DP Tool Club 15/CD_ASCQ_15_070894.iso/vrac/wtn_0594.zip/WTN-0525.NWS

Text File | 1994-06-06 | 46KB | 832 lines

------------------------   World Tibet Network News   ----------------------
   Published by:     The Canada-Tibet Committee
   Editorial Board:  Brian Given <[e-mail]>
                     Nima Dorjee <[e-mail]>
                     Conrad Richter <[e-mail]>
                     Tseten Samdup <[e-mail]>
   Submissions and subscriptions to:
                     [e-mail]
                     or fax to: [phone]  (U.K.)
   Send us your comments, announcements, news or items for discussion.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issue ID: 94/05/25 12:00 GMT                      Compiled by Conrad Richter

Contents
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Tibetan Nun Describes Torture at Hands of Chinese
2. Secretary Christopher Reports No Progress on Tibet Condition;
   Demonstrators Block Entrance to Chinese Embassy to Protest Abuses in Tibet
3. Clinton to Announce China Trade Decision in Days
4. White House Gets Progress Report on Rights in China; Christopher Says
   China Meets Two Conditions, But Makes No Recommendations
5. Business Objects to a Code in China
6. Clinton's Pending China MFN Trade Decision
7. Human Rights in China
8. Beastie Boys Concerts to Support Endangered Tibetan Culture on Eve of MFN;
   Proceeds from Concerts Will Benefit Artists for Tibet
9. Purebred Horse Unknown to West is Reported in Highlands of Tibet
10. Taiwan Travel Agents Lift Tour Ban to China; Tibet Still Banned
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Tibetan Nun Describes Torture at Hands of Chinese
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forwarded by: International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet <[e-mail]>
   and Sharon Bacon, Bay Area Friends of Tibet <[e-mail]>
By Pamela Burdman

SAN FRANCISCO. May 24, San Francisco Chronicle -- To call attention
to continued human rights abuses by Chinese government officials in
Tibet, human rights workers and an exiled nun yesterday gave
chilling accounts - and demonstrations - of the torture routinely
faced by religious workers and peaceful protesters there.

Although China has joined the international convention on torture,
officials there continue to violate its most fundamental
principles, said Cosette Thompson, regional director of Amnesty
International, sponsor of yesterday's program in San Francisco.

"The practice of torture continues in China" she said. "We have to
emphasize that this is in direct violation of the Chinese
constitution and its criminal law".

President Clinton is expected to announce this week, perhaps as
early as today, whether he will grant China most-favored-nation
trading status for another year. Last year, he said extension of
the preferential trade status would depend on China making
"significant overall progress' on human rights, and he listed the
preservation of Tibet's cultural heritage as one of the
requirements.

As evidence of torture, human rights activist Francisca van
Holthoon demonstrated torture instruments brought out of China
recently by Palden Gyatso, a monk who spent 33 years in Chinese
prisons and labor camps. Holthoon recently returned from
Dharamsala, India, where she interviewed Gyatso and other former
prisoners.

She showed how handcuffs are fastened so tightly that they puncture
the skin and cause the hands to swell. Van Holthoon said, they are
also used to suspend a person from the ceiling. Jail officials also
use thumb cuffs during interrogation, to hold victim's hands
together across their back, often causing dislocation of the
shoulders.

"It's painful but it leaves no trace" van Holthoon said.

Also displayed were electric batons that can cause a person to go
into a shock or faint or be flung across a room. After one such
baton was inserted inside his mouth, Palden Gyatso told van
Holthoon, he awoke to find himself lying in a puddle of urine,
excrement and his own teeth.

Tsultrim Dolma, a Tibetan nun imprisoned for four months by Chinese
officials in 1988, described how, after she was arrested for a
peaceful demonstration, she was forced to stand for several days as
police officers beat, kicked and harassed her.

She was taken into a small cell with no bedding, where she spent
the rest of her prison stay.

Because of her political activity, she was not allowed to return to
her nunnery. But when she returned to Lhasa to a visit, several
soldiers raped her.

"It's a routine taking place throughout Tibet", Dolma said through
an interpreter, explaining why she overcame her reluctance to
discuss the humiliating experience, despite her fear that it could
endanger her family.

"This is the most cruel period for Tibet," she said. "Our
culture'sat stake. I want to speak out, despite the dangers."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Secretary Christopher Reports No Progress on Tibet Condition;
   Demonstrators Block Entrance to Chinese Embassy to Protest Abuses in Tibet
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kelsang Aukatsang, International Campaign for Tibet <[e-mail]>

WASHINGTON, May 24, ICT - Secretary of State Warren
Christopher reported to  President Clinton that the
Chinese government has made no progress on easing
repression in Tibet according to accounts.  It appears
that the condition on Tibet is the only condition on which
the Secretary reported absolutely no progress.  Several
weeks earlier, Assistant Secretary for Human Rights John
Shattuck also said that there had been no movement on the
Tibet condition.

