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JPY EUROPE...... EURO 1.90 HK...... HKD 8.65 cdrce tSf cyF‰f dH‰cf dddddddce dcfdce dddddddve dcfdAˆc cdh cddddddce cdddddddddddAc fIe tSe B e xIe cde cde ddTˆe dddde fIe tSe B e xIe cde cde ddTˆe dddde cde tSe Ure dce dce dddde ctSce cF‰ce dcedce ‡ddce‡Se cdfdcf cdfdcyde tddddddddde U‰dccdcdˆce ddddddddIce ‡Pdddddddce U‰edcg dddddddddde cyF‰dcc‡8re dH‰cdcc8dce dcf Gˆcddddddde †Gfdcf cdedcdcf cdedcdddde cdedcdcf cdedcdcf cddddcdcf cddcdcdcyde cddddddddde cdddfdcf dce cdedddddce cdedccsdce cdedcg cdctdcg cd‡8dcg cd@‚9aeyFe c@‰c†RddH‰e 9dhe †9cddddddce cdddgdce yAˆcg cd†G„dAˆe ddddAˆcAˆce Gucdc†dbdAe xddddddd ce tdˆcecdAˆe ctddddddf ‡8‰dcdeyde 8ddddddddde c‡F‚dddddddAe cF‰cdcecdf cde dcecdcde dcecdcde dcecdcde dcecdcde dcecdcde dcfcde dcftde dcfdde cdddddddcdcde cdddddddcdcde dde dccde cdedcg cdedcyPdde cdedccdcde cddddctddde cddddcU`cde cdedcdccde ‡PddT„Sccde FwcsRH‰ctde cdddddddddcde cddddddddddde dcg dcg cdg cdg dddddddddddc cddddddddce cdecdedce cdecdedce cdecdedce cdecdedce cdecdedce cd‡Sf cdd f cydueyde dcecdf ddddddf s9ˆcecdf cxddddddf cyFccd†9Tˆe cddddddddddde c‡PH‰ctSc†RAe cFwceF‰g cdedcf cdedcf cdedcf cdeddHwe cdedcf tdedcf cdeQacgSc cde†RdH‰c ddddedcyPdc cy8dedcf dH‰dedcedc cdrce tSf cyF‰f dH‰cf dddddddce dcfdce dddddddve dcfdAˆc cdh cddddddce cdddddddddddAc dce dce dce dce dce dce dce dce cde tSe Ure dce dce dddde ctSce cF‰ce dce dce dce dce dce dce dce dce ‡PTˆe U`fIe dccdrc dddde ctdccdvc cUdccdIc cQdccddc cxdccdSc dcf Gˆcddddddde †Gfdcf cdedcdcf cdedcdddde cdedcdcf cdedcdcf cddddcdcf cddcdcdcyde cddddddddde cdddfdcf cdf cdf cdf cdddf cdddddcdf cdecdcdf cdecdcdf cdddddcdf cdwcsdcdf cddddddddddde dcf ddg cded‰cyAˆe cdctdddddAe cd‡Sedcf cdd‰edcyde cddddddddde cdfdcf cdvcedcf cdDcedcf c@‰cedcf cdddcU`cdcf cdg ddcdg d‰cdg ddddddf dcecdf dcecdf ddddddf dwesdf ctdddddddde ‡Fwccdg U‰ecdg dddddddddddc yducyde cddddddddde cdhe cdhe cdhe cdhe cdhe tShe Urhe ctSche cF‰che ‡PTˆe U`fIe dccdrc dddde ctdccdvc cUdccdIc cQdccddc cxdccdSc yde cde cde cddde t@‰de Urcde dccde dddde dce dce dce dce dce dce dce dce ddTˆe Qacde †9dSe cƒ@‰e cF‰ce ct@wfIe cB ccde cxIccde dddddddc ‡PTˆe U`fIe dccdrc dddde ctdccdvc cUdccdIc cQdccddc cxdccdSc ‡PTˆe U`fIe dccdrc dddde ctdccdvc cUdccdIc cQdccddc cxdccdSc ‡PTˆe U`fIe dccdrc dddde ctdccdvc cUdccdIc cQdccddc cxdccdSc dce dce dce dce dce dce dce dce c c c c c c c ddecdddc xdvccxdrc cdAˆedcc cd†Iedcc cdcQvcdcc cdcxIcdcc cdeQˆdcc tdvc†Rdcc dddcfc c c c c c c c c dcc dddTˆcc dccsGcc dvfc dAucec csRddcc cGucedcc c†Rddddcc c c c c c c c c dcc dddTˆcc dccsGcc dvfc dAucec csRddcc cGucedcc c†Rddddcc dddc xdrc cde cde cde cde cde tdvc dddc dde dccde cdedcg cdedcyPdde cdedccdcde cddddctddde cddddcU`cde cdedcdccde ‡PddT„Sccde FwcsRH‰ctde cdddddddddcde cddddddddddde c‡Fce ‡F‰ce U‰f dddde ctdddde cU@wcdvc cQ ccddc cxAucdrc fIe tSe B e xIe cde cde ddTˆe dddde dcedce ‡ddce‡Se cdfdcf cdfdcyde tddddddddde U‰dccdcdˆce ddddddddIce ‡Pdddddddce U‰edcg dddddddddde cyF‰dcc‡8re dH‰cdcc8dce cdg cdg cdg ‡Fh U‰ecyAˆe dccdg dccdeyAˆc ctdddddddAe ‡Fwccdg Urecdcydce dcdddddddce cdddddddddddAc yde cde cde cddde t@‰de Urcde dccde dddde ‡PTˆe U`fIe dccdrc dddde ctdccdvc cUdccdIc cQdccddc cxdccdSc ‡PTˆe U`fIe dccdrc dddde ctdccdvc cUdccdIc cQdccddc cxdccdSc fIe cde tSe Ure ddTˆe ctSce ‡8‰ce 8ddde cyFce †RHwe†9e dcdccddH‰ce dcdccdg dcdvcdg ddddcddddce dcecdedce dddctdagSce dcdcU‚9drce ctScdcdcxdf cUrcd‡dagdace cdeQdbdH‚9de Gˆg †Aucyde xIeUrf cdctScf cQ„8rcf cxddvcf cgddAuf dddddddddde cs9ˆe‡@wce cyPHwsRddce dHwcecsdce cdedcf cdedcyAˆc cdd‡@wf tddd‰cf Udddddf dcdccd‡de c‡ddˆcf ‡FwsGuf dddddddddde cyF‰e†Rdde dH‰ch cdddddddddddAc cdhe cdecddddde cdecdedre cdecdcddce cdvccdg cddccddddde cdecddˆdce cdecd†ddve cdecd‡ddIe cdecdHwsde cdddddcdctdce cdddrccddcdre c†Rde cddddddddde cdecdcdcde cdcdddddcde cdecdcdcde cddddddddde cdgcde cdcdddddcde cdcdecdcde tScdddddcde F‰cdwcs9ˆde cd‡Sf cdd f cydueyde dcecdf ddddddf s9ˆcecdf cxddddddf cyFccd†9Tˆe cddddddddddde c‡PH‰ctSc†RAe cFwceF‰g cdedcf cdedcf cdedcf cdeddHwe cdedcf tdedcf cdeQacgSc cde†RdH‰c ddddedcyPdc cy8dedcf dH‰dedcedc CHINA...... RMB6.00 U.S.A...... USD 1.70 AUSTRALIA...... AUD 3.00CHINA...... RMB6.00 U.S.A...... USD 1.70 UK...... GBP 1.20 CANADA...... CAD 2.60 SWITZERLAND...... CHF

BEIJING REVIEW JULYJUNE 3,26, 2003 2003 Russia’s Own Twin Plane Tragedies 49 VOL. 47 NO. 36 CONTENTS SEP. 9, 2004 2 EDITOR’S DESK 2 Lessons From Athens

3 PEOPLE & POINTS

4 WEEKLY WATCH

10 WORLD 10 Cooperation Needed China-U.S. trade friction overlooking complimentary economies 12 Russia’s Own Twin Plane Tragedies ‘Black-widow’ suicide bombers step up terror 14 Making a Move U.S. to redeploy thousands of troops 17 U.S. Military Problem Lies in the Numbers, 18 Not the Geography 18 COVER 18 Lost in Translation Getting Beijing’s signs to make sense 24 Being Understood Beijingers polish up their foreign language skills 26 Dear Prudence Less flash called for in Olympic construction

29 VIEWPOINT 29 The U.S. Presidential Elections and Sino-U.S. Relations What impact will elections have for China? 31 Critical Point 12 China reaches crucial stage of development

33 NATION 33 Tibetan Festivals 46 FORUM There’s always something to celebrate in Tibet 46 Surrendering Bribes Corrupt officials get a chance 38 BUSINESS to return their bribes 38 It’s Getting Hot Again Economy set to sizzle once more 48 EXPAT’S EYE 40 Shock Therapy 48 In Search of Cao Xueqin’s Beijing Goodbye auto loans monopoly Following the trail from 44 State of the Market A Dream of Red Mansions

Beijing Review (ISSN 1000-9140) is published weekly for US$64.00 per year by Cypress Book (U.S.) Co., Inc., 3450 Third Street, Unit 4B, San Francisco, CA 94124. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Francisco, CA 94124. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Beijing Review, Cypress Book (U.S.) Co., Inc., 3450 Third Street, Unit 4B, San Francisco, CA94124. EDITOR’S DESK

Lessons From Athens By LI JIANGUO A News Weekly Published Since 1958 http: //www.bjreview.com.cn fter the 28th Olympic Games ended in Athens on E-mail: [email protected] August 29, the five-ring Olympic flag was passed on to Beijing, the city to host the 29th Olympiad in just Publisher: Wang Gangyi A Editor in Chief: Lii Haibo four short years. Now, Beijing has become a focus of the Associate Publisher: Qi Wengong world. Associate Editor in Chief: Li Jianguo Assistant Editor in Chief: Huang Wei In the Athens Games, China achieved a historical breakthrough to rank second on the gold medal tally Executive Editors: Wang Yanjuan, Li Rongxia Editorial Consultants: Francisco Little, Adam Balbo (behind the United States), as well as blooding young ath- Senior Consultants: Shao Haiming, Jin Jianzhong letes. Meanwhile, Athens has also provided Beijing with Senior Writers: Pan Shuangqin, Qin Wenli, many valuable experiences regarding holding a successful Yao Bin, Tang Qinghua Staff Writers: Ding Zhitao, Zan Jifang, Olympic Games. Ding Ying, Ni Yanshuo, What struck me most was Athens’ thriftiness in holding Chen Wen, Ding Wenlei, the games. There was no welcoming ceremony and no Wang Jun, Yu Shujun, Zhang Jinqin, Li Li, Liu Yu, flashy electronic equipment. Most of the events were held Liu Yunyun, Yan Wei, in existing facilities. Gone are the days of holding political- Yin Pumin, Zou Xiang ly motivated demonstrations of national strength through Staff Reporters: Feng Jing, Zhang Zhiping, Tang Yuankai, Feng Jianhua, excessive spending on the games. Lan Xinzhen, Tan Wei Beijing has started to work out an economical approach Photo Editor: Jiang Xiaoying to its 2008 Olympics. The scale of the main venue, the Design & Layout: Xu Husheng, Hou Lina, Wang Yajuan National Stadium, as well as other stadiums and gymnasi- Art: Li Shigong, Zhu Shiqin ums are being toned down to decrease cost. Chief Business Executive: Li Zhenzhou The Olympics can be seen as a way for a nation to Advertising Director: Cheng Guangyan exhibit to the world its economic and technological might Advertising Staff: Huang Min, Gu Xiaoxi, Distribution Director: Tang Jihong through extravagance. However, exercising frugality as an Distribution Staff: Bai Jie, Yang Zhansheng, Olympic host could not only widen its profit margins, but Liu Xiuzhi also is consistent with the country’s pursuit of a scientific Human Resources: Zhang Xiaoli Legal Counsel: Yue Cheng approach to achieve development that places emphasis on people’s benefits. General Editorial Office Tel: 86-10-68996252 Another thing Beijing should learn from Athens has to do Fax: 86-10-68326628 with “software” construction. The “hardware” facilities of the English Edition Tel: 86-10-68996259 Athens Games are not particularly outstanding, but the whole Advertising Department event is nevertheless satisfying. This is mainly because the city Tel: 86-10-68995813, 68326072 gave priority to quality personnel and services. Fax: 86-10-68329398 E-mail: [email protected] The “cordial volunteers” and “high-quality spectators” Distribution Department in the Athens Games were recruited throughout the world. Tel: 86-10-68310644 Fax: 86-10-68329398 Their smiles and language proficiency left a great impres- E-mail: [email protected] sion. Because of its strong financial resources, Beijing can Published every Thursday by easily outdo Athens in terms of “hardware.” However, BEIJING REVIEW, 24 Baiwanzhuang Lu, ideas like a “Green Olympics,” “Hi-tech Olympics” and Beijing 100037, China. “People’s Olympics,” which Beijing has proposed for the Overseas Distributor: China International Book Trading Corporation (Guoji Shudian), P. O. BOX 399, 2008 Games, indicates that providing a pleasant, conve- Beijing 100044, China nient environment is at the heart of the organizer’s plan. Tel: 86-10-68413849 Fax: 86-10-68412166 E-mail: [email protected] The attitude and manners of Beijingers are key to Website: http://www.cnokay.com achieve the “People’s Olympics.” General Distributor for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan: Meanwhile, environment is another important area. Peace Book Co. Ltd. This consists of several factors, including the confusing 17/Fl, Paramount Bldg, 12 Ka Yip St, Chai Wan, HK Tel: 852-28046687 “Chinglish” signs in public places (see cover story p.18). It Fax: 852-28046409 is necessary to improve in this regard before the Beijing SUBSCRIPTION RATES (1 Year) Olympics start or they will undermine the goal of having a Australia...... AUD 135.20 successful meeting of the Olympic family. ■ New Zealand ...... NZD 144.00 UK ...... GBP 48.10 U.S.A...... US$ 75.30 Canada ...... CAD 114.40 Printed in China by Have a comment, complaint or question? Beijing Review welcomes your feedback. BEIJING LEEFUNG-ASCO CHANGCHENG PRINTERS CO. LTD. E-mail our editorial team at [email protected] or write to us at Beijing Review, 24 Baiwanzhuang Lu, Beijing 100037, China. Letters may be edited for length or content.

2 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 PEOPLE & POINTS XINHUA

track and field before Liu Xiang’s blazing performance. Liu’s Hurdling Into History victory is also good for Asia, as no Asian has ever become an Olympic champion in a short-distance track event. Liu Xiang had the entire Chinese population holding At a post-race press conference, Liu said, “I hope the their breath for 12.91 seconds on August 27 as he lined up for result today will change people’s view that a member of the the race of his life. The 21-year-old Shanghai native claimed Asian race, in terms of the hurdles and sprints, lags behind the the 110-meter hurdles gold medal in the Athens Olympics and instantly became China’s new track idol. Europeans or Americans. I will demonstrate to the world that Liu led from the gun and streaked to victory, breaking the they must take notice of me and Asia.” Olympic record of 12.96 seconds and equaling an 11-year-old Talking about the future, Liu Xiang said, “I still have world record in the process. higher goals to complete. One is to break the world record Although China has collected over 100 Olympic gold and the other is to defend my title at the 2008 Beijing medals since its first in 1984, none of those medals was from Olympic Games.” a male track and field event. High jumper Zhu Jianhua, who Liu’s given name Xiang means flying in Chinese. All was the world record holder at the time, won a bronze in the Liu’s fans look forward to him living up to his name and fly- 1984 Los Angeles Games, the best result of Chinese men in ing over the hurdles to victory in 2008.

iu is a hero, the pride of all of China.” iu Xiang showed his best and overcame his poor start. He has “L “Lalways been fast in the latter part Luo Chaoyi of the race and but not so good Director of the Athletics Administration at the starts.” under the General Administration of Sport Sun Haiping Liu Xiang’s coach e [Liu Xiang] got out really fast and I was really impressed with the way he “Htook the race on. It was a phenomenal iu Xiang performed a miracle in performance here at the Olympic Games. I am winning this gold medal.” chuffed. Good job.” “L Colin Jackson Duan Shijie Former 110-meter hurdles world champi Deputy chief de mission of the Chinese on and world record holder sports delegation to Athens

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 3 LETTER

lished in the Chinese language. And, as was men- EASTWARD HO! tioned correctly in one of the articles, how many Western academics are able to read Chinese? A series of recently published articles in Beijing Additionally, as with any translations, Chinese Review (“Westward HO!”, No.25, June 24; “UK academic research papers experience many prob- Uni Breaks New Ground” and “Bringing lems, such as misinterpretations, when translated Nottingham to Ningbo,” both No.26, July 1; and into English, largely due to the peculiarities inherent “Private Universities Gain Favor,” No.28, July 15) in the Chinese language and thinking process. essentially deal with the continued influx and estab- Besides, as we are all aware, the quality of transla- lishment of foreign (“Western”) educational institu- tions can vary considerably. tions in China and their perceived strategic function Another claim made by the Western schools as the primus inter pares in an attempt to reform the established in China is that they place major empha- modus operandi of the presently existing system of sis on the practicality component of their teaching higher education. methodology and curricula. In other words, they In defense of the contemporary Chinese system train students in accordance with job market of higher education, it should be stated that it has demands and thus fulfill an important socioeconom- developed from a rather heterogeneous mosaic of ic function. But the basic question to be asked is: specific political, historical, demographic, mainly How stable and predictable is the long-range transitional economic (state to market economy) employment supply and demand situation, given the developments and deeply ingrained cultural tradi- often extremely erratic fluctuations of both the tions (over 5,000 years of continuous civilization). national and world market economies and thus These foundations are fundamentally different in employment opportunities? most respects from the “Western” educational sys- It is equally unjustified to claim that Chinese tems, pedagogy and philosophies, which have been university education exclusively emphasizes theoret- characterized by a comparatively homogeneous, ical knowledge (book knowledge) at the expense organic growth and development. and neglect of practical training and schooling. Unquestionably, it is to be expected that the infu- For example, the University of Petroleum of East sion of “Western” educational ideas, especially at China has introduced an integrated, cooperative the university level, will make a major and valuable petroleum engineering curriculum. The city of contribution to the internationalization and thus, by Dongying and the university campus are surrounded implication, modernization of the Chinese system of by the Shengli Oilfield, one of the largest in China. higher education. Engineering students will complete practical field The argument used, however, requires some fun- sessions for hands-on training in the oilfield as an damental caveats. integral part of their curriculum. Additionally, the It remains to be seen, for example, whether or students exchange information on an ongoing, coop- not the infusion of Western institutions will in the erative basis with the various national as well as long run be sufficiently adaptive and creative in international business enterprises engaged in the order to lead to the predicted metamorphosis of operation of the oilfield. Chinese higher education. It is equally questionable Some of the occupational categorization used whether or not their perceived academic reputation appears to be slightly confusing. For example, in will constitute the conditions required to successful- most Western school systems the traditional distinc- ly reform the state-operated or public school system tion between non-academic (vocational, technical) of higher education. and academic (university) training and education is There would appear to occasionally exist, even still prevalent. Accordingly the term professional though not intentionally, a slight undertone of what refers to job categories, which require university might be referred to as academic elitism and conde- graduation, such as lawyers, medical doctors, engi- scendence, and the “Western Magic” seems to be all neers, etc., and is not normally used in connection pervasive. with the various trade and labor related occupations. The argument has been made that, at the present Along the same line of reasoning, what exactly is a time, not even one Chinese university ranks amongst gray collar worker as distinct from a white or blue the top 200 or even 300 world-ranked schools. But collar one? the important question to be asked is: What exactly One can only hope that the attempt to hybridize are the criteria used in defining a world-class univer- the Western and Chinese ways of educational sity? Who sets the standards? Again it would appear thought and philosophies will eventually lead to the that, historically speaking, Western academic tradi- intended modernization of the contemporary tions and standards have held a decisive monopoly. Chinese system of higher education. Only time will If, for example, the number of scientific publica- tell. tions is a fundamental criterion, then Chinese acade- Franz Hegmann mics would be at a definite disadvantage since most Qingdao, Shandong Province of their research results have been written and pub- China

4 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 WEEKLY WATCH

CHINESE COLORS GONG YONG

August 29, Chinese musicians perform at the closure of the 28th Athens Olympic Games. During the 28th Olympiad, China bagged 32 golds, 17 silvers and 14 bronzes, a medal record in the country’s Olympic history. More importantly, Chinese athletes made tremendous progress in track and field, tennis, wrestling and boxing. The country was also delighted to see its rising competitiveness in other events like swimming and hockey. “Though China is in second place on the gold tally, we are not a sports superpower,” said Yuan Weimin, chief de mission of the Chinese sports delegation. “We are still comparatively weak in track and field and swimming, two premier sports at the Olympic Games,” he added. “Hopefully, we can narrow the gap in 2008.”

