though many lawmakers say improving trade ties will do little to address their concerns about human rights or to rein in a growing trade deficit.

Other U.S. politicians are upset by allegations that China stole U.S. nuclear secrets and are concerned about Beijing's poor relations with Taiwan.

Capitalizing on these concerns, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has sent letters to lawmakers urging them to block the trade pact unless Beijing frees jailed human and labor rights activists, and agrees to overhaul labor standards.

The UAW, in a legislative "action alert" to members, demanded that China honor its previous commitments to dismantle "discriminatory" automobile and aerospace industrial policies.

Consumer rights group Public Citizen said its trade campaign was already organizing in 40 states.

By Reuters

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Jiang And Clinton To Have Auckland Summit

AUCKLAND, Aug 27, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) U.S. President Bill Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin will hold a summit in New Zealand next month, Prime Minister Jenny Shipley said here Friday.

It will be the first meeting between the two leaders since the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in May, which badly damaged relations.

Both will be in New Zealand for the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit. Clinton, Jiang and South Korea's President Kim Daejung will be making state visits to New Zealand.

Shipley said in a statement that after the APEC summit on September 13 Clinton will fly to the Southern Alps resort of Queenstown for a private visit with no official engagements.

On September 15 he will fly to Christchurch for a series of functions including talks with Shipley.

He is also to visit the International Antarctic Center at Christchurch Airport, headquarters of the U.S. polar operation, to make what is billed as a major speech on Antarctica.

An official in Shipley’s office said they did not know when or where Clinton and Jiang would meet, it being left up to them.

"This will be a key meeting for the two leaders and I am very happy that we are able to facilitate that meeting while they are both here," Shipley said.

Jiang will visit Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch between September 13 and 16. Details of his program have not been disclosed.

Kim will visit Wellington after APEC and will leave New Zealand for Australia on September 15.

By Agence France Presse

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Kyrgyz, Chinese Leaders Sign Key Border Agreement

BISHKEK, Aug 27, 1999 -- (Reuters) The leaders of China and neighboring Kyrgyzstan signed a border agreement on Thursday resolving a legal issue open between the two states, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Muratbek Imanaliyev said.

He said the document signed by Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev resolved outstanding legal questions regarding their common frontier, but work on demarcation of the border was not yet complete.

Imanaliyev did not say exactly what the legal issue was, but Akayev welcomed the agreement.

"We have completed talks on one of the most complicated questions connected with border problems," he said at the signing ceremony.

Akayev is keen to boost political and economic ties with his mighty eastern neighbor, aware that his tiny state of five million people is more vulnerable without them.

Jiang was in Bishkek for a two-day summit of the so-called "Shanghai Five," grouping Kyrgyzstan and China with Russia, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.

The group is named after the Chinese city where the first meeting between the five leaders took place to cool border tensions by reducing the number of troops along their common frontiers.

The summit ended on Wednesday with a declaration on deepening cooperation on security issues including the fight against terrorism, separatism and religious extremism as well as greater economic integration.

Kyrgyzstan said it had discussed opening up trade routes with China in a bid to revive the ancient Silk Road.

The impoverished mountainous state also signed an agreement with Russia on Wednesday broadly outlining ways of promoting the exchange of military hardware and technology.

Jiang flew out of Kyrgyzstan after Thursday's signing ceremony.

By Reuters

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U.S. Says Resumption Of China WTO Talks Remains Unofficial

WASHINGTON, Aug 26, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China has not yet officially asked Washington to resume talks on Beijing's admission to the World Trade Organization, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said Wednesday.

Earlier Wednesday, the independent Chinese-language Hong Kong Economic Times quoted unidentified sources as saying an official of the USTR's office would go to Beijing early next month for "technical negotiations" on China's entry.

The Times added negotiators from both sides would start final talks in late September with an agreement expected to be concluded by the end of October.

But Helaine Klasky, spokeswoman for USTR Charlene Barshefsky, denied such negotiations were in the works. "We don't have any plan for our negotiators to go to China," she said.

However, a U.S. official who asked not to be named, said the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit in Auckland next month "will be significant" for a resumption of the talks.

The official pointed to a planned meeting in Auckland between President Bill Clinton and his Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin.

The Hong Kong newspaper quoted sources as saying the main focus of the technical negotiations in Beijing would be a timetable for liberalizing China's market.

The sources said Washington wanted China to speed up the opening of the services sectors, including finance and insurance.

A successful conclusion to the talks with the U.S. would effectively assure China's entry as Washington has held out the highest demands on China's WTO protocol.

Last week, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Li Zhaoxing urged Washington not to raise the threshold for China's accession to the world trade body. He also said the two sides were preparing to discuss the issue in Auckland.

China cut off the bilateral talks following the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade on May 7.

By Agence France Presse

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Paper Says China-U.S. WTO Talks Back On Track

HONG KONG, Aug 25, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China will resume talks with the United States early next month on its bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), a Hong Kong newspaper reported Wednesday.

An official from the U.S. trade representative's office will go to Beijing for "technical negotiations" on China's entry, the independent Chinese-language Hong Kong Economic Times quoted unidentified sources as saying.

The sources said negotiators from both sides would start final negotiations in late September with an agreement expected to be concluded by the end of October, the daily said.

China cut off bilateral talks following the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade on May 7.

A successful conclusion to the talks with the United States could assure China's entry as Washington has been holding out for the most concessions.

The main focus of the technical negotiations would be a timetable for liberalizing China's market, according to the sources quoted by the Hong Kong newspaper. They said the United States wanted China to speed up the opening of the services sectors, including finance and insurance.

The United States wanted China to allow foreign banks to set up regional branches without restrictions and allow them to expand their Chinese currency business.

Last week, China's ambassador to the United States Li Zhaoxing called on Washington not to raise the threshold for China's admission to the WTO.

He said both sides were preparing to discussion the WTO at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit in Auckland next month.

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Papua New Guinea Leader Pledges Loyalty To ‘One China’

BEIJING, Aug 25, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan met here Tuesday with Evoa Lalatute, special envoy of the Papua New Guinean prime minister and secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Xinhua reported.

Lalatute reaffirmed his government's adherence to a "one China policy" by which it recognizes Taiwan as an inalienable part of China and would not develop official ties with Taipei, the official news agency said, adding "the Chinese side expressed appreciation for that."

Lalatute is here for the seventh consultation between foreign affairs departments in the two countries, which was held from August 23 to 24, sources from the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Lalatute presided over the event, during which they engaged in an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations, it said.

Papua New Guinea last month broke off short-lived ties with China's rival Taiwan to reaffirm its commitment to Beijing begun in 1975.

Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta in July withdrew diplomatic recognition of Taiwan, saying he had reviewed documents linked to a deal with Taipei, reportedly tied to financial aid, made by the government of former prime minister Bill Skate and had found they were invalid.

Skate and then foreign minister Roy Yaki struck the deal with Taiwan on July 5 reportedly worth some $2.3 billion just days before Skate stepped down from office.

Twenty-nine countries recognize Taipei rather than Beijing.

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China, Russia, 3 Central Asian States Sign Security Pact

BISHKEK, Aug 25, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Leaders of Russia, China and three Central Asian states signed a declaration here Wednesday pledging to work together to improve security in the region.

"This declaration will announce to the world that our five states are ready to support security and find ways to work together for mutual cooperation and development," said Chinese President Jiang Zemin at the signing ceremony.

The declaration highlights the "importance of fighting international terrorism, the illegal drug trade, arms trafficking, illegal migration and other forms of trans-border crime, separatism and religious extremism."

"The signatories also consider that creating a multi-polar world is the common path for development and will ensure long-term stability," the declaration said.

It was signed by Jiang and presidents Boris Yeltsin of Russia, Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Emomali Rakhmonov of Tajikistan and Askar Akayev of Kyrgyzstan.

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68,000 People Rounded Up In Pre-Anniversary Clampdown

BEIJING, Aug 25, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China, which is preparing for a massive patriotic celebration of 50 years of communist rule, has rounded up 68,000 people in a clampdown on "fugitives from justice," official media said Wednesday.

"By August 20 more than 68,000 fugitives had been rounded up in a nationwide campaign to find people at large that began July 1," Xinhua news agency quoted a senior Public Security Ministry official as saying.

The three-month campaign was aimed at "eliminating possible trouble and creating a better environment" for the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic on October 1, the agency quoted Bai Jingfu as saying.

Of those already detained, 43,000 were on National Fugitive Information Network files, and 198 were on the most-wanted list, Xinhua said.

China is racing to complete a face-lift for the capital ahead of the celebrations, which has included cracking down on the millions of migrant workers from other provinces who live in Beijing, and ordering buildings in the city center to take down the huge neon advertisements on their roofs.

The government has also poured around 110 billion yuan ($13.4 billion) into infrastructure projects like the renovation of Tiananmen Square, the expansion of the international airport and a new subway line.

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U.S. Calls On China To Help Unify U.N. Security Council

BEIJING, Aug 25, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China and the United States Wednesday discussed the lack of U.N. Security Council approval for NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia and ways to make the international body more effective, a U.S. official said.

"We had some discussions on Kosovo today, but that was not dwelt upon at length, we were not looking back, but trying to look forward," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch told journalists.

"In looking forward, our area of concern and I think it is shared by others including the Chinese government, is that the U.N. play a constructive role in these peacekeeping operations, be it in Kosovo or elsewhere," he said.

Welch said he held "friendly and professional" talks with Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Wang Guangya as part of preparations for a meeting between Presidents Bill Clinton and Jiang Zemin next month in New Zealand.

The two presidents will be meeting on the sidelines of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation informal leadership summit in Auckland.

Welch, who carries the portfolio that covers U.S. relations with international organizations, said the two sides discussed the full gamut of U.N. issues, including reform of the Security Council and U.N. peacekeeping.

The issue of the US-led NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade or the fall-out from the bombing which has brought the bilateral relationship to another low point, however, was not discussed, he said.

China has long condemned the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and NATO's refusal to get U.N. Security Council approval for the bombing.

By Agence France Presse

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Report Claims China Planning Punitive Attacks Against Taiwan Soon

HONG KONG, Aug 24, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China may launch punitive attacks on Taiwan in the next few weeks if Taiwan's President Lee Teng-hui fails to withdraw claims to "state-to-state" relations, a Hong Kong newspaper said Tuesday.

China was prepared to begin punitive military action such as a blockade of the Taiwan Strait, the independent Chinese-language newspaper Sing Tao reported, citing unidentified sources in Beijing.

It said that missiles may be used in the Taiwan Strait.

The newspaper also quoted a former U.S. state department official as saying he had received signs that action would take place as soon as Beijing did not think Lee would back down.

China has kept up a propaganda barrage to press Lee to back down from his statement that ties with the mainland should be on a "state-to-state" basis.

Hong Kong newspapers, particularly those close to Beijing, have been full of reports of Chinese troops on upgraded alert. Few have been officially confirmed, however.

China has repeatedly said it would use force to stop Taiwan splitting with the mainland, which has considered the nationalist island a renegade province since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

The PLA lobbed ballistic missiles into the shipping lanes off Taiwan in mid-1996 during the island's first direct presidential elections.

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Taiwan Ignores China Threats, Puts On Military Show

TAIPEI, Aug 24, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwan put its modernized air force on display Tuesday as a newspaper reported China may launch punitive attacks on the island if President Lee Teng-hui failed to withdraw his controversial statehood claim.

A fleet of French-made Mirage 2000-5s and homemade Indigenous Defensive Fighters flew over the Air Force Academy in Fengshan, southern Taiwan, in a rehearsal to celebrate the academy's 70th anniversary.

A Mirage, the most advanced Taiwanese fighter, then put on a 12-minute flying display.

Also seen on show were a fleet of locally developed AT-3 attack/training aircraft.

A formal display is slated for September 1.

The rehearsal came as Hong Kong's independent Chinese-language newspaper Sing Tao cited unidentified sources in Beijing as saying that China was prepared to begin punitive military action such as a blockade of the Taiwan Strait.

But Taiwan's Defense Ministry spokesman Kung Fan-ding told reporters Tuesday "there was not any sign of abnormal troop congregation on the other side of the Taiwan Strait," likewise for the Chinese navy.

He said the Chinese air force had also "significantly reduced their sorties over the past week due to bad weather."

China has kept up a propaganda barrage to press Lee to back down from his statement that ties with the mainland should be on a "state-to-state" basis.

Hong Kong newspapers, particularly those close to Beijing, have been full of reports of Chinese troops on upgraded alert. Few have been officially confirmed, however.

China has repeatedly said it would use force to stop Taiwan splitting with the mainland, which has considered the nationalist island a renegade province since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

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State Department, Watchdog Group Worried For American, Tibetan

WASHINGTON, Aug 24, 1999 -- (Reuters) An American researcher injured trying to escape Chinese police may be at risk medically unless he receives specialist treatment soon, the U.S. State Department said on Monday.

Daja Meston, who was investigating a controversial World Bank project in the remote western province of Qinghai with Australian Gabriel Lafitte, is in "serious but stable condition" with spinal damage and broken bones in a hospital in the provincial capital Xining.

Meanwhile, the Tibetan translator detained with the has disappeared and is "at serious risk of torture and ill-treatment," Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

The New York-based pressure group called on the U.S. and Australian governments as well as the World Bank to make high-level appeals for access to Tsering Dorje, who is a Chinese citizen.

He was taken into custody on August 15 when Chinese authorities picked up Meston and Lafittere for allegedly conducting illegal inquiries at the site of the proposed World Bank project in northwestern Qinghai province, near Tibet.

"We're relieved at China's decision to release Mr. Lafitte this past weekend," Human Rights Watch spokesman Mike Jendrzejczyk said in a faxed statement.

"But we are deeply concerned about Tsering Dorje and the American still in custody.

"We've documented many cases of Tibetans being tortured during interrogation. There is real potential for those associated with foreigners considered 'hostile' to China's official interests to be severely mistreated and given long prison sentences," he added.

The United States is trying to persuade the Chinese authorities to permit a medical evacuation and unconditional release of Meston. China has told U.S. officials it has "suspended" investigations of Meston, with the implication that they could resume when he is better, the State Department said.

"There is some urgency to his receiving specialized spinal treatment and there could be some kinds of risks involved in not having that sort of specialized attention," State Department spokesman James Foley told a briefing.

Meston, 29, from Newton, Mass., met an American doctor and a consular official over the weekend but the consular official did not discuss in detail the circumstances of the injuries. The Chinese said he jumped from a building in an attempt to escape police.

"In the limited discussions we've had with him, we've not heard anything that indicates anything other than what the Chinese indicated happened," Foley said.

Reports on Meston's injuries from U.S. officials in Xining are also consistent with the Chinese account of what took place, the spokesman added.

Foley said the United States was concerned at reports that the Chinese authorities put Meston's Australian companion, Lafitte, 50, under intense psychological pressure. China deported Lafitte on Saturday.

"We can assure you, though, that since our consular officer has arrived on the scene in Xining, we have seen no evidence that Mr. Meston is under any kind of pressure from Chinese authorities," he added.

Meston and Lafitte, a Melbourne University researcher, were detained after they entered China on tourist visas and traveled to Qinghai, bordering Tibet, to investigate a World Bank project to resettle impoverished farmers.

Tibetan rights activists say the project threatens indigenous culture by moving ethnic Chinese farmers onto lands inhabited by Tibetans.

The World Bank and China say the project will alleviate poverty for the local population and for the farmers who moved. Millions of dollars will be provided for schools and irrigation works in the region, they said.

China's official Xinhua news agency said the pair was suspected of "photographing in closed areas where clearly marked restriction signs were posted".

The men "were neither entrusted by the World Bank nor invited by relevant Chinese departments," it said.

But Foley said the Chinese had said it would give outsiders access to the project site.

"Having made that invitation in connection with the loan, we believe that Mr. Meston, if he had been detained by Chinese authorities, should have been released," he added. "We're not aware that he has broken any laws in China."

The International Campaign for Tibet, a lobbying group close to Meston, appealed on Monday for money to cover his medical expenses, for which he has no insurance.

It said it expected it would take many months of intensive medical care for him to recover. A pro-Tibetan activist said last week that the Chinese authorities wanted quick payment.

By Reuters

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Taiwan Says It Will Not Fire First Shot

PENGHU, TAIWAN, Aug 23, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwan's military has said it would not fire the first shot in a conflict with China but pledged to block any attack from its rival, as Beijing heaped vitriol on President Lee Teng-hui.

"We will never pull the trigger first," defense ministry spokesman Kung Fan-ding told reporters on a recent visit to military bases on islands in the Taiwan Strait.

He said Taiwan would not make any provocative steps to further aggravate cross-strait tensions, which erupted last month when Lee said Taipei wanted ties with Beijing to be redefined as a "special state-to-state relationship."

"We would rather bear the first strike from the Chinese communists," said Kung.

But he warned the military would not hesitate to fight back if Beijing launched an attack.

Taiwan's military frequently uses Penghu, the closest air base to China, for exercises aimed at repelling a landing by hostile forces.

Signs on the wall of a room designated for on-duty air crew at the air base reminded pilots of the importance of preventing accidental clashes with China in the Taiwan Strait.

"Try not to heighten tensions or escalate the feud" and "Try not to spark disputes but reduce hostilities instead," they read.

Lee confirmed earlier this month that Chinese fighter jets had twice crossed the dividing line between the two rivals, but he reassured Taiwanese that the planes had quickly backed off when challenged.

Chinese ambassador to the United States Li Zhaoxing renewed Beijing's threats in Washington last Thursday, warning his government would not "rule out the force option" if Taiwan moved towards independence.

Despite the threat, air force officials said morale was high among its units.

"Our IDFs (Indigenous Defensive Fighters) are armed with Tienchien II air-to-air missiles, which give us beyond-vision combat capability," said a confident Lieutenant Colonel Chou Chen-hua.

"The Chinese communists are aware of this, so they dare not get closer."

China's official Global Times -- a weekly published by the Communist Party flagship People's Daily -- issued a warning earlier this week in a lengthy commentary under the front-page banner headline "U.S.A., do not mix in."

"At present, mainland China has already finished all preparations for any use of force against Taiwan," it said. "Military mobilization, troop movements, combat-readiness training, logistics support and other aspects are already arranged."

Military experts have warned that China, which is short of sufficient military transport vessels, could use fishing boats to transport troops in any offensive against Taiwan.

However, coastal defense officers have said they have not detected any abnormal concentration of Chinese fishing boats off Penghu.

The PLA held its latest military drills in northwest China, far from Taiwan, earlier this week. It temporarily upgraded its Lanzhou Military Region there to a "war zone" in a gesture analysts said was designed to increase the pressure on Taiwan.

Beijing has continually attacked Lee's comments, first made on July 9, as a step toward a formal declaration of independence -- a move it has long vowed will bring an immediate military response.

It views the island as a renegade province.

By Agence France Presse

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Taipei Plans To Build Its Own Missile Shield

TAIPEI, Aug 23, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwan's Defense Minister Tang Fei said Monday Taipei planned to build a low-altitude missile shield to counter any threat from China's missile program.

Tang said the defense system would come under a "national missile defense" project, which he said had been mistaken as being part of the American-led Theatre Missile Defense (TMD).

"Many said we want to join the TMD. No, we're not going to join it," Tang said in an interview with state television. "We want to set up our own."

Tang added the system would target China's ballistic and other missiles and any attacks launched by the mainland's military aircraft.

The military's weapons research unit, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, would play a key role in the project, he said, although some weapons and equipment would also be imported.

Establishing such a shield could take 10 years and cost Taiwan up to 300 billion Taiwan dollars ($9.38 billion), he said.

"Because of their accuracy, cruise missiles of the Chinese communists could pose an even greater threat to Taiwan than did the ongoing ballistic missiles," he warned.

Beijing is reported to be developing cruise-type missiles, similar to the U.S. Tomahawk, but Tang said it might be some time before they were in service.

The People's Liberation Army lobbed ballistic missiles into the shipping lanes off Taiwan in mid-1996 to intimidate the island's first direct presidential elections.

The United States and Japan agreed last week to start research on a multibillion dollar missile umbrella.

China has been expressing opposition to the project for several months. The shield would take in Japan, and China suspects it will also include Taiwan, which it considers a renegade province.

China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek's defeated forces fled to the island to set up a non-communist enclave.

Last week Taiwan's cabinet approved a draft report making clear it wants a missile defense system "in order to cope with the missile threat of the Chinese communists".

It called for the swift establishment of an early warning system, which would give the island more time to prepare for any mainland attack as well as the gradual setting up of "a comprehensive missile defense system".

The report, which will be formally made public when parliament convenes on September 17, came a day after President Lee Teng-hui reportedly gave his backing to Taiwan's participation in the U.S.-Japan TMD scheme.

But the U.S. State Department has said it was unaware of Lee's official interest.

By Agence France Presse

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Independence Party Candidate Wants A-Bombs To Fight Mainland

TAIPEI, Aug 23, 1999 -- (Reuters) The presidential candidate for a small pro-independence party said on Sunday Taiwan should develop nuclear weapons to counter China.

The Taiwan Independence Party, which wants to declare a formal break from the mainland and form an independent Republic of Taiwan, nominated its chairman Cheng Pang-cheng to run for the March 2000 presidential election.

"Aside from strengthening people's readiness for war, Taiwan has no other option but to develop nuclear weapons in order to ensure national independence and security," Cheng said in his acceptance speech.

Taiwan's government has repeatedly said it would not develop nuclear weapons.

Under Taiwan law, all candidates must have 250,000 signatures of support before they can stand in presidential elections. Analysts said it was not certain whether Cheng's small party could garner these endorsements.

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Lee Accused Of Misleading Taiwan People

BEIJING, Aug 23, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China on Saturday said Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's had misled the island's residents into believing they could decide their own fate.

"Lee took advantage of the fact that some people in Taiwan have not fully recognized the nature of his separatist remarks, as he misled them by claiming that 'the sovereignty of Taiwan belongs to the Taiwan people,'" the official Liberation Army daily said in a commentary.

"The Chinese nation is a large family which includes people on both sides of the Taiwan strait. The 'public opinion' of this big family should reflect the opinions and wishes of the entire Chinese nation, not just those confined to a small region," it said.

Though Taiwan has been ruled separately from the mainland since 1949, China views it as part of its sovereign territory and requires all its diplomatic partners to recognize the fact routinely.

Its accusations that Lee is pursuing a separatist agenda have run hot since the president began advocating a "state-to-state" relationship between Beijing and Taipei on July 10, igniting a new round of tensions.

"Lee's 'two states' statement runs against the public opinion of the whole nation," the commentary said.

"It represents neither the entire Chinese nation, nor compatriots in Taiwan, but only a small number of die-hard separatists on the island."

The article described the separation of the mainland and Taiwan people as a "historic anomaly" from the 1945-49 Chinese civil war.

Chiang Kai-shek's nationalist forces fled to the island to set up a non-communist enclave as the communists swept to victory.

The commentary also attacked Lee as a politician adept at manipulating public opinion to suit his goals.

"He even went so far as to deceive via 'public opinion polls,'" it said.

According to a poll conducted in May by a Taipei government agency, some 77.5 percent of Taiwanese opposed the "one country, two systems" offer, with only 4 percent approving the mainland's peace overtures.

China has vowed to retake the island by force if it attempts to declare independence.

In Hong Kong, the Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po daily quoted a Chinese military expert as saying the current crisis could be resolved if Lee retracted his recent remarks on statehood.

"Lee Teng-hui is the crisis's chief leader. The Taiwan problem can be quickly resolved if Taiwan retracts the 'two Chinas' remarks," it said summarizing published views of Defense University Professor Zhang Xiaozhong.

Lee and other Taipei leaders say that his "state-to-state" comments do not represent a declaration of independence and had not changed a longstanding official goal of seeking reunification with a democratic China.

Beijing has proposed reunification under the "one country, two systems" mechanism it used to rule Hong Kong, but the offer has been rejected by Taipei, which demands a democratic political system on the mainland as a precondition.

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Returned Dissident Beaten In Prison

HONG KONG, Aug 23, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) A Chinese dissident who returned to China last year has been repeatedly beaten while under "reform-through-labor" detention, a human rights group said Sunday.

The mother of dissident Zhang Lin told the Hong Kong-based Information Center on Human Rights and Democratic Movement that police had ordered other prisoners to beat her son after he protested against cruel treatment.

Duan Ruihua, Zhang's mother, said her son had scars on his right arm and neck and his arm was partially paralyzed.

He had tried to commit suicide twice and went on a six-day hunger strike in protest against his treatment in prison.

Police had forced Zhang to work 14 hours a day despite his having contracted hepatitis.

Zhang returned to China from the United States last November and was apprehended by police while registering at a hotel in Guangzhou, southern Guangdong province, the center said.

According to his papers he was sentenced without trial to three years detention for "stealing across the border," the center said.

However, China's foreign ministry had announced that Zhang was incarcerated for "obscene criminal behavior."

The center said charges against Zhang were false as he legally went to the United States in 1997 and returned in his capacity as a Chinese citizen.

It said the foreign ministry statements about Zhang amounted to "slander."

Zhang, 35, served three years under similar detention from 1994 for activities linked to China's outlawed democracy movement.

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Russian, Chinese Presidents Due In Kyrgyzstan Despite Unrest

BISHKEK, Aug 23, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin will arrive here for a summit with leaders from three Central Asian states on Tuesday despite unrest in the south of the former Soviet republic, Kyrgyz officials said on Monday.

A group of some 30 guerrillas took four Japanese citizens, their interpreters and a Kyrgyz major-general and soldier hostage on Monday, but the incident in the remote southern region will not interfere with the summit, Kyrgyz presidential spokesman Kanybek Immanaliyev said.

