From: gaojeng@durras.anu.edu.au (J. Gao)
Subject: CND-US, Wed, September 9, 1992
Summary: CND
Keywords: CND
Organization: Computer Services Centre, Australian National University
Date:  9 Sep 92 02:58:46 GMT

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+   C h i n a   N e w s   D i g e s t  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                             (US Regional)
			Wednesday, September 9, 1992

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| CND-US, normally 1 or 2 issues a week, is a supplement to CND-Global and |
| has  basically no overlap with the daily news.  CND-US provides in-depth |
| information concerning Chinese students/scholars in the United States.   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table of Contents                                                 # of Lines
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1. News Brief (2 Items) ................................................. 24
2. The Torturers of Lingyuan Prison, Shenyang ........................... 73
3. An Analysis: Chinese National Protection Act and 
   the October 2 Congress Adjournment Date ............................. 160
4. People's Daily: Funds Available for Overseas Chinese Students 
   and Scholars to Temporarily Lecture/Work in China .................... 44
============================================================================

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1. News Brief (2 Items) ................................................. 24
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The California chapter of the Association of Chinese Professionals (ACP) ,
will hold its first meeting on Sept. 26 - 27 at UC Santa Babara. ACP was
formally established and registered on March 15, 1992 in New Jersey. It
serves as a channel for promoting friendship, social interactions and
cooperations among its members; it serves to promote cultural, academic,
technology, and economic exchange between people in China and overseas
Chinese.  Currently, eighty percent of the ACP members hold Ph.D degrees.
Most of them work in industries, government agencies, and universities
scattered in 300 cities around the world. For more information regarding the
ACP activities or its California chapter, please contact the contributor of
this news story. (From: Hong Chen, <mstone@netcom.com>)
			       ___  ___  ___

[NewsByte, 9/08/1992] - Silicon Graphics (SGI) has signed a joint venture 
contract with five investors through its Hong Kong subsidiary.  The newly 
formed joint venture company, called Shenzhen Chess Computer Company Limited,
will manufacture Silicon Graphics' IRIS Indigo RISC PC and develop associated
application software in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ).  Plans call
for the factory to produce the entire MIPS R3000A processor-based IRIS
Indigo product family using both locally supplied parts and components from
Silicon Graphics.  SGI says that production from the Shenzhen plant will be
targeted at both the China domestic and export markets.  Production is
scheduled to start at the end of the year. (From: A CND Reader)

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2. The Torturers of Lingyuan Prison, Shenyang ........................... 73
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>From: S. Wu via CND-EP, Sept. 7, 1992
Source: The New York Times, 9/2/92
By: Bai Yong

(Bai Yong is the pseudonym of the person responsible for smuggling this
document, which has been verified by Asia Watch, out of Lingyuan prison.)

In the early evening of April 22, 1991, a prison van left the Great North
Prison in Shenyang, carrying 11 political prisoners who were convicted for
their part in the pro-democracy movement. Among them were  Liu Gang,  a
physicist, and Zhang Ming, an engineer -- Beijing student leaders on the
most-wanted list -- and Tang Yuanjuan, also an engineer. They were sent to
the Lingyuan No. 2 Labor Reform Detachment in Liaoning Province, known to
the outside world as the Lingyuan Motor Vehicle General Assembly Plant. It
makes Linghe tractors and trucks under the brand name Huanghe (Yellow
River).

>From April 22 to May 29, the authorities gave them an "orientation course,"
requiring the prisoners to recite from memory the "standards of conduct for
criminals undergoing reform" -- in essence, a way to instill "criminal
consciousness" into them.  Liu Gang and 10 other new political prisoners
refused to take the memory test.  Liu Gang and five others were shackled
with leg irons and thrown either into solitary confinement or a strict
regime unit. The other five were allowed to stay in the brigade to be
"corrected." For days, the authorities tried to break their spirits. The
inmates went on a hunger strike to protest the brutality, only making
conditions worse.

The electric baton used to torture Tang Yuanjuan ran out of power. A guard
wearing leather boots kicked him and broke two of his ribs. Leng Wanbao
remained silent as he was tortured. A guard pried his mouth open and stuck
in the baton.  An Fuxing became sick and was hospitalized in a state of
shock. But as soon as he was released, he was tortured with electric batons
by Yang Guoping (at the time, he was the brigade commander, later promoted
to be a section chief of the prison administration) and others.