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 5 WEEKLY WATCH

POLITICS nearly 50 ministerial-level delegates.” Hu Xiaoyi, Law Amendment The Secretary General of the Standing Committee of the meeting’s China National National People’s Congress Organizing Committee, (NPC), China’s top legisla- announced on August 30. ture, passed a law banning the With “Social Security: buying or selling of blood on Securing Social Justice” as August 28, with the aim to the theme, the meeting will prevent the spread of AIDS. discuss a wide range of The revised Law on the issues, including the most Prevention and Control of recent trends of social securi- Infectious Diseases stipulates TAO MING ty, social protection of that governments at various migrant workers and their levels should “strengthen pre- families, and investment of vention and control” of AIDS social security funds, said Hu. MACAO CHIEF REELECTED August 29, Edmund Ho Hau-wah and take measures to prevent (right), current Chief Executive of Macao Special Administrative the spread of the disease. This Research Satellite China Region, receives congratulations from members of the Macao is the first time that AIDS has launched its 19th recoverable Election Committee after he is overwhelmingly reelected. been specifically targeted in experimental satellite into a Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council signed a decree on Chinese law. preset orbit on August 29 Ho’s reappointment on September 1. The law also requires the from the Jiuquan Satellite youth,” said Hu Wei, member link Chinese scientists and the government to earmark funds Launch Center in the north- of the Secretariat of the international science commu- for infectious disease preven- western province of Gansu. Central Committee of the nity in their studies of how tion and makes it illegal to The satellite’s main func- Communist Youth League of human activities and environ- discriminate against victims tion is scientific space China. mental changes affect each of infectious diseases. research, land surveying, The festival, held from other. IHDP is an internation- Two revised laws and 10 mapping among other scien- August 23 to 30, is a cultural al, interdisciplinary and non- amendments to laws were tific experiments, said Launch exchange activity that will governmental research pro- passed at the 11th Session of Center officials. help the futures of both Africa gram that was launched in the NPC Standing Committee The satellite is to remain and China, according to 1990. that ended on August 28. in orbit for a few days before Egyptian delegate Ayman China hopes to use the returning to Earth. World Forum The 28th Shawky, expressing hope that group to advance its domestic International Social Security Youth Festival The First China would provide full sup- research, as well as have it Association General China-Africa Youth Festival port to Egypt, which is to host function as a forum to formu- Assembly, recognized as the concluded on August 30 in the annual event next year. late national and regional sus- most important worldwide Guangzhou, capital of Environmental Study The tainable development strate- social security forum, will be Guangdong Province. Chinese National Committee gies. The committee will also held in Beijing on September “We are willing to take for the International Human participate in developing 12-18. the festival as an opportunity Dimensions Program (IHDP) major national and interna- “Some 1,500 participants to continuously open up a on Global Environmental tional cooperation projects have registered for the meet- vast world for the mutual Change was formally estab- and help to raise public ing, of whom 1,300 are for- learning and cooperation lished on August 30. The new awareness of environmental eign delegates, including between Chinese and African scientific organization will protection. ■

PRIORITY FOR FREE TRAINING CHILDREN August 30, August 30, trainees massage Executive Director mannequin heads of the United during a free Nations Children training class in a Fund (UNICEF), reemployment Bellamy, presents service center in textbooks to Xi’an, Shaanxi children in Tibet. Province. Since Until now UNICEF the first training in has offered $300 October 2002, the million in free aid center has to China and launched 33 established more courses, training than 150 3,000 jobless programs. people.

6 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 WEEKLY WATCH

ECONOMY modified version of a XINHUA Japanese Shinkansen bullet Flotation Suspension train, which can run at a top China will temporarily sus- speed of 275 km per hour. pend initial public offerings The project marks the (IPOs) until it formulates first large-scale transfer of new rules to price IPOs, Japan’s Shinkansen technolo- securities regulator gy to China. announced. The China Securities Fund Staying Put The Regulatory Commission National Council for Social released a draft of the new Security Fund is unlikely to IPO pricing regulations on invest overseas this year, August 30. According to the sources with the council draft, companies launching revealed. IPOs will have to make The State Council has inquiries regarding share approved in principle for the TRADE TIES August 31, Liu Jingmin, Vice Mayor of Beijing, is prices among institutional 140-billion-yuan (about $17 surrounded by reporters after a press conference before of the investors like fund man- billion) fund to invest abroad, Eighth Beijing-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium agers, qualified foreign insti- but policy makers have yet to in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. Olympics related business opportunities are a principal topic for tutional investors and securi- issue detailed rules for such discussion at the symposium, held on September 2-3 in Hong ties firms. investments. Kong. Stock issuers and spon- Zhan Yuyin, Director of sors should also provide rele- the council’s Investment vant reports on the evaluation Department, said that with Assistant Secretary of the gas fields of Qinghai Oilfield, of the prices to these institu- only four months left this U.S. Commerce for Import the Tainan gas field has an tions. year, there is not enough Administration who visited area of 35.9 square km. The final IPO price time to begin investing China in July, had promised Cosmetics Exports ranges will be decided on the abroad. He added that Hong to give an early response. Shanghai exported about $2 basis of the inquiries. Kong is an important target China is requesting mar- million in daily cosmetics in under study. ket economy status with the Bullet Train Chinese train the first seven months of this United States, regarding manufacturer Nanche Sifang Market Status year. Chinese fur- which the two countries have Locomotive and six Japanese The total cosmetics niture makers are seeking sta- set up a study group. companies have won the bid tus as a market-oriented export for the period reached for China’s new bullet train. industry (MOI) in anti-dump- Natural Gas Found Tainan approximately 3,380 tons, The $12-billion project ing cases initiated by the Gas Field, a part of Qinghai up 23.2 percent from the sponsored by the Ministry of United States. Jia Qingwen, Oilfield, has reported a find same period in 2003. The Railways aims to double the Director of the China of an additional 52.63 billion value of exported cosmetics speed of trains on five exist- National Furniture cubic meters of natural gas, amounted to $33.5 million, ing railway lines, stretching Association, said the industry bringing total reserves in the an increase of 10 percent, 2,000 km altogether, to 200 was asking for relevant U.S. Qaidam area in Qinghai according to the Shanghai km per hour. departments for the recogni- Province to 303.9 billion Municipal Administration of The six Japanese compa- tion as of August 31. cubic meters. Entry-Exit Inspection and nies are expected to offer a Jia said that Jim Jochum, As one of the three major Quarantine. ■

SING US A FRANK TALKS Over 70 SONG! On the economic experts and evening of scholars from China August 30, and the United States Guizhou attend the China Reform University Forum-RAND Seventh students sing Annual Conference in at an art Beijing on August 30-31 festival in and exchanged views Guiyang, on China’s peaceful rise Guizhou. and Sino-U.S. relations. Students from The mechanism was 12 universities initiated in 1998 and has in west China become a key channel participated in NI YANSHUO of academic exchanges the arts event. between the two countries.

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 7 WEEKLY WATCH XINHUA/AFP XINHUA

WOEFUL WEEK September 1, a TV still taken from Russia’s NTV channel shows Russian special forces taking position during an operation in North Ossetia. About 20 gunmen took about 400 hostages, including 200 children, at a school in the southern Russian republic, which is near Chechnya. This was the third serious terrorist incident in the country in XINHUA/AFP

ISRAEL BOMBED August 31, Israeli rescue teams and Zaka emergency services volunteers (in yellow vests and caps) work at the scene of a twin suicide bombing attack on two buses in Beersheva. At least 16 people were killed. This was the first suicide bombings in Israel in the last five months. An anonymous spokesman for the radical Palestinian

XINHUA/AFP BUSH RENOMINATED August 31, U.S. President George W. Bush is shown on a large screen behind his daughters, Jenna (right) and Barbara, as they address the delegates at the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York. Bush accepted his renomination for a second term in office in front of 50,000 Republican delegates, guests and journalists. XINHUA/AFP

MISSILE LAUNCH Indian soldiers stand at attention next to an Agni-II long-range missile during a parade, in New Delhi. India test-fired a variant of its homegrown nuclear-capable Agni ballistic missile from a mobile launcher on Wheeler Island, off the eastern state of Orissa on August 29, according to an Indian defense official. The surface-to-surface Agni-II has a maximum strike range of 2,500 km, which is considered intermediate. m LEADERS IN RUSSIA August 31, French President Jacques Chirac (left), German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk during a meeting in Sochi, south Russia. The leaders met in the resort town for informal talks on Iraq and other issues.

8 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 WEEKLY WATCH XINHUA/AFP XINHUA/AFP

SADR MEDIATES Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr speaks during a Friday sermon at mosque in Kufa. Sadr announced on August 30 that his movement was disarming to join the political mainstream. The 31-year-old cleric, for many Iraqis the symbol of resistance to foreign occupation, made the announcement three days after a deal ending the weeks-long confrontation between U.S. troops and his Mahdi Army in the holy city of Najaf.

NEPAL IN RAGE September 1, a protester shouts slogans as he XINHUA/AFP stands beside a burning tire during a demonstration in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, to protest the killing of 12 Nepalese hostages in Iraq. XINHUA/AFP

HAPPY NOTTING HILL August 29, children participate in a costume parade during the 40th Notting Hill Carnival in London. About 1 million revellers were attracted to the gala, Europe’s largest, which usually is held annually and lasts for two days. This year, its theme was “Freedom and Justice.”

CHENG MIN DIAMOND HELLO KITTY August 31, the world’s most expensive Hello Kitty doll, priced at 10 million yen ($91,900), is displayed at Mitsukoshi Department Store as part of a celebration to mark Hello Kitty’s 30th birthday in Tokyo. The doll is made of platinum, 41 mm tall and weighs 75 grams. It wears a MAN OF COURAGE August 29, Alu Alkhanov (Center) casts his cloak studded with 205 pieces ballot at a polling station for Chechen presidential elections in 4.1 ct diamond and a mace with Tsentoroy Village. The Chechen Elections Commission officially 0.753 ct pink colored diamond. declared Alkhanov the winner on September 1, who won 372,687, or 73.67 percent, of the votes.

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 9 LU MINGXIANG

LESS FRICTION: April 21, Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi (left) talks to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald L. Evans (second right) at Cooperation Needed China and the United States have complementary economies, overshadowed by trade friction

By FU MINGZI It is a necessary periodical readjustment Bush lost 2 million. after long-term growth, as well as a result The growth rate of the American y setting up the world’s first of the given internal and external environ- economy in the first quarter of 2004 was “new economy,” the United ments after the 9.11 terrorist attacks. The encouraging, reaching 4.5 percent. But States assumed a leading posi- attacks forced Washington to list anti-ter- the figure dropped to 3 percent in the sec- tion in a variety of industries and rorism as its top priority, reversing the ond quarter. Although it is still a moder- experienced rapid growth in the declining trend of its defense budget after ate growth, it is not easy to reach 4 per- Bpast decade. The rise of the American the Cold War. The expenditures on home- cent of the yearly growth rate previously economy can be compared to that of land and national defense grew at a large set by the Federal Reserve. The rocketing China. The American economy expand- rate. For the sake of homeland security, oil price, lingering terrorist threats, rise of ed from $2.2 trillion in 1979 to $11 tril- Washington tightened its border control, American interest rate and credit crunch, lion in 2003, while that of the Chinese directly causing its trade costs with other will all likely slow down American economy rose from $200 billion to $1.2 countries to soar. Against the backdrop of economic growth. trillion correspondingly. The growth rate anti-terrorism, believing in the U.S. advan- of the Chinese economy in the same tage in overall strength, the Republican Impact on Sino-U.S. Economic period is two-three times that of the government is now focusing more on how Relations United States, but the economic aggre- to employ American existing strength, With implementation of China’s gate of both nations increased by almost than dealing with the country’s economic reform and opening-up policy, China is five times. In this sense both economies growth. Despite President Bush reshuf- now more integrated with the global and were expanding simultaneously, vigor- fling his economic workforce, his adminis- regional economy. To a greater extent, ously boosting the world economy and tration’s macroeconomic situation was still China now has realized the importance of Sino-U.S. bilateral economic and trade worse than the Clinton administration. common interests with other countries in relations. Budget deficit and trade deficit rose at the the world. Downward Trend same time. Clinton accumulated $100 bil- The Sino-U.S. trade and economic lion of budget surpluses, while Bush will relations has been developing very rapid- The American economy slowed after face $500 billion of budget deficits this ly. Since the establishment of diplomatic the Bush administration came into power. year, the severest deterioration after World relations between the two countries in War II. The trade deficit this year will 1979, bilateral trade volume has The author is director of the Institute for American Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary reach $500 billion. Meanwhile, Clinton increased 40-fold. Most of the top 500 International Relations created 20 million job opportunities, while U.S. companies have entered Chinese

10 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 WORLD market and large investment projects economic recovery. If the U.S. economy results from transfer of trade surplus with from the United States can be seen all slowed down, it is hoped the trade deficit the United States from other economies over China. The United States has with China would be lowered. to China. become the biggest investor in China. It is Trade deficit of the United States with because of the deepening interdepen- Imbalanced Bilateral Trade China is not a big problem. However, it dence between the two countries that the The Sino-U.S. trade imbalance will may be maneuvered by politicians. The slowdown of the American economy will exist for the foreseeable future, because Chinese Government is still seeking to exert direct influences on China’s eco- of the macroeconomic situation in the resolve the imbalance in the process of nomic development. two countries, export control of the development. China’s capability to This will put greater pressure on the United States against China and a reshuf- import from the United States will further issue of RMB appreciation. Because of fle of international division of labor. grow with China’s economic develop- the budget and trade deficits, the U.S. It is common sense that if a country’s ment. dollar becomes increasingly weaker domestic savings deposits are larger than China is in the biggest developing against major currencies around the investment, it will have trade surplus; and country and the United States is the world, such as euro and Japanese yen, vice versa. China’s huge trade surplus is a biggest developed country in the world. though in the past two years American economic growth was faster than Japan and the European Union. Since it is closely pegged to the U.S. dollar, RMB has benefited unexpectedly from the depreciation of the U.S. dollar. And now, the U.S. budget and trade deficit remains high and continues to grow. It is hard for the U.S. dollar to remain sta- ble or appreciate. The pressure for the RMB to appreciate expands. On the other hand, China has the need to raise its interest rate in order to curb its economic overheating. However, raising the interest rate will attract overseas capital to China, again bringing greater pressure on the RMB to appreciate. As a result, it will restrict the Chinese Government to practice its macro-control measures. The rise of the U.S. dollar’s interest rate, in fact, has brought China greater space for macro-control. However, with the inflationary pressure on the U.S. economy easing, the impetus for the United States to continue raising BUSINESS TIES: A U.S. buyer talks with a representative of a Chinese enterprise at an its dollar interest rate is reduced. This brings additional pressure for RMB appreciation at a time when China’s result of its huge savings deposits at They both should fully employ their own macro-control has not yet realized its goal home, while the large U.S. trade deficit is comparative advantages. Sino-U.S. eco- of soft landing. attributable to its low domestic savings nomic cooperation is helpful, not only to Meanwhile, the downward economic deposit rate. a sound economic performance of the trend in the United States also makes China and the United States have two countries, but also to stability and Sino-U.S. trade friction worse. With the complementary economies, the compara- development of the world economy. The economic slowdown and high trade tive advantages on the U.S. side are main- most serious ongoing problem in Sino- deficit of the United States, Sino-U.S. ly in hi-tech, knowledge-intensive equip- U.S. economic relations is trade friction. trade disputes will become more fre- ment and products, while China’s com- The United States should give the matter parative advantages lie in labor-intensive quent. Statistics from the U.S. further thought, easing its export control Department of Commerce show that the products. The U.S. export control against and bringing bilateral economic and trade country’s commodity trade deficit with China represses full play of its compara- relations back to normal. Meanwhile, China rose from $12.1 billion in May to tive advantages, thus leading to trade $14.2 billion in June, while its deficit with imbalance between the two countries. China should consider using trade surplus the EU increasing from $7.9 billion to China has a high-quality, low-cost with the United States to purchase U.S. $10.6 billion and deficit with Japan from labor force. Developed economies and treasury bonds, which can balance their $5.5 billion to $6.3 billion during the emerging markets move their factories to international payments, offset the U.S. same period. In recent years, the U.S. China and sell their products through fiscal deficit, and support and guarantee deficit with China has been growing their original channels. Thus, the increase the international position of the U.S. dol- rapidly partly because of its continuing of trade surplus on the Chinese side lar at a strategic level. ■

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 11 WORLD Russia's Own Twin Plane Tragedies Allegations fly over two recent plane bombings. Whoever is responsible, violence is still coming out of war-torn Chechnya