Yeltsin's persistent health problems also will not keep the Russian president from attending the third Shanghai Five summit, Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Minister Muratbek Imanaliyev said on Monday.

"Boris Nikolayevich will be here without fail," the foreign minister said.

Yeltsin and Jiang will meet with their Central Asian counterparts Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Askar Akayev of Kyrgyzstan and Imomali Rakhmanov of Tajikistan during the two-day summit.

"On the agenda will be a discussion of three problems: the realization of the Moscow and Shanghai agreements, the second issue is a discussion of the problems of regional security and the third problem issues connected with economic and cultural cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Five," Imanaliyev said.

In addition to the summit, the presidents will hold bilateral talks, he said.

The presidents are expected to sign the Bishkek Declaration summarizing the talks, a tri-lateral agreement between China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan concerning the placement of border posts along their common frontiers and a bilateral border agreement between Kyrgyzstan and China.

The Shanghai Five first met in Shanghai in April 1996 when the five countries penned a historic treaty to demilitarize their common border.

Meeting a year later in Moscow, the five states agreed to mutual 15-percent troop reductions along the 3,000-kilometer (1,875-mile) border shared by the three former Soviet republics and China.

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On Kinmen Anniversary, China Tells Taiwan: 'U.S. Won't Help You'

BEIJING, Aug 23, 1999 -- (Reuters) China told Taiwan on Monday, the 41st anniversary of the start of artillery duels, that the United States would leave the estranged island on its own if war broke out now, just as it allegedly did then.

"The United States will not sacrifice its major strategic interests embodied in Sino-U.S. relations for its partial interests in Taiwan," the China Defense News said.

"The Taiwan authorities should be clear-headed on this," the newspaper said, alleging that the United States pulled the plug on Taiwan after Chinese shelling of Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, broke out on August 23, 1958.

Both Beijing and Taipei claim victory in the 1958 battle, in which the Communists shelled Quemoy, an island a rifle-shot away from the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian, while the Nationalists bombed military installations in Fujian.

The China Defense News alleged that U.S. warships escorting Quemoy-bound Nationalist vessels carrying provisions fled the scene after China sank the Taiwan ships.

But Taiwan disputes that account.

Shelling of Quemoy basically ended in 1959.

Washington switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei in 1979 and China promised to seek reunification through peaceful means.

The newspaper said Taiwan "should not pin hopes that are too high on foreign intervention" in the event of a showdown with China.

Beijing and Taipei have been locked in a war of words and military posturing since Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui declared last month that bilateral ties should be on a "special state-to-state" basis.

China, which has threatened to invade if Taiwan declared independence, saw Lee's declaration as a lurch towards statehood.

The China Defense News said the United States had been using Taiwan -- dubbed an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" by the Americans -- "to contain China, Westernize, divide and weaken" it.

It warned Taipei against "underestimating the Chinese people's courage and determination" to prevent Taiwan from declaring independence.

"The Chinese government and people have always meant what we say," the newspaper said. "Do not hope the Chinese government would swallow the bitter fruit of harming its own basic interest."

Beijing regards Taiwan as a renegade province and has sought to push it into diplomatic isolation since the Communists won a civil war and drove the defeated Nationalists into exile in 1949.

Washington has said anything other than a peaceful solution would be a matter of "grave concern" to it.

The United States sent two aircraft carrier battle groups to back Taiwan in 1996 when China conducted intimidating war games and missile tests near the island.

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U.S. Delegation To Visit Taiwan, Discuss 'Statehood' Claim

TAIPEI, Aug 23, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The United States is to send a top delegation to Taipei to discuss the island's war of words with mainland China, a news report said Sunday.

The Chinese language China Times said President Bill Clinton "decided Tuesday to send an official group to Taipei to discuss with the authorities here the ongoing cross-strait tensions and the triangle relationship."

Tensions have mounted since President Lee Teng-hui said last month that Taiwan wanted "special state-to-state relations" with China. Infuriated Beijing leaders saw it as a new move by Lee to claim independence for Taiwan, which it claims is a renegade province.

The report said there would be three or four officials representing the National Security Council, the State Department and the Defense Department. Among them could be Kurt Campbell, assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific affairs, the paper said.

Campbell was seen as "pro-Taiwan" by some U.S. administration officials because of his insistence in keeping a "balance" in dealing with Beijing and Taipei, the paper said.

Last month Washington sent special envoy Richard Bush to Taipei and Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Roth to Beijing in a bid to ease the new tensions.

Taiwan's president assured Bush that his comments were not aimed at seeking independence but were expressing the political reality and that Taiwan wants parity in any reunification talks.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, when the communists won the civil war and nationalist forces fled to Taiwan.

Assurances by Taiwan leaders have not calmed Beijing's anger and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright demanded last month that Taiwan do more to explain its statehood claim.

"I think that the explanations offered thus far don't quite do it," she told a press conference after talks with China's Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan.

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Hong Kong Proposes Watchdog For Media Privacy Intrusion

HONG KONG, Aug 21, 1999 -- (Reuters) Hong Kong's Law Reform Commission has proposed setting up an independent watchdog to monitor invasions of privacy by the local press, prompting a storm of protest by papers who fear more general curbs.

A 175-page government document proposes the independent statutory body would have the power to fine papers up to HK$1 million, investigate complaints from the public, decide if a newspaper has breached privacy and demand apologies.

"Although everyone should, in principle, have the liberty to express and publish true facts, this liberty does not extend to truth which causes private individuals annoyance or embarrassment without any corresponding benefit to the public," it says.

The "Consultation Paper on the Regulation of Media Intrusion" has been posted on the Internet.

The South China Morning Post said in a Saturday editorial that in Hong Kong, as elsewhere, there could be gory and salacious stories which served little public good.

"The Hong Kong press could do more to set and apply standards of decency and relevance to the public interest. But a vibrant society needs a free press more than an appointed council able to penalize whatever a majority dislikes," it said.

The Hong Kong Economic Times said the proposal was unacceptable. It argued that privacy codes were available to protect private lives.

The widely circulated Chinese-language Apple Daily said it could not accept any controls from the government or political forces, but agreed the media should be subject to monitoring by the public.

On Friday, Hong Kong's media voiced fears about press freedom and sought clarification from Beijing after China warned the territory's newspapers against promoting calls for Taiwan's independence.

Hong Kong returned to communist China in 1997, after more than 150 years of British colonial rule, with a guarantee of a wide degree of autonomy.

By Reuters

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Lee Has "Misled" Taiwan People On Their Sovereignty : China

BEIJING, Aug 21, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China on Saturday said Taiwan’s President Lee Teng-hui had misled the island's residents into believing they could decide their own fate.

"Lee took advantage of the fact that some people in Taiwan have not fully recognized the nature of his separatist remarks, as he misled them by claiming that 'the sovereignty of Taiwan belongs to the Taiwan people,'" the official Liberation Army daily said in a commentary.

"The Chinese nation is a large family which includes people on both sides of the Taiwan strait. The 'public opinion' of this big family should reflect the opinions and wishes of the entire Chinese nation, not just those confined to a small region," it said.

Though Taiwan has been ruled separately from the mainland since 1949, China views it as part of its sovereign territory and requires all its diplomatic partners to recognize the fact routinely.

Its accusations that Lee is pursuing a separatist agenda have become sharper since the president began advocating a "state to state" relationship between Beijing and Taipei on July 10, igniting a new round of tensions.

"Lee's 'two states' statement runs against the public opinion of the whole nation," the commentary said.

"It represents neither the entire Chinese nation, nor compatriots in Taiwan, but only a small number of die-hard separatists on the island."

The article described the separation of the mainland and Taiwan people as a "historical anomaly" from the 1945-49 Chinese civil war.

Chiang Kai-Shek's nationalist forces fled to the island to set up a non-communist enclave as the communists swept to victory.

The commentary also attacked Lee as a politician adept at manipulating public opinion to suit his goals.

"He even went so far as to deceive via 'public opinion polls,'" it said.

According to a poll conducted in May by a Taipei government agency, some 77.5 percent of Taiwanese recently polled opposed the "one country, two systems" offer, with only four percent approving the mainland's peace overtures.

China has vowed to retake the island by force if it attempts to declare independence.

In Hong Kong, the Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po daily quoted a Chinese military expert as saying the current crisis could be resolved if Lee retracted his recent remarks on statehood.

"Lee Teng-hui is the crisis's chief instigator. The Taiwan problem can be quickly resolved if Taiwan retracts the 'two Chinas' remarks," it said summarizing published views of Defence University Professor Zhang Xiaozhong.

Lee and other Taipei leaders say that his "state to state" comments do not represent a declaration of independence and had not changed a longstanding official goal of seeking reunification with a democratic China.

Beijing has proposed reunification under the "one country, two systems" mechanism it used to rule Hong Kong, but the offer has been rejected by Taipei, which demands a democratic political system on the mainland as a precondition.

By Agence France Presse

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Taiwan Premier To Meet With Clinton, Mexican President Zedillo

TAIPEI, Aug 20, 1999 -- (Reuters) Taiwan Premier Vincent Siew will meet with President Bill Clinton when the two leaders travel to Panama to attend a presidential inauguration next month, a news report here said Friday.

"Siew is expected to deliver a personal letter from President Lee Teng-hui to Clinton ...," the Economic Daily News said.

The foreign ministry confirmed Siew's trip but not his agenda.

China, which was incensed when Lee recently said relations between Taiwan and China should be "state to state," said Thursday it does not rule out the use of force to stop Taiwan independence and wants the United States to stay out of what it said was a domestic matter.

"We cannot rule out the force option" and Beijing will not be cowed by "anybody's threat or blackmail," ambassador Li Zhaoxing told reporters in Washington.

Washington has repeatedly called for a peaceful settlement of the dispute.

The paper said Siew would also meet with Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo in Panama.

It said Siew had been forced to cancel a secretive trip to Mexico, which recognizes Beijing but maintains close economic ties with Taipei.

Siew and his entourage are slated to leave on August 30 and return on September 6.

In an unusual move, Panama's vice-president elect Arturo Vallarino flew to Beijing on August 8 for an "unofficial" visit at the invitation of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs.

He met with China's Vice-President Hu Jintao, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Despite the Beijing trip, Taiwan said it was not caught unprepared and insisted diplomatic links with Panama remain firm.

"We've been assured in advance that since Vallarino has not been sworn in, the visit would be private in nature," Taiwan's acting foreign ministry spokesman Henry Chen said.

"We also received a guarantee that Vallarino would not engage in any political mission nor would he pledge any political commitment during the trip."

Panama is one of 29 countries -- mainly in Latin American, the South Pacific and Africa -- that have established diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a renegade province.

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Taiwan Appeals For Hong Kong's Press Freedom

TAIPEI, Aug 20, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwan on Friday urged the Hong Kong authorities to safeguard press freedom there after a top Chinese official warned the territory's media not to support or publicize President Lee Teng-hui's statehood claim.

"In a free and democratic society, anyone is obliged to express one's ideas on any topics, and the freedom should be respected," Sheu Ke-sheng, vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, told reporters.

"The Hong Kong authorities should act to ensure the environment of press freedom."

China's Vice Premier Qian Qichen Thursday warned Hong Kong's media not to support or publicize remarks made by Lee that Taiwan should have "state-to-state" relations with China.

Qian was quoted by Hong Kong media as saying it was "inappropriate" for Hong Kong people to openly publicize Lee's call for a separate status, which Beijing considers a call for a totally independent Taiwan.

Qian said such a move could be "an offense against the Chinese government's 'one China' policy and the policy of the State Council."

In a press briefing Thursday, Hong Kong's government information coordinator Stephen Lam said remarks made by Cheng An-kuo, managing director of Chung Hwa Travel Services, the de facto Taiwan government representative, were political and, therefore, "inappropriate."

Lam said Cheng should comment on matters related to economy or tourism.

Defending Cheng, Sheu said there was nothing wrong with his comments which were in reply to question's on Lee's controversial statement in an interview with a Hong Kong radio station last month.

"His explanation is simply a representation of the reality," Sheu said.

Local media speculated that Cheng might not have his visa extended after it expires in November.

Lee has insisted he was not aiming to seek independence but parity and democracy in any reunification talks with Beijing.

Taipei has turned down Beijing's "one country, two systems" option for reunification, the mechanism China used when it regained sovereignty over the former British colony of Hong Kong in 1997, saying under the mechanism it would become a local government.

By Agence France Presse

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Taiwan Repeats Its Offer Of Dialogue With China

TAIPEI, Aug 20, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwan again renewed its call for peaceful talks with rival China Friday and dismissed allegations that Taipei was making trouble for Beijing in its ties with Washington.

"Continued exchanges and dialogues have been my fundamental desire and stance and hopefully bilateral ties could improve through exchanges and dialogue," President Lee Teng-hui said.

What was more important, he said, "the disputes could be solved in peaceful ways."

China insists Taiwan is a breakaway province and resists all moves it sees as threatening its sovereignty claim over the island.

China's ambassador to the United States Li Zhaoxing renewed Beijing's threats in Washington on Thursday, warning his government would not "rule out the force option" if Taiwan moved towards independence.

He also urged Washington not to meddle in Chinese internal affairs, saying Beijing would not be cowed by "anybody's threats or blackmail," reacting to suggestions that Washington might spring to Taiwan's defense in case of a Chinese attack.

The Chinese ambassador also described the Taiwanese leader as "the biggest obstacle" to Beijing-Taipei relations and the "biggest troublemaker" in U.S.-Chinese ties.

Lee however rebuffed the independence charges, saying his statehood claim was aimed at seeking parity in dealing with Beijing.

"It is by no means acceptable to us that the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) be seen as a 'local government' against Beijing's 'central government'," Lee said.

"Cross-strait ties will move forward on the steady track only when the two sides are weighed on an equal footing."

Beijing has offered to reunite with the island under the "one country, two systems" -- the mechanism by which Hong Kong was returned to it from British rule.

Taiwan has been ruled separately from the mainland since the end of a civil war in 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek's defeated forces fled to the island to set up a non-communist enclave.

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Taiwan Plan To Seek Missile Shield Cover Denounced

BEIJING, Aug 20, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The Chinese government on Friday protested Taiwan's plan to seek the cover of the United States' Star Wars-style missile shield.

"China opposes the inclusion of Taiwan, by any foreign country, in the project for a Theatre Missile Defense system (TMD)," a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement.

Beijing also opposed "the supply to Taiwan of the TMD system, its equipment or its technology," added the spokesman.

The United States and Japan agreed this week to start research on the multi-billion dollar missile umbrella over the next five to six years.

China has been expressing opposition to the project for several months. The shield would take in Japan and China suspects it will also include Taiwan, which it considers a renegade province.

The Taiwan government on Thursday approved a report calling for the island to be included in the shield. President Lee Teng-hui has also publicly called for Taiwan to get protection.

China carried out a test launch of its new DF-31 missile, as it steps up saber-rattling with Taiwan over the president's call for "special state-to-state" relations.

The foreign ministry spokesman said the position of the Taiwan authorities "clearly exposed their desire to resist the reunification of the fatherland and to divide the country."

He said China calls "on the countries involved not to let themselves be manipulated by the Taiwan authorities, not to get involved in the sovereignty and integrity of Chinese territory, not to damage relations with China and not to hurt the feelings of the Chinese people."

China's leaders were infuriated by Lee's latest statehood remarks which they see as a new attempt to promoted Taiwan's complete independence.

The two have been divided since 1949 when the communists won the Chinese civil war and nationalist forces fled to Taiwan.

By Agence France Presse

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Politicians Exploiting Taiwan Crisis, Ambassador Says

WASHINGTON, Aug 20, 1999 -- (Reuters) China's ambassador to the United States warned against U.S. politicians exploiting the crisis over Taiwan on Thursday but expressed confidence it would not cause lasting damage to U.S.-China relations.

Ambassador Li Zhao Xing called a news conference to repeat Beijing's denunciations of Taiwan's President Lee Teng-sui's call for political equality with China and to restate Chinese policy not to rule out use of force to achieve reunification.

Asked whether he was worried that the issue would be blown up by pro-Taiwanese American politicians in early skirmishing for next year's U.S. presidential election, Li said, "Yes, we are concerned."

Some contenders for the Republican nomination for next year's U.S. presidential election have come out in favor of strong U.S. intervention should China take any military action against Taiwan.

Li referred to these statements as "very dangerous" and added, "The Chinese people will not be cowed or blackmailed."

But he appeared confident that, despite shocks to Sino-U.S. ties this year including allegations of Chinese nuclear spying and the bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade during the NATO campaign against Yugoslavia, good relations would be resumed.

"The basic common interests between our two countries and peoples still exists and our two countries are still working hard to improve relations," he said.

He said preparations were under way for a meeting between President Bill Clinton and Chinese president Jiang Zemin at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Auckland, New Zealand next month.

"I am pretty sure there will be difficulties, setbacks, but no force, including Lee Teng-hui, can check the trend of the development of relations ... between the American people and the Chinese people," the ambassador said.

State Department spokesman James Rubin declined to be drawn into the domestic U.S. political discussion on Taiwan, but said the administration policy was to encourage dialogue between China and Taiwan and to build up relations with both states.

"I am confident the Chinese understand our political process," he said.

He said it was standing Chinese policy not to rule out the use of force over Taiwan and repeated the U.S. position that "the use of force would be a matter of grave concern to the United States."

Echoing a barrage of attacks on Lee from Beijing, Li said the Taiwan leader's reformulation of relations with the mainland was intended both to advance his own electoral fortune and to damage U.S.-China relations.

By Reuters

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Envoy Urges U.S. To Not Raise Bar For China's WTO Accession

BEIJING, Aug 20, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China's ambassador to the United States on Thursday called on Washington not to raise the threshold for China's admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"After 20 years of reform, China is already qualified (for entry). I hope our American friends will not raise the threshold," ambassador Li Zhaoxing said as he urged the U.S. side to take a "more pragmatic, flexible" attitude.

He said both sides were making preparations for a discussion of the issue at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Auckland, New Zealand.

In Beijing, a Chinese trade official however said China was still not ready to resume negotiations with the U.S. on WTO accession, despite a steady fall in foreign direct investment and a continuing poor export performance.

"China-US negotiations on WTO are at a standstill to which the U.S. should be held fully responsible," Hu Chusheng, spokesman for the Chinese ministry of foreign trade and economic cooperation, told journalists.

China cut off the bilateral talks following the mistaken NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade on May 7.

A successful conclusion to the talks with the U.S. would effectively assure China's entry as Washington has held out the highest demands on China's WTO protocol.

By Agence France Presse

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Chinese Dissidents Should Get Nobel, Activists Say

HONG KONG, Aug 20, 1999 -- (Reuters) Overseas Chinese pro-democracy activists are lobbying for the nomination of three jailed dissidents in China for the Nobel Peace Prize, a Hong Kong-based human rights group said on Friday.

The three dissidents -- Xu Wenli, Qin Yongmin and Wang Youcai -- were sentenced to long jail terms late last year for trying to set up an opposition party in China.

Beijing has outlawed the China Democracy Party (CDP) and recently stepped up its crackdown, arresting and jailing a number of its members.

The Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said the overseas activists were lobbying lawmakers from the United States, Norway, Sweden and Britain for support. They were seeking to nominate the three dissidents for their championing of democracy in China through the CDP.

Xu, who was jailed from 1981 to 1993 for his role in the 1979 Democracy Wall movement, is suffering from swollen hands, ankles and abdomen in a sign he might have heart or liver disease, it said.

Xu recently had a medical check-up but the authorities withheld the report from the dissident's wife, the Hong Kong-based group said.

Rival Northern Ireland politicians John Hume and David Trimble won last year's peace prize jointly for their work to end 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

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Hong Kong Police Gearing Up For The Millennium

HONG KONG, Aug 19, 1999 -- (Reuters) Hong Kong police are ready to deal with any systems failures or a possible crime spree at the New Year stemming from the Y2K computer millennium bug, a senior police officer said.

More than 5,000 officers will patrol the streets, and back-up communications systems and power generators are in place in case of Y2K breakdowns, said Assistant Commissioner of Operations Cheung Chi-sum.

"We've done everything that is humanly possible. We have thought through it and catered for all eventualities, but there again, there is always the unexpected. But for the expected, we are very confident," Cheung told Reuters in an interview.

The Y2K bug stems from an early computer programming practice of using two digits for the year. Experts say older systems could mistake 2000 for 1900 and crash on January 1 when year 2000, or Y2K, begins.

Apart from scare stories of the bug causing disasters, it is also feared power and communication stoppages could trigger crime waves.

But Cheung said it was unlikely police would turn for help to troops from China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), which have been stationed in the territory since British rule ended in July 1997.

"The police in Hong Kong are perfectly capable of handling internal security and law and order," he said.

The PLA is responsible for Hong Kong's external defense and the 28,000-strong police force is responsible for internal law and order.

Cheung said the computer system used by the Hong Kong police was now fully millennium (Y2K) compliant but the force would be vigilant in case other systems broke down, encouraging criminals to pounce.

Cheung said leave during a four-week period straddling the New Year had been restricted and the force would cancel holidays if necessary.

"In the unlikely event of that (disruptions) occurring, we have plenty of police available both in the streets and police stations...to induce calm and reduce panic," Cheung said. He called on Hong Kong's 6.8 million residents not to abuse police emergency telephone lines at the New Year. "Like in normal times, citizens should use emergency lines discriminately," he said.

But what if the emergency lines go down?

"In case the 999 line fails, all one needs to do is find a police station and there will be plenty of police officers around in the streets to receive reports and act on them," Cheung said.

The Hong Kong government has been putting a contingency plan in place to cover 13 crucial public service sectors in case of Y2K troubles.

The police are one sector, along with financial services, food, transportation, fire and emergency, water and sewage, civil aviation, public health, telecommunications, port management, energy supply, immigration and broadcasting.

Territory-wide tests involving all 13 public service sectors will be carried out in the final three months of 1999.

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Hong Kong Press Instructed To Avoid China-Taiwan Topic

HONG KONG, Aug 19, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) A top Chinese leader Thursday warned Hong Kong's media not to support or publicize remarks last month by Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui that relations between Taipei and Beijing should be on a "state-to-state" basis.

Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen was quoted by Hong Kong media as saying it was "inappropriate" for people in Hong Kong to openly publicize Lee's advocacy of "state-to-state" relations with the mainland, which Beijing considered a call for "two Chinas" and which has sent tensions soaring between the bitter foes.

In a meeting in Beijing with visiting Hong Kong justice secretary Elsie Leung, Qian said such a move could constitute "an offense to the Chinese government's 'one China' policy and the policy of the State Council."

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U.S. Voices 'Concern' Over Renewed Dissident Crackdown

WASHINGTON, Aug 19, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The United States on Wednesday expressed concern over reports of more arrests of pro-democracy dissidents in China and said it was looking into the matter.

Chinese police in the southeastern city of Hangzhou have detained two dissidents linked to the outlawed China Democracy Party (CDP), according to a Hong Kong-based human rights group.

Wang Rongqing, a CDP member, was re-arrested Wednesday afternoon only three days after being released from two months in police custody, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.

Also detained Wednesday was Shan Chenfeng, the wife of detained CDP member Wu Yilong, who has been in police custody since May, the center said.

"We've seen a number of reports of these arrests... It's something we would be looking into right away," State Department spokesman James Rubin said.

"These are matters always of concern to us that the Chinese are taking steps to interfere with the basic right of assembly and the basic democratic freedoms we agree with," Rubin added.

Wang's whereabouts were unknown. He had been previously detained on June 3 as some 100 members of the Hangzhou CDP chapter prepared to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests.

Over 200 members of the outlawed CDP have been rounded up since early spring, with some 20 expected to be tried for subversion this month, the Hong Kong-based center said.

By Agence France Presse

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On Taiwan, China Warns: 'U.S., Do Not Mix In'

BEIJING, Aug 19, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China on Thursday kept up pressure on Taiwan, warning the United States that it was fully prepared to launch an attack on the nationalist island, regardless of potential costs.

The official Global Times -- a weekly published by the Communist Party flagship People's Daily -- issued the warning in a lengthy commentary under the front-page banner headline "USA, do not mix in."

"The Chinese government has always been devoted to a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue, but if the Taiwan authorities think the mainland can only launch a propaganda or psychological war, they are mistaken," it said.

"If Taiwan authorities think they can depend on the shelter of external forces, they are mistaken," it added.

A large color picture of People's Liberation Army (PLA) tanks rolling onto land from a troopship, surrounded by life-jacketed soldiers accompanied the article.

"At present, mainland China has already finished all preparations for any use of force against Taiwan," it said. "Military mobilization, troop movements, combat-readiness training, logistics support and other aspects are already arranged."

Despite the strong words, military spokesmen in both Washington and Taipei say they have not detected any large-scale movement of PLA forces since Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui ignited the current round of tensions by calling for "state-to-state" relations between the two sides.

Beijing has attacked the comments since July 9 as a step toward a formal declaration of independence -- a move it has long vowed will bring an immediate military response.

China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek's defeated forces fled to the island to set up a non-communist enclave.

Beijing views the island as a renegade province.

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Taiwan Wants In -- Now -- On U.S. Missile Defense System

TAIPEI, Aug 19, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwan took another crucial step Thursday to joining a U.S. missile shield as President Lee Teng-hui again challenged China by reaffirming the island's claim to statehood.

Taiwan's cabinet approved a draft report making clear it wants a missile defense system "in order to cope with the missile threat of the Chinese communists."

It called for a swift establishment of an early warning system, which would give the island more time to prepare for any mainland attack as well as a gradual setting up of "a comprehensive missile defense system."

