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+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+   C h i n a   N e w s   D i g e s t   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                         (Global News, No. GL98-046)

                           Monday, March 30, 1998

============================================================================
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============================================================================
                                ISSN 1024-9117

Table of Contents                                                 # of Lines
============================================================================
1. News Brief (6 Items) ................................................ 122
2. WANG Bingzhang Arrested at New York Airport on Passport Fraud Charges  70
3. News from "China Daily" (5 Items) .................................... 38
4. News from Taiwan (6 Items) ........................................... 38
5. Market Watch ......................................................... 21
============================================================================

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. News Brief (6 Items) ................................................ 122
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  (1) JIANG Zemin Appoints Ten New Generals
  (2) Dealing With Unemployed Key to Economic Reform, ZHU Rongji Says
  (3) Twenty-Hour Chinese Opera Epic to Open in New York
  (4) Coke The Real Thing in Shanghai
  (5) Chinese-born Physicist Sentenced for Revealing Classified Information
  (6) Shanghai-based Dissident YANG Qinheng Sent to Labor-Camp
                          ____   ____   ____

(1) JIANG Zemin Appoints Ten New Generals

[CND, 03/27/98] President JIANG Zemin Friday inducted ten military
men into the top brass of the Chinese armed forces, AFP reported
from Beijing.  State television showed Jiang in military uniform,
handing over appointment letters to the ten new generals in the
presence of Defense Minister General CHI Haotian.  Jiang, as the
State President and the Communist Party General Secretary, also
holds the posts of Chairman of the State Central Military Commission
(CMC) and head of the identical CMC of the Chinese Communist Party.
AFP said Jiang, who has no previous military background,
has assiduously sought to demonstrate his closeness to the armed
forces by staging several television appearances fitted out in
military uniform. (Kewen ZHANG, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(2) Dealing With Unemployed Key to Economic Reform, ZHU Rongji Says

[CND, 03/28/98] According to Xinhua, China's straightforward new premier
ZHU Rongji has warned that the growing number unemployed from failed
state enterprises will be a major obstacle to his radical economic reform
plans, AFP reported on Saturday.

"The government bears the responsibility for ensuring the livelihood of
laid-off workers and re-employment issues are vitally important for both
the reform of state-owned enterprises and social stability," Zhu said.  In
September, Zhu spearheaded a plan to dramatically cut the number of state
enterprises by selling all but the most profitable 1,000.  He set a goal
of basic profitability by the year 2000.  But China has 75 million state
workers, half of them surplus labor, according to official statistics.
In the state textile sector alone, 600,000 workers will be laid off this
year, adding to a total 1.2 million by the year 2000.  (Terry THOMPSON,
YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(3) Twenty-Hour Chinese Opera Epic to Open in New York

[CND, 03/28/98] A 400-year-old Chinese opera epic, "Peony Pavilions"
by TANG Xianzu (1550-1616), is to open in New York in July in an effort
to find a wider audience for the dying art form, AFP reported yesterday,
citing the China Daily.  The Chinese think Tang is as great as his
contemporary Shakespeare, said the director, CHEN Shizheng, "but we have
never shown his greatness to the world."  Divided into 55 acts, the
20-hour opera in the Kunju style will start at the Lincoln Center Arts
Festival on July 7 and run over six nights to get all the action in.  The
ancient art of Chinese opera is losing ground at home to movies and TV
programs. (Qiujing BU, Jian LIU)
                          ____   ____   ____

(4) Coke The Real Thing in Shanghai

[CND, 03/28/98] According to AFP, the Coca-Cola company on Saturday
finalized a $50 million joint venture that opened a new soft
drink plant in Shanghai.  If the Coca-Cola company succeeds,
China will become the world's sixth largest soft drink market.
By 1999, Coca-Cola is expected to have invested more than $800
million in China.  The partners in the joint venture and their
respective investments are:  Coca-Cola, 40%; Shanghai Food
Industrial Investment Co. Ltd. and Shanghai SITICO Enterprises
Co. Ltd., 40%; and finally, Shanghai Foodstuffs Import-Export
Corp. and China Beverage and Foodstuffs Import and Export Co., 20%.
(Sue BRUELL, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(5) Chinese-born Physicist Sentenced for Revealing Classified Information

[CND, 03/28/98] Dr. Peter Lee, a 58 year old Chinese-born nuclear scientist,
was sentenced to one year in a community corrections facility Thursday,
March 26, for passing classified nuclear technology information to China,
AFP reported from Los Angeles.  Lee was also sentenced to pay a $20,000
fine, to perform 3,000 hours of community service, and was placed on
probation for three years.

Peter Lee, a laser energy expert who had worked at key research facilities
for more than 30 years, revealed the construction of hohlraums (a
diagnostic device used in conjunction with lasers to create microscopic
nuclear detonations) to his Chinese counterparts during his trip to China
in 1985, despite his oath of secrecy.  In 1997, when asked by his
then-employer on the security forms, he lied by saying he did not deliver
lectures on his work during a trip to China.

Lee told the FBI agents that the underlying motives for his crime were to
help his Chinese counterparts and to boost his fame in China.  Money was
not the factor.

