From: xu@hydra.maths.unsw.oz.au ()
Subject: CND-Global, January 5, 1993
Organization: school of Mathematics UNSW
Distribution: aus
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 06:42:11 GMT


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

                                (News Global)

                           Tuesday, January 5, 1993


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1. News Brief (4 Items) ................................................. 48
2. AIDS Concern and Threat Grow in China ................................ 34
3. Taiwan Leader Set Reform in China as a Condition for Unification ..... 35
4. Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng Visiting Shenzhen ..................... 21
5. Clinton Eases Up on Beijing .......................................... 24
6. China Calls for Caution on Overheated Economy ........................ 50
============================================================================
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1. News Brief (4 Items) ................................................. 48
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[China Radio International, 1/4/1993] -- The China National  Petroleum  Cor-
poration  (CNPC)  will  open more development areas in north China for joint
oil exploration with foreign firms.  The areas will be divided into  several
blocks  or options for international bidding.  A CNPC subsidiary will be set
up to work with overseas petroleum developers and do business  abroad.   The
CNPC  also  plans to extend its joint ventures in south China.  An agreement
is expected to be reached soon with an un-named foreign firm on oil explora-
tion in the region.  Currently, CNPC has already signed deals with oil firms
from the United States, New Zealand and the Netherlands in  11  south  China
provinces. (Forwarded by: Andrew Waldie, <awaldie@web.apc.org>)
                                ___ ___ ___

[China Radio International, 1/4/1993] -- China will increase its  steel  im-
ports  in  the  first half of this year.  An official in charge of metal im-
ports says it to meet the need of the nationwide  infrastructural  construc-
tion boom.  Three specific  products are noted. The official  said China has
just concluded contracts  totalling more  than 100 million  US  dollars  for
steel imports  from Germany,  the Netherlands  and Spain. He said China will
seek diversified overseas markets for steel imports in the future.(Forwarded
by: Andrew Waldie)
                                ___ ___ ___

[AP-DJ, 1/4/1993] HONG KONG -- An estimated six million tourists from  over-
seas visited China last year, the largest number the country has ever had in
recent years, according to the China Daily Monday. These  visitors  spent  a
total  of  3.6 billion U.S. dlrs in the mainland, the English-language daily
quoting China's tourism officials as saying. The  biggest  increase,  a  40%
jump, came from southeast Asia, followed by Europe, 30%; Japan, 20%: and the
U.S., 10%. The  exact  number of  visitors  from these  countries  were  not
revealed.  The number of mainlanders  traveling  within China last year also
totalled  330 million people,  contributing  25 billion yuan to the  tourism
industry, the paper says. (Forwarded by: Huijie)
                                ___ ___ ___

[AP-DJ, 1/4/1993] HONG KONG -- Exports from  China's  largest  petrochemical
group,  China  Petro-chemical Corp (Sinopec), is expected to top 265 million
U.S. dlrs this year, up 4.3% from last year's, the China Daily said  Monday.
For  the  year's first 11 months, Sinopec's exports totaled 252 million U.S.
dlrs, slightly higher than the same period last year,  the  English-language
daily  says.  Sinopec  officials  attributed  the growth to mainly increased
markets overseas such as the addition of Latin America and the  Commonwealth
of  Independent  States this year and improved export performance. The group
is allowed to deal in all petrochemical products except crude  oil  and  re-
finery oil. (Forwarded by: Huijie)

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2. AIDS Concern and Threat Grow in China ................................ 34
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Forwarded by: Chongyu Hua <hua@engin.umich.edu>
Source: UPI, 1/4/1993

BEIJING -- The threat of AIDS is causing widespread  concern  in  China  but
government  efforts  are failing to educate the public, a state-run magazine
reported Monday.

"There is  a  virtual  AIDS  panic  on  China's  mainland,"  the  government
English-language  weekly Beijing Review said, reporting on a pioneering AIDS
information telephone hotline in Beijing.

