From: gaojeng@durras.anu.edu.au (J. Gao)
Subject: CND-Global 19-8-92 WED
Summary: CND
Keywords: CND
Organization: Computer Services Centre, Australian National University
Date: 19 Aug 92 06:53:28 GMT

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

                              (News Global)

                        Wednesday, August 19, 1992

Table of Contents                                                # of Lines
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1. News Brief (4 Items) ................................................ 40
2. Japan's Kumagai Leases Huge Plot of Land in Hainan ...................34
3. Ban on Zhang Yimou's Film "Judou" Lifted ............................ 45
4. Wang Labs Files Bankruptcy Protection, Will Eliminate 5,000 Jobs .....27
5. China Facing Severe Environmental Problems ...........................64
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1. News Brief (4 Items) ................................................ 40
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[KYODO 08/18/92] HONG KONG --  U.S.-based  Arthur  Anderson  has become the
first foreign accounting firm to  begin   operations  of   a   full-fledged
accounting joint  venture  in China.    China's   State  Administration for
Industry  and  Commerce  approved  the  business  registration  for  Arthur
Anderson - Hua Qiang (Chinese partener --CND)  on  August 10.  "We  can now
offer a full range of  accounting  services  in China,"  she  said.   These
include consulting, taxation advisory and attest auditing.    The  firm has
offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Kong Kong. (From: Huijie Chen)
                        ____  ____  ____  ____

[AP 08/17/992] BEIJING -- Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the Interna-
tional Olympic Committee, has  become  "godfather"  to a Chinese panda cub.
The  Xinhua  News  Agency  said  Samaranch  named  the  cub  Cobi after the
Barcelona Olympics mascot. It was born at the  Chengdu city zoo just as the
Olympics opening ceremony was being held in Barcelona.  Chengdu Mayor Huang
Yinkui asked Samaranch to name the cub, Xinhua said. (From: A CND reader)
                        ____  ____  ____  ____

[UPI 08/17/92] BEIJING -- Alarmed by  increasing  cases  of counterfeiting,
China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, will issue  new  editions
of the 50- and 100-yuan denomination   bank   notes  beginning    Thursday,
government media said Monday.  The  bank has  taken  four  steps apparently
aimed at foiling would-be counterfeiters, including adding flourescent  ink
and a  thin  metal  strip  through the middle of the bill, the report said.
Frequent reports in the Chinese press indicate that police are dealing with
a nationwide counterfeiting problem of massive proportions. The most recent
case  occurred  last  week  when  authorities  executed  a gang of forgers.
(From: A CND reader)
                        ____  ____  ____  ____

[AP-DJ 08/18/92] HONG KONG -- United States President George Bush has given
the green light to propose  the  establishment  of a bilateral human rights
commission with China, a leading American legislator said Tuesday.  Senator
Max Baucus (D-Montana) said the move,   if agreed to by China, would likely
take some of the sting out of the U.S. Congress' annual debate over linking
human rights with preferential trade policies for China.  China has yet  to
respond.  Though Baucus is an ardent supporter of the unconditional renewal
of China's  MFN status,  he  said  the  "ball is in China's court" to quell
American  concerns  over  its  human rights record and weapons sales to the
Middle East. (From: Jian Liu)

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2. Japan's Kumagai Leases Huge Plot of Land in Hainan ...................34
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From: Huijie Chen
Source: AP-DJ 08/17/92

BEIJING -- China on  Tuesday  signed a  contract  for its biggest-ever land
deal, a 30-square kilometer plot of land on the southern island province of
Hainan.

The 2.3  billion dollar lease is one more sign of China's new reform drive,
launched  by senior  leader  Deng  Xiaoping  early  this year. The official
Xinhua News Agency said it was the highest  price  foreign  investors  have
ever paid for land in China.

The land is in the Yangpu Development Zone, a controversial plan to develop
a foreign-funded  port  on Hainan.   It  was  one of  a number  of   daring
development  projects  frozen  after  hardline  ideologues came to the fore
after 1989's failed  democracy  movement.   But the project was resurrected
this spring along with other reform measures.

C. P. Yu,  managing  director  and  deputy  chairman of Kumagai Gumi (H.K.)
Limited,  and Hainan Governor Liu Jianfeng signed the contract  in Beijing.
The ceremony was shown on China's nationally televised evening news.

The Hong  Kong subsidiary of the Japanese development firm had been seeking
for nearly four years to lease the land at Yangpu, a port on the north side
of Hainan that is supposed to become an export-oriented industrial boomtown
modeled after Hong Kong.

Under the contract,  Yu will  provide 18  billion Hong Kong dollars for the
zone's infrastructure development. In the 15 years following that,  Kumagai
Gumi is  to invest over 130 billion HK dlrs to build industrial areas.

Xinhua didn't say  how long the contract was good for, but previous reports
said Kumagai Gumi was getting a 70-year lease.

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3. Ban on Zhang Yimou's Film "Judou" Lifted .............................45
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From: A CND Reader
Source: UPI 08/16/92
By: Nick Driver

BEIJING -- China lifted a 2-year-old ban on the  domestic  screening  of  a
controversial  Oscar-nominated  film  by  director Zhang Yimou, a state-run
magazine reported Sunday.

The Beijing  Review said "Judou,"  released  and nominated for an Oscar for
best  foreign  film  in  1990  but  never shown in China, would be screened
nationwide starting in September.