Reuters also reported that a San Diego research firm has offered Lee a job
that he can begin while he is serving his sentence at the community
corrections facility where he can go out to work during the day and return
at night. (Yan WANG, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(6) Shanghai-based Dissident YANG Qinheng Sent to Labor-Camp

[CND, 03/29/98] A Shanghai-based dissident was sentenced without trial on
Friday to a three-year term in a labor camp, the AFP reported from Shanghai.
The younger brother of dissident YANG Qinheng said the police notified his
family that Yang committed the crime of stirring up social unrest by reading
an open letter on Radio Free Asia, a broadcasting facility with funding
granted by the US Congress.  In his letter read on January 27, Yang gave out
his contact address and telephone number, calling for the formation of free
trade unions.  Some workers subsequently contacted him.  However, when police
took Yang away from his home on February 26, they did not give any reason for
the arrest, according to his brother.

On Saturday, some outspoken dissidents inside China, such as QIN Yongmin in
Wuhan, XU Wenli in Beijing and XU Shuiliang in Nanjing, have questioned the
sentence and asked the government to immediately release Yang.  Qin was
taken away by police for questioning late Saturday and then released early
Sunday morning, the AFP says. (Hua ZHAO, YIN De An)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. WANG Bingzhang Arrested at New York Airport on Passport Fraud Charges  70
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reported by: Bo XIONG, Source: Chinese Television Network, etc.

[CND, 03/28/98] A spokesman from the U.S. State Department confirmed Friday
that WANG Bingzhang was arrested Thursday night at New York's Kennedy
Airport on charges of passport fraud.  Special agents from the U.S. State
Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security made the arrest when Wang stepped
out of a Taiwanese China Airline plane.  Wang told the agents that he used
the forged U.S. passport for the convenience of traveling to other countries
to meet Chinese dissidents and organize an opposition party in China.  He
also showed the agents his U.S. green card.  The agents found that the
passport Wang used belongs to someone else, but the photo was changed to
Wang's, and the forged U.S. passport was used several times in last few
years, as the exit and entry stamps show.

Wang was accused of using a forged U.S. passport to enter Hong Kong last
week and was sent back to Macao when he tried to reenter Hong Kong on March
19 from Macao (he made a successful initial entry to Hong Kong on March
16).  He used the same passport to enter and exit Macao and Taiwan during
his travel in the past two weeks.  Taiwanese authorities also confirmed that
Wang Bingzhang entered Taiwan on March 21 on a U.S. passport and there was
no sign of forgery (U.S. citizens do not need a visa to enter Taiwan for a
short-term visit.)

Wang Bingzhang was arraigned in the Federal East District Court of New York
City on Friday and released on a $75,000 bond.  During the arraignment, he
admitted that he used forged U.S. passport for a "good cause."  If Wang is
convicted, he will face a maximum 10 years in jail and be subject to
deportation if he is not a U.S. citizen.  It is unknown when Wang's trial
will begin.

This is not the first time that Wang was charged with forgery by the U.S.
government.  A few years ago, he was caught in the U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service district office at Cincinnati, Ohio during a hearing
for application of Employment Authorization documents.  Wang used a forged
ID to act as a representative of some twenty New York-based illegal Chinese
immigrants and presented a full set of forged documents to the U.S. INS
officials.

Wang Bingzhang held a press conference in New York on Saturday.  He refused
to comment on his case and to reveal the name of his attorney.  He said, "I
wish it's a beautiful misunderstanding and all the parties involved in the
case are now negotiating a solution."  Wang's Justice Party made a public
statement in which the party said, "It is understandable that Wang used a
forged U.S. passport in order to fight for China's democracy; it is the
direct consequence of the blockage of dissidents by the Chinese government."
In the press conference, Wang also defended remarks he made in Taiwan last
week, "There is nothing wrong that overseas pro-democracy activists and
organizations seek financial support from Taiwan.  The KMT took so many
tons of gold to Taiwan in 1949 that the gold should be returned to the
Mainland people."  Wang said last week in a press conference in Taiwan
that many overseas dissidents have been receiving money from Taiwan's
government since the early 1980s, though most dissidents in the U.S. deny
they receive any money from Taiwan.  Wang said he had not planned to visit
Taiwan, but he had to because it was the only route to return to the U.S.
from Macao.  He vowed again that he will explore various ways to enter
China in the future.

The Chinese Television Network reports that Wang Bingzhang said that his
arrest is a conspiracy by the Chinese government that has been trying to
stop him from forming the Justice Party inside China.  An Agence France
Presse report said that it confirmed with the U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service that Wang Bingzhang is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
But two New York-based Chinese dissidents, WANG Xizhe and FU Shengqi, insist
that they once saw in person that "Wang Bingzhang has only a U.S. green
card."  Several overseas dissidents in China and in the U.S. have made
statements on Saturday asking the U.S. government to treat Wang leniently.
Related news can be found in the March 23 and 27 CND-Global issues.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. News from "China Daily" (5 Items) ................................... 38
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forwarded by: chinfo <chinfo@chinfo.com>, 03/28/98
Abridged by: Chaohua WANG

* Chief trade negotiator Long Yongtu will lead a high-profile delegation to
  Geneva today to seek further progress in China's 12-year-long bid to
  re-enter the World Trade Organization (WTO).  China has promised to further
  reduce its average tariff to 10 per cent by 2005.  Long's delegation will
  hold both multilateral and bilateral talks with the United States, the
  European Union, Japan and developing countries such as Brazil.  The mission
  is one of the largest from China in recent years.