China's numbers of known AIDS cases are relatively small.  Health  officials
reported  last  month that 969 people across China have been infected by the
HIV virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome. In all 12  people
have been AIDS patients, nine of whom have died.

But health experts have expressed concern that there are many more undetect-
ed  cases  of  infection because of China's tough legal and social attitudes
towards people with high-risk behavior,  such  as  homosexuals,  intravenous
drug users and prostitutes.

The magazine quoted Wan Yanhai, head of the Beijing hotline  team  sponsored
by  the Chinese Institute of Health Education, warning that "current efforts
to educate the public are far from adequate and place too much  emphasis  on
morality."

It said large hospitals are often inundated with  questions  asking  whether
mosquitoes  can spread the virus or whether a person can be infected through
shaking hands, touching or kissing.

"Such widespread lack of knowledge exactly constitutes a hidden  danger  for
the spread of the disease," the magazine said.

Wan called for the expansion of AIDS hotlines  to  other  cities,  educating
high-risk groups and increased contacts with foreign health experts.

Without this, the Beijing Review warned, "the rate of  infection  could  ex-
plode among high-risk groups if preventive measures are not taken."

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3. Taiwan Leader Set Reform in China as a Condition for Unification ..... 35
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Forwarded by: Chongyu Hua <hua@engin.umich.edu>
Source: UPI, 1/4/1993

TAIPEI -- Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui Monday vowed in a state-of-the-union
address  to the National Assembly to heighten Taipei's international profile
in 1993 and set reform in China as a condition for unification with Beijing.

"We should make good use of our overseas development fund and all other pos-
sible  resources  to promote more pragmatic participation in world organiza-
tions," Lee said.

"This will expedite our ultimate goal of returning to the  United  Nations,"
he added.

Taipei was expelled from the United Nations in 1971  in  favor  of  mainland
China.

In the speech -- which praised Taiwan's "economic miracle" and promised con-
tinued political reforms -- Lee called on Beijing's communist leaders to em-
brace similar change and renounce the threat of force against Taiwan.

Although Lee described the division of China as "an issue of  deep  concern"
and stressed his commitment to eventual unity, he accused Beijing of hinder-
ing the process by ignoring the current  reality  of  relations  across  the
Taiwan Straits.

"At present there exist two equal political entities," Lee said. "Any  posi-
tion not based on this fact is not realistic."

Lee also criticized Beijing's formula for reunification -- the "one country,
two systems" model -- which Nationalist leaders say would subordinate Taiwan
to a communist government.

Both Beijing and Taipei claim sovereignty over all China,  Taiwan  included.
In  all,  138  nations recognize the Beijing government, while only 29 coun-
tries share diplomatic ties with Taipei.

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4. Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng Visiting Shenzhen ..................... 21
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Forwarded by: Huijie
Source: AP-DJ, 1/4/1992

HONG KONG -- Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng arrived in  Shenzhen  Sunday  to
examine  the  economic  development of the booming city bordering Hong Kong,
according to a Hong Kong newspaper Monday.

Chinese-language daily Ming Pao, quoting what it  called  reliable  sources,
said  Li  planned  to stay there for a few days. Apart from touring the city
and examining its latest development and high-tech enterprises,  Li  was  to
visit the new Shenzhen stock exchange building, which was opened Sunday.

While Li's visit comes well ahead of the annual session of China's  National
People's  Congress  in  March,  officials in Shenzhen believe that the visit
will help solidify the country's reformist image and signify Chinese  senior
officials' determination to develop the economy, said the paper.

Officials also believe  that  Li's  visit  could  help  facilitate  Shenzhen
government  plans  for a quick establishment of markets for futures, foreign
exchange and bullion in the city, the report said.

The visit is Li's second to the city, after  his  presence  at  the  opening
ceremony of the Shenzhen airport in October 1991. It also makes him the most
senior Chinese official  to  tour  the  city  since  paramount  leader  Deng
Xiaoping's visit early last January.

