id stringlengths 9 20 | title stringlengths 0 3.57k | text stringlengths 35 6.13k |
|---|---|---|
FBIS3-28887_2 | `Talk' Notes Revolution Anniversary | people have effected a success in bravely smashing the moves of intervention and destruction by the imperialists and reactionaries, removing the old remnants of the monarchical era, and struggling for social progress and development. Today, the Iranian people have put great efforts into achieving national political stability and economic self-reliance. They have paid deep attention to developing industrial development. A large amount of underground resources, including crude oil, natural gas, ores, coal, and chrome, is buried in this country. Extraction of crude oil has been the base of the Iranian economy. Natural gas and crude oil account for approximately 80 percent of this country's income and approximately 90 percent of the acquisition of foreign currency. In addition, Iran has put efforts to develop light industry, including the textile and foodstuff industries. Wheat farming is a major agricultural crop in Iran. Iran grows barley, rice, millet, and cotton. The Iranian Government has externally participated in the nonaligned movement and has maintained the principle for nonintervention in internal affairs. The Iranian Government has developed relations with other countries based on the principle of mutual respect in international relations Our people have rejoiced over the Iranian people's success in the construction of a new society -- like our own success. Korea and Iran are Asian countries together and members of the nonaligned movement. The friendly relations between our people and the Iranian people have been favorably and have been developing daily. Visits by each country's delegations have been frequent and cooperation and exchanges have been developing in various fields. The Iranian people have highly appraised the success that our people, upholding the great leader, have effected in socialist construction under the wise leadership of the dear leader Comrade Kim Chong-il. The Iranian people have positively supported the peace-loving proposals and lines of our party and the Republic Government for the independent and peaceful reunification of the country. Developing friendly relations between our two countries is beneficial to the interests of the two countries' people, a new Asian construction, and strengthening and developing the nonaligned movement. As in the past, our people will value the friendly and cooperative relations with the Iranian people for the sake of independence, peace, and friendship and will actively make efforts to strengthen and develop cooperative relations. Our people hope that the Iranian people will achieve greater success in the work to construct an independent and an advanced Iran. |
FBIS3-28911_8 | Hosokawa's Activities During U.S. Visit Noted Georgetown University Address | government, introduce market economies, control military spending, and promote policies to control or dispose of weapons of mass destruction. Japan's ODA decisions are being strongly influenced by countries which follow such policies. As we seek long-term peace and prosperity, we must also focus on other problems which threaten the well-being of people around the world. Coordinated action is essential on four key issues: protecting the environment, dealing with population problems, stopping the spread of AIDS, ending drugs as a social threat. Two years ago, Japan pledged more than 7 billion dollars in ODA funds to support environmental protection programs around the world. Since then, Japanese aid to helping to restore forest lands in Mexico and Indonesia, supporting the treatment of solid waste in Brazil, and supporting research to deal with acid rain in China. Environmental protection is also one of the key global issues in the framework talks. I want to see ever closer cooperation between our nations in this vital area. Today, I informed President Clinton that Japan will pledge 3 billion dollars over the next seven years to support programs on population and AIDS. The president told me that the U.S. government will provide 9 billion dollars to deal with these problems during the same period. We also want to strengthen international cooperation to fight the threat of drugs, and to find a cure for cancer. My friends, As we approach the twenty first century, I see many opportunities for U.S.-Japan cooperation in the most dynamic region in the world, the Asia-Pacific. In the recent APEC leaders' meeting in Seattle, President Clinton spoke with conviction about the importance of the Asia-Pacific in America's future. He made some of same points in a speech during his visit to Tokyo last year. I welcome these messages. We need and want an active U.S. presence in Asia, in the context of both economic and security issues. We strongly support the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, and have backed up that commitment by providing major financial support for U.S. forces in our country. In fiscal 1993, the total was 4.6 billion dollars. Our ratio of financial support for all U.S. base expenses, except salaries, will increase to about 70% by fiscal 1995. In the new Asia-Pacific era, U.S.-Japan security arrangements remain an essential stabilizing force, in both the political and military sense. Coordinated action by our two countries in Asia-Pacific is essential if we |
FBIS3-28911_9 | Hosokawa's Activities During U.S. Visit Noted Georgetown University Address | deal with these problems during the same period. We also want to strengthen international cooperation to fight the threat of drugs, and to find a cure for cancer. My friends, As we approach the twenty first century, I see many opportunities for U.S.-Japan cooperation in the most dynamic region in the world, the Asia-Pacific. In the recent APEC leaders' meeting in Seattle, President Clinton spoke with conviction about the importance of the Asia-Pacific in America's future. He made some of same points in a speech during his visit to Tokyo last year. I welcome these messages. We need and want an active U.S. presence in Asia, in the context of both economic and security issues. We strongly support the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, and have backed up that commitment by providing major financial support for U.S. forces in our country. In fiscal 1993, the total was 4.6 billion dollars. Our ratio of financial support for all U.S. base expenses, except salaries, will increase to about 70% by fiscal 1995. In the new Asia-Pacific era, U.S.-Japan security arrangements remain an essential stabilizing force, in both the political and military sense. Coordinated action by our two countries in Asia-Pacific is essential if we are to avoid the dangers of isolationism and protectionism. We both should encourage China, for example, to play a positive role in regional stability. In this sense, I support President Clinton's policies to expand contacts with China. Dialogue and policy coordination will be essential in deepening mutual trust among nations in this region. In the business world, contacts already are becoming much closer. And there is a new trend. American and Japanese companies, for example, are cooperating in projects to improve Indonesia's power generation system. And American and Japanese companies are providing technical aid to help develop China's auto industry. This kind of synergy shows how APEC members can use their special talents to produce results which are, to use the American expression, "win- win." Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Asia-Pacific, once a battlefield, is now one of the most promising regions in the world. The bitter memories of conflict and destruction half a century ago are a constant reminder of the challenges we now face. We must succeed in building a new era, based on mutual respect, with the goal of creating a peaceful and prosperous future. My friends, |
