HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK BeijingR^^ir VOL. 34, NO. 13 APRIL 1-7, 1991 NPC Meets for 90s Development CONTENTS • China's National People's Congress, the highest organ of state power, is having its annual session March 25-April 9 to NOTES FROM THE EDITORS 4 hammer at an ambitious programme for the country's econo• mic development in the last decade of this century (p. 5). Possible Solution to Middle East Question Yuan Mu Interviewed on China's Development EVENTS/TRENDS 5 8 Strategy Setting the Tune for New Economic Boom • Entrusted by President Yang Shangkun, Yuan Mu, spokes• man for the State Council and director of the State Council Taiwan's 'Programme' Policy Research Office, recently had a talk with US journalist 'Impractical' Harrison E. Salisbury. A conversation between the two (p. 12). State Farms Hold Trade Fair An Early Solution to Mideast Issue Imperative News in Brief • Now that the Gulf war has ended, a solution to the Middle INTERNATIONAL East question is urgently needed. China favours a fair and reasonable solution through political channels with the parti• Thoughts on Human Rights cipation of all parties concerned and supports the convening Conference 9 of an international peace conference under the auspices of the United Nations (p. 4). Soviet Referendum Supports Union 10 Democratic Parties Active in Political Forum CHINA • China's multi-party co-operation under the leadership of the Looking Towards Modernization Chinese Communist Party is realized through the holding of by the Mid-21st Century 12 leading posts in the state and the government by both demo• Democrats Active in Political cratic party and non-party members. This article introduces Forum 23 several members of democratic parties on their assumption of important posts in the government and judicial organs (p. 23). CDL Advises on Yellow River Development 27 Taiwan's 'Reunification Programme' Considered CULTURE/SCIENCE 32 34 •Impractical' COVER: Pan Beilei (second from D The "national reunification programme" adopted recently right), an alternate member of the Cen• tral Committee of the Jiu San Society by the Taiwan authorities is considered "impractical" because and a vice-minister of Light Industry, its purpose is to seek diplomatic "dual recognition." Renmin visits the Beijing Huayi Cloisonne Fac• Ribao in a commentary urged the Taiwan authorities to cast tory to see how production progresses away illusions and take practical steps towards reunification there. of the motherland (p. 7), Photo by Xu Xiangjun General Editorial Office Published every Monday by BEIJING REVIEW Subscription rates (1 year): Tel; 8314318 24 Baiwanzhuang Road, Beijing 100037 Australia Jk,$33.60 TLX: 222374 FLPDA CN The People's Republic of China New Zealand NZ.$45.00 FAX: 8314318 Distributed by China International Book UK 18.00 English Dept. Tel: 8315599 Ext. 546 Trading Corporation (GUOJI SHUDIAN) USA US$33.80 P.O. Box 399, Beijing. China Canada Can.$33.80 NOTES FROM THE EDITORS Possible Solution to Middle East Question by Our Guest Commentator Shi Jian ecause of its strategic position and rich natur• struggle against Israel for recovering lost territo• al resources, the Middle East is a region ries and regaining their national rights. B coveted by many powers, leading to numer• The historical lesson of the decades-long turbul• ous crises. The question of longest standing and ence in the Middle East region demonstrates that one greatly influencing world peace is the Arab- the absence of a solution to the Middle East ques• Israeli conflict. tion, with the Palestinian question at its heart, is In November 1947, the UN Security Council the root cause of the persistent turmoil. adopted a resolution for the partition of Palestine The Chinese people have always sympathized into two states: one Jewish and one Arab. On May with and supported the Palestinian and other Arab 14, 1948, the State of Israel was established. The peoples in their just cause. China supports the next day, the first Middle East war broke out Palestinian people in their just struggle to regain between Arab countries and Israel, and thus began national rights and favours a fair and reasonable a long succession of Arab-Israeli conflicts. Again solution to the Middle East question through pol• in 1956, 1967 and 1973 wars erupted. In the four itical channels. Middle East wars, Israel occupied a large stretch The end of the Gulf war makes the need for a of Arab land, involving Palestinian territories. settlement imperative. The settlement of the Mid• Millions of Palestinians became refugees. The cur• dle East question should be achieved at an earliest rent thrust of Middle East and Palestinian ques• possible date. As a permanent member of the UN tions came into being then. Security Council, China bears responsibility for maintaining peace in the Middle East and the Many proposals towards a resolution have been world. It will continue its efforts to promote the advanced by the international