By DING ZHITAO XINHUA/AFP

he September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001 has not only changed the global politi- cal landscape, it has also come to represent the palpable fear of a Tlarge civilian attack perpetrated by incon- spicuous assailants. The dread is that “September 11,” as it were, could happen anywhere around the world, as it did for Spain at a Madrid railway station on March 11, 2004, and, most recently, on August 24 near Moscow. Two passenger jet liners took off on a black night from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport within 40 minutes of one another. They both headed south, one to Sochi, a popular summer resort near the Black Sea where Russian President Vladimir Putin was spending his vacation, and the other to Volgograd. Neither one would make it. A Tu-134 airplane, crashed 180 km south of the capital. Shortly after, a Tu-154 jet dis- NATION IN MOURNING: August 26, a mother holds her baby as she looks at appeared from radar and crashed too. A remembering candles in a church in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin total of 89 passengers and crew members declared a day of mourning in remembrance of the 89 people, who were killed in two airplane crashes on August 24 lost their lives. The crashes occurred just five days 1994, when Russian forces tried to bring with international terrorist organizations, before a presidential election in the the breakaway republic back into its fold by including Al Qaeda, receiving military and tumultuous southern republic of force, the Kremlin has been worried the financial assistance, as well as recruits Chechnya. Laced with too many coinci- conflict could undermine social stability from abroad. dences to be accidents, the police deter- across the country. Since he assumed the Their operations have become more mined the crashes were politically motivat- office in early 2000, President Putin has violent recently. Just one day before ed on August 27. been keen on resolving the issue for good. President Putin visited Chechnya on According to investigators, two women The federal government tried to wipe out August 22, rebels launched their fiercest from Chechnya, where local rebels’ claims Chechen military separatists and, at the attack in this year, which killed over 90 and to independence from the Russian same time, put manpower and money into left hundreds wounded over a time. In Federation after the Soviet Union disinte- local politics and the economy. This includ- June, Maskhadov threatened to attack grated, has led to bloody conflicts since the ed formulating a new constitution, strength- Russian targets, explicitly including the mid-1990s, allegedly ignited explosives on ening administration and economic recon- use of passenger planes as a potential each of the two airplanes. struction. President Putin also decided to weapon. The suicide bombers are just two of the “chechenize” the operation, recruiting However, Maskhadov denied that he dozens of “black widows” who have taken locals into the security services and promis- orchestrated the plane crashes. On August their lives along with others. Thousands of ing the republic a degree of economic 27, a group calling themselves the women have lost husbands and family autonomy. By these means, he hopes to win Islambouli Brigades claimed responsibility members during the past decade of war over moderates and isolate the radicals. for the attacks on a website, saying they between rebel factions and the government After this, the social and economic situation were avenging “Russia’s slaughtering of troops in Chechnya. Many, convinced they in the region did improve some. Muslims” in Chechnya. have nothing more to lose, have become However, the rebel forces, headed by Li Wei, a research fellow with the violently desperate and recruited in such Aslan Maskhadov, have continued to resist China Institute of Contemporary missions. Russian authorities see them as the central government through guerilla International Relations, said that Chechen an increasing threat to national security. warfare and terrorist attacks on civilians. separatists and international terrorists like- Since the first Chechen war broke out in These rebels also established connections ly plotted the incidents. Li argued the polit-

12 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 Recent Terrorist Attacks on Russia ical goal was to deter the Moscow-backed increasing the costs of counter-terrorism. candidate from winning the Chechen pres- It is apparent that the Putin adminis- May 12, 2003 A truck bomb explo- idential election, which was held on tration will have to fine-tune future for- sion demolishes a government com- August 29. eign policy. He will possibly try to pound in Znamenskoye, Chechnya, The Putin administration has decided to improve Russia’s ties with the United killing 54. The Russian Government blamed Saudi-born rebel leader Abu face this fierce political challenge head on. States and cooperate in a wider scope Walid and his followers for the mass- With a tight budget, military expendi- with other countries to combat Chechen slaying. tures and economic development have separatists. The same day, two female suicide been at odds. Kremlin feels a “stick” poli- One positive is that the bombings have bombers attacked then Chechen cy is still the best way to confront terror- not stopped Chechnya’s political recon- Administrator Akhmad Kadyrov during ism. Therefore, military operations plus struction. A presidential election was held a religious ceremony in Iliskhan Yurt. political heavy-handedness will continue as scheduled on August 29. Alu Alkhanov, Kadyrov escaped the assassination to be the core of President Putin’s once assistant of the assassinated pro- attempt, but 14 others were killed and Chechnya policy. Kremlin Chechen President Akhmad 43 wounded. Factional Chechen rebel After the cold-blooded murder of the Kadyrov, was elected. It is way too easy to leader Shamil Basayev claimed passengers aboard the two aircraft, tell he can bring hope to the troubled responsibility. President Putin should see a tide of popu- region. August 1, 2003 A suicide truck lar support for a hard-line policy in the There is no foreseeable end to the vio- bomb attack destroys a Russian mili- region. This will allow for an assertion of lence that continues to spill out of the small tary hospital in Mozdok, North Ossetia presidential authority and vindicate an republic. Just two days after the Chechen and kills 50. The Russian Government increase in military expenditures in the presidential votes were cast, a “black attributed the attack to followers of name of national security. But the Chechen widow” killed nine people, including her- Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev. economy, which severely lacks investment, self, and wounded 51 others when she det- December 5, 2003 A suicide bomb cannot be ignored. onated a bomb outside a Moscow subway attack kills 42 and wounds 150 aboard President Putin also will have to work station. Many Russian politicians are link- a Russian commuter train in the out a way to cooperate with the West. Such ing Chechen rebels to the latest attack, call- southern town of Yessentuki. violence could very well be construed as ing it revenge for the elections in which a President Putin said the attack was indicating a need for cooperation among Kremlin-backed candidate won the presi- meant to disrupt legislative elections. powers in the global campaign against ter- dency. Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov denied any involvement. rorism. Though the international commu- It was the third such bombing in Russia nity defines Chechen separatist forces as that week. And it is not the end of story that December 9, 2003 A female suicide “terrorists,” after pleas from Russia and reawakening fear of terrorism among bomber kills herself, five others and Russian people. Only one day after the wounds 14 outside Moscow’s National assertion of the United States for its own Hotel. need to strike terror. Russia’s Chechnya subway blast, armed attackers seized a February 6, 2004 An underground policy has been criticized in the West, most school in a south Russian town, 400 peo- train leaving the Avtozavodskaya vocally by the United States. ple, including 200 children, were taken hostage. It seems the Russian version of metro station is targeted, killing more Distrust among global powers, howev- than 40 and injuring over 130. er, encourages terrorist operations, while “September 11” is far from over. ■ May 9, 2004 Chechen President

XINHUA/AFP Akhmad Kadyrov, together with six others, is killed in a bomb attack at a crowded stadium in the Chechen capi- tal, Grozny. A total of 53 were injured. June 21-22, 2004 Militants attack law enforcement organizations in Ingushetia, causing 90 deaths. Among the dead were Ingushetia’s acting Interior Minister Abukar Kostoev and his deputy, Zyaudin Kotiev, among other high-ranking officials. July 25, 2004 A senior officer in a police unit fighting organized crime in Chechnya is killed by a car bomb a year after his son was shot dead in the region. August 24, 2004 Two Russian pas- senger planes crash. All 89 people aboard the planes were killed. Two women from Chechnya were suspect- ed to have detonated bombs. August 31, 2004 A female suicide bomber kills herself, nine people and wounds 51 others when she detonates TERROR IN THE AIR: August 24, Russian police investigators work near a tail unit of the a bomb outside a subway station in Tu-134 plane that crashed on August 24 outside Tula, some 180 km south of Moscow northeast Moscow. ■

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 13 WORLD Making a Move U.S. to redeploy its troops to cope with security concerns

By ZAN JIFANG the army and pose an effective deterrence to countries of the so-called “axis of evil,” .S. President George W. Bush which include Iran, Iraq and the announced, on August 16, a cut Democratic People’s Republic of Korea of 70,000 troops in Europe and (DPRK), according to President Bush’s Asia over the next 10 years, sig- 2002 State of the Union address. naling the beginning of a long- Second, to improve the rapid Uexpected military redeployment by the response capabilities for trans-regional United States. operations. The most recent military shift The redeployment plan will be imple- will alter the traditional way of stationing mented in the Middle East and Central troops overseas, which is to shift fixed Asia, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa, deployment to mobile deployment. Since ushering in the most important strategic Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld shift Washington has made in dealing took office, he has set out to speed up mil- with the post-Cold War security chal- itary reform and the transformation of the lenges. The move will have a significant army, so as to build a more agile fighting impact on regional and global security. force capable of rapid response in emer- The plan shows that the United States gencies. intends to move its strategic focus east- Third, to consolidate U.S. counter-ter- ward, consolidate its counter-terrorist rorist activities globally and construct a efforts through preemptive operations, new alignment system. Because of the and retain its military predominance in Iraq war, the relations between the United the world. The eastward shift of strategic States and Germany, France and other tra- focus will not only give U.S. forces more ditional European allies have chilled, access to the former Soviet republics while on the contrary, ties between the deemed “potential challenge,” but also is United States and Poland, Bulgaria, helpful to developing relations between Romania and some other East European the United States and Central and East countries have strengthened rapidly. European countries. Along with this, the Washington hopes to reach its target of Pentagon should also have hoped that the expanding its sphere of influence over adjustment of the U.S. troops in Europe East Europe, Central Asia and keeping would set an example for the reform of the stability of Northeast Asia by launch- NATO forces. Why the Move? The redeployment sets out to improve Republic, and others will return home. the quality and efficiency of the U.S. U.S. Military Shift Plan The U.S. naval forces stationed in troops, reflecting a big change in Italy will also undergo similar readjust- Washington’s military strategic thinking. Europe ments. Some military bases and facilities in First, to implement the preemptive Of the 70,000 troops that will be Europe will be closed. In new military pulled out from Europe and Asia, two- strategy. After the September 11 terrorist bases in Central and Eastern Europe, attacks in 2001, the United States made an thirds of them are currently stationed only a small number of advanced, important military strategic adjustment, in Europe. deployable troops will be stationed coming up with a new strategy aimed to U.S. troops in Europe number there. The new bases will be small- win the war against terror. Launching pre- 110,000, of which 71,000 are in sized and designed for emergency emptive strikes is the main content of this Germany. Two divisions will be with- missions. new strategy. The Bush administration drawn from Germany, some of which hopes to establish a military base network will be redeployed to some Central Asia-Pacific Region that covers wider areas by adjusting and East European countries includ- The United States has stationed deployment of troops overseas, so as to ing Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech around 100,000 troops in Asia- enhance the actual combat capability of

14 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 WORLD

ing a new alignment strategy. “The shift is not a spur of the moment decision, but a strategic move that has been planned for a long time,” said Wang Chun, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences. “As early as the end of the Cold War, the Clinton administration had already intended to readjust the U.S. military pos- ture,” said Wang, “but he finally gave up the plan because the timing was not right.” At that time, according to Wang, the former Soviet Union just collapsed amidst great likelihood of turmoil in the newly independent Russian Federation. Under such circumstances, the United States only made a small-scale military adjustment. After the Kosovo war in 1999, the United States realized there was no threat in Europe any longer. After President Bush came to power, he had already considered taking action, but his plan was interrupted by the September 11 terrorist attacks and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now that the Iraq war has all but ended, this military adjust- ment is once again receiving priority, Wang noted. Fu Mengzi, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, maintained that the U.S. mili- tary shift is mainly directed toward anti- terrorism. “Today, terrorism is the largest and most real threat facing all nations. The sit- uation is quite different from that in the Cold War period. So the shift aims to form small and mobile army units,” he added.

XINHUA/REUTERS Impact and Effect TIME TO GO: U.S. soldiers stationed in the Republic of Korea undertake a Although it is perhaps too early to military exercise near Seoul in February. The United States has decided to cut its evaluate the impact of the U.S. military troops on the Korean Peninsula by 12,500 by December 2005 s s adjustment on relations between

Pacific region. One-third of the as 20,000 marines based in countries. U.S. military bases in 37,000 U.S. troops in the ROK will Japan’s Okinawa will be moved to Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan be pulled out and remaining troops Australia. The Command of the and Tajikistan will be increased or will be redeployed. They will be sent First Corps of the U.S. Land Army expanded. to Iraq in rotation and then back will be moved from American main- home. The redeployment will be land to Japan. Africa implemented in two phases and will The United States will seek the use last four to five years. In the next Middle East and Central Asia of military bases in Tunisia, Morocco, three years, U.S. troops in the ROK After 12 years, U.S. troops will pull Algeria and some other African coun- will also carry out a plan to enhance out of Turkey. A reserve military pres- tries and dispatch more warships and combat ability. ence of around 150,000 troops will marine corps to patrol along the In Japan, 45,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq and Afghanistan, and coast of Africa. But the United States experience the largest readjustment four permanent Air Force bases will be has no intention to build permanent and reorganization since the Cold built in Iraq. U.S. troops in Saudi military bases in Africa. U.S. troops War. The U.S. Forces Headquarters Arabia will be shifted to Qatar, United in Europe will be sent to Africa in in Japan will be relocated. As many Arab Emirates and other regional rotation. ■

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 15 WORLD

Washington and its allies, the shift has munities have already begun to discuss Romania and Hungary. In addition, the already triggered opposition of some U.S. how to handle the situation. Many service U.S. military bases in Italy will be moved politicians and concerns of its allied facilities in Germany were built specifi- to the above countries—demonstrating countries. cally because of the existence of U.S. the U.S. aim of having a military presence Bush’s election opponent, troops and their families. But after they on Russia’s doorstep. Democratic candidate John Kerry, fierce- leave, whether these facilities remain is a The Russian Government is seeming- ly attacked the plan, saying it’s not the major concern. ly unperturbed on the surface. Russian time to do it, for it will arouse the suspi- According to incomplete statistics, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on cion of other countries regarding the will around 15,000 German civil servants are August 17 that the military adjustment of and commitment of the United States and currently working in various U.S. mili- the United States does not necessarily then damage America’s anti-terrorist tary departments. After U.S. troops pull make Russia feel uneasy as U.S. Defense campaign. He also criticized Bush’s deci- out, almost half of these workers will Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had sion of pulling troops out of the Republic become redundant. Local officials esti- informed him of such a plan before of Korea (ROK), saying it sent the wrong mated that the number of Germans who President Bush’s announcement. message to the DPRK at the wrong time. will be laid off because of the U.S. with- Some Russian analysts, however, think the redeployment may pose a new XINHUA/AFP threat to Russia. They suggest the Russian Government reach agreements with Transcaucasian and Central Asian countries on refusing the United States to establish military bases there. A Russian geopolitician predicted that the United States and its allies are preparing a “big battle” and the West is planning an over- all siege directed at Russia. The Russian military is closely moni- toring the movement of U.S. forces and at the same time has taken a series of counter measures. On the same day of Sergei Ivanov’s remarks on U.S. military readjustment, he announced, without warning, that Russia will bolster its mili- tary strength in north Caucasian areas. Besides this, Russia and the United States are holding negotiations on U.S. military redeployment in areas near Russia. Shi Yinhong, Professor of interna- tional politics at the Renmin University of China, pointed out that Central Asia and ANNOUNCING THE SHIFT: August 16, U.S. President George W. Bush announces the Middle East are the strategic focus of the 130,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq. “But, compared with the Cold War period, the Some U.S. military experts agreed drawal might be 10 times that of civil ser- United States intends to input more mili- that redeployment in the ROK is some- vants. tary strength in the Asia-Pacific region for thing reasonable, but it should not be In comparison, the political effect has the moment. Provided the situation on the done right at the time of negotiations with less impact. For the past 50 years Korean Peninsula makes Washington the DPRK amid the Korean nuclear cri- European countries have recovered their think it needs to use force, the strategic sis. The possible consequence of the rede- military strength lost during World War focus of the United States will be shifted ployment is believed an important reason II. At the same time, Russia, their com- to this region,” Shi said. for the Bush administration not to pull mon enemy along with the United States According to him, the United States troops out of Japan on a large scale. during the Cold War, has rebuilt its rela- has four strategic priorities: safeguard- In Germany, Bush’s plan met with tionship with the United States. In the ing the security of the U.S. mainland and widespread complaints. But there, the past 10 years, while Moscow and dealing with terrorist attacks especially major impact of the military shift has a Washington have not been the best of after the September 11 attacks; deterring deeper economic effect, than a political friends, they were not enemies either. hostile forces and preventing the prolif- one. U.S. troops have contributed in no The adjustment plan has also put eration of nuclear weapons; getting out small way to the economic development Russia on alert. According to the plan, the of the Iraq war and dealing with the of German cities through their spending first U.S. Armored Division will be Middle East problem; and keeping vigi- power as consumers. Although U.S. moved from the battlefields of Iraq to lant in East Asia, with an eye on the troops and their families will leave Bulgaria and part of U.S. troops in Korean Peninsula, China and the Taiwan Germany only from 2006, German com- Germany will be redeployed to Poland, Strait. ■

16 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 WORLD XINHUA U.S. Military Problem Lies in Numbers, Not Geography

By William Pfaff

he Bush administration’s decision to reduce the number of American sol- diers stationed abroad is a belated reaction to a U.S. military deploy- Tment gravely outdated since the end of the Cold War, maladapted even to the current official strategic scenario. Even reduced in troop strength, the vast U.S. global military base system will remain at odds with how the world is developing. LAST SHIFT: U.S. soldiers stand guard at a U.S. Air Force Base in Germany. A 10-year Taking troops out of one place and mov- redeployment involving 70,000 U.S. troops in Europe and Asia will soon be launched ing them to another does not increase their total number. Closing German, Korean or The manpower problem primarily States is “defeated” in Iraq. But that out- Okinawan bases will not send more troops to affects reserve and National Guard forces, come—in my view unfortunately assured— Iraq. These base closures and redeployments overly relied upon in planning the non-con- will make the Middle East an even more in any case will take years, not months. script army, and not meant for prolonged controversial and costly zone of action for The whole question of America’s deployment in a war of ideological choice the United States than already is the case. worldwide base system remains sadly con- rather than necessity. The regular army is The global base system rests on the fused by ideology and vested interest. Why severely stretched. assumption that it is true and useful to con- should U.S. troops still be in Germany? If the Iraq occupation and resistance go sider the “war on terror” as truly a war, with Germany is under no threat. But why should on for years (which is the conventional and globally deployed armies and air forces the forces be moved to Poland or Romania necessary assumption made in the right way to wage it. instead? Neither of those countries is tangi- Pentagon, although possibly not the realistic That idea, in my view, is false, and bly threatened. one), the regular army (and Marine Corps) potentially damaging. The evidence sug- The political climate is easier in Poland will have to be expanded, which John Kerry gests that American bases tend to destabi- or Romania, and bases there undoubtedly is proposing. However, the Iraq war is dis- lize, provoking nationalist or religious resis- are cheaper to run, thanks to lower mainte- couraging enlistments, even though real tance. This was the case in the Shah’s Iran, nance and logistical costs (but bases have to (rather than official) unemployment rates and in Saudi Arabia after the Gulf War. It is be newly built or adapted to U.S. needs). are high in the United States, due to the the case now in Iraq. There is also a question prompted by number of young unemployed not on offi- If the war on terror is really global, then historical experience, as well as principle, cial rolls. that eventually will make trouble. Why every American base in the Islamic world There is a political significance in the (and even elsewhere) is potential generator of should states under no threat, at peace with troop redeployment expected in Europe. It the world, have American troops stationed a new “foyer of terrorism.” What the is thought likely to convey the message that Pentagon sees as a global system of security within their borders? ex-Communist Europe is now America’s When President Vaclav Klaus of the bases, of a kind that was justified when there Europe—Washington’s “desegregated” was a conventional military threat from the Czech Republic was asked a few years ago Europe—and its ally in a search for influ- about the transfer of U.S. bases to his country, Soviet Union, makes little sense if the real ence inside the expanded European Union. threat of terrorism comes from people quiet- he replied dryly that the Czechs have had quite The apparently pro-U.S. political and enough of foreign troops in their republic. ly installed in Manhattan, Paris or London. economic bias of the new European What does the control of Najaf in Iraq, The American bases are justified as for- Commission, which upsets both Paris and or the chase for Osama bin Laden in the ward deployment in the nation’s supposed Berlin, is taken, by the suspicious, as evi- mountains of Afghanistan, have to do with global commitment to international stabili- dence already of competitive alignments. them? We already know that Saddam ty. But American forces are rotated to Iraq Warsaw and Bucharest (or Sofia and Tallin), Hussein’s regime in Iraq had nothing to do from bases in the United States as easily as however, will eventually find that their with terrorism. from European and Asian stations. The essential interests are in Europe, not in The United States needs to re-deploy its strain is how few troops there are, rather North America. forces, but in a much more profound rede- than where they are. There is continuing pressure to enlarge ployment than this one. ■ The author is an American political commentator the U.S. presence in the Middle East, in and author on international relations, contemporary order to defend Israel and American oil The view in this article does not necessarily history and U.S. policy. interests. This will be true even if the United represent that of Beijing Review.

