Bo Chi <chi@vlsi> (02/15/91)
* C h i n a N e w s D i g e s t *
(News General)
February 13, 1991
From Editor: This is my last package for this editor's term. Starting
tomorrow, Mr. Bo Chi from University of Waterloo will offer
you his excellent service from Canada. Your technical assistant
is still Mr. Tan Shi from Yale University. Thank you for
joining us and best wishes to you and your family in the New
Year of Ram.
Table of Contents # of Lines
News Briefs .................................................................8
1. Fang Lizhi Hosts Meeting with Major Pro-democracy Activists .............32
2. Bomb Rocks Hong Kong Hotel ..............................................43
3. Lunar New Year Fete Clouded by War, Economic Concern ...................121
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News Briefs .................................................................8
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From: chenh@ucs.indiana.edu
Source: AP via DJ
-- Iraqi President Saddam Hussein tells Soviet envoy Yevgeny Primakov that
Baghdad is prepared to cooperate with Soviet Union and other nations to find
a peaceful solution to the Gulf war, Baghdad radio reports.
-- The French newspaper Liberation said Russian-language radio traffic on
Iraqi military frequencies indicate a Soviet advisers may be helping Iraq. The
paper said the Soviets may also be feeding satellite intelligence to Iraq.
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Kelly said he was aware of the report but had no
evidence to confirm it.
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1. Fang Lizhi Hosts Meeting with Major Pro-democracy Activists .............32
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From: IFCSS HQ <LIU@UNC.BITNET>
On Friday, Professor Fang Lizhi hosted a informal meeting in his Princeton
residence. The meeting discussed the political and economic situation in
China, various aspects about the overseas Chinese pro-democracy movement, and
coordination in future actions. Liu Binyan, Chai Ling, FDC president Wan
Runnan, vice president Xu Sike, CAD president Hu Ping, IFCSS president Chen
Xingyu, Ran Ming, Su Xiaokang, Zhang Langlang and Su Wei participated the
gathering.
The main theme of the meeting was focused on how to improve the human rights
conditions in China. It was commonly agreed that highly stressing human
rights violation in China is still the guideline for gaining international
support and generating greater pressure on the Beijing regime. It was agreed
that human rights perspective of the Chinese people is not diminished after
the June 4th massacre. Rather, the concept has been widely accepted.
It was emphasized that the recent trials and sentences to the pro-democracy
activists by the Beijing regime is not only a violation of the Universal
declaration, but also a violation of China's own law. It should be concerned
that the sentences to workers and not-well-known persons will be much more
severe. There is not freedom, no job opportunity for some of those released;
families of some dissidents are kept as hostages; there is continued
persecution for the participants of the 1989 pro-democracy movement; and
college students are under solid control and forced to take military training.
All these show that there is not a slight indication of human rights
improvement in China.
In the meeting, all participants pledged donation, and agreed that this will
be kept as a tradition for the consequential meetings. The collected donation
at this meeting was decided particularly for Ren Wanding and Liu Gang.
Participants unanimously supported that position that the renewal of MFN must
be conditioned with human rights improvement.
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2. Bomb Rocks Hong Kong Hotel ..............................................43
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From: Zuofeng Li < zuofeng@pollux.wustl.edu >
Source: UPI, Feb. 13, 1991
HONG KONG -- A bomb jolted the lobby of a Holiday Inn hotel in Hong Kong's
Kowloon tourist district Wednesday, injuring three people, police said.
The bomb, apparently contained in a mail parcel, exploded at about 2:30 p.m.
in the Holiday Inn Golden Mile lobby and injured three hotel employees, one
of them seriously, police said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing so far and no immediate
estimate of the damage caused by the blast had been released, a police
spokesman said.
``As far as we are concerned, this is a truly criminal investigation,'' said
senior police officer Niel McCabe. ``It has no other overtones or implications
whatsoever.''
McCabe said the parcel bomb, which was mailed locally, was addressed to a
hotel staff member and exploded when a male employee opened the package.
``There were three people injured,'' he said. ``The gentleman who opened the
parcel was injured quite seriously.''
A British tourist in the hotel lobby during the blast described a scene of
panic in the hotel following the explosion and said he tried to aid one of the
injured.
``I was sitting with a couple of my friends when there was a very loud
explosion,'' he said. ``Everybody was running away and I saw a Chinese man
completely covered with a black mess of blood.
``He was staggering around and I got him to sit down and tried to administer
first aid and stop the flow of blood.''
The building was evacuated immediately after the blast and guests arriving at
the hotel were being sent to other accommodations, witnesses said.
Police said a bomb removal squad had been dispatched to the hotel.
The blast occurred as the British colony's streets and shops were thick with
shoppers making last-minute purchases during the last working day before the
Lunar New Year holiday.
