To: jmhollen who wrote (3325 ) 3/16/1999 12:54:00 AM From: jmhollen Respond to of 7209
Here's an interesting perspective on the situation in China: Inside China Today Press Review on Mar. 15, 1999 RENMIN RIBAO (PEOPLE'S DAILY) Looking at the Future Summary (Editor's Note: The following is a summary of an editorial by Mi Bohua from Monday's online edition of the People's Daily) The National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) just ended their sessions in Beijing, symbolizing the new challenges facing China on its way towards the next century. With 1.2 billion people, an immense territory and a variety of climates, China stands on the international scene with pride, ready to assume its role as a world power. The sessions in Beijing have showed the unity of all regions and classes of China, peasants as well as workers and business circles, all working together to build a stronger China. The people have confidence that these two institutions genuinely represent the classes' and can voice the opinion of all Chinese. INSIDE CHINA TODAY Notes: Authorities mask the difficulties of 1999 by touting the success of President Jiang Zemin's policy since Deng Xiaoping's death in February 1997. The biggest risk for China currently is an internal social explosion as the central authorities lose power over society. The reality is that Chinese benefit very differently from Deng's reforms. While the enrichment was gradual and global in the 1980s, it has become accelerated but discriminative in the 1990s. Coastal and urban regions as well as private business are making money fast and modernizing their technology and know-how. At the same time peasants, which still make up 70 percent of the population, and government-run factory workers are laid off and unable to find jobs or make a decent living. Regionalism, as well as ethnic separatism, is growing on the periphery of the country, adding to the pressure on Beijing. The ideological vacuum and widespread corruption aggravate the general loss of faith in state institutions, making propaganda efforts even more fruitless. [ Communism seems to be coming apart; enter - capitalism and prosperity ]