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 17 LOST IN TRANSLATION

18 Beijing's language environmentBEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER facing 9, 2004 big cha N

As soon as the curtain came down on the Athens Games, the world’s focus shifted east where China now faces the challenge of host- ing the 2008 Olympics, in the old capital of Beijing. There is a buzz on the ground as people in the city discuss, plan and contemplate the next four years and the work to be done. Not a day is being wasted. Old landmarks are being refur- bished, sports stadiums and accommodation venues are shooting up and the traffic gridlock is under a microscope. But underneath the noise of cranes, jackhammers and giant drills, is another less familiar sound. Beijingers are coming out in droves to learn English and other languages. And they’re shouting it out loud. big challenges In an effort to include the more practical aspects of welcoming athletes and visitors to the city, locals of all ages and from all walks of life are hitting the books and practicing their "Hello’s!" in an all-out foreign language drive. To help visitors even further, all the signage around the city is to be standardized, so that everyone is on the same page. Communication lies at the heart of the games. Beijing is deter- mined to see that the message gets across, in a WANG XIANG language visitors will understand.

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 19 COVER

By DING WENLEI signs, public notices, menus and descrip- Huang Youyi, Vice President of tions at scenic spots will be updated. This China International Publishing Group, ames McGreen and his big undertaking will supplement the con- believes it is a global trend, as once a city wife, Katherine, one of struction of state-of-the-art stadiums for is referred to as an international metropo- many backpacker couples the 2008 Olympics and protection of lis, foreigners swarm in. The new stan- making their first trip to ancient relics in the old city area. dard “makes sense to foreigners who Shanghai this summer, The Organizing Committee Office of can’t speak or understand Chinese, bring- became totally confused Beijing Speaks to the World Program, ing convenience to travelers and business when they tried to find founded in early 2000 with support from people from abroad, ” he said. “XIZANG ZHONGLU” the Beijing Municipal Government, The scheme of the Chinese phonetic with the help of a local street map. The staged a new standard for road signs and alphabet, or Pinyin, however, has been Jroad sign indicated “CENTRAL TIBET guideposts in English in Beijing at the used as the national standard for geo- ROAD” while the billboard overhead end of 2002, advocating “Pinyin” for graphic names since 1978 in conformity reads “CENTRAL XI ZANG RD.” proper names like “Wangfujing” and with the Resolution 8 of the Third United This state of confusion is shared by “abbreviated English word” for general Nations Conference on the many visitors to China. Recently, however, name like “Avenue/Ave.” Standardization of Geographical Names foreigners in Beijing have begun to notice Liu Yang, Deputy Director of the (UNCSGN). more English words or abbreviations such office, conjured up an image for Beijing The resolution recommends Pinyin be as “road/Rd.”, “street/St.” , “avenue/Ave.” Review: By 2007, taxi drivers, waiters adopted as the international system for and “bridge” coexisting with the corre- and other professions in the service the romanization of Chinese geographical sponding Chinese phonetic alphabet industry will be capable of 100 sentences names because it is “linguistically sound” (Pinyin) on road signs and guideposts. for daily use in at least one foreign lan- and “most suitable.” As part of its huge facelift program, guage. They will be ready to answer a The advantage of Pinyin, according Beijing, host of the 29th Olympiad in foreigner’s query, of say, “WANGFU- to Fan Yi, Associate Editor-in-Chief of 2008, is promoting the learning of foreign JING Avenue” instead of “WANGFU- Sinomap Press, lies in the fact that its languages among its citizens. Bilingual is JING DAJIE.” But is this very practical or sound corresponds directly and exclu- the buzz word and everything from road useful; and will it speed things up? sively to the exact names in Chinese. s s

1978 Birth and Evolution of China’s National Standard September 26 the State Council approves the proposal for Romanization of Geographical Names on using the scheme of Chinese phonetic alphabet (Pinyin) 1958 as the standard system for the romanization of Chinese per- China issues the Scheme of a Chinese Phonetic Alphabet son names and geographical names. (Pinyin). 1984 1967 December 25 China’s Committee of Geographical September 4-22 The First United Nations Conference on Names, Committee of Chinese Language Reform and State the Standardization of Geographical Names (UNCSGN) is Bureau of Surveying and Mapping jointly issue the Spelling held in Geneva. Principles on the Hanyu Pinyin of Chinese Geographical Resolution 9, adopted at the conference, recommends that Names, still being used today. efforts should be made to arrive at an agreement on a single 1986 romanization system, based on scientific principles, from January The State Council issues the Regulations on each non-Roman alphabet or script, for international applica- Administration of Geographical Names. Article 8 stipulates that tion. the Scheme of a Chinese phonetic alphabet, issued by the state, 1972 works as the only standard for Chinese geographical names. May 10-31 The Second UNCSGN is held in London. 1996 Resolution 29 recommends that, within the international June The Ministry of Civil Affairs issues Rules for the standardization of geographical names, the use of those Implementation of the Regulations on Administration of exonyms designating geographical entities falling wholly with- Geographical Names. Article 19 stipulates that the Hanyu in one state should be reduced as far and as quickly as pos- Pinyin Scheme is the unified system romanizing Chinese sible. place names. It suits not only romanization of Han and 1977 minority scripts, but also other Roman scripts, including August 17- September 7 The Third UNCSGN is held in English, French, German and Spanish. Athens. A Chinese delegation participated in the conference It is made clear that no person names or place names in for the first time. other languages can be used apart from Pinyin. Resolution 8, titled “Romanization of Chinese geographical 2000 names,” recognizes that the Scheme for a Chinese phonetic October 31 The scheme of Chinese phonetic alphabet is alphabet is China’s official Roman alphabet scheme, … notes written into law at the 18th Session of the Standing that the Scheme for a Chinese phonetic alphabet is linguistical- Committee of the Ninth National People’s Congress. The ly sound and is most suitable for the romanization of Chinese scheme is designated as the tool of spelling and phonetic geographical names,… and recommends that the Chinese notation for the national language and character for general phonetic alphabet (Pinyin) be adopted as the international use, and the unified standard for romantization of people system for the romanization of Chinese geographical names. names, place names and bibliography in Chinese.

20 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 WHICH WAY OUT?: Despite having signs updated in 2002, subways are often the most confusing place to get directions for a visitor or foreigner WANG XIANG

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 21 Suggestion or Standard? Many foreigners, however, care little Municipal Commission of Urban —English usage of road signs about which standard will prevail, but Planning, who declined to give her name, in a 2002 plan hope that what they read from maps, road said that currently in Beijing the national signs and guideposts are all uniform. standard is adopted for street signs indi- With the wisdom of an extrava- cating geographical names and the new gant team of language experts and Confusion standard for directional boards, over exits, transportation officials, the Despite the inconsistency between Organizing Committee Office of entrances, overpasses or junctions. Beijing Speaks to the World two sets of standards, the new standard The jury is still out on how to abbre- Program staged a new half-Pinyin itself produces contradictions. viate “North,” used to indicate direction. and half-English standard for the For example, one road sign reads “N.” appeared recently in street signs of romanization of road signs in “XINJIEKOU WAIDAJIE,” in Xicheng geographical names in the area near Beijing at the end of 2002. District it reads “XINJIEKOU Outer St.”, Renmin University of China. 1. Capitalize the first letter of while the highway directional sign over a proper names of companies and junction nearby calls it “XINWAI ST.” Convenient? organizations in Beijing. The new standard recommends Half Pinyin and half English road 2. Capitalize each letter of Pinyin and the first letter of each English “Bridge” for “QIAO” in Pinyin for the signs are intended to make sense to for-

word for roads or other WANG XIANG place names in order to distinguish Pinyin from English words. 3. Abbreviations are used for general names such as "avenue," "road" and "expressway" when they follow specific prop- er names of a place. eg. The abbreviation for "Avenue (DaJie)" is "Ave." The abbreviation for "Road (Lu)" is "Rd." The abbreviation for "Expressway (Gaosulu)" is "Expwy." 4. Capitalize the single- word road signs in line with international prac- tice. eg. EXIT (Chukou)= ENTRANCE (Rukou) 5. English words are used to indicate direc- tions. When used in spe- cific road names, “East,” “West,” “South” and “North” should be abbreviated, JUST FOLLOW THE SIGN: Foreign visitors having fun with directions respectively, into “E.,” “W.,” “S.” and “N.” eg. "Xisanhuan Beilu" should be overpasses everywhere in Beijing, but eigners whether it is a street, road or translated into “W. 3rd Ring Rd. N.” 6. English equivalents are used “Bridge,” “BRIDGE” and “QIAO” are bridge, but often things get lost in transla- for infrastructure and facilities used often seen in the same signs in urban areas. tion causing great inconvenience. Even internationally, such as "Jichang Also confusing are the different the simple translation of “ Jie” to “ Street (airport)," "Chezhan (railway spellings of abbreviations of “street” (ST, “could create confusion, while translating station)," "Yiyuan (hospital)," St, ST. and St.) and “road” (RD, Rd, RD. “North” and “South” similarly is not "Tiyuguan (stadium)," and and Rd.). helpful. "Jiayouzhan (gas station)." Chen Kexiang, director of the super- Most foreign residents in Beijing 7. Bridge is used for any over- pass in Beijing. vision branch of geographical names quizzed by Beijing Review at Lakeside 8. Indent Ordinal numbers in under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, com- Houhai, a trendy Beijing nightlife area, English. plained about the situation, commenting weren’t bothered whether translation or eg. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. that the ministry supervises cities nation- transliteration is used for the bilingual 9. “Interchange” is used for an wide except for Beijing, Shanghai and road signs. intersection without traffic light and Tianjin municipalities. Businessman Andreas Kriesi has “Junction” for that with traffic light. An official from the Beijing worked in China for three years and has

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 COVER no problems in reading road signs, The Book of the World, printed by instead of direction signs in Chinese char- though he does speak a little Chinese. He Macmillan in the United States, and The acters to denote the four different exits, prefers Pinyin to translation because “taxi City Center Map of Beijing, published by and indicate important landmarks near drivers usually understand where you Berndtson & Berndtson in Germany, for each exit in Chinese as well as English. head for if you try to pronounce Pinyin.” example, all use the Pinyin system to Yet, inconsistency is found in sub- Frenchwoman Audrey Bouchon romanize Chinese geographical names. ways. The sign at exit B, at the Xizhimen prefers Pinyin for the same reason. Fan pointed out that the romanization Station indicates the exit leads to Bouchon has been in Beijing for a of geographical names in Japan also “XIZHIMEN NEI STREET,” using year and can speak, read and write makes no sense to foreigners if they know Pinyin “NEI” instead of “Inner” and Chinese. She recommended Beijing to little Japanese. spelling out “STREET” instead of abbre- prepare more bilingual tourist handbooks Huang Youyi, who is also secretary viation. for people coming from different coun- general of the Translators’ Association of The interchanging stations, FUX- tries. “The function of road signs is to tell China and supports the introduction of INGMEN and JIANGUOMEN, as direction, but the tourist’s handbook pro- English words into road signs, under- vides more needed information about a stood that UNCSGN resolutions related WANG XIANG city,” she said. to standardization of geographical names She also advised that taxi drivers learn were “out of respect for different local English words and expressions that are cultures.” most frequently used in daily conversa- Huang advocated the practice of Hong tion in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Kong and Chinatown in San Francisco, Olympics. like the famous Canal Street because Italian Carmine Gannotti joked that “Hanyu Pinyin is especially difficult for he prefers Italian to any other foreign foreigners and a majority of them cannot tongues if possible. “Pinyin or English, pronounce C, K or H correctly.” they make no difference to me, but for the “To facilitate the travel, study and sake of taxi driver, I choose Pinyin,” said work of foreigners in China in terms of Gannotti. language environment is a long-term Whether translation is convenient for solution, ” added Huang. foreigners depends on how widely Chen Kexiang of the Ministry of English is used within Beijing’s large Civil Affairs said, “Geographical names population. Fan Yi appreciated the ambi- give geographical entities substantial tious goal of the Beijing Speaks to the meanings while road signs are ‘mute World Program, but wondered if it is guides’ of cites and towns, faces of local practical, given the huge aging popula- people and eyes of outlanders. The intro- tion. He also pointed out that indiscrimi- duction of English into road signs make nation between “avenue” and “street” it difficult for us to supervise along with could be confusing to foreigners. In the the established national standard of road English world, “street” is for general use signs.” while “avenue” often refers to a wide Fan Yi worried about the aftermath— tree-lined road. Is the half-Pinyin and half-English sys- tem designed for the 29th Olympics that Respect for Local Culture lasts only 20 days? Will the national stan- China adopted the Pinyin system for dard replace it after the event? Beijing, as MAKE SENSE?: W. 2nd Ring Rd.—can the romanization of Chinese geographical the capital city of China, always sets the you understand this sign? names in 1978 to end the chaos caused by example for other cities to follow, which different old spelling systems, including also worries Chen Kexiang. Bouchon said, are in need of improved the Wade-Giles system. For example, the Fan expressed hope to negotiate with signs. romanized form of the Chinese word for the Organizing Committee Office of the Busssinessman Roland P. Marcz, “Peking” developed from “Pei-Ching” program for a standard that is acceptable who prefers translation to transliteration, (Wade-Giles) to “Beijing”(Pinyin). for both sides. complained about the airport in Beijing Resolution 29 of the Second “Measures must be adopted to settle and Shanghai. “I can hardly find my way UNCSGN, held in May 1972, recom- the confusion,” he said. around because the signs are too small; mends that, within the international stan- when I’m in a taxi, I can’t see clearly the dardization of geographical names, the Changes in Subways Pinyin or English words on the street use of those exonyms designating geo- Subways, which used to be one major signs following Chinese characters.” graphical entities falling wholly within target of complaints in Beijing, were “People get the first impression of a one state should be reduced as far and as given new signs at platforms and exits of city after they step down the foot ladder quickly as possible. all stations in 2002. of the airplane and get into a taxi, or walk As a result, China, Japan, the Republic For foreigners or passengers who are out of the railway station and into the sub- of Korea and other non-roman scripts suc- unfamiliar with Beijing’s subway, choos- way,” said Marcz, “that is why all signs cessively championed their own national ing which exit to use can be a problem. are so important, if you’re giving the city standards for international use. The new signs use letters (A, B, C, and D) a facelift.” ■

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 23 WANG CHENGXU- BeingBeing UnderstoodUnderstood

REPEAT AFTER ME: Children respond to their English teacher during the opening ceremony of Beijing Foreign Language Week,

Beijing residents get down to some serious language learning before the 2008 Olympics

By YAN WEI ally called “Beijing Speaks to the World Beijing Speaks to the World Program, Program.” It has been in full swing for says, “The Chinese Government is the n her way back to the hotel over two years. The Beijing Speaks to the only government that has made a promise from a basketball stadium in World Program Organizing Committee to eliminate language barriers during the Athens, Du Jie felt helpless in serves as program coordinator under the Olympics, and Beijing has been doing its her taxi. Having showed the Beijing Municipal Government. best in this regard.” driver three different Greek Ever since its founding, the committee The program was formerly known as maps, the English-speaking has been closely cooperating with the Beijing “Beijing Speaks English,” dedicated to OChinese reporter was frustrated to find Organizing Committee for the Games making English, the de facto world lan- her driver still unable to pinpoint where (BOCOG) of the 29th Olympiad to create a guage, popular in the city. In March 2002, she wanted to go. Not understanding a good language environment in the city. the scope of the program was broadened, word of English, let alone Chinese, the The committee has formulated an ambitiously aiming at familiarizing resi- driver seemed to be at his wits’ end. He action plan for the period from 2003 to dents with all major languages in the tried to seek help from his wife, whose 2008, vowing to “improve the cosmopoli- world, including French, German, Italian English was no better than his, but to no tan environment of the city, elevate and Spanish. avail. The police officers there did not Beijing’s image in the international com- The committee consists of govern- speak English, either. Finally, an English- munity and optimize Beijing’s develop- ment officials involved in the campaign, speaking passerby came to Du’s rescue. ment environment.” among whom are officials from the “At that moment, I came to realize the municipal government, as well as leading necessity of Beijing’s ongoing campaign Promise to Be Language officials in Beijing’s 18 districts and to promote foreign language speaking,” Friendly counties. Vice Mayor Zhang Mao acts as recalled the China Sports Daily reporter. Liu Yang, Deputy Director of the the committee chairman. The campaign Du mentioned is actu- Organizing Committee Office of the Its pilot, the Advisory Group of the