The International Campaign for Tibet had urged the
Administration to honestly assess all of the conditions,
including the Tibet condition.  ICT and other groups found
that the Chinese government had made no progress since May
1993 toward protecting Tibet's distinctive culture and
religion, or initiating a dialogue with the Dalai Lama.
Christopher's position on Tibet renders the Tibet
condition one of the least controversial because both the
U.S. government and the human rights community agree that
no progress has been made on this condition.

In a letter delivered to Secretary Christopher in mid-
May, the Foreign Minister of the Tibetan Government in
Exile Tashi Wangdi said, "our last contact with
representatives of the Chinese government occurred in
August 1993 when representatives of the Kashag (Cabinet)
met with the Chinese Ambassador in New Delhi."  The
Foreign Minister also said that the Tibetan Government in
Exile remained "committed to seeking a solution in Tibet
through negotiations."

The International Campaign for Tibet is urging the
administration to ensure that it continues to give Tibet
the priority that it deserves and remain committed to
pressing for negotiations between the two sides.
Secretary Christopher has not yet formally recommended to
the President whether he should renew MFN, even though
Christopher indicated progress had been made on the two
mandatory conditions.  The Tibet condition is one of five
for which overall significant progress must be made.

To highlight the lack of progress on human rights in
Tibet, demonstrators engaged in non-violent civil
disobedience by blocking the entranceway to the Chinese
Embassy in Washington, D.C. today.  Six were arrested.
The demonstration, which drew over a hundred people
including many exiled Tibetan monks and nuns, highlighted
the case of 14 imprisoned Tibetan nuns.   They were
arrested in Lhasa in June, 1993, the month after President
Clinton's executive order conditioned the extension of
MFN.  The nuns were arrested for alleged staging a
pro-independence demonstration and were sentenced to up to
seven years.  One of the nuns is 15 years old, and all of
them remain in prison today.

The six demonstrators who engaged in non-violent civil
disobedience were Lisa Lima, Maura Moynihan, Amita
Preisser, Wynne Paris, Monica Garry and Grace Springs.

[Photos of the demonstration and the arrests are available
from ICT.]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Clinton to Announce China Trade Decision in Days
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Alan Elsner
     WASHINGTON, May 24, Reuter -- President Clinton said Tuesday he would
announce his decision on China's most favoured nation status within a week as
officials worked to prepare Congress for renewal of most of Beijing's trade
privileges.
     "The deadline (for making the decision) is June 3, and I don't expect to
announce it in Europe," Clinton told reporters. He leaves for a European trip
June 1, meaning that the decision must come by next Tuesday at the latest.
     "I have an idea of where it's going. No, I'm not prepared to share it
with you," the president added.
     "We still have not only ongoing negotiations with Congress, but with
others as well," he said. "There are a number of things that still have to be
resolved. We're working through it as quickly as we can."
     Earlier, officials said Secretary of State Warren Christopher had told
Clinton that China had largely complied with two mandatory human rights
requirements set out in an executive order last year as conditions for
renewing its MFN.
     They said Beijing had not performed so well on five other areas of human
rights.
     "The mandatory categories have been largely satisfied and there's been
progress on more than one of the other five categories," said one senior
official.
     Clinton met Christopher and other senior officials Tuesday evening to
discuss whether to renew MFN for China, but no decision was made, one official
said.
     "The president listened again to the discussion" on the subject, the
official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
     "Christopher reported on his consultations on the (Capitol) Hill and his
thoughts to date. No formal recommendations were made, there was not any
formal decision, or any time line for one," the official said.
     He said Clinton sat in for 30 minutes of the 75-minute meeting. The
participants included Christopher, U.S ambassador to the United Nations
Madeleine Albright, National Security Adviser Anthony Lake, Deputy Defence
Secretary John Deutsch, and Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy.
     Christopher spent much of the day on Capitol Hill meeting key figures in
both houses of Congress. He even postponed a scheduled meeting with Israeli
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to continue his consultations.
     "I want to be sure that those on Capitol Hill who have been central to
this issue have an opportunity to express their views," Christopher said.
     The two mandatory categories which the administration believes China has
largely fulfilled are ending exports to the United States of goods produced by
prison labour and allowing family members of certain dissidents to emigrate
from China.
     Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy Monday called on Clinton to renew China's
MFN, saying American farmers would be badly hurt by a decision to revoke
Beijing's trading privileges. His open call was seen as part of a campaign to
prepare public opinion for a decision to extend China's trading status.
     During the 1992 presidential campaign, Clinton accused then-President
George Bush of being too soft on China and said he would revoke its MFN
privilege unless Beijing drastically improved its human rights record.
     But with U.S. business heavily lobbying the Clinton administration,
arguing that a decision to revoke MFN would lead to Chinese retaliation
shutting them out of the world's fastest-growing market, few now believe
Clinton has much choice other than to renew MFN for most Chinese products.
     The only remaining question is whether tariffs could be raised
selectively, for example against goods produced by China's People's Liberation
Army.
     A senior official said last week the administration was studying the
practicality of some selective sanctions.
     The decision remains controversial because it is hard to argue there has
been a real improvement in human rights practices in China, even in terms of
the criteria laid out by the Clinton administration.
     Senior officials concede that Chinese behaviour in five of the areas of
human rights defined in the executive order was spotty at best and in some
cases had actually deteriorated.
     The five were respecting the cultural and religious rights of Tibetans,
ending jamming of international broadcasts to China, fulfilling requirements
of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, releasing and accounting for
political prisoners and allowing international organisations such as the Red
Cross to monitor prison conditions.
     On these, the executive order called for "overall significant progress."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. White House Gets Progress Report on Rights in China; Christopher Says
   China Meets Two Conditions, But Makes No Recommendations
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forwarded by: Lori Cayton <[e-mail]>
By Elaine Sciolino
  WASHINGTON, May 23, New York Times [May 24] -- After months
of debate over linking China's human rights performance to its
trade privileges, Secretary of State Warren Christopher today
offered President Clinton an accounting of China's record that
effectively provided the legal argument for renewing the trade
benefits, senior Administration officials said today.
  Mr. Clinton, in an executive order last year, spelled out
the human-rights conditions for the renewal, two of which are
mandatory.  Mr. Christopher told the President today that
China had met those two requirements: cooperation on ending the
export of prison-made goods to the United States and allowing
close family members of certain dissidents to leave the country.
  In five other areas, Mr. Christopher described China's progress,
as well as slippage.  Although under the executive order he
must "determine whether China has made overall, significant
progress," such progress is not required for extension of the
trade benefits.
  Under the formulation Mr. Christopher outlined, the President
could certify on narrow legal grounds that China had met the
two mandatory conditions and therefore qualified for status.
That status gives China the same low tariffs for its exports
enjoyed by most other countries.  Mr. Clinton is to announce
his decision by June 3.
  Senior Administration officials left open the possibility
that Mr. Christopher would recommend punitive sanctions, like
imposing tariffs on certain products made by China's army.
  While Mr. Christopher did not make a formal recommendation
today, as required by the order, his presentation was seen as
a signal that he would recommend renewal of the trade benefits.
  In a conversation with reporters, Agriculture Secretary Mike
Espy endorsed renewal of the trade benefits calling China
"one of our most important agriculture markets."  Mr. Espy was
not at Mr. Christopher's meeting at the White House today with
the President and his top advisers, a senior official said.
  In recent weeks the Chinese authorities have allowed the
families of the last three dissidents covered by the executive
order to leave, senior Administration officials said.  But
human rights groups took issue with one of Mr. Christopher's
determinations, that China had cooperated on ending exports of
prison-made goods.

