Achievements of 45 Years' Peaceful Construction Since The s1

Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67

Contents

Peace FEATURE ARTICLES The Development of Economic Globalization and Its Dual Character…………………..…….... ….....2 The Volatile International Situation and the Themes June 2003 of the Era Featuring Peace and Serial No. 67 Development……….11 On World Security Situation..……………...…….. …...15 NOTE: The academic Some Remarks about the Impact of the Iraq War papers published in on the International Situation.…………….……...… the PEACE quarterly 18 are mainly the au- The Trends of International Arms Control thors’ observations, in Early 21st Century……………...…….. which do not neces- ……….....20 sarily reflect those of the Chinese People's On the Chinese People Fighting SARS……...... ….....25 Association for Peace and Disar-mament. Brief Introduction to a New Development of China’s Rural Cooperative Medicare Ser- vice…………………………………………….....32

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES CPAPD President He Luli Hosts Luncheon for Pakistani Prime Minister Jamali………...…….… 36

(Cover Photo: He Luli, Vice-Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and President of the Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament, met with Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan who was visiting China in March 2003 at the invitation of Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council.)

1 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67

FEATURE ARTICLES

The Development of Economic Globalization and Its Dual Character

Qiu Yuanping*

The evolution of human economic activit- planned economy or the economic model of in- ies from socialization to internationalization ward national protectionism and adopted a and globalization is an inexorable trend of his- model of market economy, which is taken as a toric development and an objective process in- channel to integrate the national economy into dependent of man’s will. With increasing inter- the world economy so as to adapt to competi- nationalization of the world economy and tion needs arising from development of eco- emergence of the necessary conditions, the nomic globalization. Economic marketization world economy has entered a new phase of in various countries and globalization of market globalized development since the 1990s. economy have been developing in parallel. In today’s world, all countries except a few have adopted market-oriented economic systems. New Features of the Development of Eco- Market economy has transcended the border of nomic Globalization the capitalist world and become an internation- As a new phase of the world economic al economic system universally accepted in the development, economic globalization is still at whole world, forming a world market economic its primary stage and shows new features dif- system at three levels: national, regional and ferent from that of the previous phases. global. In terms of level of development, mar- Firstly, market economy has become a ket economy can be roughly divided into three global economic system, and a global unified categories: the developed market economy market system has taken shape and is devel- (western capitalist countries), the under- oping. By market economy, it refers to alloca- developed market economy (some developing tion of resources in economic operation mainly countries) and the market economy in transition directed by market. Since the 1980s, more and (CIS countries, countries in Central and Eastern more countries abandoned the traditional Europe and other developing countries). As for

* Guest Research Fellow, CPAPD.

2 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 specific models of market economy, there are the development of the global market economy. highly free and open economy such as Americ- System innovation and system competition an and British model, social market economy have become key issues in international com- with moderate state intervention such as Ger- petition. man and French model, and East Asian mixed- Secondly, liberalization and integration type economic model with characteristics of the of the world economy have grown qualitat- Oriental culture. In terms of economic opera- ively and a global economic network in tion, the majority of developing countries re- which all countries are interdependent and main in transition to market economy, their complement each other has taken shape ini- market mechanism is far from being fully-es- tially. The development of modern science and tablished, and economic legislation and regula- technology, especially the development of in- tions necessary to the integration into world formation-driven economy connects produc- economy are not yet formulated. Out of consid- tion, trade and financial activities in the world. eration of national interests, every country is Economic relations among countries have building various forms of protection barriers in gradually entered a new stage featured by mu- international economic exchanges. The global tual permeation, horizontal association and unified market, which is now taking shape and shared interests. The first is the development of improving, has not set up unified macro-regula- trade liberalization. The establishment of the tion system and mechanism in its big market, World Trade Organization in 1995 marked a and the existing co-ordination system of the in- new development level of the international ternational economy lacks ability to do so. In trade liberalization. The jurisdiction of the terms of actual efficiency of market economy, multi-lateral trade system has been greatly ex- various enterprises of all countries and eco- panded, and open and free trade policies have nomic entities differ sharply in their adaptabil- become a mainstream of the international com- ity to market economy, with highly uneven de- munity. More than 140 countries have accepted velopment and extremely asymmetrical flow of the regulation by free trade rules and interna- essential factors of production and distribution tional mechanism, thus, creating a sound mar- of interests, thus causing endless unbalance, ket environment for international exchange of chaos, friction and turbulence. The contradic- goods, services and technology. Having con- tions between fragile micro-foundation and stantly increased faster than economic growth, weak macro-regulation mechanism within the the international trade has become a leading world system of market economy, the conflicts factor in economic globalization. The second is between market economy of various countries the expansion of the internationalized produc- with the nation-state interests above everything tion. As a firm foundation of international eco- and the world market economy with global nomic relations, the international division of la- common interests as the goal, and the gap of bour has evolved from the vertical division of development level between developed coun- labour as its dominant aspect, where advanced tries and developing countries exert impacts on countries engaged in manufacturing while and restrain the stability and controllability of backward countries provided primary products

3 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 at the primary stage of economic international- operation and development for all countries ization, to the horizontal division of labour as during different phases of manufacturing its dominant feature, in which various countries products, exchanging goods and allocating es- participate according to their natural resources sential factors of production. This reflects the and comparative advantages in different indus- comprehensiveness of the present stage devel- tries. Such a new dominant mode of the inter- opment of the global economic integration. national division of labour creates a rare histor- Thirdly, the main body of the world ical opportunity for developing countries to de- economy and international economic rela- velop by leaps and bounds through technical in- tions have become plural and transnational novation, and gain favourable position in the corporations play a key role in economic international division of labour. Increasingly globalization. In the past, sovereign states extensive and internationalized production divi- were the main actors in the world economy and sion and co-ordination pose challenges to the international economic relations were mainly traditional production mode, where production conducted among nation-states. However, un- is organized and essential factors of production der conditions of globalization, where states re- allocated by the state as a production unit. The maining major actors of the world economy, third is the development of financial globaliza- there are also other integrated regional organiz- tion. The developed countries have taken the ations, international economic organizations lead in freeing financial control, opening stock and transnational corporations. Particularly, the markets and gradually liberalizing investment emergence and development of transnational and are closely followed by the newly industri- corporations are prominent changes of micro-e- alized countries and economies in Latin Amer- conomic forms in the world market economic ica and Asia, hence facilitating qualitative system. By taking full advantage of the object- changes in the volume, structure and form of ive conditions of economic marketization, lib- the international capital flow. Direct and indir- eralization and information, transnational cor- ect investment, and loan capital and financial porations have spread their operation units of capital have become increasingly active, not production, investment, marketing and scientif- only internationalizing production capital of ic research to every corner of the world and various countries, but also making loan capital covered all fields of production, circulation, and capital in circulation more international- distribution and consumption so as to optimize ized, hence remarkably speeding up the integ- the allocation of essential factors of production ration of global financial markets. The unpre- in the world and implement the strategy of cedented deepening of the international divi- global operation. According to 1999 world in- sion of labour, the development of international vestment report by the UN, years of develop- trade and the expansion of capital flow on an ment have raised the total number of transna- unparalleled scale have created an interest link- tional corporation to 60,000, with subsidiaries age and a network system of “either all being totalling 600,000, the total output value ac- winners or all being losers” for various coun- counting for 1/3 of the world total, the trade tries in their efforts to realize international co- volume more than 60%, world overseas direct

4 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 investment 90% and scientific and technologic- Therefore, it is necessary for the transnational al research and development 90%. The new in- organizations and institutions to formulate ternational production system with transnation- commonly observed rules so as to co-ordinate al corporations at the core is now taking shape. various international relations, solve emerging Exploring to establish a global operational sys- global problems, safeguard international order, tem and mode as well as internal management and stop the world economy from sinking into at global level, transnational corporations have anarchy. International and regional organiza- become leading and driving forces to push for- tions such as the UN, WTO, World Bank and ward and optimize the allocation of essential IMF are more active than ever before, and are factors of production in the world. The supra playing a leading role in establishing the new -national nature and super strength of transna- international mechanism and the new order in tional corporations, in the course of seeking the times of globalization. maximum interests and pursuing maximum Fourthly, economic integration among market shares, make it possible for them to nation-states is accelerating and world eco- avoid jurisdiction and control of host countries nomic integration is showing two main by taking advantage of preferential policies trends and developing at three levels. Integ- offered by various countries and internal integration, as the term suggests, refers to combining rated operation channels and monopolize the all systematic parts into the whole. To integrate markets by abusing their advantageous status, the global economy is a long natural process of thus exerting far-reaching impacts on the sover- development, and integration of essential eignty and interests of host countries. There- factors starting from parts to the integral whole, fore, while trying to benefit from transnational and from “unsystematic” to “systematic”. In the corporations, various countries and the interna- present world, this process manifests two main tional community are now exploring ways to trends and develops at three levels. One of the carry out national and international supervision two main trends is the trend of economic glob- and control over transnational corporations. alization. All countries in the world have parti- The system of international economic relations, cipated in the global flow of the essential with sovereign states based on territory and na- factors of production and the international al- tional boundaries as the main or even sole act- location of resources to different degrees, pro- or, has been replaced by a comprehensive sys- pelling development of economic integration tem of international economic relations, com- process at the world level. The other trend is posed of governments of all countries, transna- economic regionalization. To enhance national tional corporations and regional and interna- strength and position in increasingly fierce in- tional economic organizations. The diversifica- ternational competition, various countries make tion and expansion of the main international use of geo-advantages and cooperative relations actors will inevitably restrict the function of with neighboring countries to establish regional sovereign states and the exercise of national or sub-regional economic organizations, facilit- sovereignty and bring about new conflicts of ating economic integration at both regional and interest to international economic relations. sub-regional levels. Because of different na-

