From: gaojeng@durras.anu.edu.au (J. Gao)
Subject: CND-Global 13-8-92 THU
Summary: CND
Keywords: CND
Organization: Computer Services Centre, Australian National University
Date: 13 Aug 92 03:32:49 GMT

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

                              (News Global)

                         Thursday, August 13, 1992

Table of Contents                                                # of Lines
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1. News Brief (2 Items) ................................................ 15
2. China Holds 1.1 Million Prisoners, Claims Good Treatment ............ 66
3. Stock Market Resumes Trading After Rioting .......................... 78
4. China: Mercedes S-Class Makes a Hit ................................ 102
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1. News Brief (2 Items) ................................................ 15
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[UPI, 8/11/92] BEIJING  -- A Chinese charter Soviet-built Mil-8 helicopter
carrying a group of Japanese tourists crashed Tuesday while on a sightseeing
trip to the Great Wall, killing 16 of the people aboard and leaving the
other eight injured, Japanese embassy officials said. (From: a CND reader)
                      ____  ____  ____  ____

[AP-DJ, 8/11/92] BEIJING -- China's commercial launch company will make a
second attempt Friday to launch an Australian telecommunications satellite,
nearly five months after the first launch failed.  The first launch attempt
failed on March 22 when a short circuit cut off the flow of fuel to the
rocket engines. The satellite was not damaged.  The satellite owner, Optus
Communications of Sydney, said the launch was scheduled for 2300 GMT
Thursday.  Optus spokesman Leighton Farrell said the launch was not expected
to be shown live on Chinese television this time. China Central Television
said they had no coverage plans. (From: Jian Liu)

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2. China Holds 1.1 Million Prisoners, Claims Good Treatment ............ 66
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From: Huijie and A CND Reader (Abridged by CND)
Source: AP and UPI 8/11/92

BEIJING - A report released Tuesday by China's cabinet says prisoners are
well-fed, torture is banned and the crime rate is low.

The report, aiming at refuting Western human rights criticism, said China's
penal system holds 1.1 million prisoners nationwide and claimed that abuses
of inmates' rights are minimal.

The State Council report follows the release last September of a similar
report on human rights.

The rate of recidivism is 6% to 8%, and the crime rate is two per thousand
people - both among the lowest in the world, the report said.

But crimes reported in the official media frequently involve criminals with
previous records. The report didn't explain that the rate referred to crimes
that were reported and prosecuted.

Torture of prisoners is forbidden, the report said. But prisoners have
reported brutal beatings, and even the press has acknowledged police often
use torture to extract confessions.

The lengthy "White Paper on Criminal Reform" issued by the State Council,
China's Cabinet, painted a generally upbeat picture that contrasted starkly
with independent reports of widespread torture and other abuses in Chinese
prisons and labor camps.

An unidentified spokesman for the State Council Information Office, which
released the 16,000-Chinese character document, told the official Xinhua
news agency that China had "been successful in reforming criminals."

"In recent years, however, some international forces have constantly
criticized China for violating human rights by making use of the subject of
imprisoning and reforming criminals," the spokesman said.

"To clarify the facts, it is necessary to let the international community
know the truth," the spokesman added.

The report said China currently holds 1.1 million prisoners in 680 prisons
and "reform through labor" institutions nationwide.

But the figure apparently does not include many other prisoners who are held
in "reeducation through labor" institutions, usually for less serious
offenses, and in various forms of administrative detention for such offenses
as hooliganism.

The report said 24 wardens and guards were sentenced to prison terms during
the past two years for "administering corporal punishment to detainees,"
and claimed the government "allows no torture, humiliation or maltreatment
of prisoners."

The assertions contrast sharply with independent accounts from former
detainees and Western human rights organizations, which indicate that
torture and humiliation of inmates are commonplace.

Some of China's most notorious prison facilities are labor camps in remote
areas of western provinces, a vast gulag with grim conditions and forced
labor detailed by former inmates.

But the report claimed prisoners work only if able, attend school and learn
trades, and enjoy medical and recreational facilities. It said prison staff
have "personal heart to heart talks" with inmates and "establish emotional
and intellectual ties."

"Nevertheless, the government admitted that the conditions and environment
for criminal reform in China are still restricted by its level of economic
and social development," the Xinhua dispatch added.

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3. Stock Market Resumes Trading After Rioting .......................... 78
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From: A CND Reader
Source: UPI 8/13/92

BEIJING  -- Top government and party officials met Wednesday in Beijing to
decide the fate of China's stock markets, stock exchange officials said,
while in south China the Shenzhen bourse resumed trading after a day of
rioting.

Economic leaders from the capital and the provinces met to discuss ways to
prevent the recurrence of a bungled stock offering that triggered rioting
after hundreds of thousands of investors crammed into Shenzhen to buy share
lottery applications.

Vice-Premier Zhu Rongji, who has led a recent charge for economic reforms,
chaired the meeting, which will end Thursday, said government officials
familiar with the gathering. They had no details on the discussions.

The meeting had already been scheduled to discuss stock markets and share
holding, but the focus of the debate had shifted because of the unrest in
Shenzhen, they said.

The Shenzhen stock exchange resumed trading Wednesday after suspending
trading Tuesday afternoon because of rioting in the streets. Trading was
quiet and "A-shares," the stocks available to Chinese only, were up 2
percent on the day.

"I think the whole saga has been forgotten very quickly," one Hong Kong
stock broker commented.

Prices of A-shares on the Shanghai exchange, the only other official stock
market, dipped about 10 percent, with brokers citing fears that authorities
might close the fledgling markets.