The report, which will be formally made public when parliament convenes on September 17, came a day after Lee gave his backing to Taiwan's participation in the U.S. scheme.

But the U.S. State Department said Wednesday it was unaware of Lee's official interest.

"I'm not aware of any formal decision that has been transmitted about their (Taiwan) willingness to or desire to move forward on that," State Department spokesman James Rubin said.

"I know that we do consult with them regularly through defense channels.

"If they have a new position, I would expect them to take that forward in their consultations."

Beijing was incensed after Lee last month declared that Taipei wants a "special state-to-state relationship" with Beijing.

The Chinese leaders, who regards Taiwan as a breakaway province, view Taiwan's statehood claim as a shift from the "One China policy" -- accepted by Beijing, Taipei and Washington -- which has kept an unsteady peace in the region for nearly five decades.

China on Thursday kept up pressure on Taiwan, warning the United States that it was fully prepared to launch an attack on the island, regardless of cost.

Despite the warning, Lee said Thursday: "What is the goal of our country? On this critical moment, I stepped out to speak, letting the voice of the general public be known to the world.

"For the dignity of the country, you should feel pleased I present reality in a straightforward manner," Lee said on a visit outside Taipei.

He had repeatedly assured Washington that his statehood claim was not aimed to press for independence but to seek parity in any reunification talks with Beijing.

China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek's defeated forces fled to the island to set up a non-communist enclave.

Beijing views the island as a renegade province.

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Taiwan Seeks Cover From U.S.-Japan Theatre Missile Shield

TAIPEI, Aug 18, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) President Lee Teng-hui said Wednesday that Taiwan should join a proposed U.S.-Japan theatre missile shield.

Lee gave his backing after hearing a report on Taiwan's possible role on Theatre Missile Defense (TMD) at a central committee meeting of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT).

With Taiwan facing a growing military threat from mainland China because of its demand for state-to-state relations, Lee said "setting up a TMD system would cope with the current situation and be in the nation's interest."

"Every effort (for the system) deserves praise," he was quoted as saying by KMT spokesman Huang Hui-jen.

Lee ordered government agencies to work with the defense ministry on the plans that could cost the island several billion U.S. dollars.

On Monday, U.S. and Japanese officials signed a memorandum of understanding to research a sea-based missile defense system, amid fears North Korea is preparing to test fire a new missile.

The defense weaponry uses satellites to pinpoint incoming missiles which are then shot down.

China also virulently opposes the TMD system.

The People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, in a commentary accused Japan of fabricating unconvincing reasons to pursue the missile shield.

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U.S. Military Aircraft Cleared For Landing

HONG KONG, Aug 18, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China has approved a request for a U.S. air force plane to land in Hong Kong next week, two days after refusing a request for two U.S. ships to dock, a spokeswoman for the U.S. consulate said Wednesday.

A C21 small business jet will be allowed to land in Hong Kong on August 22 and leave the next day.

The plane will be making a brief overnight transit in Hong Kong and will be carrying a U.S. congressman and his staff on their visit to another country, the spokeswoman said.

The approval is the third U.S. aircraft landing approved by Beijing since the U.S.-led NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.

Beijing banned U.S. military vehicles from visiting Hong Kong after the bombing, which killed three Chinese nationals.

However, China this month seemed to begin relaxing the ban. It approved a navy ship to dock here in addition to the three aircraft landings.

But Beijing continued to bar other navy ships and aircraft from visiting, with the most recent rejection announced on Monday.

Since the May 7 bombing, China has turned down requests for 10 U.S. navy ships to dock and three aircraft to land.

Barbara Zigli, spokeswoman for the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong, said there was no telling how Beijing would treat future requests.

"I'm not going to make any speculations. They did not provide any explanation," Zigli said.

However political analysts have said Beijing appeared to be granting the requests based on the type of vehicle, local reports said.

In terms of ships, Beijing has approved an oiler ship carrying civilian crew, but have refused all others, including an amphibian landing vessel, a frigate and a navy submarine-hunting aircraft.

As for aircraft, it has approved a cargo plane and the business type jet transporting congressmen on state visits elsewhere, but has rejected other planes.

Zigli said Hong Kong, being centrally located, is often used as a transit hub for congressmen traveling to this region. Congress is on recess now and members tend to travel during this period, she said.

The same C21 plane approved for August 22 is due to land in Hong Kong Wednesday to pick up a U.S. senator arriving by other means and take him on a visit to Indonesia, Zigli said.

Beijing has suspended military and security exchanges with Washington and put off negotiations on its accession to the World Trade Organization.

U.S. warships have regularly used Hong Kong primarily for rest and recreation.

During British rule, the U.S. Navy made up to 65 port calls a year, and under an agreement with Beijing the stopovers were to continue after the territory returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

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China Says It 'Won't Give Up An Inch,' Conducts War Exercises

BEIJING, Aug 18, 1999 -- (Reuters) China said on Wednesday it would rather let a thousand soldiers die in fighting than lose an inch of territory.

The Liberation Army Daily, in a front-page commentary, scoffed at Taiwan for spending billions of dollars and arming itself to the teeth.

"Military strength cannot save Lee Teng-hui," the commentary said, referring to the Taiwan president who enraged China last month by declaring relations between the two rivals should be on a "special state-to-state" basis.

Wealthy and democratic Taiwan, in a military build-up in the 1990s aimed at fending off its giant communist neighbor, has bought F-16 fighters from the United States and Mirage jets from France, irking Beijing.

The Army Daily said the morale of Taiwan troops was low because Lee's call -- which Beijing has denounced as a dangerous lurch towards independence -- was unpopular, while Chinese soldiers have always put national interest above their own lives. "We would rather lose a thousand soldiers than lose an inch of land," said the organ of the 2.5 million-strong People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province, has threatened to invade if the island declares independence.

The newspaper reminded Taipei that the PLA routed the eight million-strong Nationalist army in a civil war in 1949.

Its Military Technology Weekly boasted that China had the neutron bomb, which it described as a "mystery killer". But Western defense analysts doubt China would use the neutron bomb -- which kills people but leaves property relatively intact -- against Taiwan.

The analysts also doubt whether the PLA -- the world's biggest army but generally regarded as a backward fighting machine -- had the capability to mount a successful invasion of Taiwan.

The United States, which sent two aircraft carrier battle groups to back Taiwan in 1996 when China conducted war games and missile tests near the island, could be dragged in again if China took military action against Taiwan, they said.

But Chinese sources said hundreds of belligerent generals had written to the Communist Party leadership demanding a tougher stand against Taiwan.

Meanwhile, China has upgraded the status of military exercises in Gansu province to "war zone" level, military officials said Wednesday.

The use of the term of "Lanzhou War Zone" -- instead of Lanzhou Military Region -- to describe the northwestern site of the joint exercises between the army, air force and artillery-missile corps, appeared aimed at intimidating Taiwan, analysts said.

The upgrade represented a significant increase in the level of military preparedness, western military experts in Beijing said.

"They are really increasing the pressure on Taiwan," one expert told AFP.

PLA officials in the political department of the Lanzhou War Zone refused to say whether the exercises were aimed at Taiwan, nor would they confirm reports in the Chinese press that the exercises were completed.

"The international situation is very delicate and this (upgrade) is a very sensitive issue," one official told AFP.

Another official from the war zone's operations department said: "We call it a war zone because the air force and the 2nd Artillery Corps are involved."

"These are routine military exercises," he added.

The People's Liberation Army Daily reported Wednesday that the "successfully held" exercises involved long-range missiles and air strikes.

"As the 'blue army' began its land attack, the 'red army', found it difficult to engage in a complicated battle environment, so the 2nd Artillery Corps demonstrated a conventional long-range missile attack," the paper said.

"Air strikes by air force pilots and a ground-based missile corps sharply thwarted the attack of the 'blue army'," it said.

Chief of the General Staff of the PLA Fu Quanyou observed the exercises and praised the army for its preparedness to fight a war in high-tech conditions, the paper said.

The paper also carried a front page editorial denouncing President Lee and warning Taiwan that 50 years ago an outmanned and outgunned PLA successfully thwarted the Nationalist Army and sent the government of Chiang Kai-shek fleeing to Taiwan.

Taiwan could spend "mountains" of U.S. dollars modernizing its military, but its forces would never have the morale to fight for a "1,000-year sinner" and "splittist" like Lee Teng-hui, it said.

In contrast, "An army defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity is brave enough to undertake the biggest difficulties and make the biggest sacrifices," the editorial said.

On Monday, China rolled out its military hardware -- tanks, armored personnel carriers, amphibious vehicles, missiles and artillery -- in a rehearsal for a giant parade to mark the 50th anniversary of Communist rule on October 1.

The Yangzhou Evening News said the hardware included the Dong Feng-31 ballistic missile test fired this month. It can reach the northwestern United States.

State media have kept up the heat on Taiwan, with the China Business Times News Weekly boasting last week that if war broke out, Taiwan would be able to resist for no more than five days.

The Global Times, a tabloid used to float ideas not permitted in the Communist Party's staid People's Daily, said a military conflict could erupt "at any moment."

By Reuters

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Britain Refuses To Bar Falungong Leader

LONDON, Aug 18, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Britain has turned down a request from China to ban the leader of the outlawed Falungong spiritual movement from entering the country, the Foreign Office said Tuesday.

At a news conference on Tuesday, China's ambassador to London disclosed that Beijing had asked for Li Hongzhi to be barred after a newspaper claimed he was planning to attend the group's first British conference.

Chinese authorities justify their crackdown on the Falungong, a mystical quasi-religious group which advocates physical and mental exercises similar to some forms of Buddhism, as necessary for the survival of communism.

Over the past three weeks Beijing has detained thousands of followers in what it describes as a "grave political and ideological struggle."

The Foreign Office confirmed that a meeting took place with the Chinese embassy here on August 4, during which the Chinese "made clear to us" their position on the reported visit.

But a spokesman added: "We have taken the view that as Falungong is not an illegal organization in the UK and also in view of Interpol declining to treat Li as an international criminal, there is no case for action on our part."

Although the Foreign Office does not comment on individual cases, anyone who applied for a visa would be subject to British immigration law.

Earlier this month, the Independent on Sunday reported that Li was ready to travel from his "self-imposed exile" in New York for the group's British conference, which starts in a central London park on August 29.

But at a news conference in the British capital earlier Tuesday, China's ambassador to London, Ma Zhengang, revealed the diplomatic pressure Beijing had applied to try to stop him entering.

"I hope the British government will take the interests of the two countries into consideration and keep Li out of the country," he said.

"He is not an ordinary citizen. He is wanted by the Chinese security department."

The ambassador described the Falungong as a "cult organization with political motives," saying of Li: "He would like to spread it all over the world because this person has very big ambitions.

"He boasted the world could only be saved by himself... He will certainly try to spread Falungong to many other countries."

The Falungong was banned in China on July 22 after around 10,000 members besieged the central government's Zhongnanhai seat of power in April.

Chinese military officials have likened the protest to the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy uprising -- which was brutally suppressed -- as one of the most significant challenges to Chinese communism in recent times.

The Foreign Office said: "The Chinese authorities are aware of our and the EU countries' disappointment at the banning of this organization and the restrictions which are being placed on the practice of individual spiritual belief."

By Agence France Presse

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Cambodia Bans Taiwan National Day Celebrations

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA, Aug 18, 1999 -- (Reuters) Cambodia on Wednesday banned civil servants from attending celebrations to mark Taiwan's National Day on October 10 and reaffirmed its strict one-China policy.

A government order, signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen and broadcast on state radio, said authorities had received reports that some Cambodians and Taiwan people living in Cambodia were preparing celebrations.

"There have recently been reports that there are some bad (Taiwan people) in Cambodia, and some Cambodians, who want to implement a two-China policy by holding a celebration on October 10 with an illegal national flag and anthem," the order said.

"The royal government would like to clarify that...Cambodia follows a one-China policy and considers Taiwan a part of the territory of the People's Republic of China."

Beijing has regarded Taiwan a breakaway province since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has threatened to invade if the island declares independence.

The order called on all authorities to prevent any public celebration of the October 10 anniversary and said civil servants were forbidden from attending any event to mark the day, even in private.

Hun Sen closed down a Taiwan trade office in Phnom Penh shortly after he seized power in a coup in July 1997.

At the time he accused unidentified people from Taiwan of helping his then rival, Prince Norodom Ranariddh and his royalist party.

Despite the closure of the trade office, Taiwan was the biggest investor in the first six months of this year with approved projects worth $31.8 million, according to investment board figures.

China is also a major foreign investor.

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U.S.-Japan Pact To Develop Anti-Missile System Called Veiled Threat

BEIJING, Aug 18, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China on Wednesday lambasted a US-Japanese agreement to research an anti-ballistic missile system as a poorly masked attempt to dominate the Asia-Pacific region.

The People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, in a commentary charged Tokyo with fabricating unconvincing reasons for pursuing the agreement signed on Monday.

The newspaper cited a threat of missile attack from North Korea and a desire by Japan to strengthen its defenses.

But it said: "People can feel that Japan and the United States are further seeking military primacy in the Asia-Pacific area.

"If this situation is going to develop further, it will seriously affect the whole area's peace and stability. It will also unsettle the international community and raise its vigilance," the commentary said.

Amid mounting suspicions that North Korea is preparing to test-fire a new missile, Pentagon and Japanese defense officials Monday signed a memorandum of understanding on research for a ship-based system that would use satellites to pinpoint incoming missiles and then shoot them down.

The research is expected to cost 50-60 billion yen ($435-522 million) over five to six years, with Japan paying 20-30 billion yen.

The signing falls under a 1998 decision by the two countries to look into a ship-based system known as theatre missile defense (TMD) -- also strongly opposed by Beijing.

North Korea launched a medium-range Taepodong I missile which flew over Japan last August 31 without warning, alarming Seoul, Tokyo and Washington. Pyongyang insisted the rocket was launching a satellite.

There are fears it is preparing to test-fire another missile, possibly an upgraded Taepodong II with a longer range.

By Agence France Presse

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China ‘Concerned’ About Joint U.S.-South Korean Military Exercises

BEIJING, Aug 17, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday expressed "concern" about massive military drills being staged jointly by U.S. and South Korean forces.

"We're concerned about this," the Xinhua news agency quoted ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao as saying in reply to a question about the "Ulchi Focus Lens" drills.

"We hope relevant parties will do more to ease tensions on the (Korean) peninsula and refrain from exacerbating the situation," he said.

Fighter jets launched a mock North Korean attack on Tuesday, the second day of the exercises involving 200,000 personnel from the United States and South Korea.

Troops also staged anti-guerrilla warfare tactics, practiced countering submarine invasions and possible chemical attacks across South Korea, which shares the world's last Cold War frontier with North Korea.

The joint exercises have also sparked a furious reaction from Pyongyang amid heightened tensions over its suspected plans to launch a new missile which could hit the U.S. mainland.

Though conducted annually, the war games have taken on an added political significance this year amid growing fears of North Korea's ballistic threat.

The North is said to be preparing the launch of a new Taepodong II long-range missile. It launched its medium-range Taepodong I a year ago.

By Agence France Presse

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China And UNICEF Devise Five-Year Plan To Protect Children

BEIJING, Aug 17, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China and the United Nations children's fund (UNICEF) are planning a new five-year round of cooperation to focus on matters including child abduction, the protection of girls' rights, and the prevention of HIV/AIDS, Beijing's official Xinhua news agency reported Monday.

The Chinese ministry of foreign trade and economic cooperation (MOFTEC) is the major working partner of UNICEF in China, and along with other government departments the parties are to meet in Beijing next week to draft a plan for cooperation for 2001-2005, it added.

"Our plan may attach greater importance to the protection of abducted children and street children, and to health and education issues among the children of migrant people in cities," said Zhou Bing, program officer of MOFTEC's department of international trade and economic affairs.

UNICEF and MOFTEC will stage a photo exhibition in Beijing beginning this weekend to display the results of Sino-UNICEF cooperation over the past 20 years, the report said.

Nearly $300 million in UNICEF funds have been provided to China since the UN organization resumed relations with China in 1979, most of which was used for health and nutrition, basic education, women's and children's welfare, handicapped children, social development in poor areas, and water supply and environmental hygiene programs.

UNICEF's programs in China have become the largest in any country, according to the organization's China office.

By Agence France Presse

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China Sentences 18 Moslems In Xinjiang For Separatist Activities

BEIJING, Aug 17, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) A Chinese court in the western-most Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region has convicted 18 Moslems of attempting to split up China and sentenced them to long prison terms, an official press report seen in Beijing Tuesday said.

The Intermediate People's Court of Nongsishi, convening in a local movie theater, sentenced the separatists for "splitting the country, destroying the unity of the motherland and destroying the religious policy of the Communist Party," the Xinjiang Legal Daily reported in last Thursday's edition.

During the July 23 sentencing, Xiermaimaiti Ahbudurexi was sentenced to 15 years, while seven other ring leaders were put away for between 10 and 14 years, the report said.

The 10 other separatists were sentenced for terms of up to 10 years, it said.

Nongsishi is in Xinjiang's western-most Ili Prefecture where 10 other separatists were sentenced to death July 25 for attempting to split the country, according to the London-based Amnesty International.

It was not immediately clear if the two trials were related.

By Agence France Presse

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NO NEED TO RETRACT 'SPECIAL STATE-TO-STATE' THEORY: PREMIER

Taipei, Aug. 17 (CNA) Premier Vincent Siew said on Tuesday he sees no need for the Republic of China government to retract the "special state-to-state relationship" theory.

Siew was responding to mainland Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen's remarks that the "special state-to-state" theory is

purely ROC President Lee Teng-hui's own views.

Qian, a former mainland foreign minister, was quoted as saying during a meeting with a pro-unification delegation from Taiwan on Monday that Beijing is still waiting for Koo Chen-fu, Taiwan's top negotiator with the mainland, to retract the "special state-to-state" theory so as to pave the way for opening cross-strait political negotiations.

Qian was referring to President Lee's defining relations across the Taiwan Strait as a "special state-to-state relationship" during an interview with Germany's Deutsche Welle radio station on July 9. The definition has drawn furious reaction from Beijing which regards it as a move to promote Taiwan independence.

Commenting on Qian's remarks, Premier Siew said the "special state-to-state" theory simply describes facts and clarifies special features of cross-strait relationship.

"President Lee's definition mainly affirms reality and underscores parity between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait," Siew explained, adding that the definition does not mark a shift in Taiwan's policy toward the mainland.

The premier went on to say that the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), which charts Taiwan's mainland policy, has issued a position paper detailing the meaning and purposes of the "special state-to-state" theory.

"We have also reiterated on many occasions that our policy of promoting cross-strait exchanges and dialogue as well as seeking an eventual democratic unification remains unchanged," Siew said.

Stressing that the ROC's sovereign status is an indisputable fact, Siew said he does not think that the ROC government has to retract President Lee's "special state-to-state" remarks.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's top negotiator with Beijing Koo Chen-fu reiterated the ROC's sincere welcome to his mainland counterpart Wang Daohan's planned visit to Taiwan this autumn.

Koo, a veteran business tycoon and senior adviser to President Lee, said despite the recent controversy over the "special state-to-state" theory, the ROC government still looks forward to hosting Wang's visit.

Koo, who made an ice-breaking visit to the mainland last October, made no immediate comments on Qian's Monday call for

him to retract the "special state-to-state" theory. "I can't respond to Qian's remarks until I obtain a full text or full information about his talks," he added.

In related news, MAC Chairman Su Chi said in an interview with Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper that so long as Beijing accepts the "special state-to-state" definition, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can start negotiations on highly sensitive political issues, including the opening of direct cross-strait trade, transport and postal links.

The ROC's top mainland policy planner told the largest Japanese daily that the definition is mainly aimed at setting the fundamental

principle for substantive talks with communist China.

"Only under this principle can Taiwan starts political negotiations with the mainland," Su explained.

The scholar-turned-policy planner pointed out that Beijing's so-called "one China" principle is detrimental to Taiwan in any political negotiations because it downgrades the ROC to a local-level government.

Su stressed that in the 21st century, cross-strait ties should not be a "father-son" relationship as Beijing claims. "We hope cross-strait ties will move toward a 'brotherly' or 'neighbor-like' relationship," he noted, adding that this is what the "special state-to-state" theory means.

(By Sofia Wu)

By CNA

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China Sentences 18 Moslems In Xinjiang For Separatist Activities

BEIJING, Aug 17, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) A Chinese court in the western-most Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region has convicted 18 Moslems of attempting to split up China and sentenced them to long prison terms, an official press report seen in Beijing Tuesday said.

The Intermediate People's Court of Nongsishi, convening in a local movie theater, sentenced the separatists for "splitting the country, destroying the unity of the motherland and destroying the religious policy of the Communist Party," the Xinjiang Legal Daily reported in last Thursday's edition.

During the July 23 sentencing, Xiermaimaiti Ahbudurexi was sentenced to 15 years, while seven other ring leaders were put away for between 10 and 14 years, the report said.

The 10 other separatists were sentenced for terms of up to 10 years, it said.

Nongsishi is in Xinjiang's western-most Ili Prefecture where 10 other separatists were sentenced to death July 25 for attempting to split the country, according to the London-based Amnesty International.

It was not immediately clear if the two trials were related.

By Agence France Presse

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China ‘Concerned’ About Joint U.S.-South Korean Military Exercises

BEIJING, Aug 17, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday expressed "concern" about massive military drills being staged jointly by U.S. and South Korean forces.

"We're concerned about this," the Xinhua news agency quoted ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao as saying in reply to a question about the "Ulchi Focus Lens" drills.

"We hope relevant parties will do more to ease tensions on the (Korean) peninsula and refrain from exacerbating the situation," he said.

Fighter jets launched a mock North Korean attack on Tuesday, the second day of the exercises involving 200,000 personnel from the United States and South Korea.

Troops also staged anti-guerrilla warfare tactics, practiced countering submarine invasions and possible chemical attacks across South Korea, which shares the world's last Cold War frontier with North Korea.

The joint exercises have also sparked a furious reaction from Pyongyang amid heightened tensions over its suspected plans to launch a new missile which could hit the U.S. mainland.

Though conducted annually, the war games have taken on an added political significance this year amid growing fears of North Korea's ballistic threat.

The North is said to be preparing the launch of a new Taepodong II long-range missile. It launched its medium-range Taepodong I a year ago.

By Agence France Presse

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Activists Appeal To U.N. To Watch Human Rights Situation

HONG KONG, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Reuters) Fifty-six exiled Chinese democracy activists have appealed to the United Nations to keep a close watch on China's deteriorating human rights situation, a Hong Kong-based rights group said on Sunday.

The dissidents, including Wang Dan, Wang Juntao, Yan Jiaqi, and Wang Xizhe, have called on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to monitor the recent deterioration in human rights in China, the Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.

The appeal said that since the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy, at least 14 dissidents have been arrested and more than 20 dissidents will be sentenced or detained in the near term.

The appeal said that China had signed two U.N. human rights covenants, which are governed by international law and so the United Nations has a duty to see that China adheres to them.

This is the only way to ensure that human rights for one fifth of the world's population make progress, the appeal said.

By Reuters

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U.S. Presidential Hopefuls Talk Tough On China, Taiwan

WASHINGTON, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Reuters) U.S. Republican presidential hopefuls talked tough Sunday on defending Taiwan from any Chinese attack, but the front-runner has stuck essentially to the Clinton-Gore line.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush, who firmed up his lead for the party's 2000 presidential nomination over the weekend, declined to spell out what he would do if China carried out threats to punish Taiwan for any further steps toward declaring formal independence.

The 53-year-old son of former President George Bush said late Saturday that the United States must be "tough and firm" in dealing with China as a "strategic competitor."

On the CNN program Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields, Bush faulted the so-called strategic ambiguity policy of President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"I think (Clinton) sent bad signals to China that says, well, if you decide to move aggressively against Taiwan, we won't act, necessarily," said Bush.

But pressed on whether he would order U.S. forces to protect Taiwan in case of attack, Bush went no further than saying, "We need to honor our commitments in the Far East."

That is precisely the kind of vague formulation that has been the underpinning of the policy of every U.S. administration since Washington broke formal ties with Taipei as a condition of its 1979 recognition of Beijing.

Relations between China and Taiwan took a sharp turn for the worse after Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui called on July 9 for "special state-to-state" ties with Beijing, an implicit threat to the "one-China" policy that has maintained an uneasy peace for decades.

Since then, Chinese officials have said Beijing was considering military action to punish Taiwan. China has considered Taiwan a renegade province since nationalist forces fled there after Communists won the Chinese civil war in 1949.

On Friday, the White House said any Chinese use of force against Taiwan would be of "grave concern" but, as usual, stopped short of hinting whether the United States would defend the island.

The United States hopes to deter China without encouraging provocative pro-independence moves by Taiwan.

Steve Forbes, the publishing mogul who finished second to Bush in a non-binding Iowa straw poll on Saturday, said he would "absolutely" use U.S. forces to protect Taiwan.

"We have to make that clear to the Chinese," he said on the ABC program "This Week." "I'm not going to undermine Taiwan to try to preserve a relationship of appeasement. We need real rules of engagement with China. And then I think we can have a peaceful relationship."

"One of the very dangerous things this administration has done is to give off very ambiguous signals about whether we'd defend Taiwan itself," Forbes added. "That kind of ambiguity, that kind of uncertainty -- that's how you begin a war and a serious crisis."

Elizabeth Dole, heartened by her third-place finish in the Iowa poll, the first test of a candidate's strength, was asked on the NBC program "Meet the Press" whether she would order U.S. troops to defend Taiwan if attacked.