  - Clinton Free to Decide -
  With mr. Christopher's determination that the two mandatory
conditions have been fulfilled, Mr. Clinton is free to decide
whether there is a better strategy to promote rights and
democracy in China than canceling the trade benefits.
  Because of the vague wording of the executive order, Mr.
Christopher could recommend extension of the benefits while
presenting Mr. Clinton with an extremely critical report of
China's human rights performance in the five other areas:
taking steps to begin adhering to the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights; releasing and accounting for political
prisoners; insuring humane treatment of prisoners by allowing,
for example, access by international organizations; protecting
Tibet's religious and cultural heritage, and permitting
international radio and television broadcasts into China.
  In a hint that Mr. Christopher might do just that, Michael
McCurry, the tate Department spokesman, said today, "The
ecretary has a great deal of latitude within the terms of the
executive order to make the type of recommendation that he
feels is warranted."
  Such an approach would serve two pruposes, senior officials
said: protecting Mr. Christopher's credibility as a supporter
of human rights but breaking the link between China's rights
performance and trade benefits.
  More than any other senior official, Mr. Christopher has
pressed China repeatedly to make more progress on rights.
During a contentious meeting in Beijing last March, he was
widely criticized in the White House and in the Commerce and
Treasury Departments for openly clashing with the Chinese on
human rights.

