Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!daemon Date: Wed, 7 Feb 90 16:36:39 EST Sender: From: chi@vlsi.uwaterloo.ca (Bo Chi) Message-ID: <9002080236.AA00319@vlsi.waterloo.edu> Original-To: china-distribution@cs.toronto.edu Subject: Feb. 7 (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 | I__J/\ | __|__ | | | |---| | | | _____ \ | /| \ | | | L__-| | I I---------J / J \/ | | V | _/ * C h i n a N e w s D i g e s t * (News General) -- Feb. 7 (I), 1990 Table of Contents # of Lines News Brief ........................................................... 109 1. Some Perspective of Beijing's Night Life ........................... 57 2. A China News Digest Reader's Comment (Letter) .................... 38 3. China Clamps Down on Overseas Study ................................. 99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- News Brief -------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) --------------------------------------- From: "Jian Ding" Source: PRAGUE, Czechoslovakia (AP) February 04, 1990 State radio broadcast a regular Mass for the first time in four decades Sunday, and the official news agency said brodcasts of Protestant, Jewish and other Roman Catholic services would follow. In a separate dispatch, the official CTK news agency announced officials from the new non-Communist government would meet Kremlin officials in Moscow Wednesday for talks on withdrawing the estimated 75,000 Soviet troops from Czechoslovakia. .... (2) --------------------------------------- From: "Jian Ding" Source: BEIJING (AP) February 04, 1990 China on Sunday evening launched its fifth telcommunications satellite from the Xichang space center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The satellite, launched by a Long March 3 rocket, was moving into its designated orbit and all instruments were functioning normally, the report said. .... China, which is aggressively promoting its services, in April is scheduled to put into orbit its first non-Chinese satellite, AsiaSat, an American-made communications satellite owned by a Hong Kong-based company. That launch was jeopardized by U.S. economic sanctions imposed after China's crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in June, but President Bush in December agreed to waive the ban on exporting the satellite to China. (3) --------------------------------------- From: "Jian Ding" Source: VINNA, Austria (AP) February 04, 1990 Albania's hard-line Communist Party Central Committee plans to introduce some reforms as part of a cautious move away from total control of society, Albania's state ATA news agency reported Sunday. .... Albania broke with the Soviet Union in 1961 over Moscow's policy of de-Stalinization and with China in 1978 because of Beijing's perceived deviation from Marxist-Leninist tenets. .... Albanian leaders repeatedly have emphasized that the changes sweeping Eastern Europe will not affect their country, stressing that Albania has developed separately from the Warsaw Pact for the last 40 years. (4) --------------------------------------- From: "Jian Ding" Source: WASHINGTON (AP) February 05, 1990 The Export-Import Bank has granted a $9.75 million dollar loan to China's National Offshore Oil Co., a bank official said Monday. .... The bank official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said negotiations on the loan had been been in progress for some time and did not signify a change in U.S.-Chinese commercial relations. .... President Bush last Dec. 19 removed restrictions, as he had authority to do, on Ex-Im Bank loans to China that Congress imposed last July. (5) --------------------------------------- From: "Jian Ding" Source: WASHINGTON (AP) February 05, 1990 China has bought an additional 299,150 metric tons of U.S. wheat under a price-subsidy program, the Agriculture Department said Monday. .... The sales were part of 1 million tons authorized for sale to China under the program Dec. 5. A previous allocation of 2 million tons made last Feb. 27 had been exhausted, except for 10,000 tons. .... (6) --------------------------------------- From: "Jian Ding" Source: JAKARTA, Indonesia (UPI) February 05, 1990 Indonesia will normalize relations with China this year, Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said in a statement transmitted Monday by the official news agency Antara. .... The Two countries severed diplomatic ties in 1967 after Indonesia blamed China for backing a failed coup that led to the downfall of President Sukarno. China has steadfastly denied the accusation. .... (7) --------------------------------------- From: "Jian Ding" BY: LUBMAN, SARAH Source: BEIJING (UPI) February 05, 1990 Authorities are in the process of resettling in the countryside more than 10 million peasants who have flocked to the cities in search of better economic opportunities, the official media reported Monday. .... Millions of peasants flooded China's large cities to seek their fortunes, often working as day laborers on large construction projects. However, because both the labor market and industrial productivity have taken a plunge under the current austerity program, construction has been sharply cut back. .... Many factories have cut workers' salaries by 30 percent and reduced or even temporarily canceled cash bonuses, which comprise as much as 30 percent of the monthly wage. .... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Some Perspective of Beijing's Night Life -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jian Ding" BY: JONES, TERRIL ; Associated Press Writer Source: BEIJING (AP) February 05, 1990 While most of Beijing settles down for an evening of TV, a small segment is out on the town singing. Restaurants that dish ut food in daylight turn into sing-along clubs called "karaoke" after sundown and have brought a little life to Beijing's otherwise dull nights. "There's not much to do in Beijing at night, ..." said hotel worker Qiu Jingshi, 20, between songs at the Yanhai Restaurant. "But here, we can listen to music, dance and sing karaoke. I do songs by singers from Taiwan and China, not in English because I don't understand the words." He was one of about 60 young people who paid $4.20 each one recent night to sing along at the Yanhai, which provides soundtracks of well-known songs from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. nightly and until 5 a.m. Saturdays. The Yanhai has a repertoire of songs in Chinese, and 364 English titles including tunes from Elvis Presley, Neil Sedaka and Perry Como to the Monkees, Madonna and Janet Jackson. Old favorites range from "Three Blind Mice" and "Havah Nagila" to "Moon River" and "Rock Around the Clock." In the dim light, a couple sing a duet of "Tennessee Waltz." A young man sings a Chinese song; later people dance to taped music. "My friends told me it was a lot of fun, so I came to try it out," said Qi Hong, a 21-year-old coed. "I can sing two songs in English: 'River of No Return' and 'Love Story'." Zhang Liang works nightly as a singer at the Mingxing Restaurant, a bright oasis of gaudy neon lights on a quiet Beijing back street. The 20-year-old bartender-by-day was hired to sing twice a night at the Mingxing to lend atmosphere and encourage timid Chinese vocalists to sing along with him. "If things slow down, I'll come out and sing again," he says. With his flowing hair and acid-washed denim jacket with stainless steel studs, Zhang cuts a striking figure on the spotlighted stage as he belts out numbers in Mandarin and Cantonese. Nowhere are there foreigners, who usually go to more expensive bars and discos in joint-venture hotels reserved for them and often are barred from Chinese night spots. Zhang earns $6.40 a night, working from 9 p.m. to midnight. He loves dancing, especially "pili-wu" (breakdancing) and, like most Chinese his age, is a fan of Michael Jackson. "I watch videos of the American Grammy awards every year," he said. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. A China News Digest Reader's Comment (Letter) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- by "Roger Burns, Washington DC" 5-FEB-1990 From: BFU@NIHCU.BITNET Dr. Tang Deming (An Editor of CND): .... Many of us are glad for the work you have done on the China News Network, and it would be a pity if you were not able to continue your connection to the Internet network. ... I myself am an economist, and I work for my government here in Washington, DC. (I analyze price inflation.) I have been interested in China for a long time, although I have not done too much about it. ... And please tell all of the young people in China that they must study economics, business management, and government administration. Then, when the rulers say "You must do what is good for the Party", they will be able to say "No, we will do what is good for China!" AND no one can then stop them from say- ing that. Because if they are running the businesses and the government administration, then they are already *running* *the* *country*. Is that right ? I am trying to say this in a funny way, but there is something serious here also that I am saying. It is a brave thing to risk one's life for freedom and independence. It is also a brave thing to dedicate the rest one's life to studying what is neces- sary to help bring about freedom and independence. If the young Chinese will study how to run their country, then in years to come their country *will* be theirs. Well -- I think about these things a lot. But I've done enough thinking for tonight. Thank you again for your work. And have a good day. - Roger Burns, Washington DC --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. China Clamps Down on Overseas Study --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: tsui@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Yufeng Tsui) Source: soc.culture.china BEIJING (UPI) -- China, in its latest move to tighten con- trol on students, has adopted a tough policy on overseas study that requires all college graduates to work five years before going abroad or face steep fines, government sources said Tues- day. Under the new policy, graduates who do not fulfill the five-year work period in China must reimburse their universities for the entire period of tuition, the sources said. The new regulation was passed during a meeting last month of the State Education Commission, which oversees all educational matters. Sources knowledgeable about government affairs said the commission issued the rule in a confidential document circulated to high-level officials. Contacted by telephone, a commission spokesman denied the existence of the new measure. But the sources said the policy, which has not yet been announced, will take effect Feb. 10 and apply to China's 2 million college students. Rumors of the impending measure had been circulating Beijing for months but sources said it has now become official government policy. The meaure is the latest in a number of moves to tighten control over college students since last spring's student-led democracy movement, which spread nationwide. After the brutal crackdown on the movement last June that left hundreds and perhaps thousands dead, the government announced all would-be graduate students must work for two years at ``grass-roots'' levels before continuing their studies. Masters and doctoral students wishing to study abroad within the five-year limit also will be required to reimburse their home institutions the full amount of tuition. China currently spends more than $414 a year on each college student, according to a recent official estimate, bringing the cost of four years of tuition to approximately $1,656 per stu- dent. The sum is a fortune for the average college graduate, who makes well below the monthly $36 earned by workers. The new measure applies to both government sponsored and privately funded exchange students, the sources said. They said the required amount of tuition varies according to different schools and in some cases could reach a high of $4,761 per student. The Chinese government is known to be distressed over the increasingly large percentage of overseas exchange students who choose to remain abroad. An estimated 36,000 students studying in the United States may now legally extend their stays without returning to China, according to an administrative order given by President Bush. The order is intended to protect students from possible persecution at home. Chinese students studying in the United States complained of being monitored and harassed after they participated in rallies protesting the Chinese government's violent crackdown on dissent last June. China has not responded to Bush's order, although it warned sharply of ``retaliation'' if U.S. Congress passed a bill con- taining the same provisions. The bill was defeated two weeks ago by a narrow margin of four votes in the Senate. Some sources say the Chinese government may have written off students now attending U.S. universities as permanently indoctri- nated by the West, making them risky sources of dissent should they return. ``China may not want those students back at all,'' said a Western diplomat in Beijing. Since the military crackdown in June, the government has waged a fierce campaign against ``bourgeois liberalism,'' a vague term for Western political and cultural influences. China still accuses the United States and ``certain Western countries'' of whipping up last spring's pro-democracy protests in a plot to subvert the system. But with the wave of political liberalizations sweeping Eastern Europe, China is left with a dwindling number of pre- ferred destinations for overseas study. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Editor's Note: As a result of malfunction of mailing system, this is a re-posting news package. If the former one rounded back, please ignor it. Sorry for any inconvenience. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | China News Digest Subscription (Xinmeng Liao): xliao@ccm.umanitoba.ca | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | China News Digest Executive Editor: (Bo Chi) chi@vlsi.uwaterloo.edu | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Wed Feb 7 21:34:53 EST 1990