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5. Clinton Eases Up on Beijing .......................................... 24
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Forwarded by: Charles Mok
Source: The San Francisco Chronicle, 1/4/1993

China and President-elect Bill Clinton  are  dancing  a  minuet  that  seems
designed to avoid a messy confrontation between Beijing and Washington.

Beijing's recent statements and actions indicate that a spirit  of  coopera-
tion  is  in  the air.  And in Little Rock, Clinton told those attending his
economic summit last month that because of signs of  improved  human  rights
behavior,  he  didn't  think  it  would be necessary to revoke China's most-
favored-nation trading status.

But if this friendly atmosphere doesn't last, Clinton's ideological  friends
hgave  laid the groundwork for tough action against China.  Just days before
the economic summit, the Progressive Policy Institute, a think tank  associ-
ated  with  the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, a group that Clinton
used to lead, said the new administration should use trade policy to  foster
political  and  economic  change in China.  The institute said trade and di-
plomatic sanctions would be in order if  China  doesn't  improve  its  human
rights  record,  curb  exports  of military technology and end several trade
disputes with the United States.

President Bush has opposed  exactly  this  policy,  dueling  with  those  in
Congress,  led  by  Representative  Nancy  Pelosi, D-San Francisco, who have
wanted to tie China's most-favored-nation status to its human rights  record
in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.  Clinton campaigned as
a critic of Bush's policy, so his more conciliatory postelection  statements
are a switch.

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6. China Calls for Caution on Overheated Economy ........................ 50
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Forwarded by: Zhao Hua
Source: AP, 1/1/1993

Acknowledging  government  concern  over  rapid growth  and  inflation,  the
state-run  press warned Friday that China will need more caution and control
in  the  new  year  to  prevent its reform-driven boom from overheating  the
economy.

"The  situation  is  good,  but  overheating  should  be prevented," the of-
ficial  Economic  Daily  said in one of several New Year's Day editorials in
the  government  press  calling  for  a gentle application of brakes to  the
speeding economy.

The  Chinese government reported this week the economy grew at a  torrid  12
percent  in  1992,  spurred  by  senior leader Deng Xiaoping's campaign last
winter  to kick-start his capitalist-style economic reforms and the boom  in
business and investment that followed.

But  over-reliance  on  credit  for big-ticket industrial purchases and cap-
ital   projects   as   well   as an easing of government price controls have
helped  rekindle double-digit inflation, which averaged 11 percent for  1992
in major cities.

The  editorials Friday reflected a new government effort, launched last week
in  cautionary  speeches by several Chinese leaders, to cool the economy off
in the new year.

"Fixed  capital  investment has increased  too  fast,"  the  Economic  Daily
warned.   "Credit  and  currency  input  growth  is  too  much. Inflationary
pressure has turned larger ...

"We must lower the temperature of the heat waves which are not  supposed  to
be hot," the newspaper added.

Another  state-run  daily,  the  Financial   News,  called  for  a  "leading
role"   by  the historically weak central bank and better coordination among
provincial  banks  in developing a more efficient financial system that  can
stem the expansion of credit.

It  said  China  needed improved financial levers so that "step by step  in-
direct control and adjustment take the mainstream."

In a generally upbeat editorial, the Communist Party newspaper People's Dai-
ly   also   noted  that  along with accelerating reforms and the "open-door"
policy, China would "strictly control economic volume" in 1993.

Another  party  newspaper,  the  Guangming   Daily,  called  on  Chinese  to
"break   the  fetters  of  backward traditional ideology" in adapting to the
"socialist  market  economy,"  the  official phrase for grafting  capitalism
onto communism.

However,  it  added,  "it's  a  great  transformation  to  develop  the  so-
cialist   market  economy  (and) establish step by step the socialist market
system and the economic foundation and superstructure."

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