"President Dole would do so," she replied. "I think that the more that we can specify up front exactly what we expect ... and be very firm about what we would do, the less chance that we would ever have to go to that particular position."

Gary Bauer, a conservative activist who finished fourth in the Iowa balloting, accused Bush of taking the same ambiguous stance as the Clinton-Gore administration.

"Bush-Gore really are like one candidate," he said on "Meet the Press." "I believe we must defend Taiwan if they are attacked. Gov. Bush yesterday refused three times in an interview to say that he would."

The latest debate oddly mirrors an issue of the 1992 U.S. presidential campaign, when then-candidate Bill Clinton blasted Bush the elder for allegedly "coddling the dictators in Beijing."

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18 Jailed For 'Attempting To Split Motherland' In Xinjiang

BEIJING, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Reuters) A Chinese court has jailed 18 people for up to 15 years for separatism in the restive Moslem province of Xinjiang in China's far northwest, a local newspaper reported in an edition seen in Beijing on Monday.

The Xinjiang Legal Daily said the 18 were sentenced for "attempting to split the motherland" after a public trial on July 23.

It identified three as Turkic-speaking Uighurs and said one was jailed for 15 years, another for 14 years and a third for 13 years. The rest, who were not identified, were sentenced to up to 10 years in jail, it said.

Local government officials declined comment.

Amnesty International recently accused China of human rights violations in Xinjiang, saying it had recorded 210 death sentences and 190 executions in the region since 1997, mostly of Uighurs convicted for subversion or terrorism.

Militants have been struggling for decades to establish an independent East Turkestan in the province, which borders three former Soviet Central Asian republics.

Xinjiang has been rocked sporadically by anti-Chinese riots, bombs and assassinations since 1996.

By Reuters

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Tanks Make Rehearsal Run Through Beijing

BEIJING, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Dozens of tanks rumbled through the streets of central Beijing late Monday as part of a large-scale rehearsal for the October 1 parade marking the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

Police halted traffic to let a convoy of the exhaust-spewing battle tanks -- carrying green-and-brown camouflage markings -- onto Jianguomenwai Road and the city's Second Ring Road on their way toward Tiananmen Square.

More than 20 tanks, each with two helmeted soldiers riding on turret positions, passed AFP's bureau in the capital.

The Beijing Evening News reported different parts of the capital would hold the "comprehensive rehearsal" in phases from 4:30 p.m. until the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The October 1 parade is expected to include a total of 1.5 million people, including 500,000 People's Liberation Army personnel, as well as a display of missiles and other weaponry.

By Agence France Presse

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Vice Premier Says Taiwan's Lee ‘Inherently’ A Separatist

BEIJING, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen met with members of a pro-reunification group from Taiwan here on Monday, accusing the island's president, Lee Teng-hui, of being "inherently" a separatist.

"Whenever the critical moment for further developing cross-strait relations emerges, Lee Teng-hui would come out to create trouble, out of his inherent nature of splitting the motherland," Qian was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying.

He was referring to Lee's recent remarks calling for "state-to-state" relations between Taipei and Beijing.

China, which considers the island a renegade province, has denounced the comments as a step toward a formal declaration of independence.

Qian praised members of the Alliance for the Reunification of China for their long-standing opposition to Taiwan independence.

The report contained no comments from the members, but during meetings with officials in Shanghai last week, they said Lee's statements did not reflect public sentiment on the island.

Qian said Lee's "perverse acts" had aroused opposition among compatriots in Taiwan and were doomed to failure.

A member of the politburo and former foreign minister, he remains a heavyweight in China's foreign affairs. He played a key role in Hong Kong's handback from Britain.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949, when the defeated forces of Chiang Kai-shek fled to the island to set up a non-communist enclave.

By Agence France Presse

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China To Let U.S. Navy Ship Dock In Hong Kong

HONG KONG, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Reuters) China will allow the first U.S. navy ship to dock in Hong Kong since the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade but has rejected two other naval vessels, the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong said on Monday.

"The Chinese government has granted approval for one U.S. naval ship, the USNS Tippecanoe, to visit Hong Kong, September 7th to the 10th," Barbara Zigli, a U.S. consulate spokeswoman told a local radio station.

"This ship is an oiler (oil tanker) with a predominantly civilian crew of about 100," she said, adding that it would be a routine port call.

Beijing banned all U.S. warships from the former British colony after NATO bombs hit its embassy in Belgrade on May 7 during the air war against Serbia.

Applications for two larger U.S. navy ships -- an amphibious landing ship and a frigate -- to make port calls in Hong Kong in early September have been refused, she said, without giving reasons for the refusal.

"The navy crews of those two ships total about 800 and they will be spending their liberty in another port," Zigli said.

Chinese foreign ministry officials in Hong Kong were not immediately available for comment.

China had also banned military flights after the bombing, but recently permitted a U.S. military plane to stop in Hong Kong on Thursday.

After Hong Kong returned to China in July 1997, ending 156 years of British rule, U.S. warships and aircraft continued to make routine stops at the territory.

Some 70 U.S. warships visited Hong Kong last year, pumping about $50 million into the local economy.

By Reuters

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Opposition Party Speaks Out Against Any Armed Attack On Taiwan

HONG KONG, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Reuters) A self-proclaimed Chinese opposition party said on Monday it opposed any military attack by China against Taiwan.

In a declaration made through a Hong Kong-based human rights group, the outlawed China Democratic Party voiced its objection to reunification of mainland China and Taiwan by force.

The party urged China and Taiwan to resume talks quickly and said democracy was the key to peaceful reunification.

China and Taiwan have been rivals since communists won the Chinese civil war in 1949 and the Nationalists fled to Taiwan.

Tensions escalated in July when Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui said relations should now be on a "special state-to-state basis".

China, which regards the Nationalist-ruled island as a rebel province, accused Lee of taking a step toward independence -- something Beijing has vowed to thwart, by force if necessary.

The party's statement was issued by Hong Kong's Information Center of Human Rights & Democratic Movement in China.

By Reuters

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Taiwan Looking Into Report Of Massive Chinese Spying

TAIPEI, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwan authorities have launched a probe into claims that more than 34,000 Taiwanese have been "absorbed" by rival China's intelligence units, a report said Monday.

The Taipei-based China Times said Beijing had stepped up spying on the nationalist island, cashing in on civil exchanges beginning in the late 1980s.

Taiwanese paid some two million visits to the mainland each year either for visiting relatives, doing business or sightseeing.

Quoting Chinese documents, the paper said 34,477 Taiwanese were working in Chinese intelligence units, including 12,423 in Fujian province and 3,000 in Hainan.

It said the National Security Bureau had launched a comprehensive investigation into the situation.

Beijing has accused Taiwan of using Taiwanese businessmen in the mainland to gather information, while Taiwan intelligence authorities have said the island has been infiltrated by at least 12,000 Chinese spies.

China convicted four Taiwanese men for spying earlier this year.

By Agence France Presse

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Activists Appeal To U.N. To Watch Human Rights Situation

HONG KONG, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Reuters) Fifty-six exiled Chinese democracy activists have appealed to the United Nations to keep a close watch on China's deteriorating human rights situation, a Hong Kong-based rights group said on Sunday.

The dissidents, including Wang Dan, Wang Juntao, Yan Jiaqi, and Wang Xizhe, have called on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to monitor the recent deterioration in human rights in China, the Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.

The appeal said that since the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy, at least 14 dissidents have been arrested and more than 20 dissidents will be sentenced or detained in the near term.

The appeal said that China had signed two U.N. human rights covenants, which are governed by international law and so the United Nations has a duty to see that China adheres to them.

This is the only way to ensure that human rights for one fifth of the world's population make progress, the appeal said.

By Reuters

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China Denies It’s Spying On U.S. From Pacific Atoll

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China has denied a satellite monitoring base in Kiribati is spying on the U.S. army missile range in the Marshall Islands, the Pacific regional news agency, Pacnews, reported Monday.

Pacnews said the Chinese denied it was a spy facility and was instead used to monitor rockets launched from China.

The Chinese ambassador to Kiribati, Yang Zhikuan, said the allegations were "fabricated lies."

But Pacnews said many ordinary people in Tarawa are concerned over conflicting reports on the station and have called for an investigation.

In May an AFP reporter was able to visit the base on Tarawa, the capital atoll of Kiribati. It is usually off-limits to locals and appeared to be undergoing expansion.

Kiribati, home to 87,000 Micronesians, signed a deal with China in 1997 to set up the station.

The station is on sparsely populated Bonriki islet near the airport, around 40 minutes drive from Betio.

The base is also 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) southeast of Kwajalein, which is the target for U.S. missiles fired from Vandenberg in California. The U.S. is also testing its theater missile defense system on Kwajalein, an atoll leased off the Marshall Islands and strictly off-limits.

Tawara is the effectively the closest point with an international airport outside the Marshalls to Kwajalein.

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China To Let U.S. Navy Ship Dock In Hong Kong

HONG KONG, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Reuters) China will allow the first U.S. navy ship to dock in Hong Kong since the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade but has rejected two other naval vessels, the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong said on Monday.

"The Chinese government has granted approval for one U.S. naval ship, the USNS Tippecanoe, to visit Hong Kong, September 7th to the 10th," Barbara Zigli, a U.S. consulate spokeswoman told a local radio station.

"This ship is an oiler (oil tanker) with a predominantly civilian crew of about 100," she said, adding that it would be a routine port call.

Beijing banned all U.S. warships from the former British colony after NATO bombs hit its embassy in Belgrade on May 7 during the air war against Serbia.

Applications for two larger U.S. navy ships -- an amphibious landing ship and a frigate -- to make port calls in Hong Kong in early September have been refused, she said, without giving reasons for the refusal.

"The navy crews of those two ships total about 800 and they will be spending their liberty in another port," Zigli said.

Chinese foreign ministry officials in Hong Kong were not immediately available for comment.

China had also banned military flights after the bombing, but recently permitted a U.S. military plane to stop in Hong Kong on Thursday.

After Hong Kong returned to China in July 1997, ending 156 years of British rule, U.S. warships and aircraft continued to make routine stops at the territory.

Some 70 U.S. warships visited Hong Kong last year, pumping about $50 million into the local economy.

By Reuters

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Vice Premier Says Taiwan's Lee ‘Inherently’ A Separatist

BEIJING, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen met with members of a pro-reunification group from Taiwan here on Monday, accusing the island's president, Lee Teng-hui, of being "inherently" a separatist.

"Whenever the critical moment for further developing cross-strait relations emerges, Lee Teng-hui would come out to create trouble, out of his inherent nature of splitting the motherland," Qian was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying.

He was referring to Lee's recent remarks calling for "state-to-state" relations between Taipei and Beijing.

China, which considers the island a renegade province, has denounced the comments as a step toward a formal declaration of independence.

Qian praised members of the Alliance for the Reunification of China for their long-standing opposition to Taiwan independence.

The report contained no comments from the members, but during meetings with officials in Shanghai last week, they said Lee's statements did not reflect public sentiment on the island.

Qian said Lee's "perverse acts" had aroused opposition among compatriots in Taiwan and were doomed to failure.

A member of the politburo and former foreign minister, he remains a heavyweight in China's foreign affairs. He played a key role in Hong Kong's handback from Britain.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949, when the defeated forces of Chiang Kai-shek fled to the island to set up a non-communist enclave.

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18 Jailed For 'Attempting To Split Motherland' In Xinjiang

BEIJING, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Reuters) A Chinese court has jailed 18 people for up to 15 years for separatism in the restive Moslem province of Xinjiang in China's far northwest, a local newspaper reported in an edition seen in Beijing on Monday.

The Xinjiang Legal Daily said the 18 were sentenced for "attempting to split the motherland" after a public trial on July 23.

It identified three as Turkic-speaking Uighurs and said one was jailed for 15 years, another for 14 years and a third for 13 years. The rest, who were not identified, were sentenced to up to 10 years in jail, it said.

Local government officials declined comment.

Amnesty International recently accused China of human rights violations in Xinjiang, saying it had recorded 210 death sentences and 190 executions in the region since 1997, mostly of Uighurs convicted for subversion or terrorism.

Militants have been struggling for decades to establish an independent East Turkestan in the province, which borders three former Soviet Central Asian republics.

Xinjiang has been rocked sporadically by anti-Chinese riots, bombs and assassinations since 1996.

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U.S. Presidential Hopefuls Talk Tough On China, Taiwan

WASHINGTON, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Reuters) U.S. Republican presidential hopefuls talked tough Sunday on defending Taiwan from any Chinese attack, but the front-runner has stuck essentially to the Clinton-Gore line.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush, who firmed up his lead for the party's 2000 presidential nomination over the weekend, declined to spell out what he would do if China carried out threats to punish Taiwan for any further steps toward declaring formal independence.

The 53-year-old son of former President George Bush said late Saturday that the United States must be "tough and firm" in dealing with China as a "strategic competitor."

On the CNN program Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields, Bush faulted the so-called strategic ambiguity policy of President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"I think (Clinton) sent bad signals to China that says, well, if you decide to move aggressively against Taiwan, we won't act, necessarily," said Bush.

But pressed on whether he would order U.S. forces to protect Taiwan in case of attack, Bush went no further than saying, "We need to honor our commitments in the Far East."

That is precisely the kind of vague formulation that has been the underpinning of the policy of every U.S. administration since Washington broke formal ties with Taipei as a condition of its 1979 recognition of Beijing.

Relations between China and Taiwan took a sharp turn for the worse after Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui called on July 9 for "special state-to-state" ties with Beijing, an implicit threat to the "one-China" policy that has maintained an uneasy peace for decades.

Since then, Chinese officials have said Beijing was considering military action to punish Taiwan. China has considered Taiwan a renegade province since nationalist forces fled there after Communists won the Chinese civil war in 1949.

On Friday, the White House said any Chinese use of force against Taiwan would be of "grave concern" but, as usual, stopped short of hinting whether the United States would defend the island.

The United States hopes to deter China without encouraging provocative pro-independence moves by Taiwan.

Steve Forbes, the publishing mogul who finished second to Bush in a non-binding Iowa straw poll on Saturday, said he would "absolutely" use U.S. forces to protect Taiwan.

"We have to make that clear to the Chinese," he said on the ABC program "This Week." "I'm not going to undermine Taiwan to try to preserve a relationship of appeasement. We need real rules of engagement with China. And then I think we can have a peaceful relationship."

"One of the very dangerous things this administration has done is to give off very ambiguous signals about whether we'd defend Taiwan itself," Forbes added. "That kind of ambiguity, that kind of uncertainty -- that's how you begin a war and a serious crisis."

Elizabeth Dole, heartened by her third-place finish in the Iowa poll, the first test of a candidate's strength, was asked on the NBC program "Meet the Press" whether she would order U.S. troops to defend Taiwan if attacked.

"President Dole would do so," she replied. "I think that the more that we can specify up front exactly what we expect ... and be very firm about what we would do, the less chance that we would ever have to go to that particular position."

Gary Bauer, a conservative activist who finished fourth in the Iowa balloting, accused Bush of taking the same ambiguous stance as the Clinton-Gore administration.

"Bush-Gore really are like one candidate," he said on "Meet the Press." "I believe we must defend Taiwan if they are attacked. Gov. Bush yesterday refused three times in an interview to say that he would."

The latest debate oddly mirrors an issue of the 1992 U.S. presidential campaign, when then-candidate Bill Clinton blasted Bush the elder for allegedly "coddling the dictators in Beijing."

By Reuters

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Opposition Party Speaks Out Against Any Armed Attack On Taiwan

HONG KONG, Aug 16, 1999 -- (Reuters) A self-proclaimed Chinese opposition party said on Monday it opposed any military attack by China against Taiwan.

In a declaration made through a Hong Kong-based human rights group, the outlawed China Democratic Party voiced its objection to reunification of mainland China and Taiwan by force.

The party urged China and Taiwan to resume talks quickly and said democracy was the key to peaceful reunification.

China and Taiwan have been rivals since communists won the Chinese civil war in 1949 and the Nationalists fled to Taiwan.

Tensions escalated in July when Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui said relations should now be on a "special state-to-state basis".

China, which regards the Nationalist-ruled island as a rebel province, accused Lee of taking a step toward independence -- something Beijing has vowed to thwart, by force if necessary.

The party's statement was issued by Hong Kong's Information Center of Human Rights & Democratic Movement in China.

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Presidential Frontrunner Bush Said He Might Defend Taiwan Militarily

AMES, Iowa, Aug 15, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) US presidential frontrunner George W. Bush said Saturday he might use force to defend Taiwan against aggression from China if he were elected.

"We need to be very resolute about our position when it comes to Taiwan," the Texas governor said in a CNN interview.

Bush, the son and namesake of the former president, said US President Bill Clinton should make it clear that the United States would "adhere to the spirit of, and the law, of the Taiwan Relations Act."

That statute is ambiguous on the use of US force in the defense of Taiwan. But asked whether it would compel him to call in troops, Bush said: "It could. We need to honor our commitments in the Far East."

Tensions have escalated alarmingly since Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui began hinting at independence aspirations. Beijing considers Taiwan a renegade province and has threatened to invade if it declares independence.

Bush, who was in Iowa for an unofficial Republican "straw poll," criticized Clinton's policy of constructive engagement with Beijing, though he backed efforts to improve trade relations with China.

"The president has made a mistake of calling China a strategic partner," he said. "I think he sent bad signals to China that says, 'Well, if you decide to move aggressively against Taiwan, we won't act, necessarily.'"

"The next president needs to understand that China, while we can find some areas of agreement such as opening their markets, that they need to be viewed as a competitor, and a strategic competitor," he said.

"We need to be tough and firm."

Bush, whose father served as ambassador to China, is far ahead of the vast field of Republicans vying to replace Clinton when he leaves office in January 2001.

By Agence France Presse

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People's Liberation Army Garrison In Hong Kong On Alert

HONG KONG, Aug 15, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China's People's Liberation Army forces in Hong Kong have been placed on alert as tensions between China and Taiwan escalate, according to a report today.

The Sunday Morning Post said the 1,000 soldiers, sailors and aircrew guarding the territory had been put on a level-three alert, the lowest of three rankings.

Citing an unidentified source, the Post said the alert meant the troops were prepared for war at any moment. The next level of readiness involved mobilizing forces.

The source said PLA troops in Hong Kong were not equipped to participate in any large-scale military offensive.

"The PLA in Hong Kong is not so nervous as the army in mainland China," he was quoted as saying.

Reports from the mainland said troops stationed in Fujian province, which faces Taiwan, had been put on the highest level of alert, with missile units moving into place.

Analysts quoted in the Post said an attack on Hong Kong by Taiwan was not considered likely, but a Taiwanese legislator had twice raised the prospect.

Defense analyst Andrew Yang Nien-dzu said Taiwan no longer possessed the long-range missiles needed to strike the former British colony.

The relationship between China and Taiwan has become increasingly tense after President Lee Teng-hui suggested that ties should be considered on a "state-to-state" basis.

Beijing has considered Taiwan a renegade province since Chinese Nationalist forces formed a government there in 1949 and has threatened to invade if it declares independence.

Relations are now at their lowest since the Taiwan Strait crisis in 1996 when China staged war games off Taiwan.

By Agence France Presse

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China President Makes First Remark On Falun Gong.

BEIJING, Aug 15, 1999 -- (Reuters) Chinese President Jiang Zemin has made his first publicized remarks about Falun Gong since Beijing outlawed the spiritual movement last month, saying the ban was needed to ensure social stability.

"In handling the Falun Gong issue, China has proceeded in the interest of safeguarding social stability," Jiang was quoted as saying in Saturday's People's Daily overseas edition.

"Stability is of paramount interest to the state and the people. Without it, nothing can be accomplished," he was quoted as telling Tajikistan President Imomali Rakhmonov in northeast China.

"Our decision has gained the strong support of all circles of society, and is commonly welcomed by the masses," he continued.

The publicized comments appear to be the first by any Chinese leader since Falun Gong was banned in July and thousands of its followers were detained. Scores of the movement's leaders remain in custody.

China's rulers were shocked when 10,000 members of the movement surrounded the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing on April 25 to protest official persecution.

The ruling Communist Party engineered a nationwide raid on Falun Gong leadership cells in late July, and officially outlawed the group on July 22.

Falun Gong mixes popular meditation exercises called qigong with a conservative social doctrine and belief in supernatural powers.

The government has maintained a vigilant two-pronged offensive on the movement, with primetime television broadcasts and newspapers still brimming with stories that discredit the practice, while state security organs ferret out leaders and crush further attempts at protest by followers.

But top leaders have kept low profiles on the issue of Falun Gong, which claims 100 million adherents.

The government puts the number of Falun Gong adherents at two million. But the group's fast growth has clearly rattled the Communist Party and its 60 million members.

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China Slams US "Interference" Over Dalai Lama Trip

BEIJING, Aug 15, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China lashed out at the Dalai Lama's visit to the United States Saturday, stating it would not tolerate foreign interference concerning Tibet.

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, is on a tour of the United States to promote his latest book.

But the visit has angered Beijing, who Saturday accused the Tibetan holy man of attempting to split China, a report on the official Xinhua news agency said.

Tibet was an "inalienable part of the Chinese territories, and the Tibet issue is entirely China's internal affairs, which brooks no interference from any foreign country," foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said according to the agency.

The Dalai Lama was "not merely a religious figure but a political exile engaged in the activities of splitting China," the agency said.

Zhu also repeated China's calls for the United States to stop "interference" in Tibet.

"China demands that the US adheres to its stance of recognizing Tibet as a part of China and not supporting 'the independence of Tibet', and that it immediately put a halt to its erroneous acts of interfering in China's internal affairs concerning the Tibet issue," Zhu said.

By Agence France Presse

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Human Rights Watch Denounces Rights Violations In China

WASHINGTON, Aug 15, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Human Rights Watch on Saturday accused China of "multiple violations of human rights" following the arrest of six people in northwestern Xinjiang province, an area tense with enmity between local moslem Uighurs and Han Chinese settlers.

Those arrested include Rebiya Kadeer, married to Sidik Rouzi, a US citizen and former political prisoner who worked as a broadcaster for Radio Free Asia and had been highly critical of China's treatment of Uighurs.

Kadeer and two other women were taken into custody early Wednesday in front of the Yingdu Hotel in the provincial capital, Urumqi, where they had gone to meet a group of visiting Americans, the New York-based human rights watchdog, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement.

The next morning two of Kadeer's sons, Ablikim Abdiryim, 26, and Alim Abdiryim, 24, were also detained. Two other sons were placed under house arrest.

Kadeer's secretary Kahriman Abdukirim, was also picked up. He had been released just a week earlier after spending more than eight months in detention, HRW said.

"This case involves multiple violations of human rights," HRW's Asia director Sidney Jones said.

"Six people appear to have been arbitrarily detained as punishment either for contact with foreigners or in an effort to stop overseas broadcasts critical of China."

"All should be released immediately," Jones said.

By Agence France Presse

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Germany's Ex-Chancellor Kohl Plans China Visit

BERLIN, Aug 14, 1999 -- (Reuters) Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl plans to visit China for a week later this month to meet senior Chinese leaders, his Christian Democrat party said on Friday.

Kohl received an invitation from the Chinese government to visit the country from August 24 to September 1, the CDU said in a statement.

Kohl will travel to Beijing, where he will meet President Jiang Zemin, parliamentary chief Li Peng and Premier Zhu Rongji.

He will also visit Shanghai and Hong Kong to meet local political leaders there

Kohl was German Chancellor for 16 years until he was defeated in a general election last year and resigned his leadership of the CDU.

The current Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, visited China in May, but his visit was shorter than originally planned after NATO accidentally bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during its Yugoslav bombing campaign.

Schroeder is due to visit China again in November.

By Reuters

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Chinese Press Urged To Condemn Lee Teng-Hui

BEIJING, Aug 14, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China's news officials Saturday urged the state-controlled press to step up its blanket condemnation of Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui and his push for Taiwan and China to be treated as equals.

"By dishing out his 'two-state theory', publicly opposing the one China principle and vainly trying to split Taiwan from the map of China, Lee Teng-hui has incurred the opposition of the entire Chinese nation, including 550,000 news workers," vice chairman of the All China's Journalist Association Zheng Mengxiong said.

"To firmly direct the correct public opinion and unify the entire nation, including the Taiwan compatriots, to safeguard and realize the reunification of the motherland, is the unshirkable and sacred duty of China's news media," Zheng was quoted by the People's Daily as saying.

He told a Beijing media meeting on Friday that for more than a month, the news media has incessantly "spoken out for justice" and condemned and criticized the separatist nature of Lee's "two-state theory."

China's communist leaders reacted angrily to Lee's July 9 statement that Taiwan enjoys "special state-to-state relations" with the mainland, a remark which Beijing views as moving Taiwan toward independence.

The mainland-controlled press in Hong Kong has issued a daily string of war-like rhetoric, from reporting that large-scale military exercises are underway to explicit threats that the mainland is prepared to retake Taiwan "no matter what the price."

The Beijing-backed Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po on Friday warned that a military conflict in the strait could erupt at any moment and front-paged pictures of a tank on a navy landing vessel and helicopters and ships taking part in drills.

Few reports have analyzed the physical or economic costs of an armed confrontation between the rivals, although the state press said without elaboration that some 22 billion dollars of Taiwan investment in the mainland would be legitimately protected no matter what happens.

Zheng further said that Lee's statement had ruined the basis for "deepening news exchanges and cooperation between the two sides of the straits."

