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Tue, Apr 8, 1997
Human Rights, Taiwan and A Senator's View
also: National Review declares itself winner; Beijing & Hanoi set to talk; info on 64 mb DRAM chips; AIDS on the rise; Lao She's 'Rickshaw' and other stories; post-Mao Protestant ChristianityPlease read the statement of purpose.
Human rights: we have an update on the human rights story from yesterday. We reported on China's efforts to pressure Denmark to withdraw its support for a UN human rights resolution about China. Today Denmark has said it will not back down, reports Inside China
Speaking of China's threat, Danish Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen said:
"I expected the Chinese would react like this. It is natural that they are very against the resolution. But the whole point of the existence of a United Nations Human Rights Commission is to enable member states to discuss human rights."
"Our move is not and should not be seen as an unfriendly action. The commission is not a tribunal. It is fundamental that a dialogue be maintained between nations on human rights. If we did not discuss these matters it would undermine the whole purpose of the commission."
The Netherlands has been pushing for a resolution and has the support of a number of nations, including the United States and United Kingdom as well as other EU states. But France has blocked the resolution, calling for dialogue not confrontation.
Meanwhile, President Jiang Zemin has said his country will sign the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by the end of the year. Such a move is in line with the nation's policies and views of human rights as something which protects and provides for a person's economic and social well-being. But China did not say if it would sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Taiwan: here's an interesting magazine, Taiwan Communiqué:
"Taiwan Communiqué is bi-monthly journal focused on political developments in and around Taiwan. It started in 1980, following the "Kaohsiung Incident" of December 1979, and has been published since then by the International Committee for Human Rights in Taiwan."
"It has a world-wide circulation, and is primarily meant to give members of parliaments, foreign ministries, human rights organizations, and academic researchers a deeper understanding of developments on the island. We have editions in Taiwan, the United States, Canada, and Europe."
"Taiwan Communiqué supports human rights and political freedom for the 21 million people on the island, and campaigns for full and equal membership of Taiwan in the international community, including a seat in the United Nations."
The April edition leads off with "Gore and Gingrich in China; A study in contrasts", also noteworthy is a piece by former Democratic Senator Paul Simon of Illinois. "The US stands for Freedom and Democracy; .....unless it offends a neighborhood bully" is the title. As we try to understand American attitudes toward China, we have to recognize the "moral" aspect in any point of view, American or Chinese, left or right, and pro-China or pro-Taiwan. Note Simon's call to look at "reality" and to do away with the myth of "one China":
"When Germany consisted of a government in the West and another in the East, we recognized the reality that there were two governments. While neither Germany appreciated our recognition of the other Germany, we had a policy based on reality, not illusion, and everyone understood our tilt toward the free government of West Germany rather than to the dictatorship of East Germany. And recognition of the two governments did not prevent them from eventually merging peacefully."
Readers are encouraged to read the entire article.
United States: yesterday we had The New Republic on China. Today we get their counterpart on the conservative side (actually,TNR has been becoming rather conservative itself. . .). The National Review has declared itself the winner in the controversy surrounding its depiction of Al Gore and the Clintons as Chinese servants. Some called it racist---I thought it was in poor taste---and the National Review was delighted to find "Vice President Gore as Confucius" on the pages of the New Yorker. Unfortunately, the April 14 issue which started the hubbub (with 'Manchurian Candidates' stenciled on top of the image) is not on-line yet. I don't subscribe to the thing, so we'll have to wait.
Journalism: and you thought we had a free press in this country and abroad? Guess how much information is simply recycled here and on the pages of mainstream and "important" newspapers, and in other forms of media, around the world. The Nation has a chart of "the increasing conglomeratization of the publishing world."
Vietnam: Beijing and Hanoi will sit down tomorrow to discuss their territorial disputes over the mineral rich areas off of Vietnam's coast, which both nations claim as part of their repsective "exclusive" economic domains.
Asean: "The Third China-Asean Senior Officials' Political Consultation will be held April 17-19 in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui," reports the China Daily.
Computers: according to the China Times (Chinese BIG 5), two of South Korea's leading semiconductor manufactures, LG Semiconductors and Modern Semiconductors (I'm not sure about the English names for these two companies) will increase their output of 64 mb DRAM chips. The paper notes, the only competition comes from Japan, and current production runs yield about 300,000 chips per month; the companies want to increase this to 1 million per month in order to be competitive.
The 64 mb chips will usher forth a whole new generation of personal computers, handwriting recognition systems and science equipment. Taiwan currently only produces 16 mb DRAMs, notes the paper.
Taiwan: the country's military forces will be restructured in order to streamline their operation and to ensure combat readiness. Defense Minister Chiang Chung-ling said, for the 1998 defense budget "Taiwan's military spending for the year would reach NT$278 billion (US$10.1 billion)," reports Sinanet News. "The figure, which includes NT$88.6 billion for 'secret' projects, represents 22.36 percent of the central government's overall expenditures for FY 1998."
Health: doctors attending World Health Day in Beijing warned of increasing incidences of HIV and Hepatitis B. "One of the speakers, Dr Zhuang Hui, estimated that China had as many as 120 million hepatitis B carriers and more than 690 million people were vulnerable to the disease," reports the South China Morning Post. Public Health Minister Chen Minzhang warned that the number of AIDS cases rose 69 percent on the previous years figure and cases of venereal disease were also rising.
Art: for a long time I have been looking for an on-line source for the writings of Lao She. Perhaps best known for his book "Rickshaw" or "Camel Xiangzi", as the English renditions go (Luotuo Xiangzi in Chinese), Lao She wrote in a colourful and vivid style, penning to page the colloquialisms of Beijing dialect, while making subtle observations about people and their environment in the decades prior to 1949. He lived until 1966, when the chaos of the Cultural Revolution consumed him as it did other relics of China.
The Towery Lao She Collection "is the largest in North America" and offers a couple English translations, a piece on the writer himself and promises for future translations; I can't wait. Britt Towery tells the story behind the collection and makes some wise remarks about literature, China studies and the West.
Religion: Britt Towery also maintains the "Mission Forum":
"Mission Forum is an avenue for sharing lesser-know facts about post-Mao Zedong Protestant Christianity in China. News about China churches and seminaries, pastors and people, their ups and downs, problems and joys. Such as the recent invitation to attend the retirement festivities of a dear friend, Bishop K. H. Ting of Nanjing. Or the stories of Christians sharing their faith in the most ordinary ways."
"Mission Forum also includes events in Burma, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Under "Injustices" in Asia I speak out against Protestant missionaries who think they must carry on covert operations to spread their message. Other aspects of life, society and culture in Sri Lanka, India, Korea and Japan will blossom in future pages. I will include my published and unpublished writings, such as books I have written: The Churches of China, Taking Root Downward, Bearing Fruit Upward, 3rd edition, 1990; and The Penglai-Pingdu Baptist Memorials; and Lao She, Master Storyteller and Uncommon Courage. And a book of devotionals written with wife Jody titled Patterns."