24 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 COVER

Beijing Speaks to the World Program Signage in Beijing: Past and Present Organizing Committee, was set up in November 2002. The group is composed Some old public signs Standardized versions of foreign language professors from XISIHUAN LU W. 4th Ring Rd. Chinese universities, as well as native HUAYUAN QIAO HUAYUAN Bridge speakers eager to offer their help. XICHANG’AN JIE W. CHANG’AN Ave. The committee sponsors a variety of DONGZHIMENWAI DAJIE DONGZHIMEN Outer St. activities to encourage foreign language learning among Beijing residents, such as JINYU HUTONG JINYU Lane foreign language contests, festivals, free CARE OF THE GREEN NO ENTRANCE PLEASE KEEP OFF THE GRASS lectures and training classes. New China Children Store Xin Zhong Guo Children’s Store From May 1 to 3 this year, the Beijing NO NEARING STAY BACK/ KEEP CLEAR Foreign Language Week of 2004 was held in the Working People’s Cultural Palace, NO STRIDING DO NOT CROSS which used to be the imperial ancestral temple in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing schoolboy living near the future Olympic friends will join us in the foreign language (1644-1911) dynasties. It is the third large- Village, north of Beijing, has been learn- promotion campaign,” Liu says. ing English for nearly two years. Having scale foreign language promotion orga- Road Signs Upgrade nized by the committee. As many as quite a number of English expressions at 100,000 visitors flocked to the venue to his command, he is eager to show off his Apart from calling on the residents to improve their knowledge of languages. English before others. learn foreign languages, the committee is Various activities, such as public lectures Pan Rijuan, the boy’s mother, cannot also devoted to nurturing a foreign lan- on English and other languages, an hide her pride in her son. “I hope he will guage-learning environment in the capital English corner, a book and video fair, pre- become an English talent and can talk city. It has drawn up a set of rules for sentations by foreign language schools and with English-speaking people fluently in translating road signs into English. overseas study agencies, were staged. the near future.” Bilingual road signs can now be seen in Granny Xu, a lady in her 70s living in many places of the city. Beijing Language Days Dachaye Jie, Xicheng District, has Chen Jianjun, a taxi driver, welcomes Liu says that the preparations of anoth- formed the habit of practicing English the move. “Although I needn’t look at the er foreign language event, which is sched- with her grandson in his spare time. She road signs when driving, I think the bilin- uled for October 16-17, are now underway. believes that she will be able to help for- gual signs will be helpful to foreigners. According to Liu, Beijing is “going eigners find their way around her neigh- This shows Beijing is coming closer and crazy,” with an unprecedented passion for borhood with the English she has learned. closer to the international community.” learning foreign languages. People from all “We are now recruiting volunteers from Under the arrangement of the com- walks of life, civil servants, drivers, salesmen, the international students in Beijing’s univer- mittee, all bilingual (Chinese and students and police officers, are all enthusias- sities to help Beijing residents improve their English) signs at large scenic spots, tic about foreign language learning. foreign languages, but the number of volun- museums and parks throughout Beijing Zhang Shaobo, an eight-year-old teers is too limited. We hope more foreign will be edited by Chinese or foreign lan- guage experts. ZHANG XU Up to now, the bilingual signage and brochures of 10 major parks, such as the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and Fragrant Hill Park, as well as 60 A- level scenic spots in Beijing, have been standardized. According to Liu, the problems of the current English versions mainly lie in the following four aspects: translation errors, failure to convey the cultural connota- tions, misspelling and mistakes occurred in the making of the signs. Liu says the committee will step up its efforts in this respect so as to finish checking all the signs at Beijing’s tourist attractions before 2008. “Beijing is an international metropolis. Its residents are expected to have a high sense of international communication. By con- stantly enhancing their ability to communi- cate with foreigners, I’m confident foreigners PASSION FOR ENGLISH: Every Wednesday, residents in Wangzhima Community of will feel more and more at home in the Beijing gather for English lessons ancient city of Beijing,” Liu notes. ■

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 25 COVER Dear Prudence Beijing Olympic planners discussing financing and the long-term goals of 2008

By CHEN WEN from the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) publicly expressed onstruction on the vast building concern over the what they see as an out- site of China’s National landishness of Beijing’s Olympic venues. Stadium came to a sudden halt The Civil Engineering, Water on July 30. Known as the Conservancy and Architectural “Bird’s Nest,” it is slated as one Engineering Division of CAE held a of the main venues for the 2008 meeting reporting ongoing projects. COlympics. Although the field, with over- Some academicians submitted a summa- grown weeds now flickering idly in the ry of their opinions to the State Council, wind, is silent, debate around the project China’s Central Government. is reaching a crescendo. According to Nanfang Weekend, four Two top Swiss architects, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, designed the stadium. Its giant lattice-structured CONSPHOTO exterior of irregularly angled metal gird- ers gives it the look of a cradle of twigs. Public worry was first aroused when the roof collapsed at de Gaulle Airport, Paris’s biggest, on May 23 this year. Concern then expanded to include the EMPTY NEST: This August 31 safety of foreign-designed structures in photo shows the site of the China, including the “Bird’s Nest.” “Bird’s Nest” after construction But in addition to safety concerns, was halted on July 30 criticism of the stadium gravitated toward what people are calling the “extrava- the architecture is now in doubt. Authorities have not ignored XINHUA their unease. While construction BIRD’S NEST: China’s National of the National Stadium is tem- Stadium, as envisioned by top porarily halted, the design is to Swiss architects, Jacques be revised. Safety will be one Herzog and Pierre de Meuron issue. But cost is cited as the main reason, according to Wei CAE academicians Jizhong, an executive member of the submitted a petition Beijing Organizing Committee for the to Premier Wen Games of the 29th Olympiad (BOCOG). Jiabao in July, argu- An official date has not yet been ing that designers of released as to when the project will be Beijing’s Olympic restarted. But according to the Beijing venues were paying Urban Planning Committee, the National too much attention to Stadium will be redesigned, while retain- size, novelty and for- ing its “unique style.” START WORK: December 24, 2003, the groundbreaking eign prestige. They An even larger scheme is the argued that this had “Olympic Projects Slimming.” This contributed to safety includes redesigning the National gance” of the games preparatory work. and money-wasting problems. The Bird’s Swimming Center, known as “The Water Heated discussion among domestic Nest is the worst example, according to Cube,” and Wukesong Basketball architects has ensued. During an annual the petition. It will consume an astonish- Stadium. academic conference on June 5, scholars ing amount of steel, while the stability of Construction of those venues will be

26 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 Development of Olympic Venues and Related Facilities

WANG XIANG The venues and related facilities for the 2008 Olympic Games will be designed and constructed in accordance with the technical requirements of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Sports Federations, and in line with China’s national conditions and Beijing’s actual development. In the development, experience and lessons from other host cities in venue construc- tion will be taken into account and our commit- ments in the Candidature File and the Host City Contract will be honored. 8 1. Principles, Status and Locations Basic principles: 1) In planning and designing the venues, we will give full consideration to both the Olympic compe- titions and post-Games uses. While meeting the technical requirements of the IOC, we will maxi- mize the social benefits of the Olympic venues, giving full consideration to the needs of the citi- zens for sports and the long-term functions of venues for hosting cultural, sport, commercial, tourist and recreational activities, as well as meet- ings and exhibitions. 2) We will keep frugality in mind in the develop- ment of the venues. The size, location and number of the venues and facilities to be constructed will be reviewed and verified. Existing facilities that can be adapted or expanded for Olympic purpose will be used instead of building new ones; and temporary venues will be built in place of perma- nent ones. 3) We will create masterpieces of sports facili- ties that reflect the integration of construction tech- nologies, architectural art and environmental pro- tection and fully embody the concept of sustain- able development, leaving a unique Olympic lega- cy to the capital city. Status: Thirty-seven venues will be used for Olympic competitions, with 32 of them being in Beijing and five outside the city. Of the 32 venues in Beijing, 19 will be newly constructed (including six temporary sites) and 13 are existing facilities to be renovat- ed or expanded. In addition, 59 training sites will be renovated and special facilities for the Paralympics will be constructed. Of the five venues outside Beijing, the Qingdao International Sailing Center, Tianjin Stadium, and Qinhuangdao Stadium will be newly constructed, while Shenyang Wulihe Stadium and Shanghai Stadium are existing ones to be renovated. Locations: The venue distribution can be described as “one center plus three areas.” The Olympic Green, containing 13 venues, will be the center for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The Western Community Area will include nine venues, among which Wukesong Culture and Sports Center will become a WANG XIANG venue for cultural and sports activities in southwest Beijing after the Olympic Games. The University Area will harbor four venues, including the Capital Indoor Stadium, all of which will become places for cultural and sports activities for colleges NOTHING TO DO: Workers walk away and local communities after the Games. Two venues, including Beijing Country from the construction site of National Equestrian Park, will be located in the North Scenic Spot Area, facilitating the Stadium after being granted two months development of suburban tourism. In addition, in other areas, four venues, leave including the Workers’ Stadium, will be renovated or expanded, providing places for cultural and sports activities for the neighboring residents. re-discussed and re-planned regarding Excerpt from investment and a timetable for comple- Beijing Olympic Action Plan tion. The date when all venues for Beijing’s 2008 Olympic Games are Source: BOCOG s s

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 27 COVER

expected to finish has been pushed back the development of the venues. The size, the state media. one whole year to 2007, said Vice location and number of the venues and The two concepts do not necessarily Executive Chairman of BOCOG Liu facilities to be constructed will be conflict; nor does a successful Olympics Jingmin at a press conference in Athens reviewed and verified. Existing facilities preclude conspicuous investment and on August 12. that can be adapted or expanded for spending. “The completion of the venues is not Olympic purpose will be used instead of According to Deputy Director of the ‘the earlier the better’,” Liu said. “The building new ones, and temporary venues Beijing Olympic Economy Research time of completion should be appropri- will be built in place of permanent ones.” Association, Chen Jian, hosting a suc- ate.” This is different, however, from Also, in August last year, Premier cessful Olympics needs a certain amount “leaving enough time for testing,” which Wen Jiabao emphasized a similar senti- of investment. Investment exceeding planners had explained completing the ment when he inspected Beijing’s urban what the government can bear would whole project in 2006 would allow. construction. But until recently, the pre- leave a huge long-term deficit. Chen This time, “prudence” is the guiding mier’s words were not given much atten- believes this would outweigh govern- principle. tion, as people were bombarded with slo- ment successes in other aspects. “By At the press conference, Liu repeated- gans promising to hold the “best ever” contrast, if the government can keep a ly emphasized some principles in holding games. relatively high marginal utility of the an Olympic Games. He expounded on “The whole country attaches too invested capital within the government’s three factors of concern administering the much importance to the Olympic bearable limit, and do well in other

construction of venues. One is to make IMAGES aspects, it will probably make full use of existing resources; second, to the 2008 Olympic Games the find out if a design is more “practical” or best one,” said Chen. “extravagant;” and third, to make sure Chen also explained that to venues will be used after the games. host an frugal Olympics does not necessarily mean absolute ‘Prudent Olympics’ vs. low input and low cost. What is ‘Successful Olympics’ important is from where high BOCOG Chairman Liu Qi spoke input would come. “If this high highly of Athens’ preparation for the input is in accordance with the world’s premier sports event. After days market rule, and can also bring of inspection, he was impressed by the about high output and high city’s reconstruction and utilization of returns, it will not go against the concept of hosting a prudent Olympic Games,” Chen said. Wei Jizhong thinks “a suc- cessful Olympic Games is mea- BUILDING NEST: Workers weld sured in the end by the overall a steel pillar on the site of the economic costs and the overall National Stadium social costs: First, whether the host city (or the country) has Games,” said a CAE accumulated fairly sufficient wealth; sec- academician under ond, whether the social welfare of com- the condition of mon people in the host city (or the coun- anonymity. “In such try) has really been promoted.” an atmosphere, we In a recent interview with Xinhua would all strive to News Agency, Liu Qi emphasized that demonstrate the idea the principle of the host city should be that we must spend adhered to in all aspects of the prepara- lots of money in hold- tion for the games.

LI WEN ing the Olympic “First, we should establish an invest- Games.” ment and financing system based on Until July 27, social channels. In terms of the con- SWIM CENTER: “Water Cube” under Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan firmly struction and distribution of those construction demanded every effort be made to keep venues, we should give full considera- existing facilities as Olympic venues, costs under control in the preparation for tion to their utilization after the Olympic which he has described as “prudent the 2008 Olympics, and that existing sta- Games,” Liu said, echoing Liu Jingmin’s Olympics,” which Beijing would like to diums should be sufficiently utilized. words. He suggested that some venues adopt. That Wang’s statements were followed be located in universities and some Holding a “prudent Olympics” was by the surprising halt in building the multi-purpose sports facilities be estab- endorsed as a principle as early as the National Stadium indicates that the lished in areas where there are currently BOCOG was established in December authorities are embracing the concept of a other stadiums. Therefore, after the 2001. The Beijing Olympic Action Plan “prudent Olympics,” which has gradually Olympics, students and residents can states, “We will keep frugality in mind in supplanted the “best Olympics” slogan in still use them. ■

28 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 VIEWPOINT The U.S. Presidential Elections And Sino-U.S. Relations

At a forum on Sino-U.S. relations in XINHUA/AFP Beijing on August 30-31, David Aaron, a senior fellow of U.S. Rand Corp. and former U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce, reviews the issues that have emerged in the cur- rent U.S. presidential campaign and its potential impact on Sino-U.S. relations. Following are excerpts: Campaign Issues At present, it appears that the winner of the 2004 presidential election will be decided by events and by the televised formal debates between the two candi- dates. It has often been said that there are only three issues in a presidential elec- tion: War and peace; rich and poor; and black and white. The latter refers to the race issue that, thankfully, has not been a part of this campaign. The emphasis of the candidates on the other two issues has CHALLENGED LEADERSHIP: August 10, President Bush waves from the crowd as he alternated back and forth over the year. enters to deliver remarks at the Pensacola Civic Center on the second day of a six-day Six months ago, the Democrats were campaign swing running on the economy and the presi- dent on the war in Iraq. Two months ago, The important question is how From a political point of view, the as the economy seemed to rebound and American voters would react to another turn-around in the economy is not yet a the occupation of Iraq seemed to [be] terrorist attack. Would they give Kerry winning issue for the president. going badly, the Democrats switched credit for being right, or would they real- Particularly in the battleground states of their focus to Iraq and the president to the ly around the president? The latter is the the industrial middle-west hit hard by economy. As of this writing, job growth usual American response in crisis. A pos- unemployment, Senator Kerry’s message appears to be faltering and Iraq has sible further indicator favorable to the that job growth is insufficient resonates become a dull ache. John Kerry is press- president is that the people have not with the voters; as does his claim that the ing once again on the economy and the penalized him for the several “false jobs that are being created pay less than president has shifted his focus not to Iraq, alarms” that have been sounded by the the jobs that have been lost. but to his leadership in the war on terror- administration. In a contest between a challenger and ism. The issue of the economy also a sitting president, the election is in large But the issue of terrorism is a wild appears problematic. Job growth contin- measure a referendum on the president. card. The president has been sending two ues, but at a slackening pace over the last Voters first look at the president to decide somewhat contradictory messages: First, few months. The stock market has fallen whether they want him to continue in that America has become safer as a result about 8 percent since the beginning of the office. If they are doubtful, they then look of his leadership; but second, the public year, but traders are not talking about a at the challenger to see if he is acceptable. should expect a significant terrorist attack “bear market” as in 2001-03. Inflation has But the trustworthiest indicator of the before the election. For his part, Senator been edging up, because of the price of likely outcome of a presidential contest is Kerry claims that the president’s handling gasoline, but not apparently due to the the question of whether the nation is of the war in Iraq and his differences with large federal deficit. Consumer spending headed in the right direction. It is a refer- some of traditional allies have made has slowed putting another important endum on whether people are satisfied or America less safe. However, the senator drag on the economy. On the other hand, dissatisfied with the way things are going. has his own problems with consistency, the Federal Reserve has raised interest (The very general question allows the having voted for the war as well as rates modestly, signaling their view that person polled to use whatever criteria against funding for it. the economy can be expected to speed up. they believe are relevant to them.) As of s s

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 29 VIEWPOINT early August, the Gallup Poll registered values and needs. In 2000, George W. A related issue is that of the 44 percent satisfied and 55 percent dissat- Bush attacked the “Clinton-Gore” admin- exchange rate for the Renminbi. For isfied. However, the gap is narrowing. In istration for failing to appreciate the some time now, organized labor has May it was 36 percent satisfied and 62 growing security threat from China’s mil- been making the argument that the percent dissatisfied. itary modernization program. This fit into Chinese Government has kept the rate his overall theme that Vice President artificially low, thus stimulating U.S. Impact on Sino-U.S. Relations Gore was weak on defense. imports from China and depressing U.S. In such a tight election, any issue can This year, with the economy a prin- exports. The administration is vulnera- become important no matter how limited cipal point of dispute in the campaign, ble on the issue, because it has raised the the target audience is. In 2000,George the issue that may affect China is the matter with the Chinese Government, Bush went to the steel making state of problem of the “outsourcing” of but nothing significant has come of the West Virginia and despite his support of American jobs. The Democrats are effort. While this issue is controversial free trade, promised the steelworkers that accusing the Republicans of exporting with economists and rather complicated he would put quotas on foreign steel jobs to China and India, of creating good to be argued in a presidential campaign, imports. Although West Virginia has tra- jobs abroad but not at home. This charge China should be prepared to see Kerry ditionally voted Democratic, George has found particular resonate in the and the Democrats denouncing the Bush Bush won the state and with it the elec- industrial battleground states. So far, administration for doing little about tion. The steel quotas he subsequently however, the blame has been placed pri- China’s “rigged” exchange rate. It is imposed would have had a more adverse marily on the desk of corporate equally possible that Kerry will criticize effect on the Chinese economy had American and not on China—perhaps the Bush administration for insufficient increases in the worldwide demand for because Senator Kerry is trying to paint vigor in U.S.-China trade disputes. steel not offset the quotas. the administration as too responsive to In contrast, security issues with This example suggests that either can- corporate interests. Moreover, the reme- China are likely to remain quiescent didate may seize on an issue that would dy proposed by Kerry is to eliminate cer- during the campaign. The one some- affect China. Historically, it is the chal- tain corporate tax breaks that he believes what tangential exception is the recent- lenger who attacks the incumbent admin- encourage outsourcing. If Kerry should ly announced U.S. force redeployment istration of its China policy. In 1992, Bill be elected and follow through on his in Asia, which Kerry has criticized. To Clinton criticized George H.W. Bush for proposals the effect on China, if any, the extent that China finds an interest in being indifferent to human rights in would be marginal since most U.S. this debate, it may want to follow it China. This fit into one of his overall investment in China is driven by strate- closely. campaign themes, that the president was gic business decisions and not tax Should John Kerry win the election, out of touch with the American people’s considerations. the Democratic administration is likely to give more attention to North XINHUA/REUTERS Korea and follow a more flexible approach in order to end the threat of a nuclear build-up in that coun- try. China is perceived as having played a constructive role in this matter, which will resound to the benefit U.S.-China relations. No changes in regard to Taiwan should be expected no matter who wins. In the event that it is Kerry, the pro-Taiwan faction is the Republican Party may feel freer to voice their support for the island, as well as their concerns about Chinese intentions. They also could be expected to return to the issue of China’s military modern- ization effort. In sum, after the election U.S. policy toward China will be essen- tially unchanged no matter who wins, except that trade disputes may well heat up. In other areas the relationship will remain stable assuming China continues to play a constructive role vis-à-vis North ■ TIGHT CHECK: August 1, a New York police officer stands guard outside the Citigroup Center Korea. as new intelligence about a possible Al Qaeda attack against major corporations or high-pro- The views expressed here do not necessarily file buildings in Manhattan. Terrorism is among top concerns of American voters this year represent those of Beijing Review