By Agence France Presse

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China To Pressure US Over Taiwan Issue

HONG KONG, Aug 14, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China's President Jiang Zemin will put pressure on the United States to play a bigger role in suppressing Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's independence aspirations, a report said Saturday.

Jiang will turn up the heat on US President Bill Clinton over the Taiwan issue next month at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Auckland, the South China Morning Post said, quoting a diplomatic source.

China's leadership made the decision to seek more support on Taiwan at a meeting of civilian and military leaders at the Beidaihe resort which ended this week.

They agreed China should "try to make the US play a more effective role in forcing Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui to abandon his so-called 'two-states theory'," the report said.

The source said Jiang would emphasize in his private meeting with Clinton that the development of Sino-US relations and lasting peace in Asia hinged largely on Washington's ability to rein in Lee's independence aspirations.

China would also highlight prospects for bilateral cooperation on other issues, particularly on defusing tensions on the Korean peninsula.

At the meeting, Jiang defended his two-year-old decision to seek a "constructive, strategic partnership" with the United States in the 21st century, but stressed China would never give up its principles for such a goal, the report said.

China will continue to make preparations in Fujian province, close to Taiwan, for possible military action, it said.

Lee's comment last month that he wanted a "special state-to-state relationship" with Beijing outraged China's leadership.

Beijing has considered Taiwan a renegade province since Chinese Nationalist forces formed a government there in 1949 and has threatened to invade if it declares independence.

Taipei-Beijing ties are at their lowest since the Taiwan Strait crisis in 1996 when China staged war games off Taiwan, which it believes must eventually be reunited with China.

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Hong Kong Paper Says War Is Imminent; U.S. Military Sees No Signs

HONG KONG, Aug 13, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Military conflict in the Taiwan Strait could erupt at any moment, a Beijing-backed Hong Kong newspaper reported in front-page headlines Friday.

But with China's military preparations virtually impossible to verify, observers all face the same problem. The challenge is determining whether there is any truth behind the daily front page reports in Hong Kong newspapers or whether they’re part of China's psychological warfare after Taiwan's President Lee Teng-hui demanded "special state-to-state relations" with the mainland.

There have been several reports of a military buildup on the Chinese coast facing Taiwan. But the U.S. Defense department said Thursday it had no information of any concentration in Fujian province.

The Wen Wei Po newspaper on Friday had a front-page pictures of a tank on a navy landing vessel and helicopters and ships taking part in drills. But there was no explanation of where they were.

The newspaper quoted Yan Zhao, a senior researcher at China's Academy of Military Science, as saying that tension in the Taiwan Strait was "more serious" now than in 1996 when China staged military drills off Taiwan after Lee made a visit to the United States.

"It will not be the same now, since he has hit the bottom line," Yan was quoted as saying. He warned that military conflict could erupt at any time as China was well-prepared.

"Our forces in sea, on land, and air have already made good preparations," he said.

Yan also said Beijing would not stop using force even if the United States was to intervene, referring to past history when Chinese and U.S. troops fought against each other in the Korean War.

China has kept up a propaganda barrage in recent weeks to press Lee to back down from his statement that ties with the mainland are on a "state-to-state" basis.

Hong Kong newspapers have also given prominent coverage of the China-Taiwan war of nerves.

The Hong Kong Economic Times said this week the Chinese authorities have deployed more fighters and bombers in the eastern coastal region, including 27 Soviet-built Su-27 fighters.

The South China Morning Post citing a Beijing source said China's People's Liberation Army was considering the invasion and temporary occupation of an outlying island held by Taipei.

Pro-China sources believed the daily media stories of the mainland's war readiness were part of the psychological war intended to "create panic" in Taiwan.

Taiwan's defense ministry has also made similar accusations.

China has repeatedly said it might use force to stop Taiwan attempting to make a formal split with the mainland, which has considered the nationalist island a renegade province since the two split at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

By Agence France Presse

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Chinese Premier Shrugs Off Resignation Rumors

HONG KONG, Aug 13, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has rejected rumors circulating among Chinese stock markets that he was under pressure to quit, Hong Kong newspapers reported Friday.

"If I have resigned, I would not be here," Zhu told Hong Kong reporters on Thursday at the 1999 International Horticultural Exposition in Kunming, southwest China.

The rumors that spread around Chinese stock markets and inspired Hong Kong press reports said Zhu was under pressure from conservatives because of concessions made to the United States on trade issues.

When asked about the rumors, Zhu responded: "Nothing affects me at all."

Hong Kong press reports said Zhu offered his resignation to China's parliament over his handling of the economy and his failure to reach agreement with the United States on China's entry into the World Trade Organization.

The government has repeatedly denied the reports.

In June, Zhu was reported to have retreated to the eastern city of Hangzhou to recover from unspecified "illness."

Zhu was in Kunming for the opening of the exposition's China Day, after completing a whirlwind tour of the northern provinces of Shaanxi and Henan.

By Agence France Presse

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Use Of Force Is Last Resort, Chinese Academic Says

BEIJING, Aug 13, 1999 -- (Reuters) China would use force against Taiwan only as a last resort, but its resolve to prevent the island from declaring independence should not be underestimated, a Chinese academic with a government think tank said on Friday.

"We do not want a showdown," Yang Lixian, an assistant professor with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Reuters in an interview.

"We would meet Taiwan head-on only if we had no other choice," Yang said after Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui sparked a crisis by declaring that relations between the two arch-rivals should be on "a special state-to-state basis."

Yang said China was waiting to see how far Taiwan would move down the road of independence before deciding its next move.

Her comments were considerably more restrained than some official newspapers have been this week.

The China Business Times News Weekly boasted that if war broke out, Taiwan would be able to put up a resistance of no more than five days.

The Global Times, a tabloid used to float ideas not permitted in the Communist Party's staid People's Daily, said a military conflict could erupt at any moment.

It said troops in Fujian, the province facing Taiwan, were on alert and the air force was conducting low level training. Food supplies for the military were flooding into Fujian.

The United States has told China that any effort to determine the future of Taiwan other than by peaceful means would be of "grave concern" to Washington.

Lee's redefinition of relations was aimed at breaking Taipei out of diplomatic isolation.

But it was seen by Beijing as an abandonment of the "one China" policy -- agreement they were both part of the same country and it should be re-unified -- which kept the peace for decades, and a dangerous lurch toward independence.

Beijing, which has regarded Taiwan as a breakaway province since 1949 when the Communists defeated the Nationalists in a civil war, has threatened to invade if the island declared independence.

Yang said speculation by Western analysts that the People's Liberation Army could not invade Taiwan and that China was reluctant to go to war because it wanted to concentrate on economic development was wrong.

"We have atomic bombs," she said. "If we did not care about anything, won't we be able to take Taiwan?"

"Do not underestimate the Chinese people. We have woken up. The people are basically psychologically prepared," Yang said.

"The mainland is bigger and has more people. We can definitely endure a war better than Taiwan. We have more room for maneuver."

China has 1.2 billion people and Taiwan has 21 million.

The People's Liberation Army is the world's biggest with 2.5 million soldiers, while Taiwan has about 400,000 troops.

When Lee made a landmark private visit to the United States in mid-1995, China responded by conducting intimidating war games in waters near Taiwan in the run-up to the island's first direct presidential elections in March 1996.

The United States sent two aircraft carrier battlegroups to the area.

Yang said China was still committed to peaceful reunification with Taiwan -- which says it will only rejoin a democratic China -- and was willing to hold talks to end the state of hostility.

"Anything can be discussed at the political negotiations, including changing the name of the country, the national flag and the national anthem," she said.

But she said unofficial talks between China and Taiwan could not proceed because of Lee's perceived policy change.

By Reuters

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U.S. Leader 'Disturbed' By Report On Chinese Firm And Panama Canal

WASHINGTON, Aug 13, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott says in a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen released Thursday that a report on a Chinese firm securing control of key rights over the Panama Canal is "very disturbing."

Lott said the U.S. administration "is allowing a scenario to develop where U.S. national security interests could not be protected without confronting the Chinese Communists in the Americas," Lott writes.

"U.S. naval ships will be at the mercy of Chinese-controlled pilots, and could even be denied passage through the Panama Canal by Hutchison Whampoa, an arm of the People's Liberation Army" of China, Lott writes.

But Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. Friday rejected the allegations, saying it had no influence over the canal's operation or shipping traffic.

"What has been alleged about is totally untrue and unfounded," said Nora Yong, spokeswoman for Hutchison Port Holdings.

Hutchison Whampoa is one of Hong Kong's biggest blue chip conglomerates, with extensive operations in container ports, property, telecommunications and retailing.

It is 49.97 percent owned by property developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) Co Ltd. and controlled by Li Ka-shing, who serves as chairman of both companies.

Yong said Hutchison merely operates container terminals at the ports of Balboa on the Pacific Ocean side of the Panamal Canal and Cristobal on the Atlantic side. Its subsidiary, Panama Ports Co, does not control shipping traffic through the canal.

"We do not operate or control the pilotage of vessels and have no influence on vessels transiting the canal. This is the same as it is in Hong Kong or any other port we operate," she said.

Hutchison won key rights from Panama "under the terms of a controversial lease," according to the magazine.

"China appears to be positioning itself commercially and militarily along key naval choke points as they build their navy," Lott quotes the report as saying.

"Hutchison Whampoa is more than a Hong Kong shipping giant. Company chairman Li Ka-shing is an important cog in the economic machinery of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army," the report continues.

"If Red China gets control of the canal, it will get control of the (Panama) government ... If they (China) control the Panama Canal, they control at least one-third of world shipping," Lott quotes it saying.

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Pope Declines Macao Visit Before China Takes Over

MACAO, Aug 13, 1999 -- (Reuters) Pope John Paul has turned down an invitation to visit this Portuguese-run enclave, which hosts the Vatican's oldest bishopric in the Far East, before it reverts to communist China later this year.

A spokesman for the Roman Catholic diocese in Macao said on Friday the Vatican had formally declined invitations by Bishop Dom Domingos Lam and Governor General Vasco Rocha Vieira to visit before the hand-over to China at midnight on December 19.

It had been hoped that the Pope would visit during a planned Asia tour later this year.

The spokesman said the Holy See informed the Macao diocese in a formal message to Bishop Lam that His Holiness was grateful for the invitations but could not accept. No reason was given.

Macao has about 25,000 Roman Catholics, or 6 per cent of its population. The diocese, set up in 1575, is the Vatican's oldest bishopric in the Far East.

Pro-democracy activists in nearby Hong Kong were angered last week when the Roman Catholic diocese said Beijing had barred a visit by the Pope to the former British colony this year.

Hong Kong said the Vatican's diplomatic ties with China's arch rival, Taiwan, prompted Beijing to slam the door on the Hong Kong visit.

It was one of the clearest signs of change in Hong Kong since the territory reverted to China in July 1997. Hong Kong has about 250,000 Chinese Catholics and some 120,000 Filipino Catholics.

The late Pope Paul VI visited the territory briefly in 1970 while it was still under British rule.

By Reuters

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Jiang To Visit Australia September 6 To 11

BEIJING, Aug 13, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Chinese President Jiang Zemin will visit Australia from September 6 to 11, the Australian embassy said Friday.

The trip will focus on expanding relations and trade into the next century, it said in a statement. Jiang will be the first Chinese president to visit Australia.

"Mr. Jiang's visit will provide an opportunity for us to discuss ways of strengthening our bilateral relations and a range of regional issues before the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) leaders' meeting in Auckland," Australian Prime Minister John Howard was quoted as saying.

"Despite differences between our political structures and values, Australia and China have built a cooperative relationship that is of great benefit to both countries," Howard said.

Two-way trade between the nations reached nearly $6.5 billion in 1998. Trade and investment was concentrated in the resources, manufacturing and energy sectors

By Agence France Presse

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U.S. Energy Secretary Disciplines 3 Workers In Espionage Probe

WASHINGTON, Aug 13, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Energy Secretary Bill Richardson on Thursday ordered disciplinary action against three employees at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where a Taiwanese-born scientist was fired on suspicion of espionage in March.

The disciplinary action against the unnamed workers was based on a report on security at the atomic research lab, located in New Mexico, by the independent Office of the Inspector General.

"This report makes it clear that Department of Energy political and career management failed to give necessary attention to counterintelligence and security," Richardson said.

"There was a total breakdown in the (security) system and there's plenty of blame to go around."

Taiwanese-born scientist Wen Ho Lee, a U.S. citizen since 1974, was fired from Los Alamos in March for breaking security and allegedly handing over U.S. nuclear warhead secrets to China.

Lee, who has not been formally charged, strongly denied the accusations.

But Richardson on Thursday insisted that "the espionage suspect should have had his job assignment changed to limit his access to classified information much sooner than it was, and cooperation with the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) should have been stronger."

Of 19 officials at the lab who had a degree of responsibility for security, several failed to carry out their duties, Richardson said, although there was not enough evidence to impose disciplinary sanctions.

But in the case of three lab employees, he said he had asked the lab "to take appropriate action to discipline them." The sanctions were not specified.

Allegations of Chinese spying at Los Alamos and elsewhere earlier this year led to the formation of a congressional investigative panel.

The group in May reported that China had managed to steal secrets to every key U.S. nuclear warhead developed since the 1970s and had passed data to countries hostile to the United States.

Chinese authorities bitterly rejected the charges.

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China Brags It Could Make Mincemeat Of Taiwan

BEIJING, Aug 11, 1999 -- (Reuters) China, embroiled in a war of words with Taiwan, boasted on Wednesday that if a real war broke out between the two rivals, the island could not resist for more than five days.

"How many days can the 400,000-man 'Nationalist army' resist?" screamed the front-page headline in the China Business Times News Weekly.

"Once war breaks out, resistance would be four to five days at the most," said the newspaper, which splashed pictures of jet fighters, missiles and alongside the story.

Relations between Beijing and Taipei soured last month when Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui unilaterally redefined them as "special state-to-state".

Lee junked the longstanding "one China" policy, which has helped underpin East Asian security for decades, in a bid to break Taipei out of diplomatic isolation imposed by Beijing.

Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and has threatened to invade if the island declared independence, has said Lee's move was a "dangerous step" down the separatist road.

The newspaper said speculation that China would not go to war because it is in the midst of economic development was "completely wrong".

It said China has not moved against Taiwan in part because it did not want to see Lee declare martial law and put off presidential elections due in March 2000.

Western defense analysts say the 2.5 million-strong People's Liberation Army (PLA) may be the biggest fighting machine in the world, but it is mainly a junkyard of obsolete weapons, undertrained troops and an officer corps distracted by business until a ban was imposed last year.

The analysts said China has few real military options to prevent Taiwan's thoughts of independence other than the impossible -- a seaborne invasion -- and the unthinkable -- nuclear war.

But the China Defense News said Beijing's resolve to stop Taiwan from bolting even in the event of foreign intervention should not be underestimated.

The PLA "is a modern crack force of steel," it said.

The military newspaper cast doubt over whether Uncle Sam would risk burning himself by "pulling chestnuts out of a fire" and back Taiwan.

The United States has told China that any effort to determine the future of Taiwan other than by peaceful means would be of "grave concern" to Washington.

When China conducted intimidating war games in waters near Taiwan in the run-up to the island's first direct presidential elections in March 1996, the United States sent two aircraft carrier battle groups to the area.

"The Chinese people do not hope for war but are not afraid of war," the newspaper said, quoting late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.

It reminded Taiwan that the Communists routed the 800,000-strong Nationalist army in a civil war on the mainland in 1949.

It said no Taiwan politician was "willing to be nailed to the historical pillar of shame along with Lee Teng-hui".

The official Xinhua news agency quoted military analyst Peng Guangqian as saying Lee was a "deformed test tube baby cultivated from the political laboratory of international anti-China forces".

Peng said Lee was "courting destruction".

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Hong Kong Paper Says China May Seize Outer Taiwan Island

HONG KONG, Aug 11, 1999 -- (Reuters) The independent South China Morning Post newspaper said on Wednesday China's leadership had decided to use "an appropriate degree of force against Taiwan, possibly including the occupation of an outlying island."

The Post said the Chinese leadership, which has been meeting at the Beidaihe resort, had decided to act "should Taipei authorities refuse to abandon Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's ‘two states theory'."

The Post said top units, including the party's Central Military Commission and the Leading Group on Taiwan, had been empowered to decide on the timing as well as severity of the military action to be taken.

It said this was the preliminary decision of the series of leadership meetings at Beidaihe, due to be largely concluded this week.

The Post added that a Beijing source said on Tuesday the options China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) was considering included the invasion and temporary occupation of an outlying island held by Taipei.

The source was quoted as saying hard-liners at the Beidaihe meetings urged that action be taken soon after China's October 1 National Day.

But, the source said, moderate elements argued that Beijing should wait until Taiwan's presidential elections next March and military action should be taken if Taiwan's new president "did not give up Lee's 'splittist' stance."

Tensions have mounted between mainland China and Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province, since Lee said on July 9 that cross-straits relations should be on a "special state-to-state" basis.

Beijing viewed this as a move towards independence and has said any declaration of independence would mean military action.

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U.S. Offers $500,000 In Flood Aid

WASHINGTON, Aug 11, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The United States on Tuesday announced it would provide $500,000 in emergency funds to assist China in relief efforts for victims of the deadly flooding of the Yangtse River.

The money, from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), was pledged in response to an appeal from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the State Department said.

Since the beginning of the summer, 725 people have died in flooding in China, mainly along the Yangtse and in the northwest.

In addition, some 58.9 million people are affected by the floods and more than 5.5 million have been evacuated from their homes.

Last year, the worst flooding in four decades killed 4,150 people in China.

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20 Years Later, China's Frontier With Vietnam Demined

BEIJING, Aug 11, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China has finished demining its frontier with Vietnam, more than 20 years after the end of a war between the neighbors, the official Xinhua news agency said Wednesday.

The last mines, in Jingxi county of Guangxi province, have been eliminated, it reported.

"This marks the successful completion of China's bid over the past several years to clear all landmines on its border with Vietnam," said the agency.

Demining of a 20,000 square kilometer (8,000 square mile) zone was started at the end of 1997. Five hundred experts took part in the operation and last year press reports said one had been killed and two others wounded in explosions.

A first demining operation was started in 1993, two years after relations with Vietnam were normalised.

The two countries fought a brief but bloody war in February and March of 1979. Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping ordered the conflict after Vietnam invaded Cambodia to force out the Khmer Rouge, who were allies of China.

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Takijikistan's President Arrives For Goodwill Visit

BEIJING, Aug 11, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmonov arrived Wednesday afternoon to start a four-day goodwill visit to China, state media reported.

Rakhmonov, making his fourth trip to China, arrived as guest of President Jiang Zemin, the Xinhua news agency said.

The president and his entourage, which includes Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov, were welcomed at the airport by Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yingfan and other Chinese officials, it added.

Tajikistan's ambassador Jamshed Karimov told the news agency Tuesday there was scope for greater economic and trade cooperation.

Communications, including the opening of new air routes, and increased cooperation between national banks to ensure "prompt clearance of foreign trade" would be on the agenda, he added.Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmonov arrived Wednesday afternoon to start a four-day goodwill visit to China, state media reported.

Rakhmonov, making his fourth trip to China, arrived as guest of President Jiang Zemin, the Xinhua news agency said.

The president and his entourage, which includes Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov, were welcomed at the airport by Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yingfan and other Chinese officials, it added.

Tajikistan's ambassador Jamshed Karimov told the news agency Tuesday there was scope for greater economic and trade cooperation.

Communications, including the opening of new air routes, and increased cooperation between national banks to ensure "prompt clearance of foreign trade" would be on the agenda, he added.

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China Calls For Restraint After Pakistani Plane Shot Down

BEIJING, Aug 11, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China on Wednesday urged India and Pakistan to exercise restraint after a Pakistani naval plane was shot down by Indian fighters, killing all 16 people on board.

Beijing "urged the two countries to show restraint in line with the spirit of the Lahore Declaration and resume their discussions as soon as possible to avoid a new deterioration in the situation," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"We express our deepest regrets for the incident and send our condolences to the families of the victims," it added.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif signed a declaration after a summit in Lahore on February 21 agreeing to step up efforts to resolve their differences including the thorny problem of Kashmir.

The process stalled in May when the two countries clashed over a Moslem rebel incursion into the disputed Himalayan region, which brought the two neighbors to the brink of war.

The Pakistani surveillance plane was shot down Tuesday morning in the marshy border area separating the western Indian state of Gujarat and the eastern Pakistani province of Sindh. India said it intruded into its airspace and refused orders to land.

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Ex- Military Officer Arrested, May Be Charged With Spying

TAIPEI, Aug 11, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) A former Taiwanese coast guard intelligence officer was arrested two weeks ago in China on a tour of the mainland, an official said Wednesday, amid reports he may be held for spying.

Tsai Chien-shih was detained on July 30 in Mount Wuyi, a popular scenic spot in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian, Taiwan's quasi-official Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) said.

"Tsai is now being detained in Fujian," SEF deputy secretary-general Wu Hsin-hsing told reporters.

"We're not sure what allegations he was arrested for."

But the China Times Express quoted his relatives saying "he might be regarded as a spy because of his career background before."

Tsai, now the head of a security company here, was an intelligence officer of the Coast Guard Command before he retired four years ago, local media said.

On Wednesday the SEF sent a letter to its Chinese counterpart Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) asking for assistance.

The arrest comes as cross-strait ties have sunk to their lowest ebb in three years.

Allegations of spying are occasionally made by both Taiwan and China.

Beijing has accused Taiwan of using Taiwanese businessmen in the mainland to gather information, while Taipei has said the island has been infiltrated by at least 12,000 Chinese spies.

China detained four Taiwanese businessmen when it allegedly broke a Taiwanese spy ring in March last year. The four were later convicted.

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Report: China Moves PLA Elite To Taiwan Region

HONG KONG, Aug 10, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China has posted several elite officers from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to its southeastern region in preparation for possible military action against Taiwan, a report said Tuesday.

Major-General Zhu Wenquan, commander of the PLA "First Group Army," was promoted to head the Nanjing military region, which oversees the Taiwan area, the South China Morning Post said quoting an army source.

Zhu, who was also made a lieutenant-general, is known in military circles as an expert in amphibious warfare and as chief of staff, he will play "a pivotal role in maneuvers and other means of putting pressure on Taiwan," the report said

He was the only PLA officer named in the report as being sent to the Nanjing military region.

Major-General Ding Shouyu, a specialist in "urban warfare" and commander of another crack unit, the 20th Group Army, was being considered by military authorities for a posting to Nanjing, the source said.

The source also said that the transfer of elite officers and units to the Nanjing military region indicated that some form of mobilization had begun in earnest.

The independent-Chinese language newspaper Hong Kong Economic Times reported that senior Chinese leaders have reached a consensus at their annual summit at the resort of Beidaihe to exert pressure on Taiwan and would launch military action if the island took concrete moves to seek independence.

China has kept up a propaganda barrage in recent weeks trying to persuade Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui to back down from his quest for "state-to-state" relations with the mainland.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province.

The two sides split at the end of the Chinese civil war won by the communists in 1949.

The United States has warned the new tensions could spin out of control, and the Taiwan press has reported a Chinese air force provocation almost sparked a confrontation with Taiwanese fighter jets last week.

There have been multiple reports of Chinese military exercises as part of the war of nerves which has badly hit Taiwan's stock market.

The pro-Beijing daily Wen Wei Po reported on Monday that submarines were mobilized and "awaiting orders" near the Taiwan Strait.

Chinese warships have increased patrols in the Taiwan Strait, while air force fighters were kept on alert and forces from the People's Liberation Army were mobilized along the southeastern coastal region, the paper said.

During Taiwan's presidential elections in 1996, China carried out large-scale war games and fired missiles into the Taiwan Strait, following a high-profile trip to the United States by Lee in 1995.

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Chinese Submarines Reportedly Await Orders Near Taiwan Strait

HONG KONG, Aug 9, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Chinese submarines have been mobilized in seas near the Taiwan Strait and are "awaiting orders" as tensions between Beijing and Taipei showing no sign of abating, a Hong Kong newspaper reported Monday.

Some of the Chinese submarines, which participated in recent exercises, had been asked to remain in seas nearest to the Taiwan Strait, the Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po reported, citing military experts.

Chinese warships have also stepped up patrols in the Taiwan Strait, while advanced air force fighters have been put on alert, the paper said.

Forces from the People's Liberation Army have also been mobilized along the southeastern coastal region, the paper said, without giving further details.

China has kept up a propaganda barrage against Taiwan's President Lee Teng-hui after he declared last month that he wanted "special state-to-state" relations with Beijing.

China claims Taiwan is a renegade province awaiting reunification. The two sides split at the end of the Chinese civil war won by the communists in 1949.

The United States has warned the new tensions could spin out of control, and the Taiwan press reported that a Chinese air force provocation almost sparked a confrontation with Taiwanese fighter jets last week.

There have been multiple reports of China embarking on military exercises as part of the war of nerves, which has stunned Taiwan's stock market.

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China Places Jiang Zemin In Line With Stalin

BEIJING, Aug 9, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China placed President Jiang Zemin in line with other leading communist theorists, including former Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

The Chinese Communist Party has asked its members to study a new book entitled "Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin Discuss Materialism and Atheism", which is being printed by Central Documents Press and will be published on Wednesday, officials at the press told AFP.

Publication coincides with preparations for the 50th anniversary of communist one-party rule over China on October 1 and as the party gets rid of members deemed unfit.

Jiang, who also serves as head of the CCP and the "core of the third generation CCP leadership," embarked on a "party rectification" movement earlier this year aimed at reaffirming the ideological base of a party in the full throes of capitalist economic development.