  - Opposition to Rights Link -
  since then, a number of influential lawmakers have declared
themselves in favor of renewing the trade benefits and finding
other ways to improve rights in China.
  In addition to a formal recommendation, Mr. Christopher is
said to be preparing measures to persuade China to improve its
rights performance.  These could include a high-level bilateral
commission on human rights and a voluntary code of conduct for
United States companies doing business with Beijing.
  rights groups criticized Mr. Christopher's determination that
China had cooperated on ending the export of prison-made goods.
But senior officials defended Mr. Christopher's interpretation
of the executive order, saying it did not ban the import of
prison-made goods outright but only committed China to adhere
to a 1992 memorandum of understanding with the United States
on the subject, which the officials described as faulty.
  Human Rights Watch/Asia released a report documenting the
export of 100 tons of medical-examination gloves made by a
factory that used prisoners as quality control inspectors.  The
gloves were sent to a company in Illinois.
  "No matter how they try to lawyer this now, the way in which
both the Bush and Clinton Administrations have used this agreement
is to claim it equals an agreement by the Chinese Government to
stop exporting any prison-made goods to the United States," said
Mike Jendrzejczyk, of Human Rights Watch/Asia.  "If they find
any differently now, it indicates their desperation and provides
another example of bending over backwards to accommodate the
Chinese."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Business Objects to a Code in China
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forwarded by: Lori Cayton <[e-mail]>
By Edward A. Gargan
  NEW YORK, May 24, New York Times -- As the Clinton Administration
approaches a June 3 deadline for renewing China's favored trade
status, American companies with operations in China are being
asked by human rights campaigners to embrace a code of conduct
that many of them do not like.
  A prominent rights group, Human Rights Watch, is urging such
companies to adopt a voluntary code that includes proposals that
American companies not use products made by prison labor,
discourage political indoctrination in the workplace, and
encourage their senior executives to discuss rights abuses with
Chinese officials.
  The propolsal, a form of which has also circulated as proposed
legislation in Congress for several years, has drawn a swift and
negative reaction from big American companies.
  Many of these companies -- which incluse Motorola, General
Electric, International Business Machines and Xerox -- hhave
significant investments in China, or they regard China as a
major market.  they have lobbied strenuously in Congress and at
the White House to preserve china's trade benefits as a way of
retaining and expanding American companies' share of expanding
Chinese markets.
  They say that embracing such codes of behavior would undermine
their competitiveness and raise suspicions in the Chinese
Government.
  "The impetus of laying on the American business community
a corporate code of conduct simply gives credence to the idea
that business is morally responsible for the human rights
situation in china," said Robert A. Kapp, president of the
United States-China Business Council, a group that promotes
commercial links between the two countries.  "We don't accept
that."
  While there is some sentiment in Congress for a voluntary
code, China's stiffest critics, like Representative Nancy
Pelosi, Democrat of California, think that Congressional
efforts should now focus on whether to revoke China's most-
favored-nation trading status, and on other potential sanctions.
  Ms. Pelosi said she supported a voluntary code of conduct,
but did not see that as a substitute for canceling Chinese
trade privileges.  She said she found corporate opposition
to voluntary standards of conduct difficult to understand.
  "The business community resisted this in the past, as now,"
Ms. Pelosi said.  "I think it's ironic that the business
community opposes a voluntary code of conduct.  How do you
oppose something that's voluntary."
  Richard Dicker, an associate counsel for Human Rights Watch
in New York, said American companies would signal their
support for American policies in support of human rights by
adopting a code of minimum conduct.
  "The objective here on our part is to insure that U.S.
business operations in China do not encourage or contribute
to oppressive practices, and in a positive way contribute to
the human rights climate by taking a positive approach," he
said.
  The question of voluntary codes of American business abroad
was first raised in 1977 by the Rev. Leon H. Sullivan of
Philadelphia, who outlined principles for how companies
should operate under apartheid in South Africa, in ways that
were sensitive to black aspirations.
  Human Rights Watch tries to draw parallels between the
Sullivan Principles for South Africa and its proposed code
of conduct in China.  But American companies reject both the
analogy and the proposal.

  - Inapt Comparison Seen -
  "In China, it would be particularly inappropriate because
of the nature of the chinese economy -- the economy being
state-directed while moving toward some market freedom,"
said Robert McNeill, executive vice chairman of the Emergency
Committee for American Trade, which represents leading
American businesses.  "In China, companies would be seen as
agents of the U.S. Government," Mr. McNeill said.  "And the
danger with codes of conduct that are initially voluntary is
that they can become statutory."
  Mr. Kapp said American companies would not accept efforts
to impose rules of conduct on their China operations.
  "There is a great uneasiness about notions of codes of
conduct," he said.  "First, it becomes a process of public
shaming.  It is very easy to say things that sound good.  No. 2,
the advocates of heavy economic pressure against China, to
compel China to change its domestic political behavior,
believe they are dealing with universal values.  That is one
of the explanations for what I believe is a cavalier approach
to national sovereignty."
  The five voluntary measures proposed by Human Rights Watch
would prohibit the use of prison products by American
companies, discourage compulsory political indoctrination in
the workplace, embrace nondiscriminatory employment practices --
which means not discharging people for their political beliefs,
allow workers to discuss work-related issues freely, and have
American executives discuss human rights issues in their
localities with Chinese officials.
  Timothy Kellogg, director of corporate communications for
Motorola, said the company felt comfortable with its rules.
  "We have a very strict internal code of conduct that has
been translated into Chinese," Mr. Kellogg said of the code
used in Motorola's $120 million semiconductor and pager
manufacturing plant in Tianjin.  "What we have in place is
more than adequate.  Any effort that goes beyond that appears
to make us a Government agent."

  - Billions at Stake -
  George Jamison, a spokesman for the Genreal Electric Company,
said G.E. had not made any public statement on corporate
guidelines.
  Mr. Jamison said China was an important market for the
company, adding, "Over the next decade we have $13.5 billion
in potential export opportunities."
  Several business groups, including the Emergency Committee
for American Trade, have been distributing details of American
business activity in China to legislators and Administration
officials.  In one such packet, I.B.M. described China as its
fastest-growing market, and said that its 385 Chinese employees
"leave the security of the socialist system that provides
subsidized housing, education, and medical care to experience
risk and reward in the Chinese marketplace."  I.B.M. also said
it contributed more than $1 million last year to a hospital, a
model-classrooms project and the state-run Beijing Film Academy.
  Similary, Xerox said it backed "human resource development"
through financial support of a management institute in Dalian
and a training center in shenzhen.  The company said it
supported cultural activities primarily in Shanghai and
contributed to the overall well-being of its Chinese employees
by offering thoroughly modern working conditions and facilities
in China."
  But Representative Pelosi, of San Francisco, who has led
Congressional efforts to revoke China's preferred trade status
because of its rights abuses, described such corporate drum-
beating as off the mark.
  "We're talking about fundamental rights," she said.  "They
support cultural activities.  Isn't that nice.  I find it
disingenuous."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Clinton's Pending China MFN Trade Decision
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forwarded by: Debra Guzman, Human Rights Network <[e-mail]>
By ANDREW N. GUTHRIE