5 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 tional conditions of nation-states and boundary has a complicated and multi-layer dual charac- limits, the more extensive the scope of integra- ter. tion is and the more the participants are, the Firstly, the dual character is an essential more difficult to co-ordinate interests and the attribute. Studied from the perspective of pro- harder to enhance the level of integration. This ductive forces, as a result of a high-level devel- determines the situation in which the integra- opment of modern productivity and socialized tion increases in the order of global, regional production, on the basis of a unprecedented ex- and sub-regional levels progressively, with re- pansion of human economic activities in the gional and sub-regional integration showing areas of international production, international more robust momentum of development. Cur- commodities and capital flow as well as unpre- rently, the basic pattern of the world economic cedented closeness of economic relations of regionalization is as follows: on the basis of various countries, the economic globalization is geo-conditions, regional, sub-regional and an objective historical process moving from in- trans-regional organizations of integration are ternationalization to the globalization. Econom- taking shape; there exist three major regional ic globalization also promotes effective alloca- economic organizations, EU, NAFTA and tion of essential factors of production in the APEC, with more than 100 other regional bilat- whole world and raises productivity and eral and multi-lateral economic cooperation provides historical opportunities for the devel- agreements and economic organizations development of the world economy and for various oping in competition; through basic forms of countries to achieve development by leaps and organization such as preferential tariff areas, bounds. So, historically, economic globaliza- free trade zones, tariff alliances, common mar- tion shows a progressive and inevitable nature. kets and economic associations, there have Examined from the perspective of relations of evolved three types of grouping models, production, economic globalization is also a namely, “to increase strength by assembling result of the global expansion of capital and others”, “to increase strength by leading others” capitalist relations of production, so the de- and “to increase strength by depending on the veloped capitalist countries and capitalist rela- strong”. The development of regional integra- tions of production are in a dominant and ad- tion is dealing a blow to the original interna- vantageous position. All the developed capital- tional political and economic system and pat- ist countries and their capital groups (trans-na- tern, and exacerbating the unevenness of the tional corporations and banks) attempt to ma- world development, and also providing an op- nipulate, according to their will and rules, the portunity to narrow the gap between this un- direction, rules and regulations and order for evenness. the development of economic globalization so as to maximumize their interests from eco- The Dual Character of the Development of nomic globalization to the neglect of or even at Economic Globalization the cost of the interests of other countries and As a historical product of the world eco- the common global interests. Therefore, there nomic development, economic globalization co-exist parallel processes of an objective eco-

6 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 nomic globalization and a subjective capitalist- unlimited expansion of the global production driven economic globalization. and the limited global market of consumption, Secondly, the dual character of basic con- the gap between the rich and the poor world- tradictions. The fact that the dual character is wide as well as the South–North contradiction, an essential attribute decides the following, etc.. It must be pointed out that economic glob- economic globalization in its objective devel- alization in its historical course of development opment nurtures contradictions arising from the is now just at the primary stage dominated by process in which the global economy and the capitalism, and faces problems of where to de- disassociated and separated human life move velop and what kind of international rules and toward association and integration. For ex- regulations and order to be established. There- ample, there are contradictions between eco- fore, while making great efforts to push for- nomic globalization and interests and sover- ward economic globalization, the developed eignty of nation-states, between economic capitalist countries and their capital groups har- globalization and the retention of the national bor strong economic and political designs, and regional features, between micro-founda- namely, pushing development of economic tion and macro-control of economic globaliza- globalization and global rules in the direction tion, as well as contradictions within the un- of meeting their own interests so as to realize even development of economic globalization, the “capitalist globalization” by relying on their etc.. Among these contradictions, the funda- economic edge and dominant strength and re- mental one is between unlimited development sorting to political and economic means. of productive forces and limited national Hence, they export their political and economic boundaries, or the contradiction between eco- systems and ideology to various countries in or- nomic globalization and nation-state interests. der to transform the international order and At the same time, the expansion and domina- mechanism according to their values, to shift tion of capital and the capitalist relations of off their crisis and risks through commonly production in the process of economic globaliz- connected global mechanism, and even use ation make the contradictions inherent in capit- their comprehensive national strength to re- alism, namely, the contradiction between the move obstacles in seeking capital expansion socialized production and the private ownership and maximizing profits. This results in a con- of means of production, spread out across the tradiction between the two main processes, i.e. world. The basic contradictions of capitalism in economic globalization and capitalist globaliza- economic globalization mainly manifest them- tion. A core issue is what kind of order of eco- selves in the form of contradictions between the nomic globalization should be established. To global economic development and the self- inherit, transcend and replace capitalism, so- serving interests of developed capitalist coun- cialism has stepped onto the stage of history. It tries and their capital groups, between the plan- is true that socialist countries have been in ex- ning and economic management by various istence for several decades, yet, their overall countries and transnational corporations and the strength and development are far behind that of anarchy of the global economy, and between developed countries. The socialist countries

7 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 will seek development in this long-term co-ex- possible for the countries with relative back- istence with the capitalist countries, and their ward economy to make full use of the benefit success or failure will be decided in mutual as late comers and materialize their develop- competition. At the current stage of great dis- ment by leaps and bounds. In summary, for the parity in strength, the contradiction between so- international community, economic globaliza- cialism and capitalism is not the principal one, tion is weaving a network of inter-dependence, and the struggle between the two systems to a exchange, cooperation, and benefit-sharing, great extent has been incorporated into the greatly promoting the world to develop in an struggles and contradictions centring around comprehensive, orderly, coordinated and co- the process of economic globalization. operative manner, and deeply transforming all Thirdly, the dual character affecting eco- aspects of the outlook of the world and human nomic development. The positive nature and life, thus bringing about unpredendent develop- historic progressiveness of economic globaliza- ment opportunities for all countries including tion should not be questioned. First, under the developing countries. However, it must be conditions of economic globalization, the noted that a dominating law governing the de- scope, depth and effectiveness of resources velopment of economic globalization is the configuration are expanded and strengthened so market economic law, namely, the law of sur- it is possible for various countries to give play vival of the fittest. Under the circumstances to their relative advantages and realize effective that capitalism is in leading position while mac- resources allocation and complementarity in the ro-control is not yet in place, various contradic- global economic exchanges and interactions. tions arising from economic globalization and Second, the formation of the global unified the contradictions inherent in capitalism are in- market and international produ- terwoven, which exert negative impacts on the ction, trade, financial systems have freed enter- economic development of various countries and prises of various countries from being limited the world as a whole. For example, economic by their small national markets, thus, enabling globalization is exacerbating competition and them to acquire economic efficiency of a large the uneven development of various countries, scale and further expansion of production creating an irecoverable gap between the rich through participating in competition for the and the poor, and between the North and the world market and the international division of South, continuously sharpening the contradic- labor. Third, extensive international participa- tions relating to development and undermining tion and international cooperation help to pro- the existing international order; the inter-de- mote research and development of science and pendence among nations and the fact that the technology, popularize and utilize their results, world is an integral whole has increased the which is bound to speed up the development of ripple effect of chaotic factors such as crisis, global productivity. Fourth, through opening up conflicts, etc., resulting in many global prob- to the outside world and engaging in interna- lems as well as troublesome security problems tional exchange, introducing foreign capital, of comprehensive nature; the leading position advanced technology and management, it is of capitalism in economic globalization de-

8 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 termines the internationalization of contradic- um-developing countries”, namely, the coun- tions and conflicts produced by the political tries with medium-level income between the and economic expansion, which take place in “least developing countries”, “newly industrial- the course of the state monopoly capitalism de- ized economies” and “high-income oil-produ- veloping into international monopoly capital- cing countries” and accounting for half of total ism. number of the developing countries, whose overall average per capita GDP is US$ 300- The prospect for the uneven develop- 1800, with agriculture and mining industry ac- ment of economic globalization counting for less than 40% and manufacturing The law of uneven development in the industry more than 15%. The third category is world is the universal law of the world eco- the “newly industrialized economies”, namely, nomic development, which demonstrates itself those developing countries and regions that in a conspicuous way in the course of the de- have faster economic growth, relatively high velopment of economic globalization. It does per capita GDP and the industrial structure sim- not only exert influence between the developed ilar to that of the developed countries. Their countries and the developing countries, but also overall average per capita GDP is about US$ among the developing countries and inside the 3000-6000, with agriculture and mining in- developing countries. In terms of the economic dustry accounting for less than 10% and manu- development level of over 160 developing facturing industry more than 25%. The fourth countries including the East European coun- category is the “high-income oil-producing tries, they will experience gradual enlargement countries”, including OPEC countries and other of development disparity in economic globaliz- oil-producing and exporting countries, whose ation. On the basis of rational classification cri- overall average per capita GDP is more than teria by the World Bank, the United Nations, US$8000, with the lowest US$4000 and the and scholars from China and the former USSR highest US$30000. Oil or oil industry is the taking the per capita GDP and industrial struc- leading industry and their major source of in- ture as the main indicators, the developing come. countries can be divided into the following four The future development trends of the de- categories. veloping countries as individual entities will be The first category is the “least developing further polarized, and they will, historically, countries”, namely, the countries with the low- have different destiny. First, the “least develop- est per capita GDP and the smallest proportion ing countries” will continue to experience a of industry, especially the manufacturing in- negative growth in their per capita GDP, and dustry. According to the UN statistics, there are their gap with other developing countries will 48 countries in this category, whose overall av- not be narrowed, but on the contrary will be erage per capita GDP is about US$ 300, with continuously widened due to such factors as agriculture and mining industry accounting for natural conditions, population growth, citizens’ more than 50% and manufacturing industry less quality, economic foundation, political environ- than 10%. The second category is the “medi- ment, etc.. Second, benefiting from participat-