30 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 VIEWPOINT

economy, is aimed to pursue efficiency and gradually remove personnel from their work posts, thus generating a huge number of unemployed. Increase in the unemployment rate is a direct cause of Critical Point the gap between the rich and the poor, this being the root cause of social injustice Looking at examples from other regions of the resulting from the connotative growth of capital. Economic development benefits world, China’s development has reached a crucial some people, while elbowing another place. What is the way forward? sector of the people out of the ranks of the beneficiaries. t can be seen that the biggest difference of Americans. President Herbert Under a certain market capacity, the between Latin-American nations and Hoover, a follower of liberal economics, widening of the rich-poor gap means no IEuropean and American countries is was at a loss of what to do in the face of way out for products; this is the very that the latter’s economic advancement the crisis. economic crisis described by Karl Marx. resulted in the whole society’s com- The economic development mode char- mon prosperity, while that in the for- acterized by pure pursuit of efficiency mer plunged nearly half of the pop- would weed out some social members ulation into poverty. What are the from the circle of economic develop- relations between Latin-America’s ment, which would intensify the trend of extreme poverty and its economic increased capital profit rate and stagnation and fluctuations? It decreased salary for workers. This is the seems the answer can be found from principle explaining why economic the history of economic develop- development purely pursuing efficiency ment. in divorce of social responsibility will The United States before inevitably entail polarization between October 1929 enjoyed successive the rich and the poor. years of economic boom. The That’s why it is said that polarization media and economists believed the is a by-product of capital, in pursuit of U.S. economy had rid itself of any efficiency. Following this train of thought economic crisis, so they never it seems possible to prove the relationship stopped giving publicity to perma- between efficiency and polarity being a nent prosperity. Government offi- kind of supply and demand relationship, cials promised a rosy future to the where the converse application is also public in which each household workable. For example, “allowing some would possess two cars. The con- people to get rich first” is a method of clusion was based on these facts— striving for efficiency, and the method of in a decade the U.S. economy grew dual urban-rural structure also conforms by over 50 percent, and the average to this principle. Efficiency can be gener- annual industrial growth rose nearly ated by the method of whether to artifi- 4 percent (the situation was quite cially or naturally restrain people from similar to that of Latin-America entering into the economic cycle. before 1998). When a pure market economy devel- Liberalists confined economics to the But some discordant economic fig- ops to a certain stage, it will reach a criti- scope of economic activities and neglect- ures and phenomena were neglected— cal point, and that was the crisis point ed the fact that economic development is the proportion of agricultural income to experienced by the United States in 1929. a part of the social system. They refused the gross national income was 16 percent, The history of economic development man-made rational interference and the and by the end of the 1920s farmers seems to have proven that those that have result of allowing capital to pursue profit began going bankrupt in large numbers, crossed this critical point are today’s is the creation of numerous social prob- with their income declining sharply Euro-American countries; while those lems resulting from the polarization of (about one-third of the per-capita income that have not done so are today’s Latin high efficiency. of the country). The gap between the rich American countries. Fortunately, during the time of great and the poor was thus widened notice- In a period before the critical point, depression the United States embraced ably. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate normally there is a fairly big rise in indus- the new Roosevelt administration, whose rose continuously to hit a record of 25 trial efficiency. The explanation of this is most effective policy was to offer “relief.” percent. Behind the economic prosperity, that the integration of the internal indus- In the form of government deficit, the 60 percent of families barely had enough trial structure and product marketing, a nation made extra-large investments, with to eat. At the same time social mores low cost supply-demand relationship and the government expenditure rising from were going downhill rapidly. a gradual improvement of technology and $13 billion in 1933 up to $103 billion dur- Then came Black Thursday, a day technique, has led to an increase in prof- ing World War II. Ordinary laborers were that will remain forever in the memory its. This, when manifested in a micro- allowed into economic activities by a s s

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 31 VIEWPOINT

SONG ZHENPING opment methods and hoped to take some left-deviation policies to defuse contradic- tions. In crossing the critical point, European countries did not manifest themselves in such pronounced form as the new Roosevelt administration did. But Europe’s socialist movements helped countries there to cross the point in a progressive way. For example, they used law to protect laborers’ rights and interests and increased social security and welfare. Now it’s easier to understand China’s economic question. A look at China today can find similarities between China’s unemployment rate, and the number and income of its impoverished population, to that of Latin-American countries. Many places in China are sur- prisingly close to the United States in its economic and social problems in 1929, SPENDING POWER: Tourists in search of silver jewelry in Buenas Aires, Argentina, such as the proportion of agricultural add value to fluctuating economies of Latin America income to GDP and the proportion of farmers’ per-capita income to average work-relief program. The move was fol- period of economic boom at a time when social income are almost equal. Take lowed by a similar wartime system. there is too much fairness, but such pros- another example. The unemployment rate These are direct causes that helped the perity, in most cases, can only last briefly and the moral issue have become prob- American economy step out of an unem- on the basis of the original scale. Some lems of serious concerns to society. These ployment crisis and became the econom- measures adopted in compliance with the features represent a signal that China’s ic power as it is today. nature of selfishness can improve manage- economy is entering the critical point. The practice most worthy of use for ment and stimulate man’s enthusiasm for The point is not about the fact that to reference here is to eliminate polarity. Its labor. But after this sort of hardware cross the critical point in China will take economic meaning is that it extended resource is used up, new economic $1,000 per-capita GDP, the United States economic activities beyond just a privi- progress would exclude most people from reached the point at $200 per person and leged few in advanced control of participation in distribution, full expression Latin-American countries at $4,000. If a resources and benefited the majority of will be given to the selfish characteristics large-scale inflation breaks out now and people, for only when the dual role of of capital, and serious losses will be plunges people at the bottom rung into human resources as consumers and labor- incurred to social responsibility. dire poverty, the consequence will, of ers is given full play can it be the base and In Latin-America nearly half of the course, be very serious. reason for the expansion of the economy. population are living in poverty, and the Evidently, the fundamental way to Surplus value is man made, so only when economy is plagued by sustained fluctua- avoid the Latin-American style situation is man’s economic activities effectively tions—this proves that the critical point to build a strong national industrial system increase can it be the cause of the accu- has not been surmounted, contrarily, due to to bring more people into economic activ- mulation of social wealth. the lack of remedial political measures, the ities. It requires us to complete reform to The most brilliant achievement of lib- impoverished population has kept increas- the investment system as soon as possible eralist economics is the supply of a theo- ing and consequently touched off political and kick off large-scale economic con- retical basis for the privatization action in instability. In the process of the emergence struction. China’s new government made a the times of Britain’s Iron Lady, Margaret of such a predicament, the shadow of lib- landmark move in the crucial period of Thatcher. The process of economic devel- eralist economics can be seen—a group of economic development and the Third opment to which this theory was intro- economists who had advanced studies in Plenary Session of the 16th Central duced is a process of increasing efficien- Chicago University learned the whole set Committee of the Communist Party of cy while neglecting economic and social of liberalist economics. Their difference China took a memorable turn in the responsibilities, and is an action in oppo- from the critical point of the United States process of China’s economic advance- sition to the rational construction of is the new problems facing current Latin- ment. Understanding we need to always humanity. Thatcher’s privatization was American economies, i.e., international “put people first” in the scientific develop- workable. The solution of the question of market orientation and international politi- ment concept is a political tactic success- surplus justice by the use of efficiency in cal intervention. The direct cause of the fully preventing China from falling into the China’s reform and opening-up process is emergence of left-wingers in these coun- same pit as Latin America. ■ also a way, as the two have the same tries was that they have begun to perceptu- People’s Daily Online meaning in economics. ally realize the danger of liberalist eco- The views expressed here do not necessarily Liberalist economics can create a short nomics, attempted to try some new devel- represent those of Beijing Review

32 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 Tibetan Festivals

Festivals and holidays have always been an intrinsic part of Tibetan HEADING FOR THE LINE: Two riders ethnic culture, with many of these centuries-old auspicious occasions spur their horses on in the gallop to the having their roots in religious or folk customs. Some festivals have been finish at the Dama Festival around for so long that their origins are blurred and even escape the memories of village elders. What hasn’t been forgotten is the profound and In different Tibetan-inhabited areas the distinct cultural meanings that have endured hundreds and even thousands festival has different schedules, customs and even names. For example, in Gannan of years. These traditions provide a unique opportunity for tourists and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu researchers to experience a slice of life on the roof of the world. Province, this festival is known as Xianglang Festival. By FENG JING is definitely prime time. The weather is pleasant. Trees and grass paint the coun- Worshiping and entertaining are eople in Tibet find reasons to tryside green. People gather outdoors in the two themes that dominate celebrate something almost almost every open area, along riverbanks festival activities every month. The starting or and beside lakes. Groups of family mem- In Ganan, an important part of the fes- ending of a season, religious bers and friends sit around in tents, on tival is called weisang, a ceremony of bak- ceremonies, farm work, com- blankets or plastic sheets, and relax in the ing foods like ghee (clarified butter) and memorations, social activities, sunshine and enjoy nature. This is Lingka fried noodles in cypress fires. While the Pcultural entertainment and sports are all Woods Festival, a traditional Tibetan holi- food cooks, men will ride their horses possible reasons for a celebration. day favored by both ordinary citizens and around the fire, shooting into the air, which People working in cities have days off lamas. is then filled with a mixed aroma of burn- on official national holidays and important The festival doesn’t have a fixed date to ing wood, butter and flour. Another activi- traditional Tibetan festivals like the begin or end and is based on the legend of ty is to insert wooden arrows, as long as a Tibetan New Year (Losar) and Shoton the Indian monk named Padmasambhava, dozen meters, into wood fences placed at Festival (Yogurt Banquet Festival). who "conquered all evil" in the fifth month the top of a hill. For Tibetan people, these Farmers and herdsmen, however, have of the Tibetan Year of the Monkey. actions are designed to show reverence to more freedom and flexibility to arrange According to the lunar calendar used by Buddha and wish for a happy and long their work and life so as to attend as many locals, the festival generally starts around life. occasions as possible. the middle of fourth month, reaches a cli- Lingka Festival is also for drinking max during the Shoton Festival on the first qingke barley beer and buttered tea, talk- Lingka Festival: Getting Close day of the seventh month and then ends ing with friends, singing and dancing, to Nature during the Bathing Festival in the first half playing cards or chess and watching horse On the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, summer of the eighth month. racing or archery. Ladies, often in groups, s s

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 33 NATION wash clothes in the river. After spreading PHOTOS BY FENG JING the wet and clean clothes over the grass and rocks, they will lie on the grass, drink- ing, eating and talking. Blue sky, gentle wind, bubbling water, all these form a beautiful picture that fascinates everyone in it. Some Tibetan families choose to camp out during the festival. White tents with auspicious patterns are frequently seen on scenic landscape. People living in cities like Lhasa, capi- tal of Tibet Autonomous Region, have their modern way of celebration. By car, mule, horse, or bike, people stream from down- town to the suburbs for a picnic. Those who remain in town will probably watch TV or videos, go to the theater, sing karaoke, play computer games or billiards. The costumes people wear during the festival are quite eye-catching. Men’s clothes are relatively simple with black or brown as the main color, bordered by col- orful trimmings with manual embroidery. Women’s costumes, however, are tinted with strong and contrasting colors like red, green, yellow, white, black, blue and pur- ple. Embroidery, gold and silver jewelry, and jade decorate the flamboyant cos- WHAT A SHOW!: Tibetan boys enjoy the performances of the Dama Festival

blessings before heading for the pressed barley flour)) sculp- Main Tibetan Traditional monasteries. People visit their neigh- tures, in the form of auspi- borhoods and exchange traditional cious symbols and figures, Festivals Tibetan greetings of Tashi Delek during are displayed on streets. The timing of all festivals is given in the first two days. This is also the time People sing and dance of general feasting. On the third day, throughout the festive night. accordance with the Tibetan lunar old prayer flags will be replaced with Second month calendar, which is similar to the colorful new ones. Other activities may Treasure Displaying Chinese lunar calendar. Usually a be held in some areas to celebrate the Festival falls on the Eighth Tibetan New Year starts on a cer- event. day. During the festival, tangkas (religious silk paint- tain day in January or February. Grand Summons Ceremony (Monlam Festival) This ceremony, ings) and treasures are dis- First month held on the third-15th day, is the played. biggest religious festival in Tibet. Tsong Tibetan New Year (Losar) This Khapa, the founder of the Gelug Fourth month weeklong festival starts on the first day (Yellow) Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, Saka Dawa Festival Held on the of the month. It is an occasion when established the event in 1409. In 15th day, this is the most important fes- Tibetan families reunite and look for- Lhasa, an offering carefully crafted tival for Tibetan Buddhism to commem- ward to a better year ahead. Special from butter and over 10 meters high orate Sakyamuni’s Buddhahood and offerings are made to family shrine was traditionally put in the Jokhang the death of his mortal body. At every deities; doors are painted with religious Monastery, where monks gather to monastery, sutras are recited and symbols and people clean up their chant and perform religious dances. An “Cham” dances are performed. It is homes and the environment in prepa- examination for the Geshe degree (the said that good deeds in the month of ration of the event. On New Year’s highest academic degree in Buddhist this festival deserve 300 fold in return Eve, Tibetans eat a range of whole- theology, equivalent to a doctorate) is and this leads many people to donate some foods made from a barley flour held, taking the form of sutra debates. large sums to monasteries. People base (guthuk), all with various stuffing. Pilgrims crowd to listen to sermons and release all animals from captivity and After dinner, people prepare for the make religious donations. keep from killing animals or eating coming of the New Year. Before dawn Butter Lamp Festival falls on the meat. It is said that some 1,300 years on New Year’s Day, housewives fetch 15th day and is traditionally seen as a ago, Princess Wencheng of the Tang their first buckets of New Year water celebration of the victory of Sakyamuni Dynasty (618-907) arrived in Tibet on and prepare breakfast. After dressing against heretics in a religious debate. this day to marry Songtsan Gambo, up, people open their doors to receive Various giant butter and Tsampa (com- King of the Tubo Kingdom, modern

34 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 NATION tumes. For Tibetan women, the festival is county and the family was keen to be at the today. a perfect time to show their clothes and closing ceremony. In the past, the festival was organized ornaments, which may well be worth tens The Dama Festival has been held in around the 19th day of the fourth Tibetan of thousands of yuan. Gyangze for the past 500 years. Dama lunar month. Now it more often takes means horse riding and archery in Tibetan. place from July 20 when there is less farm Gyangze Dama Festival It is said that the festival started in 1408 work and lasts for about one week. Early morning on July 24, Puzhub and when a local religious leader held cere- In addition to sports like horse racing, his family got ready for the long trip in monies to commemorate his honorable archery, shooting and football, the festival their truck to horse racing in Gyangze grandfather. The festival was reorganized boasts a large fair and folk performances, County. It was the last day of the five-day in 1447 to add sports like horse racing and which is a favorite of tourists. Dama Festival in that southwest Tibetan archery that retain their original forms to Horse riding is the most attractive activity. Riders are local youth aged from 12 to 18. King Gesar, a historic Tibetan hero, was said to come out victorious in a horse race, whose winner at that time would become king of the land. It is no longer the case today, but to either the athletes or their families, or even their villages, winning a horse race is still a great honor. Thousands of people hurried to the horse racing from villages all around Gyangze this year. The racetrack lays along a flat river valley surrounded by a range of mountains. It is 1,000 meters long and constructed from hard dirt ground. On one side is a metal fence that separates audiences from the race. On the other side s s

Mountain Festival Falling on the fourth day, it is to commemorate Sakyamuni’s first teaching at Bod Gaya in India that he gave at the age of 35. After visiting monasteries, Tibetans then proceed to enjoy a picnic. Dancing and singing are also part of the activities. Seventh month Shoton Festival (Yogurt Banquet Festival) Shoton Festival, originating in the 17th century, begins on the first day of the month. When monks ended DRESSING UP FOR THE OCCASION: Tibetan women put on their traditional chupas frocks as they prepare to watch the horse race their summer retreat, pilgrims came to serve them with yogurt. Later, Tibetan opera performances were added to the Tibet. People and monks in some Amitayus, Sakyamuni and Maitreya are event to entertain monks in monaster- areas refrain from talking, eating or displayed on the monastery’s Tangka ies. During the festival, giant tangkas of drinking during the festival. Wall. Thousands of pilgrims rush to the the Buddha is unveiled in Zhaibung monastery to give their offerings to the Monastery and Tibetan opera troupes Fifth month Buddha and accumulate merits. The perform operas at Norbu Lingka (the Lingka Festival According to tradi- tradition has lasted for 500 years. Dalai Lama’s former summer palace). tion, the Lingka Festival started from Universal Prayers Festival Today, some areas in Tibet trade dur- the 15th day. Tibetans, who love the Celebrated on the 15th day, the event ing this festival. outdoors, camp out in the lingka is to commemorate Padmasambhava’s Bathing Festival usually starts on the (woods) along the Lhasa River and cel- conquest of evil spirits and the found- 6th day and lasts a week. With Venus ebrate their connection with nature. ing of Samye Monastery. People go to appearing in the sky, Tibetans bring This activity is called “playing in the monasteries and burn juniper branches food and set up tents along rivers, in Lingka” or the “Lingka Festival.” as a sign of worship. which they can bathe themselves under Buddha Unfolding Festival It is cel- the light of the stars. The holy bath is ebrated in Tashilhungpo Monastery on Sixth month considered to be able to heal disease the 14th-16th day. Giant tangkas of Paying Homage to the Holy and get rid of misfortune. This tradition s s

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 35 NATION is a tall wall beyond which lies a gently sloping hill, a great vantage point packed with onlookers. At 10 a.m., racing began. Riding hors- es decorated with bright ornaments but without saddles, riders took up their posi- tions and prepared for the 3,000-meter race. There were several heats. At the gun shot, five horses leapt across the starting line and the crowd began to shout. After four preliminary rounds, 12 riders made it to the finals, in which the first six would be awarded prizes. A 16-year-old boy became the new champion. At the finishing line, his rela- tives gathered around him, presenting hadas (white silk scarves) to express their respect and congratulations. In a corner, another boy cried at his loss. A smiling man consoled him. The winner, who was studying in a junior middle school, said later that anoth-

ZEST OF COLOR: Wearing ceremonial headgear and elaborate costumes seldom seen by the public, these Tibetan knights parade at the closing ceremony of the Dama Festival

FAMILY REUNION: Puzhub and his seven family members enjoy their picnic at the Gyangze Dama Festival

BARGAIN HUNTING: Buyers are able to choose from a variety of goods at the market activities and trade fairs are also fair of Dama Festival held. Harvest Festival This festival is started about 800 years ago. and erect a tent city. Dressing them- celebrated for one to three days when selves and their finest horses in fin- crops ripen, only in farming villages Eighth month early early in the month. People walk ery, thousands of herdsmen partic- Nakchu Horse Race Festival This around fields to bless the harvest is the most important folk festival in ipate in a thrilling horse race, archery year. Singing, dancing, and horserac- Tibet. People gather in Nakchu town and horsemanship contest. Other ing are indispensable activities. After

36 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 NATION

er of his dreams was to go to university in tents. The joy on faces told the story. It was Lhasa. a time to kick back, eat, drink and cele- Next to the race track the market fair brate. was doing bustling business. Street ven- A young Tibetan policeman was in dors wailed out, promoting their wares. charge of the security. According to him, Loudspeakers and tape recorders blasted about 30,000 people came here from sur- out messages advertising a wide range of rounding villages, less than the average goods, creating a chaotic, vibrant atmos- 50,000 because some major roads were phere. Most of the stands offered com- under renovation. modities like clothes, cooking utensils, There was not much farm work at this toys and crafts. time of year, said Puzhub, so they came to According to local officials, the fair the square everyday. “We like it here,” he has been largely promoted by the govern- said. His family celebrates the festival the ment in recent years and very welcomed same way every year. His elder son and by locals. Vendors come from counties daughter don’t join them very often and cities to trade with farmers and herds- because they work in the city and have a men every year. This year, 396 vendors tight schedule. took part in the fair and trade volume The closing ceremony began at 2 p.m. exceeded 4 million yuan ($483,092). Groups of performers wearing a variety of After watching the horse racing, costumes and representing different areas Puzhub and his seven family members or organizations paraded to the delight of made for the county square where they set the crowd. Among them, were knights rid- up a makeshift shed with plastic sheets, for ing handsome horses, women singing and protection from sun and rain, and then dancing, lamas playing religious music and spread out their drinks and food. Theirs children performing modern gym. It was a was just one of hundreds of shelters and time to remember. ■ PHOTOS BY FENG JING

the festival, the autumn harvest starts. Ninth month Labab Duechen It falls on the 22nd day and celebrates Sakyamuni’s descent from the god realms into his mother Maya’s womb. On the day of this festival, the number of pilgrims vis- iting monasteries and other places of sacred significance increases substan- tially, as this also corresponds with the agricultural off-season. 10th month ON CUE: Tibetans love to celebrate their traditional festivals with new, modern games like billiards Fairy Maiden Festival This festival falls on the 15th day. Many religious rooftops and prayers chanted to New Year, the Ghost-Exorcising activities are held. Tibetan women remember the passing away of Tsong Festival is held on the 29th day. Such regard it as their own holiday, so they Khapa. One of the greatest religious activities as trance dancing are held in are more active and energetic than figures of Tibet, he founded the Gelug monasteries throughout Tibet. Tibetan men. During the festival, Tibetan (Yellow) Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, people usually clean and sweep their women gather in Lhasa around the which revived Buddhism in a more houses on this day. Torches are lit and Jokhang Monastery to pray for a happy orthodox form. people run about and yell to chase any marriage and true love. evil spirits from their homes. Tsong Khapa Butter Lamp 12th month Apart from the above-mentioned Festival Celebrated on the 25th day, Ghost-Exorcising Festival To drive festivals, Tibetan people consider the thousands of butter lamps are lit on away evil spirits and to welcome the eighth, 15th and 30th day of each

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 37 BUSINESS It’s Getting Hot Again Figures show fixed asset investment rebounding in July, indicating administrative controls might be no antidote to macroeconomic adjustment

By XIAO TANG

t appears by all accounts that China’s investment frenzy—the primary factor that is troubling the Central Government in the latest round of macroeconomic adjustment—is making a comeback. I China’s fixed asset investment, led by local governments, rose by a scorching 53 percent during the first two months this year, driven by strong demands in certain sectors, such as steel and property. The blazing trail lost some momentum when the growth slipped to 43 percent in March and then plummeted to 18.3 percent in May, strongly suggesting the Central Government had made drastic administrative adjustments to cool down the sizzling economy. But the official figure climbed back to 22.7 percent in June. July’s figure has not been THE ROAD AHEAD: China is seeing a comeback on the country’s investment released by the National Bureau of Statistics highway despite administrative controls (NBS), who did release the growth rate for the first seven months: 31.1 percent year on year. According to an estimation from JP Morgan Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Yuan quarter compared with a year ago. In Chase, the July figure climbed back up to 32 cited steel prices jumping back after a brief Shanghai, the growth figure during the same percent. drop off, and property price rising constant- period reached an astonishing 20 percent. ly without signs of slowing down as indica- “Administrative methods don’t work Banks’ Fears Becoming Reality tors that, as long as market demand is well on market rules,” Yuan pointed out. Rebounding despite administrative con- strong, investment is most likely to rise. Though most analysts are pessimistic trols, what most international investment According to figures from the central about the effect of macroeconomic adjust- banks feared would happen over the last few bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBC), ment, some experts are relatively cautious. months, seems to be true. steel prices in July rose 2.1 percent from Song Guoqing, a professor at Peking Investment banks noted that re-accelera- June, up 18 percent from a year ago. University, said it’s still too early to reach a tion of investment was inevitable after A recent field survey by the NBS indicat- conclusion based on only two-month fig- administrative controls were relaxed. This is ed the average property price in 35 cities ures. “It requires more observation,” said because no financial measures, such as an increased 10.4 percent in the year’s second Song. interest rate hike, are being taken to supple- ment administrative measures, which spear- Growth of Fixed Asset Investment and Bank Loans, Jan.-July heads the latest round of macroeconomic 60 % adjustment. They believe the low cost of money lend- 50 ing cannot quench the urge to invest. China’s benchmark one-year deposit rate 40 is 1.98 percent, while its one-year lending rate is 5.31 percent. 30 Tao Dong, an economist with investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), said 20 macroeconomic adjustment, which mainly aims to curb supply, is not a solution to the 10 investment craze. As demand remains still strong, investment recovery is unavoidable. 0 His views were echoed by Yuan Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Gangming, a senior economist with the Fixed Asset Investment Bank Loans

38 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 BUSINESS

Where’s the Money Coming From? ing exclusively on bank loans, been resorting ing outside China’s banking system partly Countering the rising investment growth, to private, even overseas, funds to quench due to the government’s credit curbs aimed at bank loans continued to fall in July. their thirst for money,” Yuan said. “Private cooling down growth, drawing attention According to the central bank, loans companies are more flexible in this respect.” from government officials and economists. increased by 15.9 percent in July, 7.3 per- Figures from the State Administration of Such a diversion of deposits out of banks centage points lower than that a year ago. Foreign Exchange show capital inflow could have been welcome to those financial The figure stood at 16.7 percent, 19 percent increased by over $30 billion during the first authorities encouraging spending and equity and 20.4 percent, respectively, during the pre- half of this year. Most of it has been trans- investment, but may not be so if a big part of vious three months. Outstanding loans at the formed into investment, added Yuan. the outflows turns out to be financing under- end of June decreased by 144 billion yuan Meanwhile, the slide in individual sav- ground lending markets or pushing up ($17.39 billion) from that of May. ings and corporate deposits also suggest pri- already high property prices, analysts say. The growth in bank deposits by Chinese households has been sliding for the past five ZHOU ZHONGYAO months, a phenomenon rare in recent years when they rose rapidly as a result of robust economic growth. Increases in savings deposits totaled 17.8 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) in June, down 43.2 billion yuan ($5.2 billion) from the same period last year. “This deserves our attention,” said Guo Shuqing, Deputy Governor of the central bank at a forum in late July. Inventory Surges Experts also point out that the surge in corporate inventory and overdue receivables, sparked by liquidity difficulties due to credit curbs, has become a worry. Their concerns are shared by the central bank. PBC Vice Governor Guo Shuqing said that the central bank has noticed the soaring of corporate inventory, which grows current- PROPERTY FRENZY: Property prices are ly at over 20 percent, against less than 5 per- rising with no sign of slowing down cent in January last year. The inventory should decrease after the So, why is fixed asset investment vate funds are bypassing banks and pouring economy cools down, but now it is rising, rebounding regardless of the declining into investment. noted Guo. growth rate of bank loans? An analyst with JP Morgan Chase con- Official figures show corporate inventory According to Yuan Gangming’s explana- cluded that the de facto negative interest rate jumped by 22 percent by the end of June, of tion, enterprises and companies are searching encourages enterprises to find other financ- which raw materials grew 25 percent and for new financing channels to bypass the ing channels, so as to offset the impact of products by 16 percent. tightening credit policies. tightening credit policies. The inventory surges are followed inevi- “Many companies have, no longer rely- Growing amounts of funds are circulat- tably by the increase of overdue receivables. According to the NBS statistics, overdue receivables of industrial enterprises amount- % Growth of Inventory & Overdue Receivables, June 80 ed to 2.03 trillion yuan ($245 billion) by the 74 end of June, up 18.7 percent from a year ago. 70 Tao Dong of the CSFB warned if the gov- ernment-ordered one-size-fits-all cut in bank 60 loans continues through the second half of the year, a large-scale payment crisis might lead to 50 massive bankruptcy of private companies. Yet Yuan Gangming reacted cautiously to 40 Tao’s views. He said the future credit policy 35 35 would have the final say. As the central bank 30 29 27.8 18.5 has not raised the interest rate and demand, 25 24 21.8 22 especially in the property sector, remains 20 strong, corporate inventory can be dumped in several months. But if the demand weakens 10 and the inventory increases by a large margin, a crisis might be difficult to fend off. 0 The macroadministrative controls now Ferrous Nonferrous Transportation Special Electronic Metal Metal Hardware Equipment have no way to back down, and the authori- ties should adjust the interest rate to a rational Inventory Overdue Receivables standard, said Tao Dong. ■

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 39 BUSINESS

By LAN XINZHEN LI SHILEI

tate-owned commercial banks’ monopoly of auto- mobile loans will soon be broken, according to the SAdministrative Rules for Automotive Loans, promulgated by the People’s Bank of China (PBC), the country’s central bank, on August 17. The measures apply not only to state banks, but also to all other commercial banks, urban and rural credit cooperatives and qualified non-banking financial institutions. Under the new rules, Shock Therapy China’s central bank to open auto loan business to China’s per capita gross domestic prod- uct (GDP) has exceeded $1,000. This foreign capital unprecedented purchasing power should translate into more Chinese buying cars. In which will go into effect on October 1, the China Association of Automobile recent years, China has witnessed a growth Chinese and foreign loan providers will Manufacturers, optimistically points out, rate of 20-35 percent or higher in auto sales. compete on an equal footing. “The two changes will push China’s auto In developed countries, over 80 percent of loan business closer and closer to the consumers acquire their cars on credit or by Big Changes international standard. They may hopefully leasing. Based on this, auto loan could “Compared with the auto loan policies invigorate the presently sluggish Chinese amount to hundreds of billions of yuan in 1998, the most significant change is that auto loan market.” annually. the new measures have eased restrictions on the ownership of the loan providers,” an Market Potential Foreign Capital: A Last Resort official with the PBC comments. Statistics from the PBC show that the GMAC-SAIC Auto Finance Co. kicked China’s first regulation on auto loans outstanding balance of auto loans amounted off business in Shanghai on August 18. It was enacted by the PBC in 1998.When to 183.3 billion yuan ($22.14 billion), 10.2 became the first auto-financing firm estab- China initially launched its auto loan poli- percent of all loans for consumption among lished after the promulgation of the new cies, the PBC limited the privilege of all financial institutions. According to fig- guidelines, which the China Banking extending auto loans to state-owned com- ures released by the Agricultural Bank of Regulatory Commission (CBRC) has mercial banks in order to protect them from China, its outstanding balance of auto loans decided to implement immediately. At its financial risks. However, the new measures increased by about 3 billion yuan ($362. 32 opening ceremony, the company concluded explicitly stipulate that commercial banks, million) in 2003. It had an average monthly its first deal, granting a 3-year loan of all credit cooperatives and qualified non- growth of between 200 million yuan 160,000 yuan ($19,323.67) to Hua Jian, banking financial institutions will be able to ($24.15 million) and 300 million yuan who purchased an Excelle, with a 30 per- provide auto loans. Rights are also given to ($36.23 million), with the highest monthly cent down payment and the same interest foreign-funded banks that handle RMB cur- growth at 600 million yuan ($72.46 mil- rate as other commercial banks. rency and foreign-funded auto financing lion). Based in Shanghai, the company is a firms. However, cars purchased on credit joint venture of General Motors Acceptance “Another change to note is that foreign- account for less and less of total auto sales. Corp (GMAC) and the financial unit of ers are also allowed to buy cars on credit in According to statistics, cars purchased on Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp China,” the official continues. credit accounted for 40 percent of all auto (SAIC). Its registered capital totals 500 mil- The new guidelines classify borrowers sales in 2003. This declined to about 20 per- lion yuan ($60.39 million), 300 million either as individuals, auto dealers or institu- cent in early 2004, diving to less than 10 ($36.23 million) contributed by the former tions. For the first time, law regarding indi- percent by the beginning of August 2004. and the rest by the latter. In collaboration vidual borrowers will not discriminate “These figures indicate the number of with other auto dealers, it will start opera- based on citizenship. One stipulation cars bought on credit has not increased, tions in Shanghai. though is a borrower must have resided in although overall auto sales in China has According to Richard Clout, President the Chinese mainland for one straight year been on the rise. Therefore, the potential for of GMAC International Operations, China’s or longer at the time of application. China’s auto loan industry is huge,” says car loan business has enormous growth Chen Songshi, a research fellow with Chen. potential. He says that they will bring their

40 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 BUSINESS

THE NOVEL IDEA OF CREDIT: Caution Against Risks Business insiders believe that an imma- Two women discuss the The newly released rules have forced ture market constitutes the greatest chal- prospects of buying a car on lenge in the development of the country’s credit, which is still a fairly new risk management in the auto loan sector. One chapter is specially devoted to “risk auto loan business. First, there is a dire idea in China absence of an adequate credit-rating system. management,” requiring loan providers to There is no established rating system effi- establish a credit-rating system for appli- cient enough to judge individuals’ credit cants. Also required in this section is the standing. On top of this, the concept of cred- establishment of an early warning system over 85 years of expertise to the it has yet to be popularized among Chinese business, as well as their innova- to monitor risks, further separation the consumers. Insurance companies and com- tive financial products. examination of applicants from granting mercial banks have long been haunted by Apart from GMAC-SAIC, loans, classification and monitoring of the country’s extremely poor credit system, Volkswagen Credit also received a debtors, and promotion of information so will auto loan providers. formal approval from the CBRC exchange throughout the sector, among Second, the underdeveloped capital for going into business. other things. market will be a stumbling block for auto So far, four multinational auto- The slump in China’s auto loan busi- loan providers in their attempt to introduce financing firms have got the nod ness can be attributed to the high risks of financial products. from the CBRC to start business in loans. The measures issued in 1998 ush- Third, China’s financial market is far China, including Honda Credit, ered in a rush for cars in the country. Some from satisfactory. For instance, the coun- Ford Credit, in addition to GMAC commercial banks, in their desperate pur- try’s interest rates are not completely deter- and Volkswagen Credit. suit to expand loans, relaxed their assess- mined by the market and, therefore, the The fact that the CBRC put the ment of clients’ credit standing. As a room for fluctuations in loan rates is rela- new guidelines into practice well result, these banks ended up giving out tively small. Auto loan firms are still sub- ahead of the initial schedule speaks many bad loans, as quite a few clients servient to the CBRC. of the state bank regulators’ eager- refused to pay back or cheated when “All these problems will result in risks ness to reform the auto loan sector, applying for the loans. Experts predict that for loan providers, thus adversely affecting which has fallen into recession since last as auto prices drop, lower income car buy- the development of China’s auto loan busi- year. The move seems to indicate that ers will aggravate this problem. Some ness. So, while opening up the market, we unblocking foreign capital into China’s auto joint-stock banks, like China Merchants have to be alert to the risks an open market loan sector was a last resort by regulatory Bank and China Minsheng Banking Corp., may incur,” says Chen Shixiong, a research organs attempting to kick stagnated busi- have halted granting auto loans in some of fellow with the China Association of ness into high gear. their offices. Automobile Manufacturers. ■

Trans-China Linde Forklift Rally A Home Coming After 90 days of rumbling and sightseeing, beginning from Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, on May 26, down the eastern seaboard, Linde Explorer traversed more than 4,500 km and arrived at its home, Xiamen, Fujian Province, on August 23. When driving along the beautiful Island Ring Road, the driver was extremely excited by the splendid sights. Across the water, Gulangyu Island appeared small but still lovely. It is known as the “cradle of musicians” and the “island of pianos.” After appreciation of blue sky and fresh sea, Explorer continued on to Linde-Xiamen’s forklift offices. The company’s staff was on hand to extend a warm welcome. All 500 employees, wearing uniforms, stood to form the company’s logo in the square. Xu Mo, Vice Mayor of Xiamen, came to attend the arrival ceremony and express his congratulations. Local media flocked to the event, arranging interviews and writing reports. Established in 1993, Linde-Xiamen Forklift Truck Co. Ltd. has become the base for Linde’s forklift production, sales, service and technical support. With an expansive factory 220,000 square meters in size, it is the largest forklift manufacturer in Asia, utilizing the most advanced technology and equipment. Over the past decade, Linde-Xiamen has grown along with the fast development of Xiamen. After its arduous yet sight-filled journey, Linde Explorer reluctantly finished the last leg of

