Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!daemon Date: Sat, 2 Dec 89 11:02:08 EST Sender: From: chi@vlsi.uwaterloo.ca (Bo Chi) Message-ID: <8912022102.AA02585@vlsi.waterloo.edu> Original-To: china-distribution@cs.toronto.edu Subject: Dec. 2 (I), News Digest Newsgroups: ut.chinese Distribution: ut Sender: list-admin@csri.toronto.edu Approved: nobody@csri.toronto.edu | +---------I __L__ ___/ \ -------I +----+----+ | ___\_\_ | \./ | | -----+- | | | | | __ \/ | --+-- |--- | |---| | I----+----I | I__J/\ | __|__ | | | |---| | | | _____ \ | /| \ | | | L__-| | I I---------J / J \/ | | V | J * C h i n a N e w s D i g e s t * (ND Canada Service) -- Dec. 2 (I), 1989 Table of Contents # of Lines Headline News ..................................................... 20 1) Traffic Accident Killed 22 .................................. 13 2) Woman Workers Are Being Poorly Treated ...................... 28 3) Devaluation Will Trap Foreign Exchange Certificates Holders .. 69 4) Polish Student Leader to Meet with IFCSS President ............ 26 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Headline News --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) A book called 'Recommentary on The River Elegy', which critisizes the TV film 'River Elegy', is recently published in China, China News Agency reports. This book has been chosen as a political material for college students. From: simone@nyspi.bitnet. (J. Yang) Source: World Journal, 11/30/89 (2) A Democracy movement organization in New York once again has collected over 10 thousands signatures and will submit a petition to UN to protect Chinese people's human right. Since June, over 30 thousands signatures have been collected. The United Nation will discuss the issue about China's human right situation next March. Chinses representatives are trying to convince those represenatives from developing countries not to discuss this issue. From: simone@nyspi.bitnet. (J. Yang) Source: World Journal, 11/30/89 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Traffic Accident Killed 22 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "J. Ding" Source: BEIJING (AP) November 28, 1989 A bus plunged into a river in southern China, killing 22 passengers and injuring seven, the Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday. The bus was carrying 29 people when it fell off a bridge Sunday about 88 miles northeast of Naning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Xinhua said. The injured were rescued by farmers and passers-by and hospitalized, the official report said. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Woman Workers Are Being Poorly Treated --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "J. Ding" Source: BEIJING (AP) November 28, 1989 Women are being laid off and poorly treated under current state efforts to streamline workforces in factories, according to a survey by the China Women's Journal. The survey of northeast China's Liaoning province found that many women are being laid off by factories that consider them surplus or redundant, the journal said in a report carried by the official China Daily on Tuesday. It said women were the victims of "optimum reorganization" of the labor force, China's euphemism for laying off workers. Very few people are ever fired in the nation's state-run enterprises and laid-off workers usually receive their base pay. However, only 4.5 percent of laid-off women continue to get bonuses, a substantial part of incomes, and welfare benefits. An investigation made earlier this year by the All-China National labor Force Commission found that enterprises considered 20 percent of their employees to be surplus or redundant, and 64 percent of them were women. Women make up about 37 percent of the urban workforce. Many enterprises are also now refusing to hire women because maternity leaves and early retirements drive up welfare costs. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Devaluation Will Trap Foreign Exchange Certificates Holders --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: hkucs!kwchan@uunet.UU.net Source : SCMP Nov. 29. Wed. [by David Chan] Reports of an impending devaluation of the yuan and the unpublicised practice of limiting the conversion of China's Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC) into ohter currencies have caused a minor uproar among those in possession of the FEC's. The devaluation, which the Beijing Government has vehemently denied for several months, is "a fact of life", according to an economist analyst who said the yuan is far overvalued. According to reliable sources, the devaluation, which is expected to be announced between a week and two months, is to be between 15 and 18 per cent, far higher than the previous devaluation of nearly 16 per cent in July 1986. However, the devaluation is expected to be of considerable benefit to Hongkong as about a quarter of its imports come from China. Observers said that news of the impending devaluation of the yuan, which is expected to affect the value of the FECs as well, may cause a minor upheaval among many foreign corporates, which either maintain business with China, have sole or joint ventures on the mainland and have large amounts either tied up in FECs or in the local currency. At the same time, they said the devaluation is inevitable given the overheated economy over the past three years which the state has yet been unable to contain. The present malaise in FECs dates back to the early 1980s when it was introduced both as an inducement to foreign tourists and as a safeguard against local people acquiring foreign products to the detriment of the state. However, as the reform policies developed, FECs, which were only allowed to be circulated at a few designated points in a limited number of cities open to foreigners, became de facto legal tender. In most places, they even superseded the yuan as many foreign products could be acquired only with FECs. At the same time, FECs could also be taken out of the country while it would be an offence to do so with yuan. Hence there has been a large amount of FECs in unofficial circulation outside China. Since the June 4 Tiananmen crackdown, there has been a sharp reduction in foreign business in China and, with the departure of many foreign businessmen, there has been a sudden demand to convert FECs into foreign currencies. A fortnight ago, the authorities imposed a ceiling on the amount of FECs that could be exchanged into foreign currencies. Even a devaluation of 18 per cent, a figure several reliable souces have quoted, would be regarded as insufficient as the price index for daily commodities had gone up by more than 30 per cent in many areas since the last devaluation of the yuan three years ago, analysts said. New Pacts signed: Hongkong Standard Nov. 29 Wed. Iran has told China at the start of economic talks in Beijing that convertible currencies would be used in trade between the two countries from next year. According to an agency despatch Iran and China have concluded agreements for the building of dams and power plants. They also agreed to co-operate in agriculture and in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Polish Student Leader to Meet with IFCSS President From: Ya Liu IFCSS Liaison Office News Release No. 30 Nov.30, 1989 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Sunday, December 3, Mr. Mariusz Popielarz, a leading activist of the Independent Student Association in Poland, will be invited to IFCSS headquarters office to meet with IFCSS leaders. The purpose of the meeting is to establish a formal relationship between IFCSS and Polish Independent Students' Asso- ciation and also to arrange for IFCSS' President to attend a three-week international student Jamboree in which visitors will meet with Poland's prime minister and Lech Walesa. Mr. Popielarz has been engaged in Poland's democracy movement since 1983. He established an underground magazine "Impuls" in 1987 and has assumed many posts in student organizations. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Executive Editor: Yaxiong Lin E_mail: aoyxl@asuacvax.bitnet | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ============================================================================= News Transmission chi@vlsi.uwaterloo.ca (or) -------------------- --------------------- Local Editor: Bo Chi chi@vlsi.waterloo.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sat Dec 2 16:00:53 EST 1989 Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com