WASHINGTON, May 24, U-S Opinion Roundup --
INTRO:   PRESIDENT CLINTON IS SOON EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE THE
U-S DECISION ON EXTENDING PREFERRED TRADE PRIVILEGES TO
CHINA.  REPORTS INDICATE THE PRESIDENT WILL EXTEND WHAT IS
KNOWN AS "MOST FAVORED NATION" TRADE STATUS, BUT MAY IMPOSE
HIGHER TARIFFS ON SELECTED GOODS, SUCH AS THOSE MADE BY
COMPANIES OPERATED BY THE CHINESE ARMY.  THE DEADLINE IS
JUNE THIRD, BUT THE FINAL DECISION IS EXPECTED SOONER.
MEANWHILE, U-S NEWSPAPERS ARE  NOT WAITING FOR THE DEADLINE,
EITHER, AS THEY WEIGH IN WITH THEIR EDITORIAL REACTIONS.
______________ HAS A CROSS-SECTION OF VIEWS IN THIS EDITION
OF U-S OPINION ROUND-UP.

TEXT:    TRADE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA HAS GROWN
TO AN ESTIMATED 40-BILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY.  CHINESE
MARKETS FOR U-S GOODS PROVIDE JOBS FOR AMERICAN WORKERS. BUT
ANOTHER PART OF THE EQUATION IS CHINA'S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD,
WHICH HAS BEEN CRITICIZED BY U-S OFFICIALS.  IN ITS
REACTION, "THE PORTLAND [MAINE] PRESS HERALD" ADVISES
PRESIDENT CLINTON TO EXTEND M-F-N, AS IT'S CALLED, BUT TO DO
SO SELECTIVELY:

VOICE:   "WE URGE PRESIDENT CLINTON TO RENEW M-F-N STATUS
FOR CHINA, BUT TO DO SO AS PART OF A RANGE OF CAREFULLY
CALIBRATED U-S ACTIONS THAT CONTINUE TO PRESS CHINA TO
IMPROVE HUMAN RIGHTS.  A YEAR AGO, PRESIDENT CLINTON SPELLED
OUT SEVEN CONDITIONS THAT CHINA WOULD HAVE TO MEET IN ORDER
TO RETAIN M-F-N STATUS IN 1994.   PRIMARY AMONG THEM WAS
THAT CHINA STOP EXPORTING GOODS MADE BY PRISON LABOR AND
ALLOW ELIGIBLE DISSIDENTS TO EMIGRATE. IN ADDITION, CHINA
WAS PRESSED TO ACCOUNT FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS, EASE
REPRESSION IN TIBET, ADHERE TO THE INTERNATIONAL DECLARATION
OF HUMAN RIGHTS, ALLOW RED CROSS VISITS TO PRISONS AND END
RADIO JAMMING OF THE VOICE OF AMERICA. [PRESIDENT] CLINTON
SHOULD NOT ABANDON THOSE GOALS.  SHORT OF WITHDRAWING MOST
FAVORED NATION STATUS, U-S POLICY SHOULD CONTINUE TO PRESS
CHINA TO MEET THEM."

TEXT:    "THE NEW YORK TIMES" ALSO EMPHASIZES WHAT IT
CRITICIZES AS CHINA'S POOR HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY.  THE PAPER
CLAIMS THAT PRESIDENT CLINTON'S ORIGINAL GUIDELINE FOR
EXTENDING M-F-N HAVE  NOT  BEEN FULFILLED.

VOICE:   "HE [PRESIDENT CLINTON] SHOULD FACE UP TO THE
REALITY THAT THESE CONDITIONS HAVE NOT BEEN MET AND PROPOSE
TARGETED ECONOMIC SANCTIONS TO CONGRESS.  THESE SHOULD BE
DESIGNED TO SEND A STRONG POLITICAL MESSAGE WHILE LIMITING
THE ECONOMIC DAMAGE TO BOTH SIDES.  SOME DAMAGE IS
INEVITABLE, BUT IT IS A COST WORTH PAYING FOR PRINCIPLE AND
CONSISTENCY.  [BEGIN OPT]  RATHER THAN REVOKING TRADE
PRIVILEGES ACROSS THE BOARD, HE SHOULD PROPOSE HIGHER DUTIES
ON SPECIFIC CATEGORIES OF GOODS -- EXAMPLE, THOSE PRODUCED
BY COMPANIES RUN BY CHINA'S ARMY.  WHATEVER MR. CLINTON
DECIDES TO DO ON CHINA, THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE HUGE.  IF
HE BACKS OFF IN THE FACE OF BEIJING'S BULLYING, CHINA'S
DEMOCRATS, INTELLECTUALS AND MINORITIES WILL PAY A HIGH
PRICE AND AMERICAN CREDIBILITY ON ISSUES FROM HUMAN RIGHTS
TO NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION WILL BE NIL.  IF HIS CHOICE OF
SANCTIONS TOUCHES OFF A TRADE WAR, CHINA WILL BE UNABLE TO
SUSTAIN ITS PRESENT RAPID GROWTH RATE, WHILE PROFITS AND
JOBS IN A NUMBER OF AMERICAN EXPORT INDUSTRIES NOTABLY
AEROSPACE, WILL BE LOST." [END OPT]