FBIS3-28937_0 | Reportage on Foreign Minister's Visit to U.S. Papers Evaluate Han's U.S. Visit | Article Type:BFN [Editorial Report] The following is a compilation of articles published in Seoul vernacular daily newspapers on 14 February in connection with Foreign Minister Han Sung-chu's current visit to the United States to tune the ROK-U.S. policy on the nuclear issue. The pro-government SEOUL SINMUN in Korean carries on page 5 a 1,600-world article by Washington-based correspondent Yang Sung-hyon summing up Foreign Minister Han's visit to the United States. Recalling that North Korea begins to show signs of change through its 12 February Foreign Ministry statement while Foreign Minister Han's U.S. visit was close to an end, the article analyzes that Foreign Minister Han attempted to deliver three different messages to North Korea through his U.S. visit. The article says the first message is "the invariable efforts to settle the nuclear matter through dialogue." The article notes that the ROK and the United States, through in-depth discussions, were able to tug out an agreement to "open a dialogue channel to the last moment for the solution of nuclear problem." The second message, the article maintains, is connected with "the reports on a crisis on the Korean peninsula and the United States preparing stern measures against North Korea." The article interprets Han's expression of mild gestures as a move to avoid the current situation on the Korean peninsula being termed as a crisis. Citing the ROK-U.S. agreement that if the North Korean issue was referred to the Security Council, UN action against Pyongyang should be taken in stages rather than through immediate sanctions, the article says Han made clear that "the ROK and the United States have no intention of driving North Korea to an extreme situation." The third message, the article notes, is "an expression of firm will to use a stick if North Korea continues to hold out to the end." The article says that the ROK and U.S. Governments try to deliver a warning to North Korea that unless North Korea accepts inspections by the end of February, sanctions by the international community against North Korea will be "out of our hands." The article sees that North Korea reacted to Han's such messages through its 12 February Foreign Ministry statement and concludes that "in this perspective, Han's visit can be evaluated as successful." The moderate HANGUK ILBO carries on page 3 a 1,400-word article by Washington-based correspondent Chong Pyong-chin on Foreign Minister Han's achievements during his U.S. |
FBIS3-28982_0 | Deputy Premier Reports Trade Talks With Burma | Language: Thai Article Type:BFN [Text] Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Amnuai Wirawan was on a visit to the Union of Burma to attend the second ministerial meeting on cooperation in narcotics suppression between the Union of Burma, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, and Thailand, which was held in Rangoon on 10 February. Commenting on his visit, Dr. Amnuai said that Prime Minister Chuan Likphai might visit the Union of Myanmar [Burma] in the near future in order to forge ties between the leaders of the two countries in their pursuit of national development, especially in the areas of investment. Amnuai said the Burmese Government has in the past few years adjusted its policies in line with economic realities, and has opened up the country more for foreign investment. Several countries have already had investment ventures in Burma. They are, for example, the United States, Japan, and South Korea. Concerning Thailand, the deputy prime minister noted that, although Thailand's investment in Burma has been recorded as high as 220 million U.S. dollars, there is still little investment in major projects such as opening factories. It is hoped that there will be bigger projects in future. Thailand should explore new possibilities for investment in Burma, taking into account the advantages offered by Burma, such as its cheap labor and rich natural resources. Besides, investment in Burma will involve new technologies, especially the development of telecommunications, and communications infrastructure. Burma also needs technical cooperation to develop its natural resources, including mineral ores and zinc; its water sources, including the Salween River; and its natural gas deposits. The deputy prime minister said both sides agreed in principle about cooperation, but some obstacles emerged when they went into details. He therefore proposed that there should be a plan on cooperation. In 1993, Thailand proposed to the Burmese Government a draft memorandum of understanding on the development of the Salween River for irrigation and for power generation. It is still being studied by the Burmese Government. Meanwhile, the Thai private sector, namely, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand, also has a plan to buy natural gas from the Gulf of Martaban in Burma. A survey has been made for the laying of gas pipelines. What is left to be done is price bargaining with the Burmese authorities. Regarding logging in Burma, Dr. Amnuai Wirawan said Burma had no policy to block off the trade, but it said it |
FBIS3-28985_0 | Suphachai on Trade Relations with Laos, U.S. | Language: Thai Article Type:BFN [Text] Deputy Prime Minister Suphachai Phanitchaphak said in an interview with newsmen that the Lao Government had asked Thailand for a special reduction on duties collected on imports from Laos. Laos said it is a poor landlocked country which has good brotherly relations with Thailand. The tariff reduction would help promote Laos' exports through Thailand. Suphachai said the Coordinating Committee on Economic Affairs Policy considered that Thailand should comply with Laos' request. Thailand has already granted special tariff reductions for several categories of goods from Laos. The committee had put the Foreign Trade Department of the Commerce Ministry in charge of negotiations with Laos. Thailand also wants Laos to reduce transit fees on trucks from Thailand -- now collected at the rate of 2,000 U.S. dollars, or about 50,000 baht, per trip. The deputy prime minister reported that at yesterday's meeting the Coordinating Committee on Economic Affairs Policy endorsed the U.S. Government's proposal to set up a joint advisory committee on economic affairs, with full power in decision making regarding negotiations on trade and economic cooperation. Asked about the U.S. Government's decision on Thailand's status as a country on its Priority Watch List, or PWL, facing retaliation under the U.S. trade law, the deputy prime minister said it was very likely that the United States would remove Thailand from the list, but it is still not known when. This is because of Thailand's good record in cracking down on violations of U.S. copyrights, including the pirating of copyrighted video tapes and discs. |