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 41 ADVERTISEMENT

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BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 43 BUSINESS

year, 47 major state-owned enterprises in the electronic sector made money in mar- State of the Market ket competition, totaling 190.38 billion yuan in industrial output, a growth of 16.1 Industrial Profits Graph 2: Industrial Profits, Jan.-July percent year on year. The aggregate of bn yuan % From January through July, the com- 120 111.6 major business revenue was 203.34 billion 92.8 bined profits generated by both state- 100 91.5 yuan, increasing 17.3 percent over the owned and non-state-owned enterprises same period last year. Delivery value for 80 71.2 with annual sales revenue of over 5 million exports and profits amounted to 62.78 bil- 60 yuan amounted to 608.5 billion yuan, surg- 53.4 lion yuan and 5.89 billion yuan, growing ing 39.7 percent year on year, according to 40 24.5 percent and 66.8 percent, respectively, 20.8 the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) 20 17.5 15.4 compared with the same period last year. (see graph 1). 0 From January through July, after Oil Construction Nonferrous Iron & adjusted macro-control policies and Graph 1: Industrial Profits, Jan.-July Exploitation Materials Metal Steel increased competition, sales revenue bn yuan % 350 50 Profits Growth (y.o.y.) 305.2 46.3 growth of 23 major state-owned medical 40.9 286.9 280 40 enterprises continued to slow. The total 36.8 grew 7.4 percent to hit 76.2 billion yuan, 33.7 output value they registered was 31.81 bil- 29.9 reaching 12.3 billion yuan in July alone, 210 192.2 30 lion yuan, shrinking 2.2 percent from the 3.9 billion yuan more than June’s final fig- same period last year. Major business rev- 140 20 ure. From January through July, state- owned and state-holding enterprises with enue amounted to 62.74 billion yuan, up 70 58.5 10 26.3 deficits lost 36.8 billion yuan, 4.6 percent 13.4 percent year on year, 2.2 percentage 0 0 down from a year ago. points down from the first half rate. Taxes paid by state-owned and non- Not severely affected by a policy of dropping medicine prices, enterprises with funded Private state enterprises with annual sales revenue holding & State- Foreign-

Taiwan & Taiwan hi-tech medical products and traditional Collective of over 5 million yuan totaled 483.6 billion Joint-stock

HK, Macao, Chinese medicine continued to perform State-owned yuan from January through July, jumping Profits Growth 22 percent compared with the same period well, generating profits of 2.87 billion last year. Of the total, state-owned and yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 9.9 per- Of the total 39 major industrial sectors, state-holding enterprises contributed 305 cent. This figure was 18.3 percent in the profits in oil exploitation surged while the billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of first half. Losses of enterprises stood at 120 construction materials, nonferrous metal 18.9 percent. million yuan, up 20.2 percent. smelting and rolling processing, as well as At the end of July, overdue receivables In the period from January through the iron and steel sectors, slowed. Rate of of industrial enterprises hit 2.06 trillion July, thanks to the high demand of coal for oil exploitation growth was 4.3 percentage yuan, expanding 18.8 percent year on year, electricity generation, 32 major state- points higher than that of the first half. 7.1 percentage points higher than the figure owned coal enterprises had a total output Growth rates in construction materials, non- in the same period last year. Among this valued at 104.28 billion yuan, jumping ferrous metal smelting and rolling process, total, those of state-owned and state-hold- 47.7 percent year on year. Major business and iron and steel sectors were 22.5 percent- ing enterprises amounted to 744.8 billion revenue totaled 115.2 billion yuan, a year- age points, 14.1 percentage points and 9.2 yuan, up 5.9 percent from a year ago. on-year growth of 52.1 percent. Sales ratio percentage points down from rates in the of these enterprises hit 108.7 percent, 2.8 first half, respectively (see graph 2). SOEs percentage points higher than the rate dur- Meanwhile, losses among enterprises During the first seven months of the ing the same period last year. Profits

44 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 BUSINESS totaled 10.76 billion yuan, 6.54 billion Sales ratio kept almost the same as in yuan higher than the figure in the same the first half, standing at 96.2 percent. period last year. There was only one enter- Inventory of finished products were valued prise that lost money, while two did in the at 3.22 billion yuan, down 3.1 percent. same period of 2003. Losses reached 50 There were five enterprises that lost million yuan, 22.2 percent less than last money, while seven did in the same period year. last year, losing 120 million yuan, 30 mil- Growth of revenue and profits of 38 lion yuan less than a year ago. major state-owned metallurgical enterpris- es continued to drop from January through Wheat July. The total output value they registered Production of winter wheat recovered grew 49.7 percent to 397.48 billion yuan, this year. Statistics from the Ministry of 2.3 percentage points down from the rate Agriculture show that in Henan, the in the first half. Major business revenue province with the largest output of winter totaled 436.29 billion yuan, a year-on-year wheat, yield was 23.9 billion kg. The year- increase of 52.9 percent, 2.9 percentage on-year growth rate of 4.3 percent is a new points down from the rate in the first half. record. At the same time, purchasing price Profits of these enterprises amounted to increased, standing at 0.4-0.7 yuan higher 39.26 billion yuan, up 90.7 percent year on per kg. year, 5.8 percentage points down compared Statistics from the General to the first half. Administration of Customs showed that Sales ratio in these enterprises reached imported wheat during the first six months 99 percent, almost equaling the first half’s was eight times the figure in the first half figure. As of the end of July, inventory of of 2003 (see graph 3). Since the state will finished products valued at 35.75 billion lift value-added tax of imported wheat yuan, increasing 54.8 percent year on year, until the end of this year, and international but 6.6 percentage points less than the fig- ocean freight has decreased, costs of ure at the end of June. imported wheat were reduced. With Within the first seven months of the increased imports—7 million tons con- year, production and sales of 52 major state- tracted—any rise in the price of wheat will owned enterprises in the chemical industry be minimal. achieved growth of about 30 percent. Triggered by high demand, they registered a Graph 3: Wheat Imports & Exports, total output value of 69.01 billion yuan, up Jan.-June 1.6 million tons 29.3 percent, which was 1.5 percentage 1.48 points higher than the growth rate in the first six months. Major business revenue climbed 1.2 31.1 percent to 72.01 billion yuan. Although prices of energy and raw 0.8 materials rose, which led to an increase of their cost, a chemical products price hike 0.4 mitigated the impact. Profits stood at 2.83 0.13 billion yuan, soaring 69.6 percent. Sales 0 ratio reached 98.8 percent, 0.6 of a per- Imports Exports centage point higher than the figure in the same period last year. GDP Figure Revised Of the total 52 enterprises, 44 saw China’s economy saw a growth rate of profits and eight lost money. Losses 9.69 percent in the first half of this year, amounted to 470 million yuan, 80 million according to recalculated statistics released yuan more than the losses in the same peri- by the NBS. This was a minor revision of od last year. a preliminary figure that put gross domes- From January to July, profit margins of tic product (GDP) growth at 9.66 percent. 25 major state-owned enterprises manag- According to the revised statistics, the ing construction materials fell. Profits nation’s GDP in the first six months totaled totaled 2.84 billion yuan, up 170 percent, 5.9 trillion, 1.5 billion yuan more than the 49.7 percentage points down from the preliminary figure. growth rate in the first half. During this The NBS explained that readjustment period, they registered a total output value in communications, transportation, ware- of 26.32 billion yuan, expanding 45.7 per- house, post and other service industries cent, 2.7 percentage points lower than the raised the tertiary industry growth rate by rate through the first six months. Major 0.1 of a percentage point, or 1.5 billion business had aggregate revenue of 31.07 yuan, in the first half of this year. Other billion yuan, increasing 47.3 percent from industries showed no changes. a year ago, 1.6 percentage points down Compiled by WANG JUN from the figure in the first six months. $1= 8.28 yuan

BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 45 FORUM Surrendering Bribes Should corrupt officials who give back their bribes be pardoned?

n the war being waged in China against corruption, authorities are examining all possible means of I breaking the back of this most debilitating of crimes. Recently, an option for bribe takers that breaks with routine was proposed, in which corrupt officials who return bribes through a proposed national public account within a given time limit could receive a par- don. “That is to say, they would be free from criminal or administrative punish- ment,” said Wang Minggao, leader of the research group, Punishment and Prevention of Corruption in China in the New Millennium. The research group was jointly orga- nized by the Organization Committee and the Disciplinary Committee of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). In 2003, this group received sponsorship from the National Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Sciences. After five years of research, the group has put forward a suggestion that the National People’s Congress, the CPC Central Disciplinary Commission, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Supervision should consider certain measures. One of the measures is to open a national bank account for bribe-takers to anonymously return their illegal gains at And third is to establish an effective Statistics from the Disciplinary any state-owned commercial bank above offense-reporting system with a maxi- Commission of the Provincial Party the county level. mum award of 50 percent of the money Committee show that during the first five Two decisions need to be made. One recovered. months of 2001 a total of 10.48 million is that no matter what the seniority of the In early 2000, Ningbo, Zhejiang yuan ($1.27 million) was put into the official or how big or small the bribe established such a bank account, named bank account. taken is, if gains are surrendered within “581.” All officials in the city could In Jinan, Shandong, an average of the set time limit, these corrupt officials deposit tainted money they received 10,000 yuan ($1207.73) was deposited will not be punished. The other decision into this account in assigned banks. into the account daily. Within two months required is to consider even more serious When filling in the receipts, they did of the corruption cases involving the punishment for those who refuse to sur- not have to write their names. The bank mayor and vice mayor of Shenyang, render their bribes in full within the time receipts would be an indication that Liaoning, 4 million yuan ($483,100) limit. they rejected bribes or gifts on their found its way into the accounts. There are another three interrelated own initiative. Despite this success, the system was measures to be considered. First is to per- During a one-year period following heavily criticized and, in May 2002, less fect the application and registration sys- the establishment of the account, more than a year after the implementation of the tem of personal property for state func- than 1.8 million yuan ($217,400) was accounts, the Provincial Party Disciplinary tionaries. Second is to raise salaries to handed in. After this success, such Commission ordered termination of the make officials less tempted by bribes. accounts were opened country-wide. project throughout the province.

46 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 FORUM

To date no response from the central they have committed a crime. I think, first authorities has been offered to this sug- of all, we should consider establishing an gestion, but there is no shortage of opin- independent organization to take precau- ions on the matter. tions against corruption, something sug- gested in the United Nations Convention It Helps Fight Corruption Against Corruption. Second, we should Wang Minggao (research group rectify our regulations on preventing cor- leader): According to a ruption by referring to criminal laws in survey by procuratorates, other countries in order to improve our LI SHIGONG taken over a long period, anti-corruption legal network. Finally, the there were far more cor- establishment of any policies cannot run ruption cases than against the provisions of current laws. occurred, in relation to Such exemptions for bribe-takers seem to cases of punishment convey a message to the public that offi- meted out. A huge “bad cials are privileged. It will affect the prin- debt” therefore grew ciple that everyone is equal in front of the over years in the fight law. against corruption. I Yue Liling (criminology professor): believe that the method This idea might partially make up for can reduce cost in the financial losses. However, such short- fight and retrieve more term ideas are not necessarily consistent illicit money. with the Constitution or legal principles. I Li Yongzhong (anti- believe the disadvantages outweigh corruption researcher): advantages. Since the founding of the This is a strategic solu- People’s Republic of China in 1949, we tion. The spread of cor- have only offered special pardons to the ruption is closely related last emperor and other war criminals. We to the inadequacies of the have not specially pardoned any common current system. In addi- criminals yet. Finally, the surrendering of tion, recent anti-corrup- bribes through simple administrative pro- tion practices tell us that cedures could endanger the protection of many corruption cases private property. are never solved at all. Fang Zhiyuan (lawyer): The punish- Offering this amnesty to ment of the crime is not limited in terms bribe-takers who quickly of time. If the bribe-takers can be special- wake up to their errors is ly pardoned within a prescribed time, one way to deal with the then how can we deal with the crimes problem. committed after the establishment of this It Contravenes the method? Is there going to be a new due Law time? It makes the present legal system chaotic. Han Bing (lawyer): Chen Changbin (Deputy Director The idea of a “special of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of pardon” is not valid as long as the Sichuan Provincial Procuratorate): Standing Committee of the National The establishment of the national bank People’s Congress has the final say. If the account for bribe-takers to anonymous- crimes can be cancelled after surrender- ly surrender their money is contradic- ing the bribes, then the law only exists in tory to the Criminal Law currently in name. This special action also overlooks effect. In other words, it gives the the people offering bribes. If there is no bribe-takers favorable treatment. As punishment to people who get the money, long as they can deposit money into those offering bribes will not be worried. this account in time, they will be free It will not stop them from trying to give from punishment. However, the money to officials. Criminal Law stipulates clearly that the Wang Xiumei (law professor): The punishment can only be reduced if they notion of exemption from criminal prose- confess. cution is completely different from a spe- Netizens (from a survey conducted cial pardon. Corruption is a crime that by Sichuan Online Co.): 62.34 percent cannot just be erased, even if the crimi- of netizens surveyed feel that this method nals actively or anonymously surrender is against the law; 20.78 percent believe it their bribes due to remorse or other rea- is not fitting to the crime; and only 16.88 sons. They cannot conceal the fact that percent think it is worth trying. ■

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many languages, and a large intriguing rural village, a monastery, impressive dddTˆcc dccsGcc dvfc dAucec csRddcc cGucedcc c†Rddddcc c c c c c c c c dcc dddTˆcc dccsGcc dvfc dAucec csRddcc cGucedcc c†Rddddcc early three years ago, I read the great painting of what the surrounding area examples of traditional hill stones and even dddc xdrc cde cde cde cde cde tdvc dddc dde dccde ‡PddT„Sccde FwcsRH‰ctde cdedcg cdedcyPdde cdedccdcde cddddctddde cddddcU`cde cdedcdccde

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looked like when Cao lived there. Stepping a “rose cemetery,” based on a well-known c‡Fce ‡F‰ce U‰f dddde ctdddde cU@wcdvc cQ ccddc cxAucdrc fIe tSe B e xIe cde cde ddTˆe dddde dcedce

Mansions, (Honglou meng) ‡ddce‡Se by Cao outside the museum into the summer heat, scene in the story. cdfdcf cdfdcyde tddddddddde U‰dccdcdˆce ddddddddIce ‡Pdddddddce U‰edcg dddddddddde cyF‰dcc‡8re dH‰cdcc8dce

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Xueqin for the first time, and was simply ctdddddddAe ‡Fwccdg Urecdcydce dcdddddddce cdddddddddddAc

and looking at the expansive mountains, it Although the gardens have recently yde cde cde cddde t@‰de Urcde dccde dddde ‡PTˆe U`fIe dccdrc dddde ctdccdvc cUdccdIc cQdccddc cxdccdSc ‡PTˆe U`fIe dccdrc dddde overwhelmed by the cultural scope, strik- ctdccdvc cUdccdIc cQdccddc cxdccdSc fIe cde tSe Ure was very easy to imagine the isolation and become quite touristy, with night lasers ddTˆe ctSce ‡8‰ce 8ddde cyFce †RHwe†9e

ing realism and eloquent sophistication of dcdccddH‰ce dcdccdg dcdvcdg ddddcddddce dcecdedce dddctdagSce dcdcU‚9drce sense of loss and failure that Cao must shows, ubiquitous vendors and canned ctScdcdcxdf cUrcd‡dagdace cdeQdbdH‚9de Gˆg †Aucyde xIeUrf cdctScf cQ„8rcf cxddvcf cgddAuf this 18th century masterpiece. Since then, dddddddddde cs9ˆe‡@wce cyPHwsRddce dHwcecsdce cdedcf cdedcyAˆc cdd‡@wf tddd‰cf Udddddf dcdccd‡de c‡ddˆcf ‡FwsGuf dddddddddde cyF‰e†Rdde dH‰ch

have felt living here as he struggled (unfor- music softly playing from carefully hidden cdddddddddddAc I have reread the book five times, watched tunately unsuccessfully) to finish his book. loudspeakers, it is still worth a visit for it cdhe cdecddddde cdecdedre cdecdcddce cdvccdg cddccddddde cdecddˆdce cdecd†ddve cdecd‡ddIe cdecdHwsde cdddddcdctdce cdddrccddcdre c†Rde both the TV drama based on the number, I then explored Prince Gong’s does give you a feel for the layout of the cddddddddde cdecdcdcde cdcdddddcde cdecdcdcde cddddddddde cdgcde cdcdddddcde cdcdecdcde tScdddddcde F‰cdwcs9ˆde cd‡Sf cdd f cydueyde dcecdf ddddddf s9ˆcecdf cxddddddf cyFccd†9Tˆe cddddddddddde c‡PH‰ctSc†RAe cFwceF‰g

as well as the recent CCTV series on cdedcf cdedcf cdedcf cdeddHwe cdedcf tdedcf cdeQacgSc cde†RdH‰c Mansion, which is near Hou Hai lake. novel’s garden. I spent a late June after- ddddedcyPdc cy8dedcf dH‰dedcedc Cao’s life, of which so little is known, and This place is important because accord- noon lazily wandering around the spot car- read assorted books and numerous articles ing to Zhou Ruchang, it is the garden rying a copy of the book and looking for about him and the story. I have also been served as the model for the famous my favorite places from the story. lucky enough to have several fascinating Prospect Garden in A Dream of Red That completed my short tour, but I discussions with Zhou Ruchang, China’s Mansions. The private residential com- plan to continue my odyssey in the future, foremost authority on the work. Last June, pound is one of the largest and best main- for interesting leads do occasionally pop I set out to try to find places associated tained in Beijing. While the garden is up. For example, I recently found out on with Cao’s life in Beijing, where he lived considerably smaller than the extensive the Internet that there is a residential com- from 1728 to 1763. one in the novel, it remains quite impres- pound near Xidan, which has a 300 year After doing some research, the first sive and provides the visitor with a good old jujube tree, which should have “seen” place I visited was the Beijing Botanical introduction to north China’s classical Cao Xueqin when he meet friends here for Gardens, which is located in the Western garden aesthetics. The area around the poetry discussions. Legend says that it was Hills, north of Beijing. In the middle of the mansion, which Cao Xueqin knew well at this place that he first thought of writing gardens is a small, picturesque lake, on the and lived near when he first came to the novel. My search continues. ■ east side of which is Yellow Leaves Beijing, is still rich in atmosphere and full village, where the Cao Xueqin museum is of winding alleyways known as hutongs. Foreigners living in China are welcome to located. The museum, which consists of a Jumping from the real to a relatively share their experiences. E-mail us at small rather rustic-looking residential faithful recreation, I next visited Grand [email protected] Submissions compound containing four old-style hous- View Garden, which is in the southwest may be edited. es, is located on the site when Cao spent part of Beijing. It was built in the 1980s

48 BEIJING REVIEW SEPTEMBER 9, 2004