TEXT:    IN THE MIDWEST, "THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH"
SUGGESTS THAT THE UNITED STATES BY ITSELF DOES  NOT  HAVE
THE POWER TO INFLUENCE CHINA TO IMPROVE ITS HUMAN RIGHTS
RECORD. "THE POST-DISPATCH" GOES ON:

VOICE:   "ACCOMPANYING SELECTIVE SANCTIONS WITH THE CREATION
OF A U-S-SINO HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MAY MAKE RENEWAL OF
CHINA'S MOST FAVORED NATION STATUS MORE PALATABLE STILL AND
SHOULD BE CONSIDERED.  BUT THERE'S NO WAY TO AVOID
RECOGNIZING THAT THE U-S THREAT TO END TRADE TO PROMOTE
HUMAN RIGHTS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE WITHOUT THE COOPERATION OF
OTHER NATIONS.  UNHAPPILY, THERE IS NO PROSPECT OF IT
[COOPERATION] SOON.  BUT THAT SHOULD BE THE PRESIDENT'S
GOAL.  IT'S THE BEST CHANCE TO CHANGE CHINESE POLICY."

TEXT:    "THE WASHINGTON TIMES" SAYS HUMAN RIGHTS IS A VITAL
ISSUE, BUT CHINA'S HELP IN DEALING WITH NORTH KOREA'S
NUCLEAR THREAT MAKE IT AN IMPORTANT NATION.  AS THE OTHER
PAPERS, "THE WASHINGTON TIMES" SUGGESTS A CAUTIOUS APPROACH:

VOICE:   "[BEGIN OPT] IT IS CLEAR THAT MR. CLINTON WOULD
LIKE NOTHING BETTER THAN TO EXTEND CHINA'S TRADE PRIVILEGES.
THE BUSINESS LOBBY, INCLUDING SOME OF THE BIGGEST
CORPORATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, WANTS TO CASH IN ON THE
OPENING OF THIS GIANT CONSUMER AND LABOR MARKET. CHINA IS,
AFTER ALL, THE WORLD'S BIGGEST COUNTRY AND AS A RESULT OF
THE ECONOMIC LIBERALIZATION THAT DATES BACK TO 1977, IT NOW
HAS THE WORLD'S FASTEST-GROWING ECONOMY. FOR MR. CLINTON,
HOWEVER, THE PROBLEM IS THAT HIS OWN PLEDGE TO DEFEND HUMAN
RIGHTS FROM 'BAGHDAD TO BEIJING' IS RATHER GETTING IN THE
WAY.  [END OPT] MR. CLINTON OUGHT TO RECOMMEND M-F-N FOR
CHINA, BUT AS HE DOES SO, HE SHOULD EXPLAIN TO THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE WHY.  HE SHOULD STATE THAT WE ARE STILL COMMITTED TO
HUMAN RIGHTS, BUT THAT IN THIS CASE THERE IS AN OVERRIDING
CONSIDERATION AT STAKE, A POSSIBLE WAR ON THE KOREAN
PENINSULA, WHICH HAS A DIRECT BEARING ON AMERICAN NATIONAL
INTERESTS. THERE ARE PLENTY OF REASONS NOT TO LIKE CHINA'S
REGIME AND TO BE WARY OF ITS MILITARY BUILD-UP, BUT WE
CANNOT AFFORD TO SEE OUR RELATIONS DETERIORATE AT THIS
TIME."