On June 4, 1991, Li Jie, a political prisoner from Jilin Province, staged a
one-day hunger strike. Yang Guoping assembled the prisoners of the training
brigade for a meeting. They dragged Li Jie to the stage, stripped him naked
while several common criminals held him down on the floor. Yang Guoping then
applied a huge 50,000-volt baton repeatedly to the inside part of Li's leg.
Two guards used four 5,000 to 10,000-volt electric batons on his head, neck,
armpits, chest, belly and fingers. Li Jie sweated profusely, went into
spasms and then became motionless.

While torturing Li Jie, Yang Guoping blustered, "So you want to pay homage
to those who died on June 4? They died as they deserved. If you are tired of
living, just say so. Why ravage yourself? We can help you. . . . We keep
giving you the electric baton treatment so you will be impressed. Let's see
if you will make trouble again. As long as you keep up your
counterrevolutionary actions, we will never relent!"

Since June, prisoners of the training brigade have been forced to make match
boxes. Their quotas were set higher than those for any other squad, and
these were constantly raised, from 800 a day to 1,700 a day, even as high as
2,000.  They labored from 8 A.M. till 8 P.M. If the quotas were not
fulfilled they were forced to work until 9:30. Prisoners were not allowed to
drink water or smoke.  Having read the white paper on human rights in China,
Liu Gang and the others found their treatment nowhere close to that
described in official propaganda.  They decided to go on hunger strike.

That evening, the authorities declared the hunger strike "an act of
resisting reform and even a prison uprising. All 13 participants must be
punished," they said.

On New Year's Day 1992, eight political prisoners in tiny solitary
confinement cells again went on a hunger strike and demanded to see their
loved ones. This was rejected.  That afternoon, Zhang Ming wrote a poem on
the wall.  Li Yang, the commander, with a group of common criminals in tow,
on the pretext of searching for knives, forced Zhang Ming to take off all
his clothing, beat and kicked him. Li declared fiercely, "So you want to
stage a hunger strike? Go right ahead. Labor reform detachments aren't
afraid of deaths! When one dies, we'll bury one. When two die, we'll bury a
pair!"

Political prisoners are getting the most inhuman treatment at the No. 2
Labor Reform Detachment in Lingyuan. Even in these terrible circumstances,
they continue to cherish an ardent love for freedom and refuse to be
intimidated.  They are trying to preserve their personal dignity. They are
convinced that they are not alone. The hearts of hundreds of millions are
with them. Please pay close attention to their fate.

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3. An Analysis: Chinese National Protection Act and 
   the October 2 Congress Adjournment Date ............................. 160
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>From: Junwei W. Hou, <jwh3@PO.CWRU.EDU>
Source: China-Net, Sept. 7, 1992. Abridged by CND

As the Labor Day weekend ends, the Congress will resume its legislative
activities on Tuesday, Sept. 8.  The Chinese Student Protection Act (S.
1216), as amended, will be sent to the Senate for concurrence within days
after the House resumes its schedule.  From that on, the amended S. 1216 is
to be considered by the Senate, and, if the concurrence is reached, will be
cleared for the President's signature.  All of these must be accomplished by
Oct.  2, the targeted date for the Congress adjournment.

1. The Senate

The Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 has been enjoying a wide support
from both the Democrats and Republicans in the Congress.  Upon the return of
the amended S. 1216 to the Senate, the Senate has the option of accepting
the House amendment, accepting the House amendment with further amendments,
or disagreeing to the amendment and requesting a House-Senate conference.

According to the post released by CCSA a few weeks ago, the House amendment
was to accommodate the request from the Justice Department regarding the
practical problem of administrating the adjustment to permanent residence
status of about 80,000 qualified PRC nationals.  Such amendment, which
extends the application period from 6 months in the previous version to 12
months, is of minor and non-controversial nature.  It is therefore most
likely that the Senate will agree to the amendment without a conference and
clear the bill for the president's signature.