FBIS3-28989_2 | Spokesman Urges End to U.S. `Pressure Campaign' | and the U.S. and U.S. political figures went off into an undisguised war hysterics against us. All this was clear manifestation of the policy of stifling the DPRK. When the United States and the IAEA secretariat were resorting to base intrigues to stifle our Republic, openly reversing the spirit of the DPRK-U.S. agreement like this, we could no longer pin hope on the DPRK-U.S. talks and, accordingly, made a resolute decision to walk our own way, not bound to any promise. This decision of ours was immediately conveyed to the U.S. side through a relevant channel. In this regard the U.S. side made clear that the inspection by the IAEA should be one purely for the continuity of safeguards and officially notified our side that there was no change in its stand to continue DPRK-U.S. talks and it was willing to discuss the nuclear issue and the improvement of the relations between the DPRK and the U.S. as a whole at the third round of talks. Synchronizing with this, the secretariat of the IAEA suggested that it would seek an inspection only for the continuity of safeguards, renouncing its absurd former claim for a comprehensive inspection. It is a fortunate thing, if the United States and the secretariat of the IAEA mean what they say. However, the clamor for pressure on the DPRK continuously raised by the U.S. hardline conservatives makes us deeply doubt whether this stand of the United States is true, or not. The U.S. Senate reportedly passed a "resolution on sanctions" against the DPRK some time ago and then the U.S. ambassador in the United Nations called a consultative meeting of the permanent members of the UN Security Council and discussed the feasibility of the "sanctions". The United States and the South Korean authorities are even showing an undisguised movement to stage the "Team Spirit" joint military exercises. It obviously contradicts the stand for continued talks for the United States to resort to such row of pressure before the end of the negotiations for defining the scope of inspection for the continuity of safeguards between the DPRK and the IAEA Secretariat. If the United States thinks it can get something by frightening us with strength, regarding pressure as an almighty solution, it is a mistake. The heavier the pressure on us, the firmer our determination. We will watch the future action of the United States with concern. |
FBIS3-28994_0 | U.S. `Accusations' on POW-MIA Rebuffed | Language: Lao Article Type:BFN [Statement issued by the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Lao People's Democratic Republic on an assessment of the implementation for 1993-94 of the Lao-U.S. cooperation plan for American prisoners of war and personnel missing in action -- read by announcer; date not given] [Text] According to a report of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Voice of America -- an official mouthpiece of the U.S. State Department -- carried reports on 2 January and again on 13 January blaming the Lao side for failing to provide sufficient cooperation in excavating, surveying, and searching for American pilots missing in action during the war in Laos, the war for which the U.S. official sector has never admitted that it employed various types of aircraft to drop three-all [kill all, burn all, and destroy all] destructive bombs on Lao territory and that the bombardments took many lives, destroyed considerable property, and left extensive damage to the environment. After the end of the war, instead of paying compensation to the Lao side for the losses deliberately caused by the air bombardments, the U.S. side even pressed Laos and Vietnam, which are still suffering bruises from this war of aggression, to cooperate with it in searching for American pilots. These pilots flew planes shot down by the Lao and Vietnamese peoples while they were dropping bombs on a large scale to mercilessly kill these people. Though the innocent Lao people still strongly resent the U.S. bombing, the government, as well as the ill-fated Lao people, have consistently agreed to cooperate well with the U.S. side in surveying, excavating, searching, and investigating the fates of these airborne pirates, despite the fact that the ill-fated Lao people, who experienced the suffering, have not been given any compensation for the losses caused by that destructive war. The Lao Government and people have cooperated with the U.S. side because they consider the issue a humanitarian one and have taken into consideration the feelings of the American people, who have also suffered due to the policies and secret activities of their official sectors. This cooperation, as has been mentioned many times, began in 1985 and 1986, when Lao and American technical teams excavated crash sites in Paksong District, Champassak Province. From then until late September 1993, the two sides jointly conducted surveys and excavations on 35 occasions in 11 provinces. So far, the remains of some 51 |
FBIS3-28994_3 | U.S. `Accusations' on POW-MIA Rebuffed | of war and personnel missing in wartime can be divided into the four following categories: 1. Surveys and excavations of areas around plane crashes. Based on the plan and data presented by the United States at the technical meeting held 16-17 September 1993, the U.S. proposed joint surveys and excavation of six crash sites in 10 provinces throughout the country, namely Attopeu, Sekong, Saravane, Savannakhet, Khammouane, Bolikhamsai, Vientiane, Houa Phan, Xieng Khouang, and Luang Prabang Provinces. These began in October 1993 and will end in late September 1994. From October 1993 to February 1994, joint surveys and excavations were conducted on three occasions. The surveys and excavations on the first occasion took place simultaneously in Sekong and Saravane Provinces. The work lasted 23 days -- from 19 October to 12 November 1993. It was performed jointly by 32 personnel from the U.S. side and seven from the Lao side, excluding local labor. Four helicopters were used. No motorcars were used, because all the sites are on mountains. There were 23 survey points and three excavation points. Eight personnel excavated at point 1530 where a C-130 was shot down in 1968. A number of skeletons and teeth were discovered at that point. Ten personnel worked at point 1600 where a C-130 was shot down in 1971. A number of skeletons and teeth were discovered there. Excavation was impossible at the third point, point 1382, because there were live bombs throughout the area. The excavation was suspended as hazardous to the personnel involved. Joint surveys were conducted on 23 points of plane crashes. The joint surveys and excavations in the second stage, called tripartite cooperation by the U.S. side -- Lao-U.S. and Vietnamese-U.S. cooperation -- were conducted along the Lao-Vietnamese border in Sekong, Saravane, and Savannakhet Provinces. Work was carried out in a radius of 10 km from each side of the borde, the radius which the U.S. side considered a privileged case based on the agreement reached by the deputy minister-level tripartite meeting held in Hawaii on 10 August 1993. The second group of surveys and excavations took place over 16 days -- from 4 to 20 December 1993. A total of 32 from the U.S. side and seven from the Lao side, excluding auxiliary personnel, took part in these. Four helicopters and four motor vehicles were employed in the second stage. There were 17 survey points and three excavation points. |