The rectification, known as the "three talks" campaign, originally was meant to weed out rampant corruption in the party, but is now to join a nationwide crackdown on the Falungong spiritual sect, the People's Daily reported Monday.

"We must take 'three talks' education and tie it up with the problem of 'Falungong'," the paper said. "Solving the Falungong problem is a serious political struggle."

The mystical Falungong group scared the party earlier this year when it staged a daring demonstration around central Beijing's Zhongnanhai leadership compound, the biggest demonstration in the capital since the 1989 Tiananmen Sqaure democracy protests.

The party banned the group, which practices morning meditation exercises and advocates clean living, on July 22 and has been arresting suspected group leaders and maintaining a propaganda campaign denouncing the group.

"We must see that the 'Falungong' organization is a slanted and evil force that has formed a certain atmosphere aimed at seriously threatening the party and government," the daily said in a separate editorial.

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Bishop: China Says Pope Visit To Hong Kong Is ‘Inconvenient’

HONG KONG, Aug 9, 1999 -- (Reuters) China has barred Pope John Paul II from visiting Hong Kong during his Asian tour later this year, citing the Vatican's diplomatic ties with rival Taiwan, Hong Kong Bishop Joseph Zen said on Monday.

"The mainland (China) says the Vatican has ties with Taiwan and no ties with us. Therefore, such a visit is not convenient," Zen, who returned from the Vatican recently, told Reuters.

The Pope had hoped his Asia tour would included Hong Kong, which reverted to Chinese rule in July 1997 after 156 years as a British colony. It would have been the first visit by a Pope since a three-hour stopover by Pope Paul VI in 1970.

Political commentators in neighboring Macao have suggested the Pope might try to visit the Portuguese-run enclave before it returns to Chinese rule on December 20. He would need permission only from Portugal for such a visit.

Tensions between Beijing and Taipei heightened dramatically over the past month. China was infuriated when Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui said on July 9 that Taipei-Beijing ties must be on a "special state-to-state" basis.

Beijing, which has sought to isolate Taiwan internationally, has interpreted Lee's comments as moving closer to a declaration of independence, a step China says would lead to a military confrontation.

The Chinese communists won a civil war in 1949 and drove the opposing Nationalist forces onto Taiwan. Beijing views the island as a renegade province.

The Vatican, which has had no ties with Beijing since 1949, had hoped China would relent so the Pope could hold a Mass for Hong Kong's 250,000 Chinese Catholics as well as some 120,000 Filipino Catholics in the territory.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said on Monday that banning the visit by the Pope raised concerns China would reverse its pledge to give Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy.

"Disquiet has been growing among Hong Kong Catholics about what they feel is increasing religious repression on the mainland," the newspaper said in an editorial.

"They are worried that this could spill over the border and where previously the promise of Hong Kong autonomy was their guarantee, they are no longer so confident."

The former British colony was granted a large degree of autonomy after reverting to Chinese rule in 1997, but Beijing oversees all foreign policy and defense issues.

A Vatican official said in March that the papal state was willing to rethink its relations with Taiwan to forge ties with Beijing.

But Beijing insists the Vatican must cut ties with Taiwan before any talks begin, and must agree not to interfere with China's internal affairs, which would mean foregoing the right to appoint bishops should diplomatic relations be established.

China bans Christians worshipping outside of "patriotic" churches set up to impose control by the Communist Party, which has long linked Christianity with foreign imperialism.

Many Catholics in China worship in underground churches.

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Human Rights Body Calls For Breaking Of Ties With Beijing

BEIJING, Aug 8, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) A human rights watchdog Saturday called on the international community to sever all "dialogue on human rights" with China, in the wake of a crackdown on pro-democracy activists.

"We urge all those governments to suspend these pointless dialogues, which have become nothing but theoretical discussion and empty talk," the New York-based Human Rights in China said after dissident Liu Xianbin was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

The sentence, the longest handed down to a dissident since the start of the year, followed jail terms for other activists this week ranging from eight to 12 years.

"Those countries in the international community which claim to be concerned about the human rights situation in China must have a strong, united response to these severe and systematic violations of basic human rights," the group said.

"Dialogue has clearly failed."

Several countries in the European Union together with the United States, Canada and Australia last year engaged in "dialogue" with China on human rights.

Several western countries believe progress has been made with China on human rights.

HRIC demanded the immediate release of political prisoners in China, denouncing "the blatant disregard" Beijing had shown for an international treaty on rights it signed in October last year.

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Low-Profile Aerial Display Of Power Held In Taiwan

TAIPEI, Aug 8, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The Taiwanese air force held a low key aerial display Sunday to celebrate Air Force Day to avoid further aggravating a dispute with China.

The only fighters to take part in the fly-by display were Taiwan-made Indigenous Defensive Fighters (IDF), an air force spokesman said.

Some 10,000 people visited the Chingchuankang air base where French-made Mirage 2000-5s, IDFs, US-made C-130 transport aircraft, as well as air defense missiles were kept firmly as ground displays.

US-made F-16 fighters were absent.

"It was not an air show," the spokesman told AFP when asked to comment on the event, adding, "it was merely part of air force training programs."

On Friday the United Evening Post said Taiwanese authorities had ordered the armed forces to exercise self-restraint to avoid clashes with China during ongoing cross-strait tension.

Nationalist air force pilots were also asked not to confront communist jets even when provoked, the paper said.

The day before the newspaper had reported that an undetermined number of Chinese Sukhoi 27s targeted two Taiwanese air force Mirage 2000-5 fighters with their firing control radars Monday.

Taiwan's air force later dismissed the report as "rumor".

It said a clash could have occurred if the Taiwanese air force had not ordered its two French-made jets to leave the zone.

China's military leaders have ordered their air force to strike first in any confrontation with Taiwanese fighter jets, the Hong Kong-based Ming Pao daily said Friday.

China has kept up a propaganda barrage against Taiwan's President Lee Teng-hui after he declared last month that he wanted "special state to state" relations with Beijing.

China claims Taiwan is a renegade province with which it awaits reunification. The two sides split at the end of the Chinese civil war won by the communists in 1949.

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Siew Regrets Beijing Refusal Of State-To-State Relations

SKOPJE, Macedonia, Aug 8, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwan's Prime Minister Vincent Siew criticized China on Saturday, in Skopje, for refusing to accept Taiwan's proposal to establish State-to-State relations in order to improve ties and avoid conflicts.

"We are sincerely hoping that the authorities in Beijing will not let this dispute escalate and that China will express its readiness for negotiations," Siew told the press at the end of a five-day official visit to Macedonia.

He repeated Taiwan's wish that the dispute with China be solved peacefully and through negotiations, and added that tensions between the two countries are "temporary".

Siew also announced a 10-project package for direct assistance to develop the infrastructure of Macedonia, costing a total $10.5 million dollars, covering transport, information, water supplies, education and social welfare.

Three million will be devoted to purchase of two electric trains for the Skopje-Thesaloniki (Greece) line, to increase capacity between the Macedonian capital and the Greek seaport.

The two countries on Wednesday launched the construction of a free trade zone in Bunardzik, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) north-east of Skopje, that "will be a gate for Taiwan's businessmen’s economic expansion " in the region and Europe, Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski said at the ceremony.

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Two More Pro-Democracy Activists Arrested In China

BEIJING, Aug 7, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Two more pro-democracy campaigners have been arrested in China, a human rights organisation said Saturday, a day after a prominent member of the outlawed Chinese Democracy Party (CDP) was jailed for 13 years.

Chen Wei and Ouyang Yi were detained on Thursday night in Suining, in southwest Sichuan province, the Hong Kong-based Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.

Their families have received no news of them since, the organisation said in a statement Saturday.

Chen and Ouyang were from the same town as Liu Xianbin, one of the founders of the CDP, who was sentenced on Friday to 13 years imprisonment for attempting to subvert state power.

It was the heaviest sentence imposed on a democracy campaigner this year.

In the run up to the 50th anniversary of communist rule in China, authorities have launched a campaign to stamp out all opposition elements.

Three other members of the CDP have been jailed this week for between eight and 12 years.

According to the Information Centre, at least four more members of the CDP will go on trial next week. They were identified as Wang Zechen and Guo Chengming from the northeast province of Liaoning. Tong Shidong in central Hunan province and Jiang Qisheng in Beijing.

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Taiwan's Armed Forces Ordered To Exercise Self-Restraint

TAIPEI, Aug 7, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwanese authorities have ordered the armed forces to exercise self-restraint to avoid clashes with China during ongoing cross-strait tension, the United Evening Post reported Friday.

Nationalist air force pilots were also asked not to confront communist jets even when provoked.

High-ranking air force officers told the paper that the increased sorties of communist fighters were meant to scare and there had been no obvious and determined provocation.

Defense Minister Tang Fei, in a radio interview Thursday, said Washington had expressed its concern over heightened tensions given increased sorties by the two rivals in the past two weeks.

But Tang said there would be no "accidents" given the training and discipline of nationalist pilots unless communists "invade our sovereignty, strike first or jeopardize civil aviation security".

China's military leaders meanwhile ordered their air force to strike first in any confrontation with Taiwanese fighter jets, the Hong Kong-based Ming Pao daily said on Friday.

The powerful Central Military Commission ordered regional commands in Nanjing and Guangzhou in southeastern China "to step up low-flying training," the independent Chinese language paper said.

The commission, which is chaired by President Jiang Zemin, had given the air force authority to "strike first in gaining the initiative" in any emergency situation that could lead to a clash with Taiwan.

However, the report said the central leadership's policy was to "continue observation and maintain pressure" on Taiwan.

China has kept up a propaganda barrage against Taiwan's President Lee Teng-hui after he declared last month that he wanted "special state to state" relations with Beijing.

China claims Taiwan is a renegade province with which it awaits reunification. The two sides split at the end of the Chinese civil war won by the communists in 1949.

The United States has warned the tension could spin out of control and the Taiwanese press reported that Chinese air force provocation almost sparked a confrontation with nationalist fighter jets on Monday.

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Only 23 Percent Of China's City Tap Water Meets Standard

SHANGHAI, Aug 6, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Only 23 percent of tap water samples taken in China's main cities met national health standards, the official Xinmin Evening News reported Friday, citing figures from the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine.

The percentage would be "even lower" if villages and towns of the countryside were included in the survey, the academy said.

The water's contamination in the country's cities can often be detected with human senses unaided, it said, citing foul odor, a lack of clarity and unacceptably high iron and manganese content.

Coliform bacteria, which causes stomach illnesses, is also subject to lax control, it said.

The report charged water authorities with using excessive chlorine additives to reduce bacteria, a practice it said had become the chief cause of stomach and intestinal cancer in China.

China has been struggling to clean up its lakes and rivers in the last two years, shutting down hundreds of heavily polluting small factories and taking a renewed interest in water-purification technology.

The scarcity of water in the world's most populous country underlines the need for strong anti-pollution efforts. According to the Ministry of Water Resources, China's average per-capita availability of water is only a quarter of the world average.

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Renewed Crackdown Brings Harsh Sentences For China Democracy Party

BEIJING, Aug 6, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Sentences handed to four members of the banned China Democracy Party (CDP) this week are the harshest seen since the party's founders were jailed in a nationwide swoop last December.

Liu Xianbin, a leading member of the CDP's Sichuan branch, was sentenced to 13 years for attempted subversion by the Suining Intermediate People's Court on Friday.

The sentence was the heaviest for any Chinese dissident since CDP founder Xu Wenli, a veteran activist, was jailed for 13 years in December.

Xu was netted with co-founders Qin Yongmin and Wang Youcai, who were jailed for 12 and 11 years respectively in a crackdown against the first opposition party to seek official recognition from the Communist authorities.

Another member of the CDP, She Wanbao, was sentenced Wednesday by a court in Guangyuan city, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, to 12 years jail for subversion.

And on Monday, the Beijing Intermediate People's Court convicted and sentenced the chairmen of the CDP's Beijing-Tianjin branch Gao Hongming and Zha Jianguo to eight and nine years respectively for subversion.

The severity of sentences against opposition activists got tougher last month, when Yue Tianxiang was jailed for 10 years for setting up an organization to protect the rights of laid-off workers.

A labor activist from central Hunan province, Zhang Shanguang, was also jailed for 10 years just days after the trials of Xu, Qin and Wang for his attempts to organize a workers rights group and reporting rural protests to a U.S. radio station.

A former government official, Fang Jue, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment on June 10 for "illegal business practices," a charge he denied as a government “frame-up.”

Fang, 44, was arrested in July 1998 after calling for democratic reforms in an essay.

Li Zhiyou, a CDP member in Guangxi province, received a three-year sentence in May for scrawling anti-government graffiti, such as “There's no human rights under the leadership of the Communist Party” and “The police are bandits” in public toilets.

Liu Xianli was jailed for four years on subversion charges this spring after trying to interview China's best-known dissidents and publish a book on their activities.

Originally from the eastern province of Anhui, Liu was arrested in March 1998 after attempting to interview Xu Wenli and Qin Yongmin, as well as victims' rights activist Ding Zilin.

Wang Ce, an exiled democracy activist who lived in Spain for more than a decade, was sentenced to four years in February for "endangering state security" after sneaking back into the country last November.

Environment-dissident Peng Ming was sentenced without trial to 18 months “reeducation through labor” in February.

Peng, 42, was the founder of the China Development Union (CDU) environmental movement, legally registered in Hong Kong but banned on the mainland in October 1998.

A court also jailed software businessmen Lin Hai for two years early this year for inciting the overthrow of the state through the Internet.

Prosecutors say he used other people's Internet site and the nickname "Black Eyes" to covertly share the e-mail addresses of 30,000 Chinese residents with overseas "anti-China" magazines from September 1997 onward.

While China denies that it holds any political prisoners, the Ministry of Justice in 1998 said there were 2,050 people imprisoned on charges of subversion or counter-revolutionary crimes'.

Dissidents and human rights groups maintain that it is impossible to know how many political prisoners continue to languish in China's jails, but some estimates are as high as 10,000.

By Agence France Presse

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Flood Waters Along Yangtze Recede As China Announces Toll Of 725

BEIJING, Aug 6, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Water levels on China's flood-swollen Yangtze river have begun to drop from the "dangerously high" levels where they had remained for more than one month, official media said Friday.

The report came one day after the country's civil affairs ministry announced some 725 people had been killed in summer flooding, which has caused more than $8 billion damage so far.

Levels at Chenglingji in central Hunan province had dropped to below 33 meters (108.9 feet) by Thursday, while the local hydrology station reported that waters on neighboring Dongting lake had been receding for two days, the Xinhua news agency said.

At Jiujiang in eastern Jiangxi province, the site of a major dyke breach in 1998, water levels remained 1.72 meters (5.7 feet) above the danger line, but had dropped from levels recorded 24 hours earlier, the report said.

"Hydrology stations at the city of Jiujiang and at Poyang Lake predict that waters will fall below the danger mark in about 10 days, meaning that the Yangtze's water levels are expected to last some 40 days less than last year," Xinhua said.

Officials attribute this year's relatively stable flood season to massive investment in anti-flooding materials and dyke reinforcement funneled into many of the provinces decimated by last year's disastrous flooding.

The entire Yangtze basin -- home to some 400 million people -- was hit by the worst floods in decades last summer, which killed more than 4,000 people and caused damage worth 200 billion yuan ($25 billion).

"Flooding on Dongting Lake this year was nearly as serious as the disaster last year, but resulted in only 25 percent of the damage," Pang Daomu, director of Hunan's flood control and drought relief, was quoted as saying.

According to official figures released by China's civil affairs ministry Thursday, 725 people have died in flooding this summer. Previous figures had put the death toll at 400.

The ministry said more than 5.53 million people had been relocated and an estimated 1.67 million homes had been destroyed.

Violent flooding has affected the Yangtze river in recent months, while Hubei, Hunan and Anhui provinces have already declared states of emergency.

Violent rainstorms have also caused severe flooding in Sichuan, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces.

By Agence France Presse

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China Gives ‘Strike First’ Approval Against Taiwan

HONG KONG, Aug 6, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China's military leaders have ordered the air force to strike first in any confrontation with Taiwanese fighter jets, a Hong Kong newspaper reported Friday.

With tension between China and Taiwan showing no sign of abating, another newspaper said the Chinese navy was practicing naval blockades that would prevent any foreign intervention in a conflict.

The powerful Central Military Commission ordered regional commands in Nanjing and Guangzhou in southeastern China "to step up low-flying training," the independent Chinese language Ming Pao daily said.

The commission, which is chaired by President Jiang Zemin, had given the air force authority to "strike first in gaining the initiative" in any emergency situation that could lead to a clash with Taiwan, the report said citing unnamed sources.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese authorities have ordered the island's armed forces to exercise self-restraint to avoid clashes with China during ongoing cross-strait tension, the United Evening Post reported Friday.

Nationalist air force pilots were also asked not to confront communist jets even when provoked, the paper said.

High-ranking air force officers told the paper that the increased sorties of communist fighters were meant to scare and there had been no obvious and determined provocation.

Defense Minister Tang Fei, in a radio interview Thursday, said Washington had expressed its concern over heightened tensions given increased sorties by the two rivals in the past two weeks.

But Tang said there would be no "accidents" given the training and discipline of nationalist pilots unless communists "invade our sovereignty, strike first or jeopardize civil aviation security."

China's central leadership's policy is to "continue observation and maintain pressure" on Taiwan, according to the Hong Kong newspaper report.

China has kept up a propaganda barrage against Taiwan's President Lee Teng-hui after he declared last month that he wanted "special state-to-state" relations with Beijing.

China claims Taiwan is a renegade province awaiting reunification. The two sides split at the end of the Chinese civil war won by the communists in 1949.

The United States has warned the new tension could spin out of control and the Taiwan press reported that a Chinese air force provocation almost sparked a confrontation with Taiwanese fighter jets on Monday.

There have been multiple reports of China embarking on military exercises as part of the war of nerves that has badly hit Taiwan's stock market.

The Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper said a series of sea exercises had been held off southeast China since late July intended to "test the navy's ability to develop a sea blockade and defence" and deter foreign intervention in any Taiwan Strait conflict.

During Taiwan's presidential election campaign in 1996, China carried out war games and fired missiles into the Taiwan Strait to show its anger at a high-profile trip to the United States by Lee.

The exercises prompted the United States to send two aircraft carrier groups to the region.

Wen Wei Po, citing the China News Service, said the exercises were held "to show the forces' courage and determination" to block any attempt by Taiwan to seek independence.

It added that warships, submarines and aircraft took part in the drills.

Forces in Fujian province, opposite Taiwan, are on a level-three alert, the lowest of China's three-tier military alert system, while missile units were deployed along the coast, the report said.

Earlier, the pro-Beijing Ta Kung Pao newspaper said some key People's Liberation Army units were on the highest level military alert.

According to Ming Pao, the Beijing leadership believes the Taiwan president's actions could ignite an armed confrontation.

It added that the central leadership believed the first half of next year would be "crucial" as Taiwan elects a president to replace Lee.

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Canada Frees Most Of Last Month’s Arrival Of Chinese Boat People

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Aug 6, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Canada has released nearly two-thirds of 123 Chinese boat people who landed illegally last month on the shores of British Columbia, immigration officials said Thursday.

The 103 men and 20 women were discovered off the west coast of Canada on July 20 in a 55-meter, unmarked vessel.

They told police they had left China's Fujian province 40 days earlier with each having paid about 38,000 Canadian dollars ($28,000) for the voyage.

At the close of the first round of refugee hearings, the government decided to release 86 of the boat people, including 12 women.

Unlike Australia, which has an even bigger problem with boat people, Canada has no detention facilities to hold refugee claimants while they wait for their claims to be processed.

"There's agencies that they are dealing with now to help support them in Canada until they're completed with the refugee-claims process," said Rob Johnston, spokesman for Immigration Canada.

The refugee claimants are now eligible to collect welfare. Each has received 175 dollars ($120) pocket money.

The release of the refugees has sparked fears among police and some in the Chinese community that it sends the wrong signal to alien-smugglers.

The maximum penalty for alien-smuggling in Canada is just five years compared to 20 years in Australia, which has seen close to 1,000 boat people arrive on its shores in 1998-99.

"Canada is now going to be the target of choice," said Staff Sgt. Glen Rockwell of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Vancouver. "If we don't get our act together, we are going to be in real trouble."

Rockwell, head of the immigration and passport section, said police funding cuts have made it difficult to gather intelligence on alien-smuggling rings.

He said some of the 37 still in detention are local fishermen who knew how to steer the boat. Officials are deciding who if any among them should face charges.

"We don't feel they are high at all (in the alien-smuggling ring). But they are the highest we have got," Rockwell said.

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Chinese Minister Says Upstart Taiwan Threatening Trade

BEIJING, Aug 6, 1999 -- (Reuters) Taiwan's insistence on equality in its dealings with Beijing threaten trade and investment across the Taiwan Strait, Chinese Foreign Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng was quoted on Friday as saying.

"If the 'one China' principle is abandoned, the cross-Straits trade and economic exchanges will be destroyed fundamentally and deprived of opportunities and conditions for further development," he said.

The China Daily newspaper quoted Shi as telling a meeting of ministry officials that trade and investment across the 100-mile wide Strait had flourished under the notion of one China, from which Taiwan moved away last month.

Taiwan President Lee Deng-hui insisted relations across the Strait be conducted between two equals, outraging Beijing, which sees the island as a renegade province and renewed its threat to use force if Taiwan declared independence.

Taipei, which says it will reunify only with a democratic China, has poured money into China since Beijing began liberalizing the economy two decades ago.

The China Daily said Taiwan had pledged $42.8 billion in investments and $22.6 billion of it had been spent. By June, Taiwan investors had invested in 42,653 businesses on the mainland, with 1,231 of them approved in the first half of this year.

But reunification is a passionately held belief in Beijing. The last time Lee upset the Chinese leadership in the run up to 1996 presidential elections, Beijing responded with massive war games.

The situation became so tense the United States sent two aircraft carrier battle groups to the area. Washington has told Beijing this time that it would be gravely concerned by any military moves.

Rumors on Thursday of Chinese air strikes on Taiwan, which Taipei swiftly denied, pulled down the Taipei and Hong Kong stock markets.

There has been no confirmation from China of repeated news reports, many of them in Hong Kong newspapers, that China's 2.5 million strong People's Liberation Army was conducting exercises as a warning to Taiwan.

By Reuters

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China Says It’s Not Ready To Resume U.S. WTO Talks

BEIJING, Aug 6, 1999 -- (Reuters) China said on Friday it was still not ready to resume vital talks with the United States on accession to the World Trade Organization which Beijing froze after NATO bombed its embassy in Belgrade.

"We don't know when China and the United States will resume negotiations," said a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.

There has been speculation of a resumption ahead of a planned meeting between Chinese President Jiang Zemin and President Bill Clinton in New Zealand during a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

A senior Foreign Ministry official, however, told a small group of reporters on Thursday night there had been no change in China's position and that the next move was up to Washington.

"I don't think the atmosphere is right for a resumption of negotiations," said the official, who declined to be identified in news stories.

"The ball is on their side. It is important for them to do something concrete for the improvement of relations."

China is still fuming over the May 7 embassy bombing, in which three people were killed and 27 were wounded. Washington has agreed to pay $4.5 million in compensation for the victims, and talks on payment for the destroyed embassy are due later this month.

Beijing has rejected as "unconvincing" U.S. explanations that the bombing was an error stemming from bad intelligence. "We are still awaiting a credible explanation," the ministry official said.

China is also upset over a U.S. sale of arms worth $550 million to Taiwan, which incurred Chinese wrath last month when it appeared to move away from the "one China" policy which had kept the peace between them for decades.

Beijing says the Taipei move to what it calls a "two-state theory" is a step towards independence. It has renewed threats to invade Taiwan if the island, estranged since the end of a long civil war in 1949, declares independence.

Although the United States has reaffirmed its commitment to a "one China" policy and criticized the new Taiwan insistence that relations be conducted on the basis of equality, the arms sale was seen in Beijing as a slap in the face.

Beijing considers arms sales a breach of Sino-U.S. agreements which led to a switch of recognition to Beijing from Taiwan in 1979.

The ministry official indicated China did not feel under pressure to make a quick deal on WTO entry with the United States despite an approaching meeting in November when the body is due to embark on a new round of global trade talks.

Most analysts believe that if China is not a member when those talks start, it could be years before it can succeed.

"There is no deadline on access," the Foreign Ministry official said. "What is in our mind is whether the terms of access are appropriate for us."

A deal with the United States, the key to China's entry, was tantalizingly close in April, when Premier Zhu Rongji made significant concessions during a trip to Washington.

But Clinton, apparently believing he could not get the deal through Congress because of accusations of Chinese theft of nuclear secrets and other issues, balked at the last minute.

The ministry official said the meeting between Jiang and Clinton in Auckland was expected to help improve relations, but he declined to be more specific.

"Every such meeting is useful and plays an important role in pushing the relationship forward. I think the upcoming meeting will produce the same result," he said.

By Reuters

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It's Fitting: Dancing In The Year Of The Dragon

HONG KONG, Aug 6, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Young people from China and Taiwan and the diaspora will create a 10,000-foot long dragon on the Great Wall to celebrate the new millennium, Hong Kong officials said Thursday.

The youngsters will gather at the Ba Da Ling section of the Great Wall in February 2000 to set a new record for the world's longest dragon at an event expected to be televised around the globe, officials said.

"The project is a meaningful and long-term endeavor for young people. It represents our commitment to foster and nurture them to become our leaders of tomorrow," said Rosanna Wong, executive director of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups.

Next year will be the Year of the Dragon, the most auspicious of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac.