9 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 ing in regional economic groupings of the de- vidual strength and development alone. Hence, veloped countries and seizing opportunities to it is not only necessary for the poor and the speed up their modernization process, the out- weak countries to increase their advantageous standing ones of the newly industrialized positions through economic association, but economies stand a chance of catching up with also necessary for the rich and the strong coun- the developed countries and join their ranks. tries to maintain their advantageous position Because their economic development founda- through setting up regional blocs. The three re- tion is weak, so the catching-up process is as gional integration organizations, i.e. NAFTA, difficult as boating against the current, which EU and APEC, covering almost all developed can be easily affected by such factors as politi- countries and countries with strong momentum cal turbulence, outdated economic structure, of economic growth in the world. The econom- unfair distribution of income, inappropriate ic strength of all these 30 or so countries and moves in opening up to the outside world, etc.. regions accounts for 80% of that of the world Therefore, opportunities for development can while the regional integration organizations be either seized or lost. Third, the overall posi- consisting of other 150 or so countries and re- tion of the countries with medium-level income gions are relative weak. The gap between the will not change much, however, due to differ- strong and the weak among regional economic ent pace of their economic growth, it is possible blocs and within each bloc will continue to ag- that polarization can emerge among these coun- gravate the unevenness of the world develop- tries. Driven by the trends of economic global- ment, and squeeze the weak countries and the ization and regional integration, no country is vulnerable groupings out of the mainstream of able to acquire adequate international competi- the world economic development. tiveness and balancing capabilities by its indi- ( The article is completed in April 2003.)

The Volatile International Situation and the Themes of the Era Featuring Peace and Development

Xiao Feng*

In his report to the 16th National Congress and Electric Age. While in our daily life, “era” of the CPC, the then CPCCC General Secretary is also more often used to refer to different pe- Jiang Zemin stressed that peace and develop- riods of development, like “youth period”, ment remain the themes of our era, but at the “supply shortage period”, “digital period” and same time, the international situation after so on. Actually, all these different labels are “9.11” incident has been far from tranquil and reasonable. peaceful, since the scourge of terrorism is not Nevertheless, the “era” the ruling Chinese eliminated, hegemonism and power politics Communist Party defines is a strategic judge- show new manifestations, the situation in the ment at the highest level by its leadership as Middle East is more turbulent, local conflicts well as the basic yardstick for formulating its crop up from time to time, the gap between the theories, tactics and strategies. Since Marxism North and South is ever widening and the rela- has come into being, all strategies of ours are tions among leading powers are undergoing un- based on scientific judgements of correspond- precedentedly profound changes and adjust- ing historical era, therefore are subject to strict ments. With that in mind, why do we still hold scientific definitions and established standards. that “peace and development still remain the Engels retailed one of the viewpoints of Marx- themes of our era”? How to understand the re- ist historical materialism in the preface of the lations between the themes of the era and the English Edition of the Communist Manifesto in current volatile international situation? 1888 that “In every historical epoch, the pre- vailing mode of economic production and ex- “ Era” is a strategic judgement at the change, and the social organization necessarily highest level by our ruling party in China following from it, form the basis upon which it The concept of “era” or “times” is usually is built up, and from that which alone can be used from different perspectives and with dif- explained the political and intellectual history ferent meanings. For example, in light of the of that epoch”. That means what we define an general development of technology and produc- “era” refers to a mega epoch in human history tivity, human society can be divided subse- and categorized by social and economic modal- quently into many ages and epochs, such as ity. We regard the period of the 20th century as Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Steam Age imperialist and proletarian revolutionary era,

* Research Fellow of the weekly, the Contemporary World. 11 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 and lay down our strategies and tactics accord- tegic conclusion for shifting the party’s central ingly. task to socialist economic construction. In the second half of the 20th century, especially since the 1980s, profound changes The international situation has changed have taken place in international situation and profoundly, but “peace and development still historical conditions. Firstly, after collapse of remain the themes of the current era”. the colonial system in the 1960s, the priority As discussed above, the themes of our era task for the newly emerged independent coun- have changed from “war and revolution” to tries is to develop national economy. Secondly, “peace and development”. Therefore, we in the 1970s as the U.S. suffered the defeat in should redouble our efforts to hold high the Vietnam and withdrew from there, the stormy great banner of Deng Xiaoping Theory, fully struggles waged by the Asian, African and Lat- act on the important thought of “Three Repre- in American countries calmed down. Thirdly, sents”, build a well-off society in an all-around the developed capitalist countries have man- way, and create new situation in building so- aged to cope with their “system crisis” and cialism with the Chinese characteristics. The mitigated the contradictions among social strata themes of the era are relatively stable as com- through “institutional restructuring”, thus gen- pared with the volatile international situation. erating no conditions for making revolution. Because the themes of the era are a strategic Fourthly, in order to change their backwardness judgment decided by the current historical con- and catch up with the developed capitalist ditions, they will function in a considerably countries, the socialist countries urgently need long historical period, and will not follow with to develop economy and enhance comprehens- the swiftly changing international situation. The ive national strength. All these factors com- international situation is changing rapidly while bined make peace and development the com- peace and development still remain the themes mon aspirations of the people of various coun- of the era. They are not contradictory to each tries and the irreversible trend of world history. other. Under such circumstances, Mr. Deng Xiaoping, Since the “9.11” incident, dramatic through his penetrating observations of the in- changes have taken place in the international ternational situation, put forward the view: “the situation. The manifestations are as follows: real major problems, the problems of global neither the issue of peace nor development has strategic importance of the current world, one been solved, there are signs of a revival of the of which is peace, another is economy or devel- Cold War mentality and militarism, and there opment.” That means the themes of our era even has been an upsurge of Neo-capitalism in have changed from “war and revolution” to the U.S.. Some long established and widely re- “peace and development”. Hence the CPC ad- cognized norms governing the international re- justed its strategic thinking and changed its pre- lations including the principle of state sover- vious perception that a world war is inevitable eignty have suffered new setbacks. The deepen- and imminent, which provided an overall stra- ing globalization has strengthened the international co-ordination and cooperation, but the

UN is faced with danger of being marginalized the former Soviet Union and the Eastern by the U.S. power politics. The American wan- European socialist countries were destroyed by ton unilateral acts lead to drastic readjustments the western world, there were growing uncer- of relations among leading powers, but all tainties and sharpened contradictions in the in- countries try to avoid direct confrontation with ternational situation, which became more com- the U.S., thus pushing leading powers relations plicated and disorientated than before. Later on, toward providing “mutual assistance” rather the conflicts in the Balkan region lasted for than seeking allies, and compromising rather several years until NATO resorted to military than breaking up with each other. Generally force. After the “9.11” incident, the U.S. has speaking, the situation of world peace and se- faced many more problems. Its homeland, once curity is getting more grave than before, but no a “safety island”, has to deal with security as a major power intends or dares to wage a world priority now. In the past, the U.S. only worried war, and peace and development remain the about other nuclear powers; now terrorism has themes of the era. The current situation is still become its another worry, even the “No.1 en- featured by overall peace and local war; overall emy”. The resentment toward the U.S. is on the relaxation and local tension, overall stability rise in the Islam world. Thus, things are far and local chaos. As Mr. Jiang Zemin stated in from over, and terrorism will remain a tough his report to the 16th National Congress of the problem for the U.S. to handle. CPC that “A new world war is unlikely in the Secondly, the U.S. media has been spread- foreseeable future. It is realistic to bring about a ing China Threat fallacy from time to time as if fairly long period of peace in the world and a China has become a major enemy of the U.S. favourable climate in areas around China.” and there will always be some elements hostile toward China inside the U.S.. However, taking China still possesses good opportunities into account the overall strategy, the U.S. has in spite of volatile international situation, too much to attend, so it can not but improve its Since the “9.11” incident, although the in- relations with China. ternational situation has been volatile, China Thirdly, as Russia has adopted strategic still faces opportunities, and on the whole op- contraction, Russia-U.S. relations are improv- portunities outweigh challenges. The reasons ing. But both of them have an ax to grind. Rus- are as follows. sia will neither completely give up its world Firstly, focus should not only be laid on power status, nor willingly become a “junior the perspective of American unilateralism, for partner” at the mercy of the U.S. The U.S. will the U.S. has its vulnerabilities too. The strong not abandon the core of its hegemony—“the always have some weaknesses. The U.S. now is U.S. interest first” and “the American domin- having a hard time as it does not know exactly ance over the world”. This essential issue in the whereabouts of its enemies, thus having to keep Russia-U.S. relations is not easy to be solved. high alert and worry about terrorist attacks all Therefore, their close relations have limits. the time. After the dramatic change in the Fourthly, Due to its rapid economic devel- former Soviet Union and the Eastern European opment, China has increased its comprehensive countries, Mr. Deng Xiaoping stated that since 13 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 national strength considerably and its economy the challenges because its state nature decides is further integrating with the world economic that it will never seek hegemony. The objective system after China entered WTO, thus, the of China’s foreign policy is to safeguard world leading western powers share more common peace and promote common development. interests with China due to their interdependent China unswervingly pursues the independent relations. Against the backdrop of a dim world foreign policy of peace. China neither intends economic situation, China has come into a to hurt others, but to protect itself; nor to put a spotlight of the international economic arena finger into other’s affairs, but safeguard its own and attracted the global top 500 trans-national legitimate rights and interests; nor to expand its corporations to land in China. From now on to territory, but maintain its territorial integrity. a relatively long time to come, China will serve Especially, China has won appreciation from as a major driving force for the world economy. the neighbouring countries by persevering in Under such circumstances, to harm China will building friendly partnership with them and mean harming oneself. strengthening regional cooperation. China has Fifthly, the state nature and strategic goals also gained broad sympathy and support from of China and the U.S. are fundamentally differ- developing countries through further enhancing ent. The rule that a just cause enjoys abandon its solidarity and cooperation with them. Chin- support while an unjust cause finds little sup- a’s friends are all over the world, just like Mr. port always works. The U.S. has its ambition to Jiang Zemin stated “the power of peace, justice control the whole world, but its ability is, no and progress is after all invincible.” matter how strong it is, unequal to its ambition. While China, though not strong, can easily take (The article is completed in March 2003)

