NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/aus/culture/china/915

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

                                (US Regional)
                           Sunday, January 3, 1993

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| CND-US, normally 1 or 2 issues a week, is a supplement to CND-Global and |
| has  basically no overlap with the daily news.  CND-US provides in-depth |
| information concerning Chinese students/scholars in the United States.   |
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Table of Contents                                                 # of Lines
============================================================================
1. News Brief (4 Items) ................................................. 42
2. Chinese-American Will Run for Los Angeles' Next Mayor ................ 52
3. Affinity Fraud in Chinese Community .................................. 61
4. Lecturer Post Available in Hong Kong for Physicists .................. 20
5. Pan-Pacific Conference '93 Calls for Contributions ................... 30
============================================================================

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1. News Brief (4 Items) ................................................. 42
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The IFCSS Council will hold its 3rd Teleconference on January 6, 1993,
Wednesday, starting from 10:00pm EST.  The conference's main agenda
includes: IFCSS HQ work and financial report, preparations on the IFCSS 5th
Congress and four HQ Working Committees (Human Rights Committee,
Humanitarian Assistance Committee, Information Exchange Committee, and
Educational Committee) briefings.  IFCSS members are engouraged to express
their concerns and suggestions to the conference.  The conference will be
open to the public for auditing (contact Mr. Jinghong Li at 513-294-0970
for detailed instructions).  An audio tapes of the meeting can be obtained
from Council Secretary, Mr. Kai Hwang, after the meeting.
(From: IFCSS Council <[e-mail]>)
                               ___  ___  ___

The International Astronomical Union Colloquium No. 145: Supernovae and
Supernova Remnants will be held in Xi'an, China on May 24-29, 1993.  There
will be no parallel sessions.  There will be plenary talks.  There will
also be poster sessions and opportunities to make verbal contributed
presentations at workshops. (From: <[e-mail]>)
                               ___  ___  ___

[DJ, 12/24/92] NEW YORK -- AT&T has increased rates on USA Direct Services
calls from 19 countries, and has added two new service charges.  The
company said consumers who have an AT&T operator place their calls to AT&T
directory assistance will incur a new charge of $1.88, while those who
place the calls themselves using a calling card will pay 80 cents.  Prices
on calls to the U.S. from 19 countries using AT&T USA Direct Service will
increase an average of 6%.  China is affected, while Taiwan and Hong Kong
are not.  (Forwarded by: Jian Liu)
                               ___  ___  ___

An effort is being made to establish an alumni directory for those who had
attended Shanghai Medical University, formerly Shanghai First Medical
College, in order To promote exchange of information, personal or academic,
among alumni, and to convey news and views between the University and the
alumni network.  Concerned individual please send either an e-mail message
or a brief letter to the corespondent: Dong Benhao (Class 82')
   e-mail address: [e-mail]
   mail address:   Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
                   P.O.Box 100
                   Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724
   Phone (office): [phone]
                                        (From: Dong Benhao <[e-mail]>)

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2. Chinese-American Will Run for Los Angeles' Next Mayor ................ 52
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Forwarded by: Jian Liu
Source: Japan Economic Newswire, 12/31/92

LOS ANGELES -- Michael Woo, the first Asian-American elected to serve on the
Los Angeles City Council, now hopes to make political history again by
becoming the city's first Asian-American mayor.

The mayoral election scheduled for April 20, 1993, is crowded with 20
candidates thus far but Woo is confident about his chances.  "Our city was
headed in the wrong direction and was ready for fresh leadership.  A change
was needed.  I have courage, vision and I take chances," he said recently.

The 41-year-old prides himself on being a bridge builder who represents the
interests of people of all ethnic backgrounds and socio-economic levels.

Although his district is only 5% Asian-American, Woo has been outspoken on
Asian-American issues, including support of reparations for Japanese-
Americans interned during World War II and of preserving the Manzanar
internment camp as a landmark.  He helped obtain funding for a Korean senior
citizen's housing project and a police substation in Chinatown.

Concerned with the increase in racial tensions and hate crimes, Woo believes
last year's riots showed how serious these problems are and how easy things
could erupt again.

Speaking before a predominantly Jewish group in mid-December, he praised the
Jewish community for its leadership in the past and encouraged people to
"build bridges to other groups before trouble breaks out."

Woo grew up in the Crenshaw area of Los Angeles, the only son of five
children born to Chinese immigrants.

His first political experience was being part of the anti-Vietnam War
movement in 1969 at the University of California at Santa Cruz.  He went on
to earn a master's degree in urban planning at the University of California
at Berkeley in 1975.

His father, Wilbur, was a banker and owner of Chungking Produce Co. in Los
Angeles and had a strong impact on Woo.  The elder Woo instilled in his son
the need for community involvement and like his son, urged Chinese-Americans
to become politically aware and active.

But unlike his conservative Republican father, Woo is a liberal Democrat
known for supporting progressive causes and as a leader on AIDS, low-cost
housing, ethics and health care issues.

There is sure to be national ramifications if Woo wins.  "I hope it will
help change stereotypes," he said.

"Too often Asian-Americans are only thought to be in certain occupations
like doctors and engineers.  I would like to show that we can do other
things and we can provide leadership," he added.