TEXT:    AND WITH THOSE COMMENTS FROM "THE WASHINGTON
TIMES," WE CONCLUDE THIS U-S OPINION ROUNDUP ON RELATIONS
BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA AND THE IMMINENT U-S
DECISION ON EXTENDING M-F-N STATUS TO BEIJING.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Human Rights in China
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    WASHINGTON, May 25, Washington Post -- CHINA'S RESPECT for human rights -
or China's lack of it - will affect the lives of incalculable numbers of
people over the coming decades. China has not only a huge population of its
own but great influence on other poor countries as it successfully and rapidly
becomes richer. That's why President Clinton needs to keep pressing the
Chinese government on human rights. And that's why he needs a better
instrument than the threat to lift MFN - most-favored-nation treatment - and
cut off Chinese exports to the United States.
       It is important not to misunderstand the current scale of Chinese abuse
of political and religious freedom or to allow the Chinese government to argue
that Americans are only trying to impose their own legal practices on another
culture. Many of the worst trespasses, like the frequent resort to torture by
the police, are in violation of Chinese law. Large and persuasive compilations
of these cases have been published by such reputable organizations as Amnesty
International USA, Asia Watch and the Puebla Institute. The issue is how to
bring the Chinese government into conformity with its own laws and with the
principles accepted by most other countries, rich and poor.
      One danger in lifting MFN is that it would sharply diminish China's
contacts with this country. Ideas follow the trade routes, and increased trade
means increased openness to other changes as well. Lifting MFN would also
impede the development of a market economy in China, and the emergence of a
commercial middle class - two forces that are already undercutting the
centralized Communist regime.
    The United States has more effective ways to lean on China. A warmer
policy toward Taiwan and more public attention to the repression in Tibet
would remind China's rulers that there are real penalties attached to
violation of the world's standards - penalties that would not injure the
people in China who are pushing their country in the direction in which most
Americans want to see it move. Repeatedly calling a government to account for
its human rights record and engaging it in a dialogue, privately and publicly,
is a diplomatic tactic that has had significant successes in many places over
the years.
    There is hardly any exercise in international politics more difficult than
bringing a rising power peacefully into the world system. China is a great
power, with nuclear weapons and the world's third-largest national economy.
But it has not yet acknowledged the responsibilities that its position
carries. President Clinton needs a strategy not to shut China out, but to draw
it more deeply into the fabric of international agreements and organizations
that set governments' standards for dealing decently both with each other and
with their own people. The welfare of Asia, and of the United States as a
Pacific power, will depend on his success.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Beastie Boys Concerts to Support Endangered Tibetan Culture on Eve of MFN;
   Proceeds from Concerts Will Benefit Artists for Tibet
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kelsang Aukatsang, International Campaign for Tibet <[e-mail]>

SAN FRANCISCO, May 12, ICT -- The Milarepa Fund, a foundation
established last month by the Beastie Boys, has announced that it
will present two benefit concerts designed to raise awareness
about the situation in Tibet.   Proceeds will benefit Artists for
Tibet, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of
the sacred arts of Tibet, that will sponsor the Tibetan Ganden
Jangtse Monks on this summer's Lollapalooza Tour (which the
Beastie Boys will co-headline).

The first of the two concerts, featuring the Beastie Boys and
guests, will take place at The Academy in New York City on May 27.
The second concert will occur at Washington, D.C.'s WUST Hall on
May 28.

In 1949, shortly after the Communist government came to power in
Beijing, China invaded Tibet, an isolated country located on a
high plateau set in the Himalayans.  Since then, the survival of
Tibetan culture has been threatened with the brutal denial of
political and religious rights and the transfer of hundreds of
thousands of military and civilian Han Chinese into Tibet.  During
40 years of Chinese occupation, over 1.2 million Tibetans have
died as a direct result of the regime's policies.  Six thousand
Buddhist monasteries have been destroyed, looted and desecrated.
Tibetan land has been so severely mismanaged that effects of this
environmental destruction are being felt throughout Asia.  Perhaps
most shocking are the reports of forced abortions and
sterilizations on Tibetan women, of incredible cases of torture,
and of nuclear testing and dumping.

Last May, when President Clinton extended China's MFN status until
this year, he listed conditions that the Beijing government would
have to meet before he would extend the privilege again.  Among
those conditions was "protecting Tibet's distinct religious and
cultural heritage."  Subsequently, the Clinton administration has
called on China to begin substantive negotiations with the Dalai
Lama, Tibet's exiled religious and political leader, or his
representatives, as a benchmark for meeting that condition.
Although the June 3 deadline for the President's decision is fast
approaching, the Chinese have made no overtures to the Dalai Lama,
despite the Dalai Lama's expressed willingness to begin
negotiations.

With these two benefit shows, the Beastie Boys intend to focus
attention on President Clinton's impending decision and the plight
of Tibet's people.  The Beastie Boys' interest in Tibetan culture
is evident on their latest album, Ill Communication, (due out May
31 on Grand Royal/Capital Records), especially on the songs "The
Update," "Shambala" and "Bodhisattva Vow."  In fact, royalties
from the latter two songs will be donated to the Milarepa Fund and
used to assist non-profit organizations working with Tibetans.

Artists for Tibet, a national campaign of the Tibet Foundation, is
a network of artists working in all media who are committed to
creating awareness about Tibet by utilizing their talents and will
be the sole beneficiary of the concerts.  Among its goals, Artists
for Tibet plans to establish and endow a Tibetan Cultural Center
in the United States, which will include an art museum dedicated
to the sacred arts of Tibet.  The center will also include a
library and archives.  Artists for Tibet will use the concert
proceeds to help sponsor the Ganden Jangtse Monks on the 5th
Annual Lollapalooza Festivals tour, which will visit over 35
cities throughout the country during July and August.