The project is jointly organized by the All-China Youth Federation of China and "Dragon at the Great Wall" Hong Kong Committee and sponsored by the Hong Kong government as well as the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups.

Secretary for Home Affairs David Lan said the project "not only signifies the unity and solidarity of the Chinese youth, but also provides a vision into the new millennium which would help prepare for the future development of the youth."

Apart from the dragon dance at the Great Wall, there will also be a youth conference in February to be attended by Chinese youngsters worldwide to identify the trends of global development in the next century.

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China Blasts US Bill, Rejects Taiwan Statement On Ties

BEIJING, Aug 5, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China Thursday blasted a proposed bill by the US House of Representatives expanding US-Taiwan relations and kept up its hawkish rhetoric over what it sees as attempts by Taiwan to make a definitive split with the mainland.

A senior Chinese lawmaker "strongly condemned and firmly opposed" a bill submitted to the US House of Representative's Committee on International Affairs by congressman Sherrod Brown, the People's Daily said.

The unnamed bill would expand US-Taiwan relations, the article said.

"This has severely infringed upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and openly tramples on the norms of international relations," the unnamed official said.

"We also hope that US congressmen are fully aware of the seriousness, the damage and the risk they will take if they support separatist activities in Taiwan that may split China," he said.

"We will defend the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of our motherland at any price," he added.

The bill has not yet been voted on.

In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Chinese ambassador to Australia Zhou Wenzhong also warned the United States to stay out of the dispute with Taiwan saying Washington should not try to repeat the "Kosovo formula" in Asia.

"The US has a powerful military, but it is a big world and the US should not try to extend its power in Asia in this way. Asia is not Europe," he said.

Tensions between Beijing and Taipei have flared since Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui last month said he wanted "special state-to-state" relations with China.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and took a dim view of those comments, which it saw as a treacherous move toward a declaration of independence.

Zhou said the US and its NATO allies had crossed "a watershed" in Kosovo.

"China, Russia, India and other countries are very concerned about such a policy of putting human rights above national sovereignty. This is not right," he said.

"But would the US have the same support from its allies in Asia if it were doing the same here? I doubt it."

China also Thursday rejected a Taiwan statement clarifying the issue of ties between the two sides.

The statement issued by Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council on August 1 was formally rejected by Chen Yunlin, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Chinese Communist Party and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the People's Daily reported.

"The written explanation insists that the two sides of the Taiwan Straits have been divided into two states and China's sovereignty and territory have been cut apart based on (Taiwan President) Lee's remarks," Chen was quoted as saying.

Lee's "insistence upon the 'two-states' statement is a challenge to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a challenge to the practical and long-term interest of the Taiwan compatriots and to the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region," he said.

Lee however, says he is "pushing for a democratically reunified China," and has demanded democracy and recognition as an equal political entity as preconditions for any reunification talks with Beijing.

China has refused to give up the possibility of force in retaking the island territory that it maintains is an integral part of China and under Beijing's rule.

Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Stanley Roth Wednesday in Washington urged the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to reject Senate legislation that would expand US-Taiwan defense links, suggesting it would provoke China.

"There is no sign of imminent hostilities. It appears that PRC (Chinese) military activity is somewhat elevated, but reports in the media have been exaggerated," he said. "Nonetheless, the risk of escalation remains."

Roth urged senators to oppose the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act co-sponsored by committee chairman Jesse Helms, a Republican from North Carolina, and Robert Torricelli, Democrat from New Jersey.

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China Warns US To Stay Out Of Taiwan Dispute

SYDNEY, Aug 5, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China warned the United States Thursday to stay out of its dispute with Taiwan, saying its allies such as Australia and Japan were unlikely to join any NATO-style interventionist action.

In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Chinese ambassador to Australia Zhou Wenzhong said Washington should not try to repeat the "Kosovo formula" in Asia.

"The US has a powerful military, but it is a big world and the US should not try to extend its power in Asia in this way. Asia is not Europe," he said.

Tensions between Beijing and Taipei have flared since Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui last month said he wanted "special state-to-state" relations with China.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and took a dim view of those comments, which it saw as a treacherous move toward a declaration of independence.

Zhou said the US and its NATO allies had crossed "a watershed" in Kosovo.

"China, Russia, India and other countries are very concerned about such a policy of putting human rights above national sovereignty. This is not right," he said.

"But would the US have the same support from its allies in Asia if it were doing the same here? I doubt it."

He referred to a recent article by former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser in which he said Washington should not automatically assume Canberra and Tokyo would support NATO-style action in Asia just because they were allies.

"I think he is right," said Zhou. "You should not move into another country if you see things there that are not to your taste.

"If this became the order of the day, the world would be chaotic."

Both Australia and the US acknowledge Beijing's one-China policy, which recognizes the mainland and not Taiwan as the only sovereign China, but Zhou said there was a "big difference" between the two countries.

"Both Australia and the US have reaffirmed the one-China policy, but the big difference is that the US has announced the sale of new weapons to Taiwan. This is a problem."

These include surveillance planes and parts and equipment for F-16 fighters.

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Chinese Dissident Xie Wanjun Begins "Diplomatic" Mission

NEW YORK, Aug 5, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) A founder of the outlawed Chinese Democracy Party (CDP) who fled China three months ago announced Wednesday he was beginning a mission to centralize Chinese dissident groups overseas in order to support the democratic movement inside China.

"We must unite," Xie Wanjun told reporters here. "The communication has always been there, but there has been no plan, no administration."

The 34-year-old political refugee -- one of the few CDP leaders not jailed by Chinese authorities -- has been granted refugee status in the United States.

Xie fled his home in Shandong province (where he was under house arrest) in April after receiving death threats, according to members of his organization.

Mingling with a group of tourists he crossed into Russia and sought refuge in the US consulate in Vladivostok, according to a CDP official.

But bowing to pressure from Beijing, Moscow refused to give Xie a permit to leave the country until an intervention by the UN High Commission for Refugees paved the way for his departure to Washington, where he arrived Saturday.

It was in Moscow, Xie said Wednesday, that he devised a "systematic plan," to coordinate the activities of Chinese dissidents overseas. He remained tight-lipped about specific activities related to his "diplomatic work," here on behalf of the CDP.

But he hinted that a portion of his job would be to reduce "conditions" which he said various dissident groups have placed upon their involvement with the party.

Xie said he also expects to visit the State Department next week, where he hopes to have an audience with US officials.

"There is no question the pressure being put on Beijing is working, without question," he said. "But it is not enough."

The outlawed CDP, which claims an underground membership throughout China, had sought to go public just before the June visit to China of US President Bill Clinton and following China's signing of the UN Covenant on Political and Civil Rights.

Xie said that the group is a conglomeration of "different democratic movements in the provinces," and basically "happened by itself."

A student leader at the heart of the pro-democracy movement in 1989, (he was on the Chinese government's list of most wanted student leaders after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown) Xie started the group's Shandong province chapter.

He was one of several other dissidents who demanded the legalization of the China Democracy Party, which was rejected in June by authorities.

He was unclear about how long he would remain in the United States. But Xie, who fears for the safety of his wife and daughter in China, vowed to return to his country once his work is finished.

"My goal is to return as soon as possible," he said. "The day I return to China will be the day China is open to political reform.”

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US Official: China, Taiwan Tensions Could Still Escalate

WASHINGTON, Aug 5, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China and Taiwan do not appear close to a military confrontation but tensions between the two longtime rivals could still escalate, a senior US official said Wednesday.

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Stanley Roth also urged the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to reject legislation that would expand US-Taiwan defense links, suggesting it would provoke China.

Following remarks by Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui on July 9 that inflamed China and subsequent US efforts to calm the situation, "it is impossible to be certain" where Beijing-Taipei relations stand, he said.

"There is no sign of imminent hostilities. It appears that PRC (Chinese) military activity is somewhat elevated, but reports in the media have been exaggerated," he said. "Nonetheless, the risk of escalation remains."

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Report: Taiwan, China Fighters Nearly Clash Over Taiwan Strait

TAIPEI, Aug 5, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Provocation by the Chinese air force almost sparked a confrontation with Taiwanese fighter jets, a news report said Thursday.

An undetermined number of Chinese Sukhoi 27s targeted two Taiwanese air force Mirage 2000-5 fighters with their firing control radar Monday, the United Daily News reported.

The incident came as the People's Liberation Army test fired a ballistic missile on Chinese territory.

"The signal of provocation was obvious," the paper quoted authoritative military sources as saying.

It said a clash could have occurred if the Taiwanese air force had not ordered its two French-made jets to leave the zone.

The paper said several other Taiwan fighters were put on alert to monitor the Su-27s.

Tensions between China and rival Taiwan have been heightened by a statement by President Lee Teng-hui that he wanted "special state-to-state" relations with China.

China considers Taiwan a rebel province and has threatened to use force to stop the nationalist island declaring formal independence.

Taiwan's Defense Minister Tang Fei said Wednesday the nationalist island will steer clear of any action that might further fuel the tensions, amid reports of increased military plane sorties by both sides over the Taiwan Strait.

"We'll not take any provocative steps," Tang told reporters amid the worst cross-strait tensions since 1996.

"But we will take every possible step and measure to ensure sufficient self-defense."

The Washington Post quoted an unnamed US official as saying China -- which seldom sends planes over the straits -- had flown more than 100 sorties with three different types of aircraft.

Another official reportedly said Taiwan had flown roughly the same number during the last three weeks and crossed the center line of the straits.

The United States has voiced concern about the possibility of accidents resulting from the stepped-up military sorties in the Taiwan Strait.

The United Daily News said the Chinese air force had sometimes flown up to 30 sorties a day in the strait, notably by Jian-7 and Jian-8 fighters.

Beijing saw Lee's remarks on relations as a shift from the "One-China policy" accepted by Beijing, Taipei and Washington, which has provided the basis for cross-straits peace for 50 years.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war to the communists led by Mao Zedong.

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Taipei Sees No Threat From China Jet Sorties

TAIPEI, Aug 5, 1999 -- (Reuters) Taipei said on Thursday a slight increase of fighter jet sorties over the Taiwan strait by rival China posed no immediate threat but that any intrusion would meet with a military response.

"We have noticed increased activities by the Chinese Communists' military jets, but there is no unusual movement or development so far," said Jen Yu-sheng, air force deputy general chief of staff.

Taiwan's air force would take "appropriate action" if national security were threatened, he said.

"We will not be provocative, but we will not avoid (conflict) or show weakness," he added.

Washington has voiced concerns over the rising pattern of military activity in the Taiwan strait after Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui infuriated Beijing by calling for "special state to state" ties between Taiwan and China on July 9.

A senior U.S. state department official has said the Clinton administration had made it clear to both Beijing and Taipei the need for a peaceful resolution through dialogue.

"All I can say is we have laid down every marker that we know how to lay down about the seriousness of this issue," Stanley Roth, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and Pacific Affairs, said on Wednesday.

"The risk of an accident, much less a deliberate confrontation, is high," Roth said.

Roth's sentiments were echoed by Kurt Campbell, Deputy U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, who said that some inadvertent action in the current atmosphere could trigger a full-blown confrontation.

"Both sides tend to use military force as a signal. And that kind of signaling is often very much misunderstood by the other side," he said. "The greatest concern the Administration has is for an inadvertent, or an accidental act."

Beijing, which has viewed the Nationalist island as an insubordinate province that must be brought under its rule since a 1949 civil war that split them, sees Lee's move as a further step toward independence.

Beijing, which has threatened to invade the island if it declares independence, responded with a stream of furious rhetoric followed by a string of threatening military actions.

In the past few days, China has test fired a new ballistic missile, sent fighter jets across the Taiwan straits, conducted military exercises across the water from the island and seized a Taiwanese freighter.

Taiwan defense ministry on Thursday strongly denied a rumor in the foreign exchange market that China had launched airstrikes against the island.

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U.S. Concerned About Accidents In Taiwan Straits

WASHINGTON, Aug 4, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The State Department voiced concern Tuesday about the possibility of accidents resulting from China and Taiwan's stepped-up military sorties across the Taiwan Straits.

Spokesman James Rubin declined to say how many sorties the two longtime rivals had flown since tensions between them began escalating anew in July, but he said "it's certainly something we're monitoring very closely."

"We're aware that there have been a fairly large number of sorties flown by both China and Taiwan military aircraft in the Taiwan Straits," he said.

"And any time you have military aircraft flying this close to each other in these numbers, there is concern about accidents. We do have such concern and we don't think either side should be taking steps that will increase tensions across the Taiwan Straits," he added.

Rubin urged both sides to exercise restraint and noted that "we've seen sortie rates much, much higher than this in the past, so I think one should be cautious about not getting alarmed by the situation."

"Clearly there are flights taking place over the Taiwan Straits, and we're concerned about accidents," he said.

Earlier Tuesday, The Washington Post quoted one unnamed U.S. official as saying that China -- which seldom sends planes over the straits -- had flown more than 100 sorties with three different types of aircraft.

Another official reportedly said Taiwan had flown roughly the same number during the last three weeks and crossed the center line of the straits.

Tensions between Beijing and Taipei flared again after Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui told an interviewer on July 9 that he wanted "special state-to-state" relations with China.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and took a dim view of what it saw as a treacherous move toward a formal declaration of independence, which it says is grounds for Chinese military action.

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Sichuan CDP Member To Be Tried Friday

BEIJING, Aug 4, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) A member of the outlawed China Democracy Party (CDP) will be tried in the southwest Chinese province of Sichuan on August 6, despite having no legal defense, his wife said Wednesday.

Liu Xianbin, 31, is expected to be tried for attempting to subvert state political power, Chen Mingxian told AFP.

"He is not guilty, he has done nothing," she said.

Chen said she hired and paid a lawyer to defend her husband, but last week judicial authorities pressured the lawyer into giving up the case, so now Liu faces trial without any legal defense.

Court authorities also said family members would not be allowed to attend the trial, while the court refused to issue formal notification to the family of the pending trial, she said.

The Beijing Intermediate People's Court on Monday convicted and sentenced CDP members Gong Hongming and Zha Jianguo to eight and nine years respectively for subversion after a three-hour trial.

CDP founders Xu Wenli, Qin Yongmin and Wang Youcai were sentenced last December to long prison terms after also being convicted of subversion.

The government has refused all attempts by the party to seek legal registration.

The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said seven CDP members have been convicted of subversion since early May, while some 20 others are expected to be tried this month.

By Agence France Presse

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Report: Falungong Ban Does Not Hurt Religious Freedoms In China

BEIJING, Aug 4, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China's officially sanctioned religious leaders Wednesday applauded the ban on the Falungong sect, insisting it did not threaten religious freedom, state media reported.

Falungong is not a religion, but an illegal organization that is like a cult, Jin Luxian, honorary chairman of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, said in a Xinhua news agency report.

Jin is bishop of Shanghai parish and a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Li Hongzhi, founder of Falungong, used religious terminology and mixed it with fallacies, he said, adding that this was anti-science, anti-civilization and anti-religion.

Jin said he would try to get the 140,000 Catholics in Shanghai to see the danger of Falungong, the report said.

Ding Guangxun, honorary chairman of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee of the Protestant Churches of China, echoed the view that the ban on the sect would not affect religious freedom in China.

The ban has shown the government's protection of religious activities, said Ding, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC.

Ding said he was outraged by Li Hongzhi and his conduct and how he took advantage of people's worries about aging and death, the report said.

Li dreamed up Falungong and deceived a lot of naive and innocent people, he said in the report.

Han Wenzao, the president of the China Christian Council, said Falungong is a cult.

Falungong preaches about "Doomsday" and forbids followers to see doctors and take medicine when they are ill, he said.

The council hopes religious people will learn from this and more readily identify cults, Han added.

People should recognize the evil purpose of the Falungong leader, said Jamyang Losang Jigme Tubdain Qoigyi Nyima, vice-president of the Buddhist Association of China in a Xinhua report.

Li and Falungong spread feudalism and superstition under the guise of teaching qigong, taking advantage of people's desire to stay healthy, said Jamyang.

China banned Falungong, which advocates breathing and meditation exercises to attain inner strength, on July 22, accusing it of being a threat to society.

Some 10,000 Falungong members shocked Chinese leaders when they participated in a silent demonstration around Zhongnanhai -- the seat of the Communist party and government's power -- on April 25.

On July 29, Chinese authorities issued an arrest warrant for Li Hongzhi saying he had disturbed public order, and sought international cooperation from Interpol.

But Interpol on Tuesday rejected the request saying it could not issue an international arrest warrant for Li Hongzhi because it could not pursue political or religious cases.

By Agence France Presse

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Report: China To Resume WTO Talks With U.S. In Second Half Of August

HONG KONG, Aug 4, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China will resume talks with the United States on accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the second half of August, it was reported here Wednesday.

As long as there are no major changes in relations with Washington, Beijing will restart WTO talks in the second half of August after Chinese leaders finish their summer retreat at the beach resort of Beidaihe, the independent Chinese-language Hong Kong Economic Times reported, quoting unnamed sources.

A preliminary agreement is likely to be reached in September during the informal APEC meeting to be held in New Zealand, the sources said.

The daily said China held "a cautious optimism" it would successfully join the WTO this year.

A Chinese WTO negotiating team is currently in Geneva engaged in talks with European countries, it said.

However, trade officials in Beijing said on Tuesday they had not yet been given the go-ahead to resume WTO discussions.

"We have not received any instructions yet. The bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade has had a great impact on the atmosphere of the talks," an official told AFP.

It has been reported that China's top leaders will finalize proposals to restart WTO talks with the United States during their annual summer retreat in Beidaihe.

The leadership has reportedly given the green light for the package proposed by Premier Zhu Rongji during his February visit to the United States to be the framework of the WTO negotiations, the sources said.

Zhu made several key concessions including the opening up of the lucrative telecommunications and agricultural sectors.

The bilateral WTO talks ground to a halt after the May 7 NATO bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade plunged ties to a new low.

The United States is still awaiting Beijing's decision to move ahead on the WTO issue.

By Agence France Presse

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Pentagon Says Launch Of Chinese Missile Not Tied To Taiwan Tension

WASHINGTON, Aug 4, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The launch of a Chinese surface-to-surface missile was long expected and is not linked to the current tension between China and Taiwan, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

"I don't think this was a direct response to what's going on in the (Taiwan) straits," Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said.

"There have not been extraordinary actions or developments in the straits at this time, and we hope that there will not be," Bacon said.

Beijing tested the long-range Dongfeng (DF) 31 missile Monday, according to the official Xinhua news agency,

"We've known for a long while that they have been planning to test a so-called DF-31 mobile missile ... Nothing surprising about that. The test they announced was successful. We have no reason to question that at this time," Bacon said.

China is several years off from deploying such a missile, he added.

Bacon said no evidence suggests the Chinese missile was launched using stolen U.S. technology on nuclear weapons.

A U.S. congressional report released in May had accused China of stealing secrets to every key American nuclear warhead made since the 1970s to help technologically boost their missile arsenal.

"I think they've been working on this for some time, and it is part of an evolutionary improvement in their strategic force, which remains quite a small force -- some 20 or slightly more intercontinental ballistic missiles," he said.

On Monday, the State Department also downplayed the launch.

"We have no reason to believe that the long-expected, long-range missile test is related to the Taiwan situation," spokesman James Rubin said.

Relations between Beijing and Taipei have been strained since early July when Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui urged "state-to-state" relations with China.

China viewed the statement as an affront to its "one-China" policy and its goal of eventually reuniting the autonomous island with the mainland.

Bacon pressed the two to resume talks and said the situation should not be compared to the one in 1996 when China fired off several missiles in the direction of Taiwan.

While the scare provoked the Pentagon to deploy several ships in the region, China appeared only to want to sway the presidential elections in Taiwan against a candidate favoring independence for the island.

By Agence France Presse

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China Denies Permission For U.S. Flight To Hong Kong

HONG KONG, Aug 4, 1999 -- (Reuters) China has refused to let a U.S. military aircraft land in Hong Kong, despite lifting its ban on such stopovers last week, a U.S. Consulate spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Beijing "notified the U.S. through normal official channels that a request for a U.S. military flight stopover into Hong Kong has been denied," U.S. spokeswoman Barbara Zigli said.

China gave no reason for its denial, but Beijing summoned a U.S. embassy official on Monday to protest against Washington's announced sale of $550 million worth of military aircraft and other weapons to China's arch-rival Taiwan.

China, which oversees Hong Kong defense and foreign policies, has banned U.S. warships from entering the port since May 7 when NATO accidentally bombed Beijing's Belgrade embassy, killing three Chinese.

"After the bombing of China's embassy...the relationship has changed fundamentally," Thomas Chan, a Sino-U.S. expert at the Polytechnic University, said. "Even though China would like to improve relations, basically, I don't think the Chinese trust America."

"So each time they (the United States) will be subject to scrutiny by the Chinese government," he added.

China's refusal to allow the aircraft to stopover came days after Beijing permitted the first U.S. military plane to land in Hong Kong since NATO bombs wrecked China's Belgrade embassy.

Beijing granted permission for a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo flight to land last Thursday, signaling the end of the aircraft ban.

Eight U.S. navy ships have been denied permission to enter the former British colony since the embassy bombing.

U.S. military visits to the South China Sea port continued uninterrupted after Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule in July 1997. No U.S. military plane or warship was refused entry until the bombing of the Chinese embassy.

About 70 U.S. warships and 67 U.S. military aircraft visited in 1998 and pumped about $50 million into the local economy.

China's decision to lift the aircraft ban last week was seen as a step in improving relations after U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan met in Singapore last month.

By Reuters

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Taiwan Says It Will Not Stir Up Further Tensions

TAIPEI, Aug 4, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwan said Wednesday it will steer clear of any action which could further fuel tensions with China, despite reports of increased military plane sorties by both sides over the Taiwan Strait.

"We'll not take any provocative steps," Defense Minister Tang Fei told reporters amid the worst cross-strait tensions since 1996.

"But we will take every possible step and measure to ensure sufficient self-defense," Tang added.

The Washington Post quoted an unnamed US official as saying that China -- which seldom sends planes over the straits -- had flown more than 100 sorties with three different types of aircraft.

Another official reportedly said Taiwan had flown roughly the same number during the last three weeks and crossed the center line of the straits.

The United States has voiced concern about the possibility of accidents resulting from the stepped-up military sorties.

"We're aware that there have been a fairly large number of sorties flown by both China and Taiwan military aircraft in the Taiwan Straits," U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin said.

"And any time you have military aircraft flying this close to each other in these numbers, there is concern about accidents. We do have such concern and we don't think either side should be taking steps that will increase tensions across the Taiwan Straits," he added.

Beijing was angered by Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's interview with a German radio on July 10 in which he said Taiwan-China ties were a "special state-to-state relationship."

The remarks were seen as a shift from the "One-China policy" accepted by Beijing, Taipei and Washington, which has provided the basis for cross-straits peace for 50 years.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war to the communists led by Mao Zedong.

Beijing views Taiwan as a renegade province awaiting reunification with the "motherland."

In a meeting with a group of Canadian parliamentarians Tuesday, Lee dismissed Beijing's official line that the island was responsible for the feud.

"The Chinese communists have insisted in the international community that one China is the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China in Taiwan is simply one of its provinces," Lee said.

China's actions had made Taiwan's international participation increasingly difficult. "We've been cornered and gradually lost breathing space," Lee said.

If the Chinese communists persisted with their "One-China policy" then Taiwan would be considered nothing more than a local government, he said, adding his government has stuck to its policy of "pushing for a democratically reunified China."

Taiwan has demanded democracy and recognition as an equal political entity as preconditions for any reunification talks with Beijing.

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Taiwan To Hold Air Force Aerial Display

TAIPEI, Aug 4, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwan is to hold an aerial display of its air force power on September 1 amid the worst tensions with rival China for three years, an air force official said Wednesday.

"Second generation airplanes will be involved in the parade," the official told AFP, referring to Taiwan's fighters comprising 150 US-made F-16s, 60 French-made Mirage 2000-5s and 130 home-made indigenous Defensive Fighters.

The event, which will mark the air force academy's 70th anniversary, comes as Taipei-Beijing ties have hit their lowest ebb since 1996.

The row has been sparked by claims by President Lee Teng-hui that relations with Beijing were on a state-to-state basis.

"Thus far we are not sure whether President Lee will preside over the event," the official said.

"But it will be held as scheduled no matter who is to chair the ceremony."

A civil airport in southern Taiwan was closed for 45 minutes Wednesday for a rehearsal of the airborne formation over the academy, sparking rumors that the air force had conducted a major exercise.

The air force headquarters later issued a statement apologizing for the inconvenience to passengers.

It was not known how many planes would take part in the display.

Six domestic flights were cancelled and two international flights delayed due to the temporary shutdown of the airports.

Four more rehearsals will be held before September 1.

By Agence France Presse

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Siew Inaugurates Macedonian Free Trade Zone

SKOPJE, MACEDONIA, Aug 4, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The prime ministers of Macedonia and Taiwan, Ljubco Georgievski and Vincent Siew, on Wednesday inaugurated Macedonia's first free trade zone at Bunardzik in the northwest, partially financed by Taiwan.

Siew, who arrived here Tuesday on an official visit, said Macedonia had the skilled work force necessary for its successful operation.

He did not say how much Taiwan had invested but said a similar scheme in the Philippines in which Taipei was involved had been highly successful.

Taiwan and Macedonia established diplomatic relations in January, which led to Beijing breaking off its ties with Macedonia and caused a political row in Macedonia between the prime minister and President Kiro Gligorov who opposed the move.

Georgievski urged Taiwan to speed up implementation of the agreements the two countries had signed to help the economic development of Macedonia.