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3. Affinity Fraud in Chinese Community .................................. 61
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Forwarded and Digested by: Yuan Liu
Source: The Gezette, Montreal, 12/12/1992

Montreal -- Dreaming of making a quick profit from small fluctuations in the
value of various currencies around the world?  It may turn out to be a
nightmare.  To some, it did.

Some Montrealers, many of them ethnic Chinese, who traded large sums of
currencies through Handsome Market Information Services Inc., were shocked
to discover the company's door closed, reported The Gazette, Montreal.
Disappeared are not only the low-profile foreign-exchange firm, but also
hundreds of thousands of dollars investors had deposited with it.

Jacque Plante, landlord of the 2,500 square feet Handsome office site at 651
Notre Dame Str. W., Montreal, said the company quietly cleared out its
computers and other equipment during the last weekend of November, taking
both employees and customers by surprise.

Handsome ran advertisement in local Chinese-language newspapers for its
services, the kind of business some-times called "boiler rooms" or "bucket
shops".

Investors of Handsome were required to deposit a minimum of $5,000.  For
only $1,000, explained an anonymous recent university graduate who worked
for Handsome as one of about 40 brokers, a client could buy a spot contract
of 125,000 Deutschemarks (about $77,000 U.S.) and hold it for one day.  He
noted that if, in that period, the price of marks dropped from 1.6050 per
U.S. dollar to 1.5850 (in other words, became more expensive to buy), an
investor stood to make a profit of $982 U.S.  on the $1,000 investment.

But this time, no luck for customers.  "It's all gone," said Li Li, a
Handsome customer who had $5,000 on deposit with the company.  "I don't know
where, but it's gone."  She said that she discovered it had closed after
returning from a trip to the United States.

And she was not the most unlucky.  "I knew one customer who lost $100,000
alone," said the broker.

The incident has caused a stir in the local Chinese community, which was a
major source of Handsome's clientele.  "Quite a few people know about it,"
said Yap Lo, owner of a cellular-phone business.

This kind of fraudulent currency-trading operations are a growing problem
around the world, particularly those catering to a particular ethnic group,
noted Andrea Corcoran, director of the rading and markets division of the
Commondities Futures Trading Commission in Washinton, D.C.

"We've had two or three of these cases recently, most involving Chinese,"
said Corcoran.  She said the criminal activity is known as "affinity fraud"
because it involves an ethnic group ripping off its own people.

Handsome, incorporated by vice-president Eddie Chen in December 1991, had
claimed to be affiliated with the Emperor Group of Hong Kong.  The latter,
which is a well-known financial group, recently ran advertisements in local
Chinese newspapers saying it "never had any relations" with the former.

An investigation into Handsome's closing has been launched by the Montreal
Urban Community police fraud squad after receiving several complaints from
former Handsome customers.  The Quebec Seruities Commission said it has also
looked at Handsome's closing but isn't certain whether it as any
jurisdiction since it regulates only currency futures trading.  The world's
major banks dominates trading in the so-called spot currency market, where
Handsome's business was in.  This kind of trading is not monitored by
regulatory authorities.

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4. Lecturer Post Available in Hong Kong for Physicists .................. 20
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From: WANG Zhao Yong <[e-mail]>

Hong Kong Baptist College, one of the seven government funded institutions
of higher learning in Hong Kong, invites applicants for a teaching/research
position in physics of the rank of Lecturer.  Applicants should have a Ph D
degree, and should preferably have worked in the areas of theoretical or
experimental condensed-matter physics, though candidates in the area of
non-condensed-matter physics are also encouraged to apply. Experience in
teaching theoretical physics and computational physics will be a definite
advantage, while research experience is essential. Research areas in this
Department can be broadly classified under solid state and materials, optics
and laser science, and plasma physics.

Please send by post your resume, list of publications, and names & address
(fax number and/or email) of two referees to the Personnel Section, Hong
Kong Baptist College, 224 Waterloo Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Quote the code
PR100 on envelope. Closing date: January 31, 1993. For further details,
interested candidates may contact Head, Department of Physics, by email:
<[e-mail]>.

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5. Pan-Pacific Conference '93: Calls for Contributions .................. 30
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From: Zhenqin Li <[e-mail]>. Forwarded by Zuofeng Li
Source: China-Net

The 10th PAN-PACIFIC CONFERENCE on Economic and Technological Cooperation
and Development '93 Calls for Contributions

ORGANIZER: China Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology
           (under National Science Commission)

THEME:

1) Pan-Pacific business activities, technology and educational exchanges,
   and collaborative mechanism

2) China's market economy, investment environment, open-door policy, and
   international comparative studies

3) Research and development, technology innovation and diffusion, and
   science policy

4) International investment, internationalization of enterprises and
   management

5) Comparative studies of management, and of culture and education

6) Joint-enterprises, high-tech development, and international comparison

7) Economic growth and government policy: international comparison

8) Economic system transformation, manufacture structural transformation and
   business opportunities

9) Trade relationship, trade protection and GATT

CONTRIBUTION SPECIFICATIONS and CONTACT ADDRESSES:

   (see the Chinese text which is available upon request from Zhenqin Li at
   [e-mail], by providing your postmail and/or FAX number; English
   text is unavailable -- volunteers are welcome to translate the circular).

DEADLINE for Contributions: March 1, 1993.

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