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3. Lunar New Year Fete Clouded by War, Economic Concern ...................121
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From: Zuofeng Li < zuofeng@pollux.wustl.edu >
Source: UPI, Feb. 13, 1991
By DAVID R. SCHWEISBERG
BEIJING -- The year of the ram arrives Thursday night as Chinese worldwide
usher in the lunar new year, but the Persian Gulf war and economic distress
are butting into the annual holiday to make the celebrations more subdued and
closer to home.
Although global terrorism and recession fears have had little impact on
China's more than 1 billion revelers, Chinese communities in the capitalist
world will be more restrained this year -- and holiday-related business is
feeling the pinch.
``We are not being hit by Saddam Hussein's missiles but the threats of
terrorism have been far-reaching,'' said William Lau of Marvel Tours in Hong
Kong, summing up the woes of holiday-related businesses in Asia.
>From San Francisco to Sydney, however, Chinese and other Asians will ring out
the year of the horse and ring in the ram at midnight Thursday with the
customary eating, drinking, red and gold lanterns and fireworks fusillades to
rival the skies over Baghdad.
Across China, peasants are slaughtering their fattest pigs and cleaning homes
in preparation. Perpetually bustling shops in Hong Kong and Singapore will
close until Monday. Even in communist Vietnam the lunar new year is still
marked as Tet.
Taiwanese will jam planes, trains and automobiles to visit relatives around
the island nation for drinking and gambling parties. Domestic rail and air
tickets sold out weeks ago.
And the city of Yanshui in southwest Taiwan will once again host one of the
oddest -- and most dangerous -- new year events.
More than 100,000 people clad in safety helmets and gloves will parade through
town behind images of a local god through a gauntlet of high-powered fireworks
tossed at the marchers. Each year some of the celebrants go home without
fingers, toes or eyesight.
The ram is one of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, a product of Buddhist
beliefs, and unique on the 12-year cycle because of disagreement on
translating the Chinese word ``yang,'' which also can mean sheep or goat.
Astrologers see the year of the ram as one of humor, drama, innovation and a
measure of weirdness. People born under the ram sign are said to possess
artistic talent and charm, be philanthropic and good-natured and often
influential in history.
``If the year of the goat has any influence, the Gulf war could be over sooner
than some predict,'' observed Tony Pun, president of the Australian Chinese
Community of New South Wales.
``According to Chinese mythology, international wars and conflicts will end
in the year of the goat,'' he said.
Among those born as rams were Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Italian
dictator Benito Mussolini, actors Robert de Niro, Rudolph Valentino and John
Wayne, artists Andy Warhol and Michaelangelo, and musicians George Harrison
and Keith Richards.
Traditionally, revelers spend new year's eve at family parties and banquets,
often dispensing red or gold ``lucky money'' packets. The second and third
days are for visiting relatives, eating traditional foods and watching lantern
festivals and lion dances.
This year's festival begins on Valentine's Day -- meaning many husbands, wives
and sweethearts will have to dig into their pockets twice. But even the double
holiday has failed to overcome the impact of the gulf war and a general
economic pall.
Tour operators and hotels across Asia are reporting lower bookings, especially
in Thailand and the Philippines, both popular vacation destinations but also
both at terrorism risk.
``With the gulf crisis, we expect only a trickle,'' said Annie Ringor, a
spokeswoman for the famed Manila Hotel.
In Thailand, tourist arrivals and hotel occupancies are off by one-third,
according to Jatuporn Sihanartkaakul, president of the Thai Hotels
Association.
Hotels in Singapore are averaging only 50 percent occupancy and businesses
specializing in cards, ornaments and decorations report sagging sales. Fewer
Taiwanese overall are traveling abroad.
On Indonesia's famed island of Bali, usually jammed at lunar new year, holiday
travel is so far down at parts of the popular Kuta Beach resort that one hotel
manager called it ``Dead Beach.''
But most celebrations will continue undaunted.
``Despite what is happening, people are not letting the situation dampen their
celebration,'' said a retailer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where officials are
laying on extra flights and trains to handle travelers.
In Hong Kong, where private fireworks are banned, the skies over picturesque
Victoria Harbor will light up with one of the world's biggest pyrotechnics
displays. Throngs of spectators will watch from hotels, homes and clusters of
junks and yachts below.
Half of South Korea's 43 million people will be on the move during the
nation's biggest holiday. Officials report no war-related problems and the
government is lifting some traffic restrictions.
A huge migration will come to China, with a record number of travelers from
Taiwan and 100,000 people a day crossing to and from Hong Kong. Most will be
loaded down with televisions, radios and other gifts for their poorer mainland
relatives.
In China, the holiday is known as spring festival. The communist government
once again has emphasized its success in stuffing store shelves with pork,
eggs and other fruits of material well-being, in a bid to ensure political
stability.
Except for the fireworks already booming in alleyways and farm villages
nationwide, most Chinese will spend the holiday quietly at family gatherings
or watching special new year television shows.
Tens of millions of Chinese are traveling, leading officials to issue public
calls for greater attention to air and railway safety during the holiday
period.
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