Police in Shenzhen Monday were forced to disperse demonstrators with tear
gas and warning shots after some of 1 million would-be investors protested
official manipulation of the new stock market issue, which began last
Sunday.

The mayor of Shenzhen, Zheng Liangyu, admitted some improprieties had taken
place among stock market officials, while in Beijing the official Xinhua
News Agency called the offering "bungled."

In Hong Kong the stock exchange was rife with rumors that conservative
opponents of economic reforms would point to the dissent as a sign that the
exchanges should be closed down.

"A lot of people in Hong Kong are saying this is going to force the
government to take a conservative turn, but it will not," said an official
of the Stock Exchange Executive Council in Beijing.

"Something like this was bound to happen some day, and it will make a lot
of difference to the development of stock markets" in China, the official
said.

"This is just a small setback, and it is actually a good thing -- this
might make the central government establish a law with teeth," he said. "A
strong (stock market) law would have prevented the Shenzhen government from
being so stupid."

Economic reformers led by senior leader Deng Xiaoping are pushing for more
stock markets in the country to increase the efficient use of funds for
economic development.

Last winter Deng made a special visit to Shenzhen and hailed the
capitalist-style economic zone as a model for the rest of the country to
follow.

"It shouldn't derail the reforms or even the stock markets," a Western
diplomat said. "But it has to be somewhat ironic for Deng that this happens
in the place where he went to put his personal seal of approval on."

The meeting in Beijing was expected to have central government permission
for additional stock exchanges and further stock issues as topics for hot
debate.

The central government, afraid of losing power and tax income to the
provinces, wants to retain central control over stock markets, while
provincial authorities are pushing for increased autonomy from the capital.

Would-be investors across China see stock markets as a way of getting rich,
and government officials are anxious to tap into the billions of dollars
Chinese save in banks and under mattresses.

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4. China: Mercedes S-Class Makes a Hit ................................ 102
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From: A CND Reader
Source: South China Morning Post 7/30/92
By: Mike Burne

China's remarkable economic growth has made the country a valuable market
for Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

It may be predictable that car buyers in China would appreciate the renowned
build quality of the German vehicles because Mercedes-Benz vehicles have a
reputation for reliability and long service.

But what is surprising is that 80 per cent of the 500 Mercedes passenger
cars that were sold in China last year were the finest and most expensive
cars the German manufacturer has to offer - the S-class.

It seems as though the Chinese car buyers have an appetite for Mercedes
cars, next year Mercedes-Benz expects to sell 700 cars in China.

The S-class has proved an equal success in Hongkong, a market famed for its
buoyant luxury car market.

This year Zung Fu, the official Mercedes agents, hopes to sell 3,000 S-class
cars in the territory, more than double last year's sales.

Mr Alex Chan, Zung Fu marketing manager, credits the popularity of the
luxury car to both the economic climate and the excellence of the car.

He said the economy was strong, which encouraged sales and many cars from
the older S-class model range were now being traded in for the new model.

Hongkong buyers also want the best and, according to Mr Chan, the new
S-class with its advanced engine, double-glazed windows and spacious
interior, is perceived as the finest car in its class.

The car has set new standards in the luxury saloon car sector and is the
vehicle that other carmakers seek to emulate.

Apparently mainland buyers are not too different from those in Hongkong.
They also want the best in luxury, even if it sits uncomfortably with
China's communist ideals.

Mr Helmut Pelzer, president of Mercedes-Benz Asia, is not at all surprised
at the sales success of the top-of-the-range Mercedes in China.

He described the S-class as the ultimate working tool while travelling, its
quality of ride comfort making it an ideal environment for working while on
the move.

Mr Pelzer said the driving conditions in China served to emphasise the S-
class' superiority.

He said its durability and build quality outweighed its capitalist image.
Mercedes-Benz covers the 20 northern Chinese provinces with a liaison office
in Beijing.

The economically strong provinces of southern China - Guangdong, Fujian,
Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Sichuan and Yunnan are covered
by the Southern Star Motor Co which was formed in 1987.

The company is jointly owned by Jardine International Motor Holdings and
Mercedes-Benz China.

But Mercedes has a long established link with China. As early as 1936 that
the German company entered into a joint truck assembling venture in
Shanghai.

In 1949 the first order was filled for 40 Mercedes bus chassis from Tianjin
in the newly formed People's Republic of China.

Diplomatic ties were established between China and Germany in 1972 and
direct business contacts were quick to follow.

In 1973 a Mercedes-Benz official took part in the visit of the German trade
delegation to Beijing and the company soon gained a foothold in China.

Business has usually taken the form of joint ventures, Mercedes providing
vehicles in component form and Chinese labour completing the assembly.

Today there are about 8,000 Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles on China's
roads. Most of the trucks work in the northern part of the country,
servicing the oil, rail, logging and construction industries, as well as
transporting passengers and tourists.

A further 7,000 passenger cars also operate on Chinese roads but for reasons
of registration the cars are in the name of joint ventures, wholly owned
foreign-funded companies, hotels and embassies.

In the future, Mr Pelzer foresaw a cautious buildup of business in China,
with a target of 2,000 sales in three to five years' time.

The numbers of German workers in China will increase as the business
expands. Chinese engineers have been seconded to Germany for training with
Mercedes-Benz and the China operation employs roving mechanics to supplement
the service centres while additional service facilities are set up.

The granting of the first private road-haulage licence in China has opened
up a new market for the German company's commercial vehicles.

Previously all Chinese factory goods were transported by state-owned trucks
and the country lacked an independent haulage industry.

Mercedes-Benz will be looking to supply their vehicles to the freight
companies which are expected to be formed in the near future to take
advantage of the new ruling.

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