FBIS3-28994_9 | U.S. `Accusations' on POW-MIA Rebuffed | wanted to know. But, he found no Americans living in the area. A bad point was that while inspecting the Gnommalat prison, instead of inquiring about the trail of the Americans, the American technician asked why the Lao nationals were detained there. Can this be seen as coming to find fault with the host country, which has cooperated with the U.S. side? 3. Interviews of prominent persons: At U.S. suggestion, the Lao side has allowed the U.S. to interview Sot Phetlasi in Vientiane twice. The second time was on 8 January 1994. The U.S. was also allowed to interview Lieutenant Colonel Khamla Keophithoun in Beijing, China, on 19 December 1993. 4. Probing various war documents and films: In response to a U.S. suggestion, the Lao allowed American experts to examine and list available films on 10 January 1994. This project is expected continue for the rest of the year. In addition, on 26 January 1994, the Lao also granted permission for the U.S. to inspect the revolutionary museum in Vientiane. In general, the Lao Government and people, as well as local administrations and concerned authorities at all levels of the Lao side, have cooperated well with the U.S. all along in dealing with the problem of American POW-MIAs. According to an agreement reached between the two sides, since August 1987 the U.S. Government has given assurance to the Lao side that in return for good cooperation, the U.S. will provide appropriate humanitarian aid to the Lao people. Based on said agreement, the Lao side has, therefore, requested said humanitarian aid from the U.S. for 1993-94. The request, in terms of medicine, small medical equipment, water pumps, generators, and motorcycles for local cadres working in support of the project, was made at the technical meeting held in Vientiane on 16-17 September 1993. So far, the Lao side has not yet received any aid from the U.S., while the surveys, excavations, collection of information about American POWs believed to be still alive, interviews, and the probing of films and documents has been done continuously each and every week and every month to the extent that there is almost no time for rest. What does the U.S. want the Lao to do so as to be seen as cooperating sufficiently? If Lao cooperation given fails to meet U.S. requirements, would it be better for us to stop wasting time continuing to do it? |
FBIS3-29005_0 | Belgium: End of Embargo Linked to Economy | Language: French Article Type:BFN [Commentary by Nathalie Mattheiem: "Washington Makes a Gesture Toward Hanoi"] [Excerpts] Washington -- In lifting the U.S. trade embargo on Vietnam -- President Clinton has finally overcome the political, historical, and personal obstacles to the measure which business circles wanted. This was a decision made easier by the Senate's adoption, during a general foreign policy debate, of a recommendation that this should be done, supported in particular by veterans and former prisoners of war from both parties. The President needed all the help he could get on this sensitive subject: The organizations representing families of soldiers reported "missing in action" (MIA's) during the Vietnam War reject this additional step toward the normalization of relations between the former enemies, with, in particular, the opening of American Government offices in Hanoi. [passage omitted] It is therefore easy to understand that the President should start by expressing his conviction that his decision would make a full search possible: The progress in cooperation with Vietnam is tangible, he said, and the United States itself is devoting more effort to this question than at any other time in its history, the President said, citing the practical results obtained since he came to office. His decision was the result of careful consideration, he added, and was supported by all the experts inside and outside the White House: Vietnam's cooperation would be more effectively guaranteed by a policy of "involvement," but without going as far as "normalization," than by any continuation of the country's isolation. Is this really the end of the famous "Vietnam syndrome?" Many people in the White House, the Capitol, and the country, hope so. It is not completely certain, as demonstrated by the hostility which the President encountered last year when he paid his respects at the "wall," the memorial to the people who died in that war. As the President himself admitted, a whole generation is obsessed by the desire to know what happened to the soldiers who never came back, after the last repatriation of prisoners under the Nixon administration. However, over the years, this feeling has gradually given way to the desire to "be reconciled" with the past. [passage omitted] For American firms, the time to rush into this market, now described as "enormous," has certainly arrived: The big business lobby and oil companies at Westinghouse had been waiting impatiently for months. Forced to go through |
FBIS3-29006_0 | Brazil: Editorial Views Lifting of U.S. Embargo | Language: Portuguese Article Type:BFN [From the "Notes and Information" page: "The End of the Vietnam Era"] [Text] The U.S. Senate last week approved a resolution urging President Bill Clinton to normalize economic ties with Vietnam. The proposal was submitted by a Vietnam war veteran and prisoner of war, and supported by other senators who are also Vietnam war veterans. Because the resolution was a mere recommendation, it was believed that it would be merely another step in the process of normalizing U.S.-Vietnamese ties, which has been dragging since 1991. Extremely propitious conditions -- particularly the insignificant opposition of groups demanding the identification and location of those soldiers missing in action in Vietnam -- allowed President Bill Clinton a few days later to lift to commercial embargo in force for 19 years. In fact, the timetable established by the Bush administration to normalize U.S.-Vietnamese diplomatic ties is being fulfilled. One year ago, Vietnamese authorities helped to locate those missing in action and as a result of the Vietnamese troops withdrawal, Cambodia was able to hold elections. Thus the international and domestic prerequisites the U.S. Government announced as essential for normalizing its ties with Vietnam were met. The process was delayed because of the action of outspoken veteran groups, which have important electoral clout, that were dissatisfied with the almost insignificant progress to locate the almost 2,300 soldiers missing in action. One of the remaining myths of the war is that U.S. prisoners are still kept in concentration camps, which is like saying that the fictitious Rambo films are true. Once the precautions of election year were left behind, reason and business prevailed. Vietnam is a rapidly growing market of 70 million people offering good business opportunities that were previously denied to U.S. manufacturers. The Vietnamese market grows 8 percent per year and the socialist rigors applied to the economy have almost been nonexistent since the end of the 1980's. These considerations weighed heavily on President Bill Clinton's decision. It is true that Clinton can only lift the embargo now that the painful "Vietnam drama" -- the feeling of self-inflicted defeat that undermined U.S. pride for two decades -- is already part of the past. By allowing the normalization of business ties -- diplomatic ties will be restored shortly through which Vietnam will have a more favorable status which in turn will promote trade -- President Clinton ends a stage in history |