* The China Energy Conservation Project will be funded by a grant of US$22
  million from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), together with a World
  Bank loan of US$63 million.  The East China (Jiangsu) Transmission Project
  will be supported by a US$250 million loan from the bank.

* China ranks 109th in the world in terms of per capita fresh water reserves.
  Its per capita water availability of 2,288 cubic metres is less than a
  quarter of the world's average.  The geographical imbalance of water
  resource distribution has exacerbated the situation.  Officials suggested
  that the State Council change an existing locally collected "water
  resources fee" into a "water resources tax" to be collected by the central
  government.

* A Reservoir dam collapsed in Danjiangkou in Central's China's Hubei
  Province earlier this month, leaving seven people dead, according to the
  Farmers' Daily. The accident took place 60 days after the poorly designed
  reservoir was put into use. About 300,000 cubic metres of water gushed out
  of the dam, causing losses of 520,000 yuan (US$62,000), the report said.
  The case is still under investigation.

* Eleven trapped miners died while 24 were poisoned after a gas leakage
  occurred in a mine in Dachuan Prefecture in Sichuan Province on March 23,
  the Beijing Youth Daily reported yesterday.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. News from Taiwan (6 Items) ........................................... 38
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:  Taiwan's China News (03/26/98 - 03/29/98)
Contributor: Chang-Jiu Chen;  Abridged by: TIAN Yu.

* The leader of a Taiwanese religious group that relocated to Texas and said
  God was coming backed off early yesterday (03/25) after God didn't appear
  on television as expected.  Church leader CHEN Heng-ming said his
  followers were free to go their separate ways but that he would remain
  in Garland, a Dallas suburb, to "continue studying and researching."

* Japan plans to begin recognizing Taiwanese passports again, for the first
  time since it shifted diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in
  1972, an Immigration Bureau official said Japan now does not recognize
  Taiwanese passports as official documents.

* The China Times Express reported allegations that telephones at the
  DPP's headquarters in Taipei have been bugged. The paper also quoted DPP
  Secretary-General CHIOU I-jen as saying that he was not surprised by
  the news.

* The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau has begun an investigation
  into what may be the island's largest military kickback scandal,
  involving the purchase of 60 Mirage 200-5 fighters and six Lafayette
  frigates from France.

* Foreign ministry spokesman Roy Wu is denying a newspaper report that
  Taiwan plans to set up a US$5 billion "relief fund" to help address the
  Asian financial crisis with a view to facilitating its return to the
  International Monetary Fund.

* Taiwan will abolish a 40-year-old law that requires colleges to employ
  military officers to lecture on military studies. The Grand Justices
  ruled that the law infringed on academic independence and was
  unconstitutional.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Market Watch ......................................................... 21
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Compiled by: Xin Tian
Source: Reuters, 03/27/98

Friday's (Last Friday's) Market Indexes
  Hong Kong Hang Seng           11735.50+22.38 (11564.23)
  Tokyo Nikkei                  16739.20-241.4 (16830.47)
  Shanghai "B" Share Index         54.014-.369 (55.724)
  Shenzhen "B" Share Index         94.87+.13   (96.44)
  Singapore Straits              1653.93+2.29  (1679.11)
  Taipei Weighted Index              N/A       (8856.06)
  New York Dow Jones             8796.08-50.81 (8906.43)
                         ____   ____   ____

Friday's (Last Friday's) Asian Foreign Exchange Rates

                    Currency per U.S. Dollar

  China yuan              N/A  (8.2791)
  HongKong dollar       7.747  (7.7463)
  Japan yen             130.05 (130.32)
  Singapore dollar      1.587  (1.607)
  Taiwan dollar         32.75  (32.75)

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|    Executive Editor of This Issue: Jian-Min LI (AU)                      |
|    CND-Global Coordinators: Ray ZHANG, Jian-Min LI (AU)                  |
|    CND-Global Source Team: Liedong ZHENG (UK), YIN De An,                |
|                            Charles MOK (HK)                              |
|    CND Writer Coordinator: Weijun LIU                                    |
|    CND Writer Team: Terry Thompson, Xiayi KE (UK), Weijun LIU, Linda WU, |
|        Ray ZHANG, Kewen ZHANG, Bo XIONG, Lisa BU, Yan Wang, Weihe GUAN,  |
|        Fabian FANG, Dong LIU (CA), Bing WEN (CA), Sue Bruell, Hua ZHAO   |
|        Xiaolin LI, Zhanglin LIN, Yungui DING, Monica WANG, Zhenyuan LUO  |
|    Proofreader of This Issue: Sue Bruell                                 |
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|                        CND Manager: Bo XIONG                             |
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