The Milarepa Fund seeks to promote universal compassion.  It acts
as a foundation and will assist programs and projects whose aim is
to help Tibetans.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Purebred Horse Unknown to West is Reported in Highlands of Tibet
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forwarded by: Lori Cayton <[e-mail]>
By Tim Hilchey
  May 24, New York Times -- Long before the Mongolians swept into
China, the horsemen of Tibet and their magnificent mounts had a
place in Chinese historical writings.
  Now an anthropologist and explorer from France has found what
he believes to be descendants of those Tibetan horses in Nangchen,
a remote region in northeast Tibet that straddles the Chinese
border.
  The Nangchen horse, as the researcher, Dr. Michel Peissel, has
labeled it, is believed to be a purebred new to Western equine
science.  Dr. Peissel says he believes the horse has been
selectively bred in isolation for more than 14 centuries in the
Tibetan highlands and is free of Turkish, Arabian or Mongolian
blood.
  The Nangchen is raised by nomadic horsemen on grasslands at
altitudes up to 15,700 feet.  The nomads use their horses for
herding livestock and competing in culturally important races
that last three weeks, Dr. Peissel said.  The Nangchen has the
fine featuresof a modern race horse but at about 13 hands is not
as tall.

  - 'Not at all Surprised' -
  "Unlike the Mongolian horse, which is free range, the Nangchen
only survives due to constant human intervention and selection,"
Dr. Peissel said.  "Free-range horses that breed on their own
don't achieve the degree of physical perfection and stamina
found in horses selectively raised by man."
  The enlarged lungs and heart of the Nangchen are an adaptation
to generations of high-altitude living, one that is not present
in other Tibetan horses, Dr. Peissel said.
  Dr. E. Gus Cothran, director of the equine blood-typing research
lab at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, said:  "I'm not
at all surprised that someone might fine, up in the highlands of
Tibet, a breed of horse that is unknown to the West.  There are
probably a fairly large numberof Asian breeds that are fairly
isolated but basically pruebred that are not well known, if
known at all, to Western civilization."
  Dr. Cothran said that regulations governing the breeding of
Thorough-breds, Arabians and other horse breeds make it unlikely
that cross-breeding with the Nangchen horse will occur.
  But he said that studies of the horse's cardiovascular system
might, for instance, yield answers to problems like bleeding in
the lungs that are common to race horses.
  Dr. Peissel said he spent much of last year traveling through
Tibet in search of the horse, which was mentioned in Chinese
records of the sixth century.  He and his fellow researchers
were also studying traditional Tibetan equine pharmacology.
  Earlier this month, Dr. Peissel returned to Tibet to conduct
further studies on the horse, including obtaining detailed
physical measurements, a skeletal analysis, samples of blood
and hair to establish a genetic profile, and determining
respiratory rates and cardiovascular efficiency.
  Dr. Peissel said he expects to receive permission from the
Chinese Government this fall to export Nangchen horses ro
breeding and further research.

[Graphic shows photo of the horse and says:  The Nangchen horse
may have been bred for 14 centuries in Tibet.]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Taiwan Travel Agents Lift Tour Ban to China; Tibet Still Banned
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    TAIPEI, May 25, Reuter -- Taiwanese travel agents, citing lost business
totalling about US$26 million from a boycott on group tours to China,
announced a partial resumption of such tours effective on Wednesday.
     A spokesman for the cabinet's Mainland Affairs Council, which formulates
policy towards China, said travel agents had been given the go-ahead partially
to resume group tours.
     However, tour groups to four high-risk areas, including Tibet and Qiandao
lake on the coastal province of Zhejiang, will remain banned for six more
months, the spokesman said.
     The Taipei Association for Travel Agents suspended group tours to China
from May 1 after the mysterious deaths of 24 Taiwanese tourists in a
pleasure-boat fire on Qiandao lake on March 31.
     "The boycott was not our goal but merely a means to achieve our goal,
which was for the mainland to investigate the incident and improve safety of
travellers in the future," association deputy secretary-general Teng Ming-
chang said.
     China has arrested three men for murder, arson and robbery and allowed
Taiwanese negotiators and relatives of the victims to travel to China to look
into a probe into the incident.
     The attack had driven relations between the two sides, rivals since the
Chinese civil war ended in 1949, to their lowest point since tensions began
easing in the late 1980s.
     "The mainland has shown its goodwill and responded to several of our
requests. Our transitional duty has been accomplished. There is no longer a
need to continue the boycott," Teng said.
     "Travel agents lost about US$26 million worth of business opportunities
during the period...we also have to protect the interests of association
members.."
     More than one million Taiwanese travellers pumped about US$600 million
into China's economy last year.
     The boycott had forced Taiwan's China Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways
to cut flights between Taiwan and Hong Kong. Direct travel between Taiwan and
the mainland is banned.
     The Taiwanese government remains sceptical of the Chinese inquiry. Its
intelligence reports allege renegade Chinese soldiers were involved in the
attack. China denies the allegations.
     Taiwanese negotiators plan to seek another round of talks with China on
compensation for relatives and ways to strengthen travel safety.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

--- GoldED 2.41+/#1067
 * Origin: BODY DHARMA * Moderator, TIBET_NEWS - DharmaNet (96:101/33)