FBIS3-29007_1 | Editorial Compares U.S. Embargoes on SRV, Cuba | mainly for historical reasons. Little remains of the differences that led the two countries to war in the 1960's and 1970's. Vietnam has withdrawn its troops from Cambodia. With a single party system, and without worrying about subjects like human rights, Vietnam has gradually opened its market to the rest of the world. The truth is that Vietnam allowed itself to be contaminated by the winds of trade and prosperity that turned the Far East into the greatest laboratory of economic experiences at the turn of the century. To a certain extent the embargo created more distress for American companies than for the Vietnamese themselves. In a country where everything literally had to be constructed or reconstructed, capital from Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and from the former colonial world power, France, among other European investors, poured in. Melting the ice with the United States was more difficult, but it began in the mid-1980's when the Americans were still grieving over the humiliation of the military defeat. Curiously, there were not as many difficulties on the Vietnamese side. The economic reforms thus gained momentum in 1986. Given the events in the USSR, the failure of Communism contrasted with the bewildering acceleration of the market economies in the neighboring countries. U.S. goodwill, which Vietnam needed to gain access to international capital, was generated through a cooperative attitude over a subject that touched the heart of the Americans: The location of the prisoners of war whose whereabouts were unknown. Last year President Clinton withdrew the veto the United States imposed on help from international financial institutions. From then on, the embargo was psychological and political rather than economic. We wonder when and how the same thing will happen with Cuba. The main objective of that embargo was to combat Communist infiltration in the continent and in the direct area of influence of the United States. That motive no longer exists. The Cuban Government is in tatters and whenever they can, Cubans move from a government job to small private businesses. Paradoxically the embargo is the only way Fidel Castro can still touch the nationalist feelings of the increasingly disillusioned Cubans. It is his last chance to carry the Cuban flag. If the embargo were lifted it would be doubtful if the Cuban regime would survive the avalanche of opportunities that would be created by the arrival of capitalist agents, that is, development. |
FBIS3-29012_1 | Iran: Commentary Views U.S. Lifting Sanctions | in Vietnam. According to agency reports, with the lifting of the sanctions at least 25 American firms that had offices in Vietnam, which up until now were prevented from extensive activity for political reasons, have started their work. The lifting of trade sanctions against Vietnam has taken place at the same time as the publication of reports in which its supporters in Washington spoke of the adverse effects of the continuation of those sanctions on the unhealthy U.S. economy. Moreover, that group supporters of the lifting of sanctions in Washington believe that by lifting the sanctions against Vietnam, Washington will be in a better position to access that country's market in international competition. Before the lifting of the sanctions against Vietnam, Washington had set two preconditions for improving its relations with them. First was a clarification of the status of 1,500 American soldiers who disappeared during the Vietnam war. The other was the speeding up of the trend of reforms that had started in 1985. But the new political and economic realities in Vietnam are such that America cannot give up a country that possesses rich oil and mineral resources, as well as the potential to absorb foreign investment and pull back from international competition, especially when Japan, France, and China, as well as other powerful European industrial states and East Asian regions, started their efforts some time ago to establish a serious presence in the reconstruction of that country and offering financial aid to Hanoi. It is clear that the main obstacle in America's extensive presence in Vietnam is China's policy regarding Hanoi, something that has created concern in Washington. Those concerns stem from the fact that if China succeeds in gathering the small South Asian states -- that earlier were allied to the former Soviet Union -- around its own axis and prevent their strong leaning toward Western capitalism, that country's political success will be further strengthened in South Asia. Therefore, if the issue of lifting the trade sanctions against Vietnam is viewed from the angle of the formation of economic and commercial competition in South Asia, as well as China's policy regarding Hanoi, the trend of normalizing relations between Vietnam and America will be justifiable in the eyes of Washington's statesmen. Thus, it seems that Vietnam's future, from a political and economic point of view, will take the form of a competition framework between China and America. |
FBIS3-29015_2 | ROK: Daily Analyzes U.S. Lifting of Embargo | in which they even offered prize money. Adding that, "If the United States normalizes relations with Vietnam, it will facilitate the resolution of the MIA issue," he opened a way to lifting the embargo. Lawmakers of the U.S. Senate Energy Committee Appropriations Subcommittee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee Asia-Pacific Subcommittee visited Vietnam. Upon their return home, they helped adopt a resolution calling for the lifting of the embargo on Vietnam, thus enabling the government to lift the embargo. We can better understand the background behind the steps taken in order to lift the embargo on Vietnam in view of the fact that some 300 U.S. businesses, including such multinational enterprises as Citibank, General Electric Co., and Mobile, have arrived in Vietnam to begin their brisk marketing activities there. Since Vietnam introduced the doi moi renovation policy in 1986, along the lines of the former Soviet Union's perestroyka and glasnost example, it has achieved an economic miracle with an annual average economic growth rate of 7 percent from 1991 to 1993 and an annual inflation rate of 5 percent or lower from its previous three-digit inflation rate. Vietnam's potential, no doubt, is attractive to U.S. businesses. With the lifting of the embargo, investment and cooperation between the two countries is expected to increase in various fields, such as in construction, real estate, finance, manufacturing, and in petroleum and gas projects. Brisk activities are already evident with Mobile's signing last December of a contract to develop the (Tan Long) oil field. However, the lifting of the embargo may not smoothly lead to the complete normalization of relations, for the United States will probably use the issue of normalizing diplomatic relations as leverage in securing the initiative in negotiations on pending issues, such as the MIA issue, the signing of an investment guarantee agreement, the lifting of the freeze on U.S. assets in Vietnam, and the human rights issue. Following President Clinton's 4 February announcement of the lifting of the embargo, he clarified that "This does not mean we are normalizing relations," and this supports the above analysis. Nevertheless, the U.S. lifting of the embargo on Vietnam may well have considerable impact on the world, as well as the Asian economy, because it is a signal heralding the official rebirth of the Vietnamese market, which is called "Asia's last golden market" second only to the Chinese market, in the Asian economic sphere. |