The Taiwanese premier is to visit Pristina, the Kosovo provincial capital, on Friday.

He leaves Macedonia on Saturday.

By Agence France Presse

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U.S. 'Deeply Concerned' By Sentencing, Dissident Crackdown

WASHINGTON, Aug 3, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The United States on Monday criticized the sentencing of two Chinese dissidents to lengthy prison terms, and expressed concern over Beijing's crackdown on dissidents.

"We do deplore this sentencing of citizens merely for their pursuit of the right of free expression for exercising their internationally recognized freedoms," State Department spokesman James Rubin told reporters.

"We have made our views known for some time ... and we continue to be deeply concerned by the crackdown of organized political dissent in China that is ongoing."

His comments followed the sentencing Monday of two members of the outlawed China Democracy Party (CDP) for attempting to subvert state power.

Zha Jianguo and Gao Hongmin were sentenced to nine and eight years respectively by the Beijing Intermediate People's Court following a three-hour trial, according to Zha's daughter, Zhu Huiyi.

Rubin, noting that the sentencing was just another in a long stream of incarcerations for Chinese dissidents, said they "continue the steps that China has already taken, steps that we have identified as steps in the wrong direction."

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Human Rights Organization Condemns Sentencing Of Dissidents

HONG KONG, Aug 3, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The Information Center for Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China condemned the sentencing of two members of the outlawed China Democracy Party Monday and called on the Chinese government to halt its crackdown on dissent.

The Hong Kong-based center denounced the sentencing of Zha Jianguo and Gao Hongming who were convicted of subverting state political power and sentenced by the Beijing Intermediate People's Court to nine and eight years jail respectively.

"The Chinese constitution has clear regulations regarding freedom of association, by convicting these two people the Chinese government is trampling on its own constitution," the center said in a statement.

"Last year China signed two international human rights convenience, but before the ink was even dry they have wantonly suppressed the China Democracy Party," it said.

"This completely shows that the Communist Party is duping international public opinion," it said

Twenty members of the CDP have been detained and seven others tried and convicted of subversion since the May 7 accidental NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade.

The center maintains Beijing has chosen to ignore international condemnation of its human rights record following the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia which China labeled a "humanitarian disaster."

Over 200 Chinese dissidents have been rounded up since early May, while nine have been sentenced for subversion, including the seven CDP members, it said.

Of some 30 dissidents expected to be sentenced this month, 20 are CDP members, it added.

"At present China's human rights situation is already worse than the period following 1989," the statement said. "We call on the United States and other Western nations to not allow the NATO bombing to tie up the needed support for a human rights policy."

By Agence France Presse

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India, China Hold Talks On Alleged Border Incursion

SRINAGAR, INDIA, Aug 3, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Indian and Chinese military officials have held secret talks to defuse tensions created by China's construction of a road in a disputed border area.

A senior Indian army intelligence official in Kashmir said Monday that officials from both sides had met after the Indo-Tibetan Border Police discovered the construction work last month.

The official told AFP that a unit of 40 Chinese army engineers were involved in building the road in the district of Daulat Beg Oldi, some 140 kilometers (90 miles) north of the Kashmiri town of Leh.

According to a report in the Frontline fortnightly magazine, the road had intruded four kilometers (2.5 miles) into land claimed by both sides.

Chinese soldiers engaged in the construction "were unarmed and evidently confident that there would be no armed reprisal," the magazine said, citing military sources.

Indian Kashmir has a 1,568-kilometer (980-mile) disputed border with China.

The two Asian giants have a history of troubled relations and fought a Himalayan border war in 1962.

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U.S. Fears Accidental Clash Between Chinese, Taiwanese Warplanes

WASHINGTON, Aug 3, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) U.S. officials worry that increased sorties by Chinese and Taiwanese warplanes over the Taiwan Straits could result in an accidental clash, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

A U.S. official told the newspaper that China and Taiwan have each flown more than 100 sorties over the narrow strait since tensions increased in early July.

Chinese warplanes in the air include advanced Sukhoi 27s recently bought from Russia, according to the Post.

"We believe both sides would be well-advised to take precautions so as not to have an inadvertent incident that could escalate," the unnamed senior U.S. official told the Post.

"If planes fly very near each other fully armed, even if they are not intended to actually engage, they certainly risk that something unintended could happen," the official said.

A senior U.S. administration official told the Post that despite the increase in tension, the military build-up was not at the level reached in during Taiwan's presidential elections in 1996, when China carried out large-scale war games and fired missiles into a two sea areas close to Taiwan's major ports.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the nationalists fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war to the communists.

Beijing regards Taipei as a renegade province that must eventually return to its rule and has insisted the use of force against the island remains an option.

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Chinese Diplomat Leaves Hospital After Attack

BRATISLAVA, Aug 3, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) A senior Chinese diplomat injured in an allegedly far-right attack in Slovakia left the hospital Monday, the Tasr news agency reported.

Sun Shizong, consul at Beijing's embassy in Bratislava, was targeted in the July 24 assault in which two other Chinese nationals were also hurt. The diplomat was treated for head and facial injuries and a bone fracture.

The diplomat was attacked at a trolleybus stop. Police said they were seeking eight youths who carried out the attack. The Chinese embassy lodged a formal protest, while Slovak authorities expressed "deep regret" and promised to capture and punish those responsible.

The embassy and Slovak press reports blamed skinheads for the attack, although police said they could not confirm this.

Police said Monday they had interviewed a number of witnesses and that their investigations should be completed soon.

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China Set To Put Two More Dissidents On Trial

HONG KONG, Aug 3, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The Chinese government has accused two more dissidents of attempting to "subvert state political power" and could be preparing summary trials, a Hong Kong-based rights group said Tuesday.

The Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said the wife of 41-year-old detained dissident An Jun had been told by police to hire her husband a lawyer.

"This demonstrates that An Jun will be quickly tried for subversion," said a statement from the center.

It said police in Xinyang city in Henan Province made the request on Monday.

An ran the independent China Anti-corruption Observer, which is made up of 300 people nationwide, and attempted to track corruption within the government, the center said.

The body was founded in 1998 and reported its findings to the local and national government complaints bureaus, as well as to state-run and foreign media.

"The Chinese Communist Party will not tolerate the China Democracy Party and will not tolerate the 'Falungong', but who would have ever thought that even an 'anti-corruption organization' will not be tolerated," the center said in a faxed statement.

"The CCP daily shouts out its opposition to corruption, but this is only a slogan because a true fight against corruption would result in the inevitable shaking of the basis of CCP unity," it said.

"A real anti-corruption fighter like An Jun must therefore really be attempting to 'subvert state power'," the information center said.

The center also said China Democracy Party member Liu Xianbin, 31, was expected to be tried for subversion.

"He has been accused of 'subverting state political power' and is expected to possibly be tried in the next few days," said the center, adding that police in Chongqing in Sichuan Province have dismissed a lawyer hired to defend him.

His wife, Chen Mingxian hired a lawyer after she was informed on July 26 that he would be tried for subversion and a defense was prepared.

But on Monday the Chongqing judiciary told the law office to recall the lawyer and told Chen to hire another lawyer for the imminent trial, the statement said.

The center said Liu was a student at China's People's University in 1989 and served two and a half years in a Beijing prison. It added that he had been in custody since July 7.

The Chinese government has launched a sweeping campaign against the CDP and other sources of dissent, and on Monday a Beijing court sentenced two more CDP members to long jail terms for attempting to subvert state power.

Zha Jianguo and Gao Hongmin were sentenced to nine and eight years respectively by the Beijing Intermediate People's Court following a three-hour trial.

The sentences were strongly criticized by the U.S. government which expressed deep concern at the widening crackdown on dissent.

"We do deplore this sentencing of citizens merely for their pursuit of the right of free expression for exercising their internationally recognized freedoms," State Department spokesman James Rubin told reporters.

The center said some 30 Chinese dissidents are expected to be put on trial this month.

By Agence France Presse

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Taiwanese PM Returns Favor With Visit To Macedonia

SKOPJE, MACEDONIA, Aug 3, 1999 -- (Reuters) Taiwan's Prime Minister Vincent Siew arrived in Skopje on Tuesday at the head of a 160-strong business delegation for an official visit to Macedonia, the only state in Europe apart from the Vatican that recognizes Taipei.

The visit is in return for one by Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski to Taipei in June, five months after the two countries established diplomatic relations. The move angered China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, and it severed relations with Macedonia.

One of Siew's main tasks during his visit will be to launch construction of a free economic zone in Petrovac, near Skopje's airport, to be built by Taiwan to encourage investment in the Balkan state, one of the poorest in Europe.

"Viewed in the long term, our plan is that Macedonia becomes Taiwan's gateway to southeast Europe, even to other European regions," the Taiwanese leader wrote in an interview with the pro-government daily Nova Makedonija.

"After the zone is completed, Taiwanese companies will be the first to invest in it, and we also expect foreign and local companies to do so," he wrote.

He said the creation of such free industrial zones had greatly contributed to the swift development of Taiwan's economy, and believed the experience could be repeated in Macedonia.

In a brief written statement distributed to reporters at Skopje airport, Siew said his delegation would sign final projects for cooperation in establishing the industrial zone, banks, hotels, telecommunications and credits for the construction of apartments.

Other projects that have been mentioned include food-processing plants and supplying Macedonian marble to Asia.

Siew said he would hold intensive talks with Macedonian leaders on the fallout of the Kosovo crisis in the region, recalling that in June his government had granted $300 million for reconstruction in the region.

Taiwan pledged a another $300 million, and up to $1.5 billion long-term commitments to Macedonia when Skopje agreed to establish diplomatic ties in January.

While the establishment of relations provoked a heated reaction in Beijing, it has also become a sensitive issue in Macedonia. The largely communist opposition has pledged to restore relations with China if it comes to power.

By Reuters

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Xinhua: China Tests New Long-Range Missile

BEIJING, Aug 2, 1999 -- (Reuters) China conducted a successful test of a new type of long-range ground-to-ground missile on Monday, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

It gave no further details immediately. Military experts had expected China to test its Dong Feng-31 (East Wind) missile.

Jane's Defense Weekly has said the missile had a range of 8,000 km (5,000 miles) and was capable of carrying a single nuclear warhead of 700 kg (1,500 lb).

The brief Xinhua report did not say where China conducted the test launch, which took place after weeks of angry Chinese invective and veiled military threats over Taiwan's demand to be treated as an equal.

China sees that as a step toward independence and on Saturday Defense Minister Chi Haotian renewed Beijing's longstanding threat to use force against Taiwan if it tried to go its separate way.

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Report: China Raises Level-Two Military Alert In Southeast Region

HONG KONG, Aug 2, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China has ordered a level-two military alert for People's Liberation Army (PLA) forces on the coast along the Taiwan strait, a newspaper reported Monday as a row with Taiwan continued to rumble.

The powerful Central Military Commission ordered the alert, one step above normal readiness, in southeast Fujian province after Taiwan's semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) backed Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's call for "state-to-state" ties, the Sing Tao Daily said, citing unnamed sources in Beijing.

The independent Chinese language paper said "inland PLA forces have started to move toward the coast off Taiwan Strait, with airports in the province busy with military planes landing and taking off, while food provisions are being delivered by roads and rail" to Fujian.

Unconfirmed reports from Beijing last month also said that PLA troops on the coast facing Taiwan had been placed on a level-two (yellow) military alert.

Lee's stance was reiterated in a letter from the SEF to China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), the channel through which the two sides communicate in the absence of official ties.

ARATS rejected the letter, saying it "seriously violated" the “one China” principle which the two sides adhere to.

In past weeks, there have been reports of military exercises in the southeast coastal province.

China, which was enraged by Lee's assertion of the island's statehood last month, insists that the use of force against Taiwan remains an option.

In marking the 72nd anniversary of the People's Liberation Army on Sunday, Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian warned that Taiwan should not underestimate the military's resolve to maintain China's territorial integrity.

China carried out large-scale war games and fired missiles into the Taiwan Strait in 1996 during the island's presidential elections, following a high-profile trip to the United States by Lee in 1995.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the nationalists fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war to the communists.

Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, insists Taiwan must eventually submit to its rule.

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China Berates Taiwan Leader, Sect On Army Day

BEIJING, Aug 2, 1999 -- (Reuters) China marked Army Day on Sunday with state media tributes to its "unbeatable" military forces and a fresh torrent of invective against Taiwan's "degenerate" president and the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual sect.

The People's Liberation Army's flagship newspaper cited President Lee Teng-hui's repudiation of Taiwan's "one China" policy and the Communist Party's battle to stamp out the sect as key challenges on the 72nd anniversary of its foundation.

"Lee Teng-hui's playing with fire further shows that the forces of separatism on Taiwan deserve serious attention and the struggle for national unification is growing sharper and more complicated," said the Liberation Army Daily.

"The disorder sown by the Falun Gong organization demonstrates that in the struggle in the realm of thought we can't merely wish for victory," the newspaper said. "Our task of preserving social stability is formidable."

China remained silent, however, on the fate of a Taiwanese freighter Taipei authorities said was seized by mainland police on Saturday.

A mainland coastguard vessel halted the 975-tonne M/V Shin Hwa as it took supplies to the heavily-fortified Taiwan-held island of Matsu, close to the Chinese coast, Taiwan authorities said.

Shipowner Wen Nung-ti said the coastguard had accused the crew of smuggling electrical appliances to the mainland. He said the vessel was carrying provisions, including rice and canned food, for troops on Matsu.

China has viewed Taiwan as a rebel province since it drove the Chinese Nationalist government into exile on Taiwan in 1949. Beijing opposes any assertion of sovereignty or independence by Taipei.

The Communist Party's newspaper, the People's Daily, mixed fresh attacks on Lee with calls to press on with the "solemn political struggle" against the Falun Gong sect which last week eclipsed Beijing's battle with Taiwan's leader.

China outlawed Falun Gong on July 22 after adherents of the meditative exercise group protested outside government offices in more than 30 Chinese cities in the wake of a crackdown on its China-based leaders.

The sect stunned China's rulers when more than 10,000 members besieged Beijing's Zhongnanhai leadership compound on April 25 to demand official status for their faith.

The sect "presented a grave challenge to Party guidance of thought," the People's Daily said in a commentary. The paper carried criticism of the Falun Gong and its U.S.-based leader, Li Hongzhi, from former officials of the sect.

Taiwan's Lee was "a degenerate of the Chinese nation" for saying last month that contacts across the Taiwan Strait should be conducted as "special state-to-state" relations based on equality, the newspaper said.

It carried Defense Minister Chi Haotian's speech on Saturday renewing Beijing's longstanding threat to use force against Taiwan if it declares independence.

Beijing was enraged by what it saw as a step away from the goal of reunification which both sides officially espouse.

State media repeated China's rejection of a statement issued on Friday by Taiwan's top envoy on mainland affairs, Koo Chen-fu, which said the change in phraseology made no practical difference and Taipei remained committed to eventual union.

By Reuters

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China Insists On Taiwan One-China Policy For Talks

HONG KONG, Aug 2, 1999 -- (Reuters) China will call off an envoy's scheduled autumn trip to Taiwan unless Taipei returns to its one-China policy, a Beijing-backed newspaper said here on Saturday, quoting Chinese officials. "As the leader of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, Wang Daohan naturally cannot visit Taipei unless Taiwan abandons its two-states stance and returns to the one-China principle," the Wen Wei Po said, quoting the officials.

Communist China has viewed Taiwan as a rebel province since it drove the Chinese Nationalist government into exile on Taiwan in 1949. Beijing opposes all assertions of sovereignty by Taipei.

Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui enraged China this month by calling for special "state-to-state" ties with Beijing.

Taiwan envoy Koo Chen-fu, Wang's counterpart, said on Friday Taipei remained committed to eventual union with China and urged Beijing not to back out of the talks.

He said state-to-state ties were necessary to stop Beijing from using the one-China policy to marginalize Taiwan on the world stage.

By Reuters

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China To Try Two Political Dissidents

BEIJING, Aug 2, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) The Beijing Intermediate People's Court was scheduled to try two members of the outlawed China Democracy Party Monday, as a nationwide crackdown on illegal organizations opposed to one-party communist rule continued.

Gao Hongming and Zha Jianguo, vice chairmen of the Beijing branch of the CDP, were scheduled to go to trial for subversion Monday morning, Gao's wife told AFP.

The court in the western suburbs of Beijing refused to confirm whether or not the proceedings had begun as scheduled.

The outlawed CDP, which claims an underground membership throughout China, had sought legal registration just before the June 1998 visit to China of US President Bill Clinton and following China's signing of the UN Covenant on Political and Civil Rights.

The three main founders of the party, veteran dissidents Xu Wenli, Qin Yongmin and Wang Youcai were sentenced to 13, 12 and 11 years respectively on charges of subversion last December.

He Depu, another leader of the Beijing branch, earlier told AFP he would try to attend the public trial, but was unsure if authorities would let him in.

"The Chinese Communist Party is only concerned with the stability of their own authority and are showing that they are ready to crack down on anything that challenges the one-party political system," He said.

The Chinese government has continually stressed the need for stability this year as China marks the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic.

Other 1999 milestones are the 10th anniversary of the crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests, the 20th anniversary of the 1979 democracy wall period and the 40th anniversary of the "anti-rightist campaign."

By Agence France Presse

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Taiwan Premier To Visit Macedonia

TAIPEI, Aug 2, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwan Premier Vincent Siew was due to depart for Skopje Sunday to put the newly forged diplomatic links between the island and Macedonia on a firmer footing, reports said.

Siew and his 80-member entourage, including nine ministers, were to make an overnight stay in an undisclosed European country after leaving around 10:30 p.m. (1430 GMT), the United Evening News reported.

It said Siew, the most senior Taiwanese figure to visit Skopje since it switched diplomatic recognition from Beijing to Taipei on January 27, might visit Kosovo during the five-day stay if security conditions permitted.

Siew is scheduled to call on his Macedonian counterpart Ljubco Georgievski, Foreign Minister Alexandar Dimitrov and other government officials before returning on August 9, an official said.

The paper said Siew would announce the establishment of an economic development fund to help Macedonia's ailing economy. Taiwan is scheduled to donate $2.5 million to the fund each year.

It said Siew would also pledge up to $20 million in loans to help Macedonia's agriculture and housing programs.

But Siew is not going to meet with Macedonia's leftist President Kiro Gligorov, who strongly opposed the diplomatic shift, the paper noted.

Reports in Skopje said Macedonia hopes for substantial Taiwanese investment in the wake of the diplomatic switch, with Dimitrov saying Taiwan would invest more than $1 billion.

The defection caused a split between Gligorov and Georgievski, head of the ruling center-right government.

Angered by Taipei's gain in enhancing its international profile, Beijing abruptly broke off ties with Skopje and vetoed a six-month prolongation of the United Nations peacekeeping force in the former Yugoslav republic.

The amount of funds Taiwan is to funnel into the ailing Macedonian economy remains unknown but over the past several months Skopje has already been awarded a sizable amount of aid from Taipei.

In a surprise move Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui pledged $300 million in humanitarian aid to Kosovar refugees on June 7 when Georgievski visited Taipei.

While saying further discussions were needed on details of the aid package, Vice Foreign Minister David Lee last month said the first $10 million would be funneled to Macedonia in two to three months.

Georgievski also received a helicopter and 500 computers during his first tour of Taiwan, which styles itself as the Republic of China and is regarded as a breakaway province by Beijing.

In April, Vice Foreign Minister Lee visited Skopje to pledge $5 million for the 330,000 Kosovar refugees taking shelter in Macedonia.

By Agence France Presse

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Taiwan Criticizes China For Boat Seizure

TAIPEI, Aug 2, 1999 -- (Reuters) Taiwan on Sunday criticized China for seizing a Taiwan freighter at the weekend, saying the incident would hurt cross-strait exchanges.

But Taiwan stopped short of saying Saturday's seizure off the mainland Chinese coast was yet another expression of Beijing's anger over Taipei's call for a more equal relationship.

"Incidents like this would not benefit normal exchanges between the two sides, but would also hurt the feelings of Taiwan people," Taiwan Justice Minister Yeh Chin-feng said.

A mainland Chinese coastguard vessel on Saturday halted the ship as it took provisions to the heavily fortified Taiwan-held island of Matsu, close to the Chinese coast.

The ship and its 10 crew were taken to Mawei in China's southern province of Fujian, pending investigation over alleged smuggling, state television said, quoting Taiwan legislator Tsai Erh-chung who was visiting Fujian.

Yeh urged China to quickly return the freighter and crew.

Tensions are running high between communist China and Nationalist-ruled Taiwan over Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's repudiation of the "one China" policy, which has kept the peace between the two sides for decades.

But Taiwan officials said they had no evidence that the seizure was politically motivated.

"So far, according to information gathered by relevant authorities, I haven't seen any linkage between the seizure and political motivation," Shi Hwei-yow, vice chairman of the government-funded Straits Exchange Foundation, told reporters.

Shi's foundation was set up to deal with mainland China in the absence of normal ties.

Lee enraged China on July 9 by calling for special "state-to-state" ties on the basis of equality with Beijing, which accused him of making a step towards independence.

China has viewed Taiwan as a rebel province since the communists drove the Chinese Nationalist government into exile on Taiwan in 1949. It opposes all assertions of Taiwan sovereignty.

By Reuters

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Chinese Dissident Xie Wanjun Arrives In US

WASHINGTON, Aug 1, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) A founder of the outlawed Chinese Democracy Party (CDP) who fled China three months ago arrived at a New York airport late Saturday.

"I am very happy and also tired," an elated Xie Wanjun, told AFP by telephone from JFK International airport.

Speaking from a Chinese restaurant in Flushing, New York, not far from the airport, Xie was enjoying his freedom and a good Chinese meal.

"I haven't had Chinese food for over 3 months" while at the US consulate, Xie said with a laugh. I would like to enjoy this Chinese food, I would like to order some Chinese vegetables ..."

But the political refugee, who sought refuge in the US consulate in Vladivostok, Russia, after escaping China in April, said he would be renewing his efforts to promote democracy in China.

"I'm going to be involved actively in working to support the Chinese Democracy Party," he said.

"I have made a plan of how to develop the party, and I will dedicate myself to this cause," he said, adding that he uses his time in Vladivostok to strategize on how to build up the CDP.

"I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to the US government, to the UN High Commissioner of Refugees and also I would like to thank the Russian government," he said.

Xie had been waiting for over three months in Vladivostock after fleeing China in April, according to a statement released Saturday by the CDP Overseas Committee's New York office.

Xie fled China after receiving death threats in his home province of Shandong, where he had been under house arrest, according to members of his organization.

He was one of several other dissidents who demanded the legalization of the China Democracy Party, which was rejected in June by authorities.

A student leader at the heart of the pro-democracy movement in 1989 and one of the original founders of the CDP, Xie started the group's Shandong province chapter and is one of the few CDP leaders not jailed by Chinese authorities.

Two other CDP leaders, Zha Jianguo and Gao Hongmin, are to be tried on Monday on charges of subverting state power, according to a statement released Friday by the Hong Kong-based Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China.

At the end of last year, party founders Xu Wenli, Qin Yongmin and Wang Youcai were sentenced to 13, 12 and 11 years respectively on charges of subversion.

Xie was held in police custody for 15 days in September and October of 1998, had his telephone and electricity disconnected and was told to move out of his home by November 1, before being put under house arrest around the same time that Xu, Quin and Wang were sentenced.

He blamed his three-month wait in Vladivostok on efforts by the Chinese government to prevent his flight to the United States -- and he credited US and UN officials for his eventual release.

"At first the US government tried to negotiate with the Russian government for a long time, but Peking was pressuring Russia ... then the UN High Commission for Refugees took over this problem, and sent an officer to the US consulate in Vladivostok," he said.

The intervention by the UN High Commission for Refugees paved the way for Xie's departure on a Korean Air flight to New York City.

"Also I would like to express my thanks to the US embassy in Moscow, which also played a very active role to help me," he said.

The outlawed CDP, which claims an underground membership throughout China, had sought to go public just before the June visit to China of US President Bill Clinton and following China's signing of the UN Covenant on Political and Civil Rights.

By Agence France Presse

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China's Military Marks 72nd Anniversary With Warning To Taiwan

BEIJING, Aug 1, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China celebrated the 72nd anniversary of the People's Liberation Army Sunday with a warning from Defense Minister Chi Haotian that Taiwan should not underestimate the military's resolve to maintain China's territorial integrity.

"The PLA stands ready and prepared to defend the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity at any time and will firmly smash any attempts to split the motherland," Chi was quoted by the Liberation Army daily as saying.

"Going against the will of the entire Chinese people and the tide of history, (Taiwan President) Lee Teng-hui and the Taiwan authorities have brazenly redefined cross-Straits relations as 'state-to-state relations'," Chi said at a 72nd anniversary gala Saturday evening.

However Chi, who also serves as vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, noted that the mainland would continue to seek "peaceful reunification" in accordance with the principle of "one country, two systems," the report said.

China was enraged when Lee stated that Taiwan enjoys state relations with the mainland and would seek reunification only with a "democratic and free mainland."

The mainland has refused to give up the threat of using force in reuniting with Taiwan, but western experts say China's military would suffer massive casualties should a cross-strait invasion be attempted and would be hard-pressed to succeed.

Chi said the PLA would continue efforts to cut its forces by some 500,000 soldiers to 2.5 million in the coming years, while invigorating the fighting force through scientific and technological advances.

"We should keep up with the trends in global military development, more vigorously carry out studies on military theories suited to Chinese conditions, strengthen defense-related scientific and technological research and gradually upgrade our weaponry and equipment," he said.

By Agence France Presse

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