Bo Chi <chi@vlsi> (02/06/91)
* C h i n a N e w s D i g e s t *
(News General)
February 5, 1990
Table of Contents # of Lines
News Briefs .................................................................7
1. Amnesty Criticizes Trials in China Unfair ...............................45
2. China Presents "Yellow" Movie at Miami Festival .........................50
3. China Breaks Biggest Gold-smuggling in Shanghai .........................16
4. China Reported Arrests of Catholics .....................................15
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News Briefs .................................................................7
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From: chenh@ucs.indiana.edu
Source: Dow Jones News
-Allied planes reportedly destroyed three Jordanian oil tankers in Iraq and
Prime Minister Mudar Badran charged the attacks violated international law.
-The more than 800 Iraqi troops now in Allied hands as prisoners of war say
rations are scant, morale is low and the psychological harm from a heavy air
pounding contributes to a sense of the inevitability of Iraq"s defeat,
according to a senior allied officer.
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1. Amnesty Criticizes Trials in China Unfair ...............................45
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From: Zuofeng Li < zuofeng@pollux.wustl.edu >
Source: UPI, Feb. 5, 1991
By William B. Ries
LONDON -- The human-rights group Amnesty International accused China of
holding unfair trials and called for the immediate release of imprisoned
dissidents involved in the 1989 pro-democracy movement.
The London-based group, in a report prepared for release Tuesday, said at
least 19 activists, including student leaders and intellectuals, have been
tried since trials began in November. Twelve have been sentenced to prison
terms ranging from two to 12 years for ``counterrevolutionary'' offenses,
Amnesty said.
``These trials are the latest and most visible stage in the Chinese
government's repression since the June 4, 1989, crackdown on Tiananmen Square
protests,'' Amnesty said.
The human rights monitoring group said the trials fell ``far short of
international standards'' for fairness. The recent trials were closed,
defendants could not hire their own lawyers or call defense witnesses, and
some defendants could not inform their relatives of the proceedings, it said.
Amnesty said the fate of thousands of people arrested after the pro-democracy
protests remains unknown.
Among the activists recently tried was veteran dissident Ren Wanding, who
received seven years in prison for allegedly making public speeches advocating
reforms during and before the pro-democracy protests.
Wanding is not believed to have played a major role in the 1989 pro-democracy
movement, but is believed to have been punished for his activist past, Amnesty
said.
Two other well-known activists, Chen Ziming and Wang Juntao, were expected to
go on trial soon charged with plotting to overthrow the government -- an
offense that carries a heavy penalty, Amnesty said.
Hundreds of less prominent people have been tried and jailed since 1989 and
others may now be on trial in provincial cities, Amnesty said.
The group said it has repeatedly asked Chinese authorities for permission to
observe the trials but had not received any reply.
Amnesty welcomed an announcement by China that more than 60 people detained
since 1989 have been released. It called on the government to publish the
names of all those set free. Only 14 of the 60 released were named.
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2. China Presents "Yellow" Movie at Miami Festival .........................50
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From: Wu, Fang < int3fwu@uclamvs >
Source: AP, Feb. 4, 1991
BY: CAROL PUGH
Authoritarian China may be letting its hair down with the release Tuesday of
a risque movie at the Miami Film Festival.
''Ju Dou'' has strong erotic elements throughout the film, but a political
message taking a swipe at capitalism is perhaps why the government allowed the
release of the film, experts say.
''For a Chinese film, it is quite a revolutionary film,'' said Steve Bowles,
a film professor at the University of Miami. ''It's hardly, by American
standards, scandalous. But by Chinese standards, it breaks a long-standing
taboo.''
The annual festival began Saturday and runs to Feb. 10 with more than 25
films. World events have also kept down the number of films from Eastern
Europe this year, Bowles said. The reason is that region's infant market
economy, he said.
Last year, the festival had various selections from Poland and Romania. Most
of those films, including entries from the Soviet Union, were state-funded.
This year's festival-goers will see just two Polish, two Russian and one
Czechoslovak film. Most of those were co-produced with such Western countries
as Germany and France.
The release of ''Ju Dou,'' also an official entry in the Academy Awards, has
some film critics wondering if its release is a sign of changing times in
conservative China.
''Ju Dou'' is set in the pre-communist revolutionary period of the 1920s at
a Chinese dye factory. The plot is about the lustful attraction between a
young mistreated wife of a cruel factory owner and his nephew.
Imagery is used to denote the sexual situations, so the film doesn't have
explicit scenes. But the film has a strong political message, experts say.
''It's presenting authoritarianism in the form of an old man who represses his
young wife and abuses her,'' said Paul Clark, an expert on Chinese film at the
East-West Center in Honolulu. ''There's a political impact in that for
Chinese viewers.''
It's about emotional, sexual, social, as well as political, repression, Clark
said.
''It has everything to do with Tiananmen Square and nothing,'' Clark said.
''One of the ways to deal with contemporary issues is by going to the past.''
Clark said China's government is still struggling to deal with world
condemnation over the June 1989 military crackdown in which hundreds of pro-
democracy demonstrators died.
The film ends on a somber note, Clark said, so ''there's a suggestion that
there's a continuing problem.''
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3. China Breaks Biggest Gold-smuggling in Shanghai .........................16
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From: Wu, Fang < int3fwu@uclamvs >
Source: AP, Feb. 4, 1991
Authorities in the Chinese city of Shanghai have smashed that country's
biggest gold-smuggling ring in 40 years and arrested 32 people, local press
reports said today.
The reports, which quoted the official China News Service, said the syndicate
had smuggled more than 2,200 pounds of gold worth $25 million into China in
the last two years.
The syndicate was allegedly selling the gold in China at bargain prices.
Itsoperation reportedly included Hong Kong, the Portuguese territory of Macao,
and the neighboring Chinese province of Guangdong.
The news agency's dispatch from Shanghai, an eastern industrial city, said
$577,000 worth of gold ornament, jewelry and foreign currencies were seized.
It did not say when the 32 people were arrested.
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4. China Reported Arrests of Catholics .....................................15
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From: Wu, Fang < int3fwu@uclamvs >
Source: AP, Feb. 4, 1991
At least 23 bishops, priests and laymen were arrested in the latest crackdown
on Roman Catholics in China, a church missionary bulletin reported today.
Asia News, published by the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, said
the arrests were made Dec. 13-14 in Baoding and Yixian in the province of
Hebei.
The publication said the arrests were apparently made to prevent the
celebration of religious services not under state control.
China broke relations with the Vatican in 1957 and allows worship only under
the guise of the state-sponsored Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church.
An unknown number of Chinese Catholics remain loyal to the pope and practice
their faith in secret.
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