On World Security Situation

Dr. Yu Hongjun*

A dozen years ago as the Cold War tegrity. Therefore, all attention is paid to milit- between the East and the West came to an end ary security, or defense security. But it is not so and the world strategic pattern was under re- now since security has become a concept cov- alignment, some people predicted that human ering various aspects of people’s life of the con- society would move from irrational confronta- temporary world. Whether a modern country is tion toward constructive dialogue and from truly secure can not be judged only by whether endless conflicts to mutually beneficial cooper- the integrity of its territory is maintained and ation, and the world might become more se- whether its sovereignty is encroached upon, but cure than before. It once had been a consensus also by whether the state power is firmly con- among some statesmen and experts of interna- solidated, the economy performs well, different tional relations of various countries that the in- ethnic groups enjoy sound relationship, energy ternational situation at large was becoming re- is reliably guaranteed, or even environment is laxed. However, the profound changes of the effectively protected, state information system present international situation have enlightened is well co-ordinated and flows smoothly, the us that the international situation is unpreced- public order can be normally maintained and entedly complicated and human society is far the spiritual life is constantly making progress. from tranquillity. Therefore, while observing, It’s the most prominent feature of the current analyzing and judging the present international world security problems that traditional secur- situation and deliberating, studying and formu- ity factors and non-traditional security factors lating national security strategy, development are interwoven. The collapse and disintegration strategy and foreign policy, we must be fully of the former Soviet Union, once a superpower, aware of the synthetic nature, vulnerability, ur- is not resulted from invasion of its territory and gency and comprehensiveness of the current se- loss of national sovereignty, but from the prob- curity issues. lems in non-traditional security areas, such as ethnic relations, political structures, economic Ⅰ Synthetic nature of Security Issues system, ideology and etc. Consequently, it was Traditionally, national security only fo- plunged into an overall crisis and disintegra- cuses on national sovereignty and territorial in- tion. * Director, the Contemporary World Research Centre. 15 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67

missed missile attack on an Israeli passenger Ⅱ Vulnerability of Security Issues plane. The rapid progress of scientific and technological revolution and economic growth in Ⅲ Comprehensiveness of Security Issues late 20th century pushed human society into an The world has always been in an integral unprecedented period of rapid development in whole. In recent years, the rapid development history and brought about diversified achieve- of economic globalization has resulted in in- ments of civilization and unparalleled material creasingly close contacts among various coun- wealth. However, on the other hand, the world tries and regions in respect of politics, eco- security situation has never been as vulnerable nomy, culture, and etc.. Their fundamental in- as it is today. Human society is faced with tre- terests, especially economic interests and geo- mendous opportunities of development, and at strategic interests may differ or even contradict the same time with threats of various forms of with each other. However, sometimes they in- hegemonism based on power politics and Cold evitably interweave and converge with each War mentality, with the challenges of all types other. The mutual influence and restraint, and of terrorism originating from national splitism, interdependence and cooperation among coun- religious extremism and political radicalism, tries in the field of security have reached an un- with the real dangers stemming from prolifera- precedented degree. Once there are security tion of weapons of mass destruction such as problems in a country, especially one with im- nuclear weapons and biological and chemical portant geo-strategic position or special influ- weapons, and with the potential danger of at- ence in regional and international affairs, they tacks by hackers that will lead to information will affect its neighbouring countries and the chaos or even a standstill of social life, and region, sometimes even the whole world. This even with severe harm of religious cults and international security pattern, like all countries other evil forces of all kinds featuring anti-soci- in a boat, in which either all benefit or suffer ety, anti-science and anti-mankind. Against and depend on each other a lot, makes it im- such backdrop, no country can enjoy absolute possible for any country to solve its all national security, no field is absolutely secure; there is security problems only by using its national neither absolutely reliable security means, nor strength, or any country to settle the common even ever-lasting applicable security mechan- security problems facing international com- ism. This can be fully proved by the following: munity by its unilateral actions. China, Russia the “9·11” terrorist attacks on the United States and Central Asian countries have continuously of America, long considered the most secure; strengthened their cooperation against “three the terrorist bombing on the Bali Island, a fam- evils” of splittism, extremism and terrorism ous tourists resort of Indonesia; the hostage within Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and crisis in Moscow, which was created by anti-terrorism has become an important item on Chechen rebels and shocked the entire world; the agenda of a series of multi-lateral confer- the bombing of a tourist hotel in Kenya and the ences and exerts impact on the whole international relations as well. These developments 16 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 clearly reflect new changes and features of in- The United States, in particular, has not only ternational security situation at the beginning of withdrawn from ABM Treaty, remarkably in- the new century. creased its expenditure on national defense, but also adopted the strategy of “pre-emptive Ⅳ Urgency of Security Issues strike”, run wild about unilateral actions on the The current international situation is con- stage of international affairs and put forward a stantly changing. Many major and unexpected series of doctrines aiming at maintaining and events not only are unexpected to the related reinforcing its hegemony. Under the circum- countries, but also catch the entire international stances that the international community is un- community off guard and make it at a loss what able to establish a universally accepted and ef- to do. At present, all countries without excep- fective security cooperation mechanism, it is a tion face some difficulties in safeguarding their task that brooks no delay for every country to national security, and it is the same with the reconsider about its national security strategy United States. After “9·11” incident, despite of and formulate a more flexible and effective se- its efforts to fight terrorism world-wide and its curity guarantee mechanism. huge spending to strength its domestic security, Today, looking at the world from the per- even establishment of the Homeland Security spective of new century and new millennium, Department comprising 170,000 employees, we are now facing a grim and colourful reality. the United States still has many covert and On the one hand, peace and stability remain the overt security problems. American people have main themes of our times; on the other hand, not yet cast off the shadow of terror threats. the world is far from peaceful and the situation The U.S., the only super power, is still troubled in the Asia-Pacific region is still characterized with security problems like any other country by complexity and uncertainty. This is the in the world. With regard to safeguarding world problem subject to scrupulous pondering of common security, due to different security in- countries in the region and should be solved terests and different vital interests, there is still through their concerted efforts. lack of broad consensus on many major issues. (The article is completed in January 2003.)

Some Remarks about the Impact of the Iraq War on the International Situation

Li Jingzhi*

The international event attracting world- strikes against Iraq would definitely face op- wide attention after “9.11” incident should be position from a vast number of the countries the Iraq war, and its impacts on the internation- like France, Germany, Russia, China and so on. al situation are obvious. Despite the opposition as well as the anti-war Firstly, unilateralism in the U.S. global campaign all over the world, the U.S. bypassed strategy is getting more apparent. The U.S. mil- the UN Security Council and launched the military operation in Afghanistan seems to be jus- itary operation against Iraq on March 20th. This tifiable, and understood and supported by a ma- fully demonstrates the U.S. unilateral hard-line jority of countries for the U.S. was attacked on position and “hegemonic behaviour”. September 11th by the al-Qaeda terrorist group, Secondly, serious divergence has showed whose headquarter was just located inside up among the leading powers. In the UN, Bri- Afghanistan and harboured by the Taliban au- tain and Spain supported the U.S. in its propos- thorities. But for its military strike on Iraq, the ing a new resolution to the Security Council to U.S. has not yet found “legitimate” and “ration- be voted before March 17th, which contains a al” reasons so far. Iraq had not attacked the clause for automatic authorization of the use of U.S. directly, nor did the U.S. have convincing force. Whereas France, Germany, Russia and and hard evidence to prove that Iraq had sup- China openly expressed opposition to it, France ported terrorist activities. There are supposed to and Russia even openly indicated that they be two reasons for the military strike, one is the would use their veto. It is worth noting that the dictatorship practised by Saddam Hussein in Iraq crisis has chiselled out a deep rift in the Iraq, the other is his possession of weapons of West-West relations, the US-Europe relations mass destruction threatening the U.S. and the and especially the relations among major West- world. However, the former one belongs to the ern powers. The confrontation of their two internal affair of Iraq and should not constitute schools of views, the clear demarcation of the an excuse for the war whereas the latter re- two camps and the elements involved are very mains to be confirmed by inspection, which rare since the end of the World War II. NATO was then being carried out by the UN inspec- members can not reach a consensus on co- tion team. Under such circumstances, a unilat- ordinated defense of Turkey, thus leading to the eral decision of the U.S. to launch military open crisis of NATO since its inception. After * Professor, the School of International Relations, China People’s University. 18 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 the Iraq war broke out, Russia, France, Ger- number of countries in the world, including the many, etc. strongly called for an immediate end U.S. allies that supported the military opera- of the war and going back to the track of find- tion, hoped that the Iraq crisis should have been ing a political solution of the Iraq question as solved within the framework of the UN. Facts early as possible. Those phenomena have far- have proved that the struggles between unilat- reaching significance and should be given high eralism and multi-lateralism are becoming attention. The reasons behind the opposition of more complicated and apparent. France, Germany and Russia to the military op- Fourthly, international intervention has eration in Iraq lie in their worries that their in- not been held back. On the contrary, it has terests in Iraq might be undermined, the war gained some support and connivance. Whether would cause turbulent political and economic or not a government is democratic or dictatori- situation in the world especially in Europe, and al, whether or not it is supported by its people, the U.S. unilateralism would become more in- or should be changed and how should it be tensified. changed? All these belong to the internal affairs Thirdly, the world pattern is changing with of that country and should not be solved more uncertainties. Due to the super strength of through international intervention. These prin- the U.S. and its imposition of the strategic pos- ciples are stipulated in the UN Charter, and also ture on world affairs, unilateralism appears to constitute the basic norms of the universally re- be getting more rampant than before. Seeking cognized international law and must be respec- support from Britain, Spain and other countries ted. Opposing wanton military operations will for the war on Iraq does not mean that the U.S. not only help to safeguard peace and stability in would give up unilateralism and adopt multilat- a particular region or in the world at large, but eralism, and it is only a strategy to consolidate also to promote international justice, and pre- the U.S.-dominated alliance. However, at the vent a country or a group of countries from ar- same time, multilateralism is also getting very bitrarily interfering in the internal affairs of a active. The opposition from Russia and China given country by force. Otherwise, the flagrant was explicit, and the stance of France and Ger- violation of the UN Charter and the basic many was surprisingly tough. All these con- norms of the International Law would be ra- strained the U.S. to a large extent and made it tionalized, and cause vicious effects and grave difficult for the U.S. to act at will. Although the consequences. U.S. finally launched the military strike on Iraq without the authorization of the UN, the vast (The article is completed in April 2003)

The Trends of International Arms Control in Early 2lst Century

Liu Qing*

After the end of the Cold War, internation- nuclear age and progress of nuclear technology al arms control achieved some progress with will further aggravate the ethnic, religious and more countries joining the process and its ef- national conflicts. The American military ex- fectiveness being continuously strengthened. pansion on the pretext of anti-terror has However, in recent years, mutual trust among triggered off international tension and made the major powers has been undermined and the other countries speed up their military arma- international arms control process suffered seri- ment. As a result, a heavy shadow has been cast ous setbacks. This is because the United States on international arms control in early 2lst cen- is bent on seeking unilateral absolute security, tury. ''9. 1I" event has led to re-alignment of the developing and deploying MD systems. In major power relationships over regiona1 hot is- early 2lst century, it will be difficult to record sues. Before the event, firmly opposed to the further progress in the field of international American withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, arms control due to dramatic changes of the in- Russia argued that the withdrawal meant the ternational situation and many complicated actual ending for the nuclear disarmament, the factors involved. American MD development and deployment are equivalent to letting the genie out of the I The event of “9. 11" has deeply affected bottle and the repetition of the arms race in the and transformed the international posture, 70s and 80s of the 1ast century. However, after the whole world has seen more local chaos "9. 11" event, Russia has not only joined the and tension, the environment for interna- American led-anti-terror coalition, but also at tional arms control is becoming more com- an unexpected speed signed the nuclear disarm- plicated; the emerging nationalist thinking ament agreement with the U.S. after the Amer- helps the U.S. and other western countries ican withdrawal from the ABM Treaty and impose the "compulsory international arms agreed to the American idea that the nuclear control" on the developing countries. war-heads are not to be destroyed but stored. Having suffered from the terrorist attacks, Russia and NATO have also together set up a the U.S. has been acting more and more unilat- joint decision-making institution--- NATO and erally on the issues of international arms con- Russia Council---so as to quicken Russian steps trol. The possibility of restarting the nuclear for military cooperation with the West and in- tests by the U.S. indicates the arrival of the next corporation into the West. In order to overcome

* PhD Student, China People’s University. 20 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 its external and internal difficulties in early ies for missile defense and outer space control, 2lst century, Russia may adopt a more appeas- invest more to make the nuclear weapons much ing and obedient attitude towards arms control smaller and conventional weapons more accur- proposals by the West. The adjustment of the ate. After “9.l1 ” event, the U.S. decided to in- Russian strategic plan is a piece of hard evid- crease 2003 military budget up to US$ 379.0 ence in point. “9. 1l” event made the Western billion, more than the total of that for 15 coun- countries led by the U.S. redouble their efforts tries including Russia, China and other NATO to strengthen the "compulsory international countries. These measures are designed to arms control" over the developing countries, achieve the absolute military superiority. The and coerce those countries that might threaten U.S. hates to be restricted by international arms the interests of the Western countries into contro1 agreements. With a deterrent military abandoning their attempts to develop or acquire forces already to the U.S., Russia in January nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, ad- 200l a1so initiated a new round of military in- vanced missiles and missiles technology. How- novation centring on high-tech weapons. How- ever, in some hot spots, the relevant major ever, its military build-up has been limited due powers, proceeding from their strategic and to its economic strength lagging far behind that commercia1 interests, wil1 continue to prolifer- of the U.S. In May 2002, the Russia-America ate high-tech weapons to these areas overtly or arms contro1 negotiation reached an agreement covertly while some other countries, capitaliz- on a treaty since Russians made much com- ing on the contradictions among major powers, promise. But, the U.S. in fact has not reduced will take even secret measures to acquire and its nuclear weapons at all. Therefore, small and develop more advanced weapons systems, or to medium-sized countries could only see a bleak go for joint development projects. prospect for the international arms control. In order to prevent the gap of military strength II In early 2lst century the U.S. will increase from further widening with leading military defense spending and military capacity, and powers, and avoid military blackmail and at- go for military transformation. The military tacks, they have increased their defense budget. strength of some major powers like Russia is According to a UN survey, in early 21st cen- on relative decline and is unable to pin down tury, the global military spending especially the U.S. in arms control negotiations, there- that of those countries in the hot spot areas is fore international arms control can hardly growing. Disarmament experts forecast that make any substantial progress. Some small starting with year 2003 or 2004, some Asian and medium-sized countries can not but in- countries will try to acquire a large quantity of crease military budget so as to prevent the high-tech weapons from the West and Russia, gap from widening further, hence, a global including missiles, multi-functiona1 combat arms race is showing upward trend. aircraft, high-precision weapons, pilotless re- In accordance with the new American 4-- connaissance plane, 4C systems, etc.. year Defense Review, the U.S. will increase military input by a big margin, build capabilit-

III The American policies on arms control harder on India, Pakistan and Iran regarding the has taken a dramatic turn, allowing no arms export control and non-proliferation, and make control treaties to restrict the development nuclear non-proliferation one of its nuclear of new weapons, and emphasizing unilateral strategic goals in order to "stop arms race in the action on nuclear disarmament rather than future". multi- and bi-lateral arms control negotiations practised in the past. IV The U.S. seeks new technical superiority The Bush Administration has made a dra- and tightens the international arms control matic adjustment of its nuclear strategy since mechanism while the developing countries the end of the Cold War, basically reflecting are confronting harder struggles to maintain the formulation of its nuclear strategy for the national military security and oppose power new century. The guiding thinking is to substi- politics tute ''seeking absolute superiority” for the Early 21st century witnesses the U.S. de- “mutual assured destruction”. In terms of veloping a new generation of armaments in an power composition, the main reliance on the effort to achieve new superiority in the area of offensive nuclear power is moved to the integ- high-tech weapons. The U.S. does not only ration of nuclear offense, missile defense and speed up tests in the lab, but is also prepared to conventional combating capabilities, focusing restore underground nuclear tests, and make on diversified nuclear strategic means. Under nuclear weapons smaller and conventionalized. the guidance of a new military strategy, Amer- The New Yorker comments that carrying a gun ican policies on arms control has taken a dra- in the battlefield has an obvious goal, but the matic change. Having refused to ratify the goal is different if a gun is still carried after the CTBT, and withdrawn from the ABM, the war. In certain sense, the U.S. still brandishes Bush Administration holds that the existing its nuclear weapons after the end of the Cold arms control system does not have strict inspec- War. The U.S. has speeded up its deve1opment tion mechanism so it can hardly be effective in and deployment of MD systems, and collabor- preventing the spread of weapons of mass de- ated with its allies to develop TMD so as to struction (WMD), but on the contrary it can seek missile technological superiority in the only limit the American ability to meet with world. The U.S also refuses to comply with new threats. The U.S. in its NPR stated to the Bio-Weapons Convention, and is developing a effect that the U.S. stands for reduction of nuc- new generation of bio- and chemical weapons. lear weapons by unilateral declaration and im- Besides, the U.S. develops geo-physical plementation and avoid reaching multi-lateral weapons in the name of scientific research on agreements on nuclear disarmament so as to the high- frequency laser, which is not covered keep the freedom of increasing or decreasing its by the international arms control process so far. offensive and defensive capabilities in line with The fact that the U.S. attempts to achieve its the changing situation. The NPR also requested absolute superiority compels small and medi- the American government to strengthen its co- um-sized countries to quicken their steps to- ordination with China and Russia while being ward military modernization. While placing

22 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 obstacles to the arms contro1 process, the U.S. armaments with a new generation of high-tech also abuses the inspection right by making use weapons, and "9. 11" event has catalyzed this of its technical advantages, and makes the in- process such as offering contracts to Lockheed spection a tool for shaping an Uni-polar world. Martin Com. for acquiring integrated combat The international inspection demands that the aircraft worth many billions US dollars on the inspection sponsoring countries have very pretext of anti-terror. The Bush Administration powerful information collecting ability in the also intervenes the defense procurement by air. However, currently, only some western NATO counties, Republic of Korea and Japan, countries, such as the U.S., possess this ability and peddle American armaments to them so as so the developing countries are always subject to meet the needs of their joint military opera- to inspection due to their shortage of advanced tions led by the U.S.. The mainstream hard- means. Serving the strategy of forming a uni- liners in the decision-making play an important polar world, the U.S. may exert more and more role in the American arms control policies. pressures on the developing countries in the They put deterrent before diplomacy. Because name of implementing bio-and chemica1 the Bush Administration acts wilfully on the is- weapons inspection measures, even interfere sues of disarmament and arms control, the arms into the internal affairs of other countries. control treaties signed during the Clinton Ad- Therefore, the developing countries are con- ministration are undermined and the arm confronting harder struggles to maintain national trol process has suffered heavy blows. It seems military security and oppose power politics. that the American arms control policies can hardly make any change in the foreseeable fu- V As the domestic political atmosphere is ture so the international arms control can hardly becoming conservative, the Bush Adminis- expect any breakthrough in early 2lst century. tration will push harder for armament contracts and export for defense corporations so VI In the wake of deterioration of the inter- as to pay back their contributions. If Presid- national security situation, the NGOs work- ent Bush is re-elected, international arms ing in the international arms control arena control can hardly make any breakthrough should redouble their efforts. at all in the near future. During the period of bi-polar confrontation The political contribution to the presiden- between the USA and the USSR, NGOs played tial campaign for G. W. Bush by military-in- a role of a bridge between the two super dustrial corporations is four times more than powers. Since the end of the Cold War the that to the Democratic presidential campaign. overall international situation has relaxed and Ex-vice presidents of Nofthrop Grumman the role and influence of NGOs are gradually Corporation and General Dynamics are serving growing. Geneva is a home base for NGOs, as top administrators in the departments of air where 1200 NGOs have their offices or entrus- and navy. Urged by the military establishments, ted representatives to attend all kinds of confer- the Bush Administration spares no efforts to ences on disarmament and arms control as ob- advance the MD system and replace the current servers. They have exerted influence on the

23 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 course of negotiations by sponsoring various alism running rampant, NGOs will find it in- briefings, and producing and handing out a creasingly difficult to realize their objectives. large quantity of written materials as well as Therefore, NGOs should identify their conver- holding protests. NGOs have played an import- ging interests and must work more and more ant role in concluding Chemical Weapons Con- closely in order to push their agenda. vention, indefinite extension of the NPT and the UN adoption of the CTBT. However, in (This article is completed in May 2003) early 2lst century, with the American unilater-

On the Chinese People Fighting SARS

Liu Yumin*

Since severe acute respiratory syndrome levels to accurately report the SARS cases and (SARS) epidemic broke out in China, espe- keep the public informed. He said that the pre- cially since it spread to Beijing and other parts vention and control of SARS should be based of the country in April from Guangdong and on four principles of early detection, timely re- Hong Kong, the leadership of the Party and porting, rapid quarantine, and immediate treat- State called upon the Chinese people of all eth- ment. The fight against SARS is a formidable nic groups and the leadership at all levels to task and may take some time, but we will win scientifically bring the epidemic under control with the concerted efforts throughout the coun- and minimize the losses caused by SARS. try. The central leadership including President The central leadership of the Party and Hu Jintao, Chairman Wu, the Standing Com- State gives the people's health a top priority mittee, NPC, Premier Wen Jiabao, and Chair- On May l3 addressing the National Work- man Jia, the National Committee, CPPCC, etc. ing Conference on Preventing and Treating has urged officials to give the people’s health SARS held by the State Council, Premier Wen and lives a top priority. They all take inspection Jiabao urged the departments concerned to tours to the provinces where there are SARS strengthen supervision and prevention of the cases or suspect SARS cases, and to make sure disease on all public transit systems, airplane, that prevention and treatment measures are train, ship, bus and entry-exit ports. He also fully taken so as to bring the epidemic under called on all transportation terminals to quar- control and minimize the losses caused by antine any virus victim without hesitation, and SARS. The overal1 measures taken by the valuable treatment and knowledge should be Party and State are as follows: publicized to the rest of the country so as to in- sure the people remain alert to the epidemic. On May 17 addressing the Standing Com- mittee of the Political Bureau, General Secret- ary and President Hu Jintao urged the government departments and health authorities at all

* Peace Editor. 25 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67

SARS Prevention and Treatment Command headquarters to co-ordinate efforts of all relev- established and special funding allocat- ant departments. ed The Regulation has also established the On 23 April, Premier Wen Jiabao chaired monitoring, early-warning and reporting sys- a meeting of the State Council and decided to tems, which is fast, multi-channel and well-co- set up SARS Prevention and Treatment Com- ordinated, and has put heavier responsibility on mand led by Wu Yi, Vice Premier and Minister provincial governments. of Health, so as to unify the work for prevent- It stipulates that the provincial governing and treating SARS cases and probable cases ments must report emergencies to the State throughout the country. The meeting also de- public health authorities within an hour of re- cided to set up a special fund of 20 billion yuan ceiving emergency reports, that any individual RMB to help pay for those rural SARS patients or organization has the right to report emergen- and probable patients and those hospitals and cies to the government and has the right to ac- clinics with purchase of some necessary medic- cuse officials of not performing their duties or al instruments in the poverty stricken areas. Ac- not performing their duties according to laws cording to a report from the State Council by l5 and regulations, and that government agencies May, the central government had already alloc- and officials will be held responsible for hiding ated 4.3 billion yuan for the efforts to fight or delaying emergency information or giving SARS epidemic in the rural areas, among false information. Criminal liabilities will be which 2.3 billion Yuan is used for building applied if their conduct is deemed to have medical infrastructure, such as Xiaotangshan broken the law. quarantine hospital for SARS patients only, in Premier Wen Jiabao said that the newly Changping District in North Beijing. The l,000- enacted Regulation on Public Health Emergen- bed hospital was finished in 7 days of hard cies is a major step towards ensuring that China work by nearly 7,000 construction workers handles health crises according to law, and working round the clock. called for the establishment of a national fast- deployment mechanism to handle public health emergencies and promote the law as a powerful Legal framework for tackling public health weapon to defeat SARS. He a1so called for loc- crises established al governments at all levels to estab1ish contin- Premier Wen Jiabao signed a decree issu- gency headquarters to co-ordinate the efforts of ing the Regulation on Public Health Emergen- relevant departments in order to beat the deadly cies on May 9th. SARS virus and future public health crises. The Regulation aims to establish rapid-de- "A public health emergency is a social is- ployment mechanism and enhance the govern- sue that has a great impact on the country" said ment’s ability of handling emergencies, and to Song Ruilin, Vice-Director of the Department strengthen the chain of command. The Regula- of Science, Education, Culture and Health with tion requires the State Council and provincial the Legislative Affairs Office of the State governments to establish contingency Council. In stead of using vague terms such as 26 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67

"timely" and "immediate1y”, the regulation has "only way" to understand the magnitude of the set that provincial governments must report epidemic and 'trusts their efforts". emergencies to the State public health authorit- Alan Schnur, another WHO expert, had ies within an hour of receiving reports of an proposed four strategies to curb SARS in emergency. Beijing, which include surveillance and reporting, hospital management and infection control, community information and contact tracing and International Cooperation with WHO good government support, which are taken seri- Since early April as SARS epidemic began ously in Beijing. He also pointed out that "the in North China, we have had close cooperation pub1ic should not be panic, because the chance with the World Health Organization (WHO) of getting SARS is very very small, but the whose experts have been on several inspection public should also be responsible." tours to the area. Besides, Beijing Municipal government had also set up WHO representatives offices inside the government building. On Chinese leaders attended international meet- the one hand, they assisted China to control the ings on SARS epidemic and recommended the WHO revise Premier Wen Jiabao attended the Special and improve its publicized standard of diagnos- Meeting on SARS of the Leaders of China and is of SARS based on the Chinese standard ASEAN on 29 April in Bangkok. throughout the world. The Joint Statement of the Special The WHO had provided active technical ASEAN-China Leaders Meeting says, we ap- support and diagnostic re-agents according to preciate the valuable opportunity to brief each the suggestions made by experts from both other on the measures each country has taken to sides. prevent, monitor, study and treat SARS. China Beijing had adopted a number of ap- associates itself with the Joint Declaration of proaches that are both innovative and unique to the Specia1 ASEAN Leaders Meeting on control SARS, James Maguire, leader of the SARS and expresses its readiness to cooperate WHO expert team, said April 16, 2003, “ We with ASEAN to fight the SARS problem. have seen a tremendous amount of efforts by At the 56th World Health Assembly, Wu Beijing over a very short period of time, ex- Yi, Head of the Chinese Delegation, Vice tremely impressed by the hard work and com- Premier and Minister of Health, made a speech mitment of health officials and health care and briefed the delegates on the China's efforts workers during visit to the facilities." to bring SARS under control, also extended During an exclusive interview with Xin- sincere gratitude to all countries and interna- hua on April 21, Jeffrey McFarland said that "it tional organizations for their understanding, is very encouraging to see that al1 sectors of moral supports as well as financial, material the health care system are reporting every day and technological assistance in China’s fight all the probable cases," stressing that it is the against SARS on beha1f of the Chinese Gov- ernment and people.

researchers to learn from the honored units and individuals so as to make greater contributions Commending Advanced Medical Staff to the final victory in the battle against SARS. During the outbreak of SARS epidemic, Chinese medical professionals had shown ex- Slack officials face punishment in SARS cellent bravery and medical ethics in their daily From April to May, more than l20 central efforts to fight SARS. Because of their selfless and local government officials in China had and hard work in defiance of being infected, been punished in the past two months for their they had saved many critical patients, but un- slack reactions in fighting SARS. This discip- fortunately some medical staff was infected and linary action covered l5 provinces, muni- among them was Ye Xin, head nurse of Er- cipa1ities and autonomous regions, or nearly shadao Hospital in Guangdong City. She was half of China’s administrative regions, includ- too sick to be cured and sacrificed her life for ing Beijing, Hebei, Shandong, Chongqing, saving dying patients. Ye Xin together with an- lnner Mongolia, and Zhejiang, etc, other 9 Chinese nurses were awarded the “This is the first time China has punished Florence Nightingale Prize, the highest honor such a wide range of officials who are derelict for nurses, by the International Committee of in their duties in an unexpected calamity," said the Red Cross on May l2 for their outstanding an official with the Organization Department of courage and dedication to work. the CPCCC. “The punishment decisions, taken In the SARS hardest hit areas such as as practical measures by China's new genera- Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, there tion leadership to improve the government are many moving stories that some critical work style, have been applauded by Chinese SARS patients are saved by medical staff, who people and well received by both domestic and are infected and even lost their lives. However, world opinion." it is reported that doctors and nurses in many Those who were dismissed include high- hospitals keep asking to join the SARS task ranking officials, such as former Minister of force and they have made outstanding contribu- Health, Zhang Wenkang and former Mayor of tions to bringing SARS under control. Beijing Meng Xuenong. Four general headquarter/departments of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) issued a circular May 5 commending Six units and 32 China tightens supervision of construction individuals from the military service who had work in rural areas made outstanding contributions in the fight On May 9, China’s Ministry of Construc- against SARS. These units and individuals tion issued an emergency circular urging local were highly lauded for their selfless spirit, lofty construction authorities to step up supervision professional ethics and selfless devotion in the of rural construction work in order to prevent prevention, treatment and scientific research of the spread of SARS to rural areas. SARS epidemic. The circular called on all the The ministry demands construction author- servicemen, especia1ly the medica1 staff and ities at all levels to examine the planning and

28 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 construction of county and town (township) be strictly monitored, the Ministry of Finance health institutions and hospitals. Preparations announced. must be made for the renovation of medical in- Money spent on sterilizing public places stitutions and facilities at county, township and and infected sites and vehicle shou1d be village levels. shouldered by local government departments In areas where SARS cases are reported, rather than rural people or students, ordered the rural construction workers are prohibited from State Council-working pane1 on the reform of leaving their work sites without notification rural taxes and fees. and the transfer of workers between SARS af- Residents from infected rural areas should fected regions is strictly prohibited. not be charged for physical examinations and The circular also ca1ls for the strengthen- medical observations, while relevant booklets ing of preventive efforts at local bus stations, and materials concerning SARS prevention ports and markets, and requests 1ocal construc- should be issued without charge. The order for- tion departments to take measures to safeguard bids any fee collection for the prevention or the local working and 1iving environment and treatment of SARS. report to the local government for the shutdown markets affected by SARS. Chinese farmers keep close watch for SARS By May l0, More than 90 percent of Chinese government waives fees for SARS- Chinese farmers are on the a1ert for the out- affected industries break of the flu-like SARS epidemic, though On May 9, the Chinese government an- their awareness of virus fighting means varied nounced it would waive or reduce the adminis- from region to region, by the National Bureau trative fees it 1evies on some of the industries of Statistics (NBS), which had published on its affected by the SARS outbreak. The reduction website the results of a survey on the impact of involves more than a dozen categories of fees SARS epidemic on some rural areas in China. levied both by the central and local govern- In coastal provinces such as Jiangsu and ments. The beneficiaries include restaurants, Zhejiang, 100 percent of the farmers surveyed hotels, trading markets, and tourism, entertain- said they knew SARS had infected certain areas ment, civil aviation, road transportation, water of the country. In Henan province, in the relat- transportation, taxi and bus industries, and the ively undeveloped central China, over 93 per- fee reduction is effective from May l to cent of farmers said they had been alerted about September 30. the deadly disease. The survey results showed 92.8 percent of farmers in Tianjin city in north China knew the Rural health fees waived under SARS moni- means that are usually used to prevent and treat toring system SARS. However, about l6 percent of the farm- On May l2, financial pressures faced by ers surveyed in Jiangsu province said they had rural people during the fight against SARS will little or no knowledge of these measures.

More than 80 percent of Chinese farmers coordination of all people in the community", learned about the situation of SARS and anti- he noted. -virus methods through TV and other media, Meanwhile, another WHO expert, Hiroshi the survey showed. Watanabe, went to the village clinic. He Looked through the body temperature records of all the returnees and inquired in detail about WHO experts experienced SARS prevention the physical check-up and quarantine measures network in rural areas taken with respect to those people. On May 9, WHO expert team visited a county in northern Hebei province, initiating their first field inspection of anti--SARS work Joint efforts at home and abroad to fight in China's rural areas. SARS In the morning, two of the four members As people in North China are fighting of the WHO team arrived in Xushui county un- SARS, we have received contribution in money der-the jurisdiction of Baoding city, 120 km and in kind amount to over 30 bil1ion yuan south of Beijing, where they heard the govern- RMB at home and abroad, which shows people ment’s reports on the local reporting mechan- throughout the country and the world offering ism and anti-SARS measures. their support to the SARS epidemic areas. Around noon, the experts went to Dong- WHO highly commends the large amount shiduan Township, which comprises l5 villages of work carried out by Chinese government in with a total population of 33,600, and randomly its endeavor to control the spread of SARS, and selected a village for inspection. The village appreciated the fruitful cooperation with The has, as introduced by local officials, adopted a Chinese government. Mr. D. Heymann, in "ten-household" supervision mechanism. That charge of infectious disease in WHO, pointed means every l0 households have one informa- out, SARS is a brand new infectious disease, it tion collector who is held responsible for gath- will take a process for mankind to get to know ering SARS-related information among the it, China's experience in fighting SARS has families, for example, how many have returned provided a valuable experience for other coun- from affected areas. tries to learn from. Seeing a bulletin in the village with the As Statement of the Special Meeting on names of all the information collectors and mi- SARS of the Leaders of China and ASEAN on grant workers who have returned home, 29 April in Bangkok recognizes the need for Maguire asked to see an information collector collective efforts in the region and the rest of and then visited a villager who recent1y re- the world to effectively tackle the challenges turned from Beijing and was currently under a l posed by the deadly virus, so long as we pro- 5-day quarantine at home. Maguire said he was mote the exchange of information and sharing impressed by the "community involvement" of of experience in respect of SARS control and the anti-SARS measures. "That depends on the prevention, mankind will win.

SARS is successfully brought under control the international community's fight against the On 24 June, many people in Beijing celeb- virus. rate Beijing being removed from the WHO's The fact that we finally brought it under list of SARS-infected areas and list of the travel control and came through it with initial success advisory. is because of the strong Party and government This is not only a relief for the Chinese leadership plus the solidarity shown by the gen- people, but also a great relief for the world as a eral public in our battle against SARS, which whole. China's accomplishment in its struggle have convinced us that, united, we Chinese against the terrible epidemic is a milestone in people can surmount the hardships and difficulties on our way forward.

Brief Introduction to a New Development of China’s Rural Cooperative Medicare Service

Wu Kesheng*

New rural cooperative Medicare system car- lective at township and village levels support ried out financially and the central government and In January this year, the State Council is- governments at all other levels should support sued the Notice on Establishment of New Type by allocating a special fund from the budget. of Rural Cooperative Medicare System promul- The Notice requires that the annual fee collec- gated jointly by Ministry of Health, Ministry of ted from an individual farmer should not be Finance and Ministry of Agriculture, requiring lower than 10 yuan RMB, the annual subsidies that from 2003 all provinces, autonomous re- the local governments give to every farmer par- gions and municipalities directly under the ticipating in the new system should not be less Central Government select at least 2 to 3 than 10 yuan each. From 2003 onward, the counties or cities as pilot projects and then fur- Central Government will, through special pay- ther promote the experience accumulated. By ment transfer, pay an average subsidy of 10 2010, the goal of establishing a nation-wide yuan to farmers participating in the new system new cooperative Medicare system basically in central and west region excluding those urb- covering all rural residents will be achieved and an residents. the economic burden derived from medical The Notice also requires that the township treatment will be lightened and farmers’ health and village collective economic organizations be further improved. with available conditions should offer appropri- The new rural cooperative Medicare sys- ate aid to the newly established rural cooperat- tem is a medical system of mutual aid for farm- ive Medicare system. The specific types of eco- ers, in which farmers participate voluntarily, nomic organizations run by township and vil- the fund for the service is pooled by individual lage collectives and sum of fund they should farmer, collective and government and serious pay will be decided by people’s government at cases will be taken care under an overall plan- county level, the part of fund from collective ning. Farmers participation is calculated with should not be proportioned to farmers. Social household as a unit on a voluntary basis. Col- organizations and individuals are encouraged to

* Peace Editor. 32 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 provide funding to the new rural cooperative Gansu Province has launched new rural co- Medicare system. operative Medicare system For the sake of giving priority to resolving the problem of illness-caused poverty and ill- New rural cooperative Medicare system to ness-revived poverty among farmers, Gansu be established in Jilin Province Province has formally launched a new rural co- It is reported that Jilin Province has selec- operative Medicare system in rural areas. ted Jiutai City, Jiaohe City, Dunhua City, As an important measure taken by the Gongzhuling City, Zhenlai County and Fuyu State, the new rural cooperative medical system County to run pilot projects on a new rural co- focuses on solving the problems of poverty operative Medicare system. caused or revived by major illness among farm- The new rural cooperative Medicare sys- ers. The mode of raising fund integrates gov- tem is based on a fund-raising mechanism, in ernmental aid and payment by participating which individual fee, collective aid and govern- farmers. The central government contributes to mental funding are integrated. The participating each participating farmer a 10-yuan subsidy an- farmers themselves should pay the annual fee nually; the governments at provincial, city and of 10 yuan RMB. Besides the annual subsidy of county levels give every rural participant a 10- 10 yuan given by Central government to each yuan subsidy each year in the ratio of 5:2:3; the participating farmer, the people’s governments annual payment by a rural participant should at provincial, city and county level together not be lower than 10 yuan in principle, but the pay, in the ratio of 4:3:3, the subsidy of another specific amount is to be decided by county gov- 10 yuan annually to each participating farmer. ernment in line with local actual situation. With The fund for rural cooperative Medicare the approval by the provincial government of service must be earmarked for its specified pur- Gansu, the Provincial Department of Health pose only, namely as subsidy to rural particip- has, in conformity with the actual situation of ating residents to cover their medical expense the medical work in rural areas across the of large amount, starting with 500 yuan up to whole province, chosen Shandan County, Ling- 20,000 yuan annually with a few exceptional tai County, Anxi County, Qingcheng County cases of higher medical costs. If one seeks and Gaolan County as provincial pilot projects medical treatment several times within one to run new rural cooperative Medicare system. year, the medical costs can be accumulated. Guangdong Province tries to make Medicare service more affordable to farmers Among the motions proposed at the Fourth Meeting of the 9th Guangdong Provin- cial Congress in 2001, 14 were related to establishment and improvement of rural cooperative Medicare service system. They were all tabled by deputies from the Provincial Department of 33 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67

Agriculture, which is in charge of rural work. It annual amount paid by rural participants is 24 is reported that the coverage by rural cooperat- to 36 yuan; by collective is 3 to 5 yuan; by ive Medicare service in Guangdong was only township or district governments is 2 to 3 yuan; 20.5% in 2000 and level of Medicare service in and by city government is 4 yuan per parti- rural areas was rather low and the high medical cipant annually. The total amount of these com- cost from critical illness is always an important bined is approximately 50 yuan. It is con- factor causing poverty of farmers. sidered that such amount in Zhongshan City Many factors have resulted in the current can be afforded by the majority of farmers, situation. Firstly, people differ in their points of township and village organizations. view. Some regard a cooperative Medicare ser- Some deputies appealed for formulation vice the product of “Big Pot” under planned of administrative regulations related to rural co- economy and farmers should solve the prob- operative Medicare service so as to standardize lems themselves as most of them have become by law the organization and form of rural co- rich. Secondly, there exit difficulties in pooling operative Medicare system. fund. Especially, those places where the collective economy is weak are impotent to aid co- Inner Mongolia Autonomous Rgion: farmers operative Medicare service, thus affecting the and herdsmen can receive Medicare for farmers’ enthusiasm to participate in it. Finally, minor illness at township hospital and for although a sum of fund is raised in some major illness at county hospital. places, many participants become suspicious of A survey conducted by Department of cooperative Medicare service and fear of the Health of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region contributions being appropriated due to imper- early this year shows that the Medicare system fect management. at three levels of county, township and village Despite of this, some achievements have has taken shape in the whole Autonomous Re- been scored in some places where collective gion. With enhanced construction of medical economy is relatively strong. For example, in facilities in rural and pastoral areas and im- Huadu District, a suburb of Guangzhou City, proved quality of service, farmers and herds- those who have participated in rural cooperat- men can receive medical treatment for minor ive Medicare system account for 83.9% of illness at township clinics and for serious cases those eligible to participate in and 143,000 bet- at county hospitals. This survey, which is on ter-off farmers have purchased medical insur- Medicare reform and development in rural and ance. pastoral areas, is conducted by Department of In recent years, rural cooperative Medi- Health of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, care service has developed rather rapidly in covering 598 medical facilities in 76 banners Zhongshan City. By October 2000, 75.5% of and counties of 12 prefectures and cities of the the total rural population participated in the co- whole Region. operative Medicare service system. The minim- During the activities for reaching the set um contributions for rural cooperative medical standards of primary Medicare, altogether 86 service in Zhongshan City is as following: the banners and counties have successfully

34 Peace June 2003 Serial No. 67 achieved the goals and completed the tasks of It is the aspirations of many farmers that primary Medicare. The cooperative Medicare “Medicare of major illness can be ensured, service covers 8.2 million people. 721 towns minor medical treatment without going out of have carried out town-village-integrated man- the town and illness-caused poverty can be as- agement and the management of grass-roots sisted”. Ningbo is to launch pilot projects of medical facilities has been further standardized. medical insurance for farmers this year. Among those medical personnel in grass- Since the 1960s of last century, rural res- roots medical facilities, 60% have received idents of Ningbo have been running cooperat- education at and above secondary level and ive Medicare system at the level of villages in 80% of them have received systematic and rural areas. Entering the 1980s, due to restruc- standardized training. After 10 years of efforts turing of collective economy, the functions of with 370 million yuan invested, medical and cooperative Medicare service weakened and epidemic prevention centers in 86 counties and problems of high expenses and heavy burden clinics in1509 towns have been built. Premises for farmers to seek Medicare became increas- and equipment of medical facilities at county ingly pronounced, thus affecting living stand- and township levels are remarkably improved, ards in rural areas. Especially, many farmers quality of medical personnel as a whole raised have become poor because of illness. There- and ability of medical service in diagnosis and fore, the Party Committee and government of treatment of common and frequently-occurring Ningbo City have attached great importance to diseases of farmers and herdsmen noticeably the problems and conducted many investiga- enhanced. tions and are determined to solve them. By efforts to improve county hospitals in Medical facilities in rural areas of Ningbo the state-designated poor counties and fund will carry out market-oriented operation with raised through multi-channels, Inner Mongolia government aid and introducing privately run- has given priority to building county-level gen- ning mechanism. In implementing medical in- eral hospitals and equipped them with new surance pilot schemes for farmers, Ningbo will medical instruments, such as color supersonic focus on the following important aspects. diagnostic sets and first aid equipment. Some Firstly, formulation of policies should be difficult and complicated cases can be treated brought in line with urban medical insurance in timely and effectively at county hospitals, thus rural places enjoying better living conditions. facilitating farmers and herdsmen to save large Secondly, with regard to management system amount of medical costs, who usually go to city and operational mechanism, division of admin- hospitals for medical treatment blindly. istrative jurisdictions must be broken up, and efforts be made to ensure convenience for Ningbo City is to launch pilot projects of farmers, (Continued to Page 36) medical insurance for farmers this year.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES

CPAPD President He Luli Hosts Luncheon for Pakistani Prime Minister Jamali

On March 25, 2003, Mme He Luli, Vice- farullah Khan Jamali. At the Luncheon, Prime Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the Minister Mir Z. K. Jamali made a speech en- National People’s Congress, and President of titled “Pakistan’s Policy on Peace and Security Chinese People’s Association for Peace and in South Asia.” About 100 well-known scholars Disarmament hosted a luncheon in hounor of and experts in Beijing were present at the the visiting Prime Minister of Pakistan Mir Za- Luncheon.

(Continued from Page 35) set government at As medical insurance for farmers is a ease and satisfy the society. Thirdly, basically newly emerging thing, Ningbo government achieve balance between income and expendit- encourages various localities to actively carry ure by pooling medical insurance fund from out pilot projects, make bold exploration and farmers. Fourthly, decrease medical cost, turn reform and innovation so as to establish a rural medical facilities into welfare hospitals Medicare service pattern suitable to situation of and lighten burdens of Medicare in earnest. rural areas of Ningbo and indeed solve the Fifthly, intensify training of medical personnel problems of Medicare in rural areas. Mean- in rural areas and reform and perfect rural while, great efforts must be made to help farm- Medicare systems. ers participate in a scheme covering high-cost of critical illness and also enjoy preferential Medicare for minor illness.