2. The President

Generally, after a bill has been given final approval by both houses, the
next step is for the secretary or clerk of the house of origin to have an
enrolled bill prepared and to certify the final version of the bill.  After
being signed by the Speaker of the House and the president of the Senate,
the bill then is sent to the White House for the President's approval.

Under the Constitution, the president has 10 days (Sundays not included) to
act upon the bill after its presentation to him.  The president may sign the
bill into law, or veto it by returning it to the house of origin without his
signature and with a statement of his objection.  Congress may override the
president's veto and enact the bill into law without the president's
signature by securing two-thirds vote of those present and voting in both
houses.  If the president does not veto a bill within 10 days from the day
he receives the bill, the bill "shall" become a law, "unless the Congress in
their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law."
The power of the president to disapprove a bill by mere non-action is known
as the "pocket veto".  The word "adjournment" means the end of a Congress
session or term when it is dissolved.  There is no adjournment of Congress,
for the purpose of a pocket veto, when an originating house takes a recess
during a session while the chamber still organizes and the responsible
officer of the chamber is available to receive a returned bill from the
president.

S. 1216 is a well-drafted bill and has taken into consideration of the
concerns raised by the ranking Republicans in the Senate and the
Administration.  The bill furthers the objectives of the U.S. government in
observing its international obligation of ensuring the safety of the PRC
nationals and in avoiding unnecessary disturbance to the existing
immigration law.  Therefore, S. 1216, if it remains to be in the current
version, is expected to be signed into law by the President.

3. Some relevant issues

The forgoing analysis suggests that S. 1216 has a very good chance to become
a law.  However, there are some other problems which desire a discussion.

First, the time table.  The targeted adjournment date of this Congress is
October 2, a mere 3 week period for the bill to be enacted by the end of
this Congress term.  Some CSS are apparently concerned about the time table
with respect to the passage of the bill.  These concerns largely premise on
the possibility of a presidential veto, or a pocket veto.  In my opinion, as
discussed above, it is highly unlikely that the President will veto the
bill, provided that there is no further alteration to the bill.  If no
unexpected adverse event occurs, the Senate and the President should have
ample time to enact the bill into law.  Nonetheless, the relatively short
time remaining in this Congress term should alert the interested Chinese
students that there is no room for not devoting their effort to monitor any
possible alteration on the bill, or to prevent something unexpected from
happening.

Secondly, the chances of the bill being enacted are largely dependant on one
issue, that is, whether S. 1216 is able to avoid further controversial
amendments from the Senate.  The attachment of any controversial amendment
may well destroy the promising status of the bill and invite election-year
partisan politics.  Apparently, one of the candidates of such attachment is
the Haitian refugees issue.  It is my assessment that the Haitian refugees
issue will not play a significant role in the final stage of the process.
This assessment is based on the following facts:

(1) To a certain extent, the administration's policy in handling the Haitian
boat people, having attracted fierce debates at the beginning, seems to be
working.  The INS has been continuing the process of granting political
asylum to the qualified Haitian refugees, while the incidents of Haitians
taking refuge through boarding unseaworthy boats have declined.
Furthermore, both sides of the Haitian government are undertaking
negotiations for the return of a civilian government.  The controversy of
Bush's Haitian refugees policy is likely to be resolved by the Supreme Court
in this fall.  It may not be necessary, under the current situation, for the
Congress to address the issue at this time.

(2) Even if the Congress wants to introduce new bills to protect Haitian
refugees, such bills will have little chance to be enacted before a decision
is made by the Supreme Court in October.  The Senators from both parties
know this fact quite well.  Unlike House, Senate has a reputation of being
more realistic and politically maturer.  The new political incidents
occurred in China inevitably harden the sense of urgency among the lawmakers
to provide a workable and realistic protection measure for the Chinese
students in the U.S.  These factors are likely to be determinative for the
Senate to avoid introducing controversial amendments to S.  1216.

(3) It is not a common practice for the chamber of origin, in this case, the
Senate, to initiate controversial amendments to its bill which has already
passed another chamber (the House).  And the Congress has a real need to get
its job done, considering its currently not-so-good image among the voters.

In summary, although the Haitian refugees may still be an issue in the final
stage of the process, it is unlikely to be significant in regard to the
passage of S. 1216.  However, it is the lobby team in D.C. who are in a far
better position, as they are close to Congress, to assess the possibility of
a controversial amendment being attached to S. 1216.

Finally, some of the interested Chinese students may recall the fate of the
Pelosi bill which was vetoed by the President three years ago.  The main
justification for the President's veto, at least as what it was stated, was
that the President insisted that the executive branch have sufficient power
to grant the kind of protection to the Chinese students the Pelosi bill was
designed to provide, and therefore the bill was unnecessary and constituted
an act of Congressional intrusion to the President's authority.  Unlike the
Pelosi bill, S. 1216 addresses a different issue, the adjustment to
permanent status for certain PRC nationals, to which the President has no
appropriate authority under the Constitution and the relevant immigration
law.  Since the bill has gained wide supports from the Republicans in both
houses and has included a provision authorizing the President not to
materialize the benefit of the bill if the human rights condition in China
has improved to the level that the safety return of the PRC nationals is
ensured, it is hardly conceivable that the President is to dig some
arbitrary justification to oppose the bill.

4. Some suggestions

The above analysis is relatively optimistic.  Indeed, S. 1216 is very
promising.  However, such promising status is by no means an excuse not to
carrying on the lobbying efforts in the final phase of the process.

For the interested Chinese students, I still recommend that, if possible,
you send personalized messages to the senators and the President, providing
reasons and accurate information to the lawmakers for their decision making.
It is a good thing for the lawmakers to know the diverse thinking of the
Chinese students with respect to their personal plights and their potential
commitments to influence the modernization and democratization process in
China.

For the key members of the lobby team, it becomes very critical, considering
that only 3 weeks remain on the Congress schedule, to be informed on a daily
basis about the Congressional activities relating to the bill and about the
White House's opinion on the bill.  It will be more than helpful to acquire
more knowledge and understanding about the issues and problems involved in
S. 1216, for such knowledge and understanding are the essence to communicate
with the lawmakers and to help them to resolve problems relating to S. 1216
in the final stage of the process.  Moreover, as I have observed, the
communication between the interested Chinese students and the lobby team
seems to be in need of improvement, not merely calling for donation.

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4. People's Daily: Funds Available for Overseas Chinese Students 
   and Scholars to Temporarily Lecture/Work in China .................... 44
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>From: Eddie Cheng, <echeng@pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu>
Source: People's Daily, Sept. 1, 1992 via AEIC Net. 

China's National Natural Science Foundation (NNSF) has decided to set up a
fund to support Oversea CSS's temporary returning to China for lecturing and
research works.  This special fund is directed to mainly middle-age and
young experts who have already obtained their Ph.D. degrees (including those
who have obtained foreign Permanent Residence status or advanced parole
documents).  

The qualification for support consists of: (1) The person has outstanding
records in research, has published high-level academic papers in major
academic journals recently or has received respectable awards in his/her
area or has achieved remarkable discoveries or innovations, and so on; (2)
The person should have already established contacts with host institutes in
China and plans for his/her temporary lecture or research works.  Other CSS
qualified with above can also receive the support.

This special fund supports the following activities in the academic fields
included in the project index of NNSF: (1) participating the research work
in the NNSF projects; (2) participating seminars or workshops as a speaker;
(3) participating academic conferenced held in China with a presentation of
an invited talk.

Procedure of application is as follows:

      (1) Applicant should apply for support through his/her host institute
      in China.  The host institute should fill out an application form and
      send it to NNSF's corresponding academic branch together with an
      applying letter from the applicant and material supporting for the
      applicant's qualification.

      (2) In case the applicant has difficulty in finding a host institute,
      applicant can contact the S&T branch in China's embassies or directly
      the Oversea Cooperation Bureau of NNSF in order to obtain help in
      locating a host institute;

      (3) According to the among of fund available, NNSF will publish the
      number of people this special fund supports in every January.  It will
      accept applications throughout the year and make decisions according
      to the qualification, until the year's quota is filled.  Applicants
      will be informed promptly of the decisions.

In principle, this special fund shall support part or all expenses for
Oversea CSS that occurred during their stay within China, including meal,
lodging, transportation and research expense.  In case the expense is not
totally covered, CSS shall ask additional support from the host institute.

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