FBIS3-29018_1 | Editorial Hails End to Embargo | pride of American patriotism is still refusing to heal, and upon turning its back on Indochina, America found it hard to forgive and forget. Thus, the sourpuss' fault-finding denial of diplomatic and economic good sense -- since the end of Cold War rivalry, U.S. policy over Vietnam, and by extension, the whole of Indochina, has been held to ransom by a handful of MIA refuseniks. How the MIA issue, the agitprop made out of 2,238 missing in-action servicemen still unaccounted for, can still sear the national conscience, is due to the recrudescence of Yankee pride marked by the Reagan presidency after years of liberal protest and self-doubt. Only the right-wing America Firsters can carry the compulsion to get even as belatedly as this and assign Ann Mills Griffiths, executive director of the National League of Families (of MIA's) a central role in the highest inter-agency policy planning level. "Because of her, U.S. policy towards Vietnam was determined by the narrow -- albeit deserving -- concerns of the MIA families," according to a pro-normalisation advocate in Washington. The Clinton Administration, in spite of its eye on the domestic implications of foreign policy, has kept a safe distance from the emotive pull of the bereaved families. To the president's credit, he has attempted a rational tack, one directed at a constituency governed by the hard facts of economic realism. The announcement of the lifting of the 30-year-old trade embargo was excitedly welcomed by U.S. businessmen in Hanoi yesterday. In spite of Clinton's cleverness at political dissimulation -- he said the embargo's withdrawal was intended to get the "fullest possible accounting" of the MIAs and denied its practical merits -- the move is a first step towards long overdue normalisation. Part of this procrastination has been due to Clinton himself: a good-guy president who is much too vulnerable to angry placard-waving. No matter how it has been packaged and disguised, the president's hard-headed practicality in the Vietnam issue is a change from his usual weak-stomached dallying over foreign policy. Vietnam, of course, has it all to gain. No one is going overboard in expectations of a flood, but at least the door has been flung wide open. Even with the embargo in place, although somewhat relaxed, Vietnam obtained 7.5 percent economic growth in 1993. Without its biggest single constraint, that economy could well grow by more than 10 percent this year. [passage omitted] |
FBIS3-29020_0 | Russia: Embargo Ended for Economic Motives | Language: Russian Article Type:BFN [Viktor Pritula Commentary: "There Will Be No Change of Priorities"] [Text] Hanoi -- Thirty years after the beginning of the aggression in Vietnam, the U.S. Administration has announced the lifting of the economic embargo against Hanoi. This is unquestionably an historic event, as was shown by the unprecedented number of foreign journalists and diplomats who attended the press conference given by Le Mai, Vietnamese deputy foreign minister. However, despite the significance of Clinton's decision, it aroused no undue euphoria in Vietnam. Deputy Minister Le Mai, who read out the Vietnamese Government statement, stressed that Vietnam welcomes this move, which it considers important and useful both for the peoples of the two countries and for the cause of peace in the region. Answering journalists' questions afterwards, the Vietnamese diplomat said that the lifting of the embargo will have no effect on the foreign policy doctrine of Vietnam, which advocates the development of relations with all countries in the interests of peace and cooperation. In other words, a cardinal shift of priorities is not on the cards. But Vietnam does have its priorities. After the collapse of the socialist community and the disintegration of the Soviet Union Vietnam turned firmly toward the Asia and Pacific region. Last year there was a perceptible economic rapprochement with the West European countries, too. Thus Vietnam's integration into the system of world economic cooperation has begun without any participation by the superpowers, one of which meanwhile lost that status while the other continued to maintain its anti-Vietnam embargo. When President Clinton asserts that the lifting of the embargo is dictated solely by a desire to speed up and complete the solution of the problem of Americans missing in action during the Indochina war, there is a definite element of craftiness in his words. The Vietnamese leadership has repeatedly stressed that the solution of this problem on Vietnam's part is purely humanitarian in character and has no political or economic motives. The search for the remains of the U.S. MIA's would have continued regardless of the lifting or extension of the embargo. In the opinion of many analysts the lifting of the embargo was dictated more by the economic interests of U.S. business, for whom Vietnam is the key to Indochina. The dynamic development of the Vietnamese economy, which is far from overheating, the pragmatism of that country's leadership, its great natural and |
FBIS3-29021_0 | Commentary Applauds U.S. Decision | Language: Mandarin Article Type:BFN [Announcer-read commentary by station commentator Kondratyev; from the "Good Evening, China" program] [Text] The U.S. Senate's vote to lift the trade embargo on Vietnam in late January to a great extent heralded President Clinton's announcement on Thursday [3 February]. Needless to say, the announcement is an important event which will exert a favorable influence not only on U.S.-Vietnamese relations but also on the situation in Indochina as a whole. In recent years, Vietnam has done a host of work searching for U.S. soldiers missing in action from the Vietnam war. It can be stated with certainty that after the lifting of trade embargo, Hanoi will more actively cooperate with Washington in solving this issue which is rather sensitive to the American people. Another factor in lifting the trade embargo is economics. U.S. business circles have estimated that their losses in Vietnam resulting from the trade embargo amount to $700-800 million annually. It is true that U.S. companies are allowed to do business in Vietnam, but this is only in partnership with companies of other countries. Such business restrictions can, of course, limit the profits of U.S. businessmen. According to experts' estimates, Vietnam is one of the few Southeast Asian countries with the best potential for economic cooperation. Undoubtedly, Vietnam is also an indispensable springboard for economic cooperation with other countries on the Indochinese peninsula. The lifting of the trade embargo on Vietnam will also exert a favorable influence on restoring U.S.-Vietnamese diplomatic relations and political contacts. Washington has decided to set up a liaison office in Hanoi, and it can be converted into a diplomatic mission in the future. What is noteworthy is that the lifting of the embargo on Vietnam has also activated the campaign in the United States to end the trade embargo on its neighbor, Cuba. Many mass organizations and business representatives have taken part in the campaign. U.S. businessmen are dissatisfied over being deprived of the opportunity to invest in Cuba while their competitors from Europe and Latin America are actively exploring markets in Cuba. As time passes, the lifting of the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba will likely become a more heated issue. |