Zhang Yimou also directed "Raise the Red Lantern," which  received an Oscar
nomination for 1991.  "Raise the Red Lantern"  was approved by China's film
censors earlier this summer.

"The  decision to allow the domestic release of the films is considered not
only a triumph for Zhang, but also a sign of a more flexible policy towards
artists and their works," the Beijing Review said.

Years  of  rigid  political  constraints  placed on art have forced Chinese
audiences  to suffer through a fare of stilted political pap. Critics blame
the government for unnecessary interference in the entertainment industry.

"People  could not help questioning why Zhang's compatriots are not allowed
to  judge  the  films themselves and why the films should remain a  mystery
for the Chinese public," the magazine said.

"Judou,"  the  story  of an ill-fated love affair set in 1920s rural China,
upset sensitive film censors for "exposing too much darkness," the magazine
said,  a   reference  to  the  intrigue  and sex not found in most  Chinese
films.

Zhang  Yimou,  one of  China's  most  accomplished film directors, received
accolades from major film festivals around the world for the two films, and
the  second  Oscar  nomination  in  1991 reportedly set off a debate in the
government-controlled industry.

The  lifting of the ban is the latest in a series of liberalizations in the
art  and entertainment fields.  Last week Li Ruihuan, the Communist Party's
top  official  for culture  and  propaganda,  called for a shift in the way
Chinese officials judged the quality of art.

"It   is  impossible for every artwork to contain some political thoughts,"
Li said at the time.  A  few  days  later  China  lifted  its censorship of
book  and  other  publications, including wall calendars exhibiting bikini-
clad women.

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4. Wang Labs Files Bankruptcy Protection, Will Eliminate 5,000 Jobs .....27
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From: Jian Liu
Source: UPI 08/18/92

Wang  Labs  (also  known as  Wang An Laboratories in China -- CND)  Tuesday
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The once high-flying technology
company, which was founded by the graduate of Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- Mr Wang An, said it plans to cut 38% of its work force, eliminating 5,000
jobs from its 13,000 employee force.

Wang  also  reported  its  loss  for  its fiscal fourth quarter narrowed to
$116.3 million, or  68  cents  a  share.   The  loss  followed  preliminary
restructuring  charges  of  $81.3 million. That amount could change pending
the outcome of the Chapter 11 filing.

A year ago,  Wang had a loss  of  $314.5 million,  or $1.88 a share,  after
charges.  Revenue fell to $473.6 million from $491.9 million.

Wang  Chairman  Richard  Miller said he had tried to sell the company in an
effort to avoid  bankruptcy,  but that the company's balance sheet "had way
too much debt."

Wang  also  said it  had  considered  liquidating the company. Wang said it
expects to emerge  from  Chapter  11 as a  "smaller, more focused, and more
competitive company."  It also expects  its  alliance with IBM to continue.

Miller  said  the  surviving company will have annual revenue of about $1.4
billion, compared with the current $1.9 billion a year.

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5. China Facing Severe Environmental Problems ...........................64
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From: Huijie Chen
Source: KYODO 08/18/92

TOKYO -- Concentrations of  sulphur  dioxide in China are almost four times
those in Japan, threatening serious  environmental problems, according to a
report commissioned by Japan's Environment Agency.

The report, compiled by the Japan Environmental Sanitation Center, said air
quality is bad in northern China, where coal is burned to heat homes.

The air is also poor around the cities of Chongqing, Sichuan Province,  and
Guiyang, Guizhou Province, where the coal used has a high sulphur content.

The average annual   concentration  of sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere in
China is   0.04   parts   per  million (ppm), about four times the Japanese
average, while in some cities it was  more  than 0.1 ppm,  the report said.

It estimated the average monthly  precipitation  of ash and soot at 30 tons
per square kilometer, some seven times the Japanese average.

It said acid rain was frequently detected in   China's southwest and in the
provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi.   The report  predicted   a spread   in the
incidence of metal and concrete corrosion as well as crop damage because of
acid rain in these and other regions.

The report said that water quality has also deteriorated in China.  It said
high concentrations of toxic agricultural chemicals such as the once widely
used, but now banned DDT, and heavy metals such  as  lead  and mercury have
been found in aquatic animals and birds.

The report identifies  the promotion  of joint   research and assistance in
desulphurization  technology as being   among the best ways  Japan can help
China reduce its pollution.

The Environment Agency commissioned   the Kawasaki-based  sanitation center
to prepare the report so it can assess the extent of pollution in China and
assist in framing a strategy   for extending    support for   the country's
cleanup effort.

Staff  under   Yasuji   Himi,  director   of   the  center's  Department of
International Cooperation,    visited   major   cities  in China four times
between 1989 and 1991.

Himi said China still faces   serious  technical and  economic  problems in
installing waste gas disposal equipment. He said China needs to improve its
electric  power  transmission  facilities  to  cut power  losses  over long
distances and to integrate the  country's  many small-scale  power stations
in regional areas.

The report recommended  installation  of  facilities  for  the recovery and
collection of ash and soot  and for the  recycling  of  these substances as
well as increasing their purity.

It further proposed a wider application of facilities for  desulphurization
or for the washing of coal to lower its sulphur content.

Among possible areas for assistance,  the  report  said  Japan could extend
technical assistance to China to help it  ease  pollution  problems in  the
introduction of waste water disposal facilities and low  cost  desulfuriza-
tion.

It also said Japan could cooperate in drawing up an environmental preserva-
tion  strategy in response to regional needs in  China,  and  by  promoting
joint research projects.

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