community and oth• Middle East peace process along with other mem• er concerned parties. The United Nations also bers of the international community. adopted a series of related resolutions. All these efforts have gradually promoted the Arab-Israeli The Chinese government suggests: conflicts to develop towards political settlement —The Middle East question should be resolved but not military confrontation. In 1988 and 1989 through political channels and all parties con• the Middle East issue saw a prospect for a peaceful cerned should refrain from resort to force; settlement. However, since the beginning of the —China supports the convening of an interna• 1990s, the Middle East region has been greatly tional peace conference on the Middle East under influenced by changes in the international struc• the UN auspices with the participation of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council ture and the situation has again become tense. A and all parties concerned; large number of Jews immigrated to Israel, the United States stopped talks with the Palestine Lib• —China supports the efforts of the parties con• eration Organization (PLO) and the Israeli gov• cerned with the Middle East question to conduct ernment hardened its attitude towards the Pales• dialogues of various forms as deemed appropriate, including direct dialogue between the PLO and tinian question. Efforts of the PLO and Arab Israel; nations to seek a political settlement were threa• tened. The outbreak of the Gulf crisis negatively —Israel must stop its suppression of the Palesti• influenced the Middle East peace process, throw-, nian people in the occupied territories and with• draw from the occupied Arab territories, and cor• ing Arab-Israeli conflicts out of the focus. But with respondingly, the security of Israel should also be the end of the Gulf war, world attention was again guaranteed; and focused on the Middle East and Palestinian ques• tions. —The State of Palestine and Israel should recog• nize each other and the Arab and Jewish nations China has persisted over the years in making an should coexist in peace. unremitting effort to promote the solution of the China also considers that for many years the Middle East and Palestinian questions. China has PLO has been accepted by all the Palestinian peo• always considered the core of the Middle East ple and broadly recognized in the Arab world and issue to be the Palestinian question with its crux the international community as a whole as the being Israel's invasion and expansion against Pa• representative of the Palestinian people. In solving lestine and other Arab countries. Also crucial to the Palestinian question, the PLO should be in• the question is the Palestinian and Arab people's cluded. • BEIJING REVIEW, APRIL 1-7, 1991 EVENTS/TRENDS Setting the Tune for New Economic Boom ihe moftth is March. The topic of the nation is March, when nearly 3,000 deputies to T, China's supreme legislature are gathering in Beijing to scrutinize an economic strategy for the "New Long March" — the modernization drive. The 4th Session of the 7th National People's Congress (NPC) opened on March 25 with its focus on the deliberation of the 10-year pro• gramme (1991-2000) and the Eighth Five-Year Plan (1991-95) for national economic and social development. The draft blueprints' were ham• mered out and passed by the Party Central Com• mittee last December. China began its modernization drive in the late 1970s, and, towards the end of the 1980s, met its Premier Li Peng. first goal by doubling the 1980 GNP. Deputies to the National People's Congress are listening to Li Peng's report. BEIJING REVIEW', APRIL 1-7, 1991 EVENTS/TRENDS Now comes the time for achieving the nation's second goal: to quadruple the 1980 GNP by the end of the century, secure a fairly comfortable stan• dard of living for the people, and pave the way for futher econo• mic gains in the next century. In his report to the session. Premier Li Peng said, "Our achievements in the 1980s were great." He attributed the accom• plishments to the socialist system and the policy of reform and opening to the outside world. In 1990, Li said, the annual disposable income for urban resi• dents averaged 1,387 yuan per Tlie National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference capita while the the per-capita opens its plenary on March 23. net income for peasants was 630 yuan, 68.1 percent and 123.9 per• have a better life than ever be• satisfied all the time. Complaints cent respectively over 1980, after fore. and criticism are commonplace. "Only a dozen years ago, you The growing pains could be felt allowing for price rises. in almost every field. The 1980s saw a "greater im• wouldn't see such plentiful mar• provement in the people's living kets as we see now, nor would There is, as Li mentioned in you expect your food basket to his report, a serious stockpiling standards than in any other pre• of products and manufactued vious decade," Li said.