FBIS3-29026_1 | Thailand: Government Praises U.S. Decision Officials Comment on Embargo Lifting | and regulations to tempt investors, he said. The transfer of funds will become more convenient, and the Mekong Sub-region Project will benefit as Vietnam will be encouraged to take part, he said. Suphachai assured Thai investors that Vietnam will not become a competitor because Thailand is several steps ahead of Vietnam in manufacturing. Deputy Prime Minister Amnuai Wirawan commented that he does not expect Vietnam to represent a serious threat to Thai rice exports to the US as a result of the move. The US imports Thai glutinous rice because there are many Asians living there, and normally the US does not import rice from any country because of its rice surplus. Amnuai said Thailand's strong economic growth will prevent a significant shift of foreign investment away from Thailand to Vietnam. "Nobody will abandon Thailand for Vietnam," he said. "What we should worry about is how to manage and control our strong growth." Government spokesman Aphisit Wetchachiwa said that Thailand as one of the main gateways to Indochina stands to benefit from increased trade and regional investment. "The lifting of the embargo will stimulate trade and investment in the region," Abpisit told UPI. "It is positive development for Thailand." But the lifting of the embargo will eliminate the necessity to trans-ship products through Thailand to Vietnam. "Definitely it will affect certain kinds of Thai businesses," Aphisit said. "Some will benefit from this and some will lose. We have to accept the (Vietnamese) competition." [passage omitted] Kroekkrai Chiraphaet, Director-General of the Business Economics Department, said the move will mean keener competition for Thailand. "Vietnam may take three to five years to catch up with us, especially in products such as textiles, shoes, electronics, computer components and electrical appliances, he said. But it does not take long to establish factories and Vietnam has a comparative labour advantage, he said. Thailand's labour costs are moving up, therefore it should seek a comparative advantage in manufacturing quality. Thailand must catch up with Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong and step away from competitors. The influx of investors to Vietnam implies that they want to gain a greater share of the local market, Kroekkrai said. Due to its proximity to Vietnam, Thailand enjoys a decisive advantage in certain businesses such as construction materials and certain Thai consumer products. These have gained market recognition from being smuggled into Vietnam over the past two decades. [passage omitted] |
FBIS3-29029_0 | Thailand: Government Praises U.S. Decision `New Page' in SRV-U.S. Relations | Language: Thai Article Type:BFN ["World Window" column by Thetthat] [Excerpts] If everything went as planned, by now, on Friday in Washington D.C. (Saturday in Thailand), President Bill Clinton must already have announced a major decision to lift the trade sanctions imposed for 30 years on Vietnam, its adversary. The decision of the U.S. leader will turn a new page in the history of relations between the United States and Vietnam, now free of conditions from the Indochina war. [passage omitted] Those benefiting from the removal of the trade sanctions are none other than private American companies which, from now on, will be able to reap profits from Vietnam in full after allowing Japan to gain huge interests for so long. The American business sector believed that the sanctions caused more damage to the United States than to Vietnam. It deprived the U.S. private sector of huge "business opportunities" during the 30 years of the sanctions. [passage omitted] In the eyes of American businessmen, Vietnam is no longer the enemy who killed more than 50,000 American GIs during the war. Vietnam of the "new era" for them is a country with high economic potential and the possibility of becoming another "new tiger in Asia." More importantly, Vietnam can serve as a "base" in the economic power play as a balance against China and Japan. [passage omitted] However, experts on this matter do not think the United States will restore diplomatic relations with Vietnam as easily as it decided to lift the trade sanctions (which stood for economic commitments). For the United States, the question of diplomatic relations with Hanoi must certainly be linked with the question of human rights, democracy development, and other conditions. Thus, it will take a long time before the two countries can establish full diplomatic relations. As for President Clinton, he has once again demonstrated political `courage' despite the fact that he risked being opposed by war veterans. Yet the risk is worthwhile because he has gotten full support from the business and political sectors, especially from the rival Republican Party. With all the pros and cons taken into account, it can be said that the whole of the United States stands to gain from this action. |
FBIS3-29035_5 | Adoption of Taxpayer ID Numbers Urged | have reached the point of being able to have an affluent life, is insurance for a time when things did not go well. There are all sorts of risks in living in a liberal society. However astute one may be, there is a limit to judging the future of one's own company or industry. One can consider a progressive income tax to be an insurance system for that purpose. Opponents of a System of Taxpayer ID Numbers Japan's income tax rate is uncommonly low compared with all countries. Why did the authorities decide, nevertheless, that, unlike foreign countries, Japan alone must be satisfied with a low income tax rate? Furthermore, what was the occasion which decided the course of raising the rate on the consumption tax, which does not have the function of income redistribution, and lowering the income tax rate? It was when the green card system collapsed. After that, the Ministry of Finance quickly revised the orbit, the direction of which, up till now, had been the taxing of assets, and shifted its positon to a policy of seriously carrying out introduction of a large indirect tax, which ultimately came to fruition as the consumption tax. There is much which escapes taxation with the income tax, and it has reached a situation in which government throws up its hands in defeat, and because of the failure of the green card system it was probably judged to be politically impossible to correct this situation. It worked out that if they could not correct the escape of taxes which should be obtained, they would introduce a consumption tax which everyone would pay without escape. There are two types of escape from taxation. The first is escape in asset income tax and asset tax. The system of taxpayer ID numbers which is employed in such places as the United States, Canada, Australia, and the countries of northern Europe is indispensible for the purpose of preventing this escape. The second, called 9-6-4, is the low rate of capture for the income of farmers and the self-employed. But this, too, can be improved greatly by an accurate grasp of assets. If assets increase it is also clear that there existed income that was its source. Moreover, if, as in the United States, transactions are done mainly by check rather than by cash, a number is registered on the checking account, so it becomes |
FBIS3-29049_6 | Dailies Comment on North Korean Nuclear Issue | after the nuclear issue is referred to the UN Security Council." The article reports that the ROK Government is criticized for having weakened the "stick character" of the persuasion by announcing that it will continue dialogue with Pyongyang even after the North Korean nuclear issue is referred to the UN Security Council. The pro-government SEOUL SINMUN publishes on page 4 a 1,200-word article by correspondent Yang Sung-hyon from Ottawa. Comparing the two communications made by North Korea on 12 February--the hardline toned NODONG SINMUN commentary and the moderate remarks of a Foreign Ministry spokesman--the article reports that the government analyzes the former as "for domestic use" targeting the hard-liners and public opinion inside North Korea, and the latter as a message to the international community. The article analyzes that "ROK Foreign Minister Han's visit to the United States provided North Korea with a pretext for changing its direction" and adds that government officials believe there is a great possibility that North Korean working-level officials reported such moves of the ROK and the United States as an "achievement of the Republic's demand." The article notes that it is still too early to be optimistic because the United State and the IAEA have yet to assess North Korea's true intentions and North Korea has to confirm with the IAEA if the IAEA's expression of "inspections for the continuity of safeguards" coincides with North Korea's demands. The moderate KYONGHYANG SINMUN publishes on page 3 a 700-word entitled "Attention on North Korea's Last Nuclear Card" by correspondent Yi Sung-chol from Ottawa. The article notes that ROK and U.S. officials agree that North Korea will soon suggest the resumption of dialogue with the United States and that the attention is focused on when and what the contents will be. The article quotes an ROK Government official as saying: "Analyzing the 12 February remarks of the North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman, North Korea is focusing on facilitating pretexts rather than insisting on their demands." The article reports the official also added that North Korea has finally realized that it is impossible for the United States to pressure IAEA more to ease inspection conditions. The article reports the ROK and U.S. authorities are discussing the optimum level of pretexts available to the expected demands from North Korea. As to the timing, the article reports that related officials expect North Korea will request the United States to hold |
FBIS3-29055_0 | Vice Foreign Minister Meets U.S. Congressmen | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Seoul, Feb. 15 (YONHAP) -- U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday denied any commercial motives in plans to deploy Patriot missiles in South Korea, urging Seoul to look at the political meaning of the deployment and the heightened war deterrence. A group of six U.S. representatives, led by John Murtha, chairman of the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, met with South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Hong Sun-yong to discuss the effectiveness of sanctions against North Korea and security on the Korean peninsula, ministry officials said. The talks touched on how far Japan and China would go in case the UN Security Council imposed sanctions against North Korea, whether the Tokyo government would be able to halt the money flow from pro-Pyongyang Korean residents into North Korea and whether Beijing would stop supplying crude oil to its ally. Vice Minister Hong said he expects Beijing to recognize the international mood and meet South Korea's expectations. Apparently trying to allay criticism here that Washington is taking advantage of the current tension to sell arms to Seoul, the congressmen dismissed any commercial interest in the matter, the officials said. The Clinton administration's plans to deploy Patriot missiles at American bases in South Korea, the lawmakers said, are aimed at countering North Korean missiles that can reach as far as Japan. The Patriot deployment should be understood for its "political symbolism," the congressmen were quoted as saying, and the missiles' presence would greatly improve deterrence against North Korean aggression. The legislators left Tuesday morning, ending a three-day visit to Seoul that included meetings with the defense minister and presidential aide for diplomacy and national security. |
FBIS3-29177_0 | Private Economic Sector Development Outlined | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Excerpts] Hanoi VNA Feb. 15 -- The private economy or non-state sector in Vietnam has developed vigorously since 1991 following the promulgation of the country's company law and private business law. [passage omitted] The privatization in agriculture has helped remarkedly increase the country's food output without depending on government's investment. In 1988, Vietnam's food output was only 19.5 million tonnes, and it had to import more than 450,000 tonnes of rice. By 1993, its food output had reached nearly 5 million tonnes, enough not only for domestic consumption and reserve, but also for export. [passage omitted] By August 1993, there had been nearly 9,400 non-state businesses in sectors other than agriculture. They included limited liability companies, joint stock companies, private enterprises, co-operatives and production groups with a combined capital of 3,144 billion VN dong (roughly USD 300 million). The non-state investment capital in 1993 made up 26 per cent of the country's total investment capital of 30,800 billion VN dong (roughly USD three billion). However, investment by private businesses accounted for only 40 per cent of the population's savings. Thanks to the development of the private economic sector, 400,000 jobs have been created each year. That means to generate one job, investment capital of six million VN dong (approximately USD 600) was needed, compared with the direct foreign investment capital of USD 110,000. In 1991, the private economic sector remitted to the state budget through taxes VND 870 billion (nearly USD 87 million), accounting for 15 per cent of the total taxes collected in the whole country. The private sector's taxes increased to 1,746 billion VN dong in 1992, and 2,600 billion VN dong in 1993. |
FBIS3-29178_1 | Hanoi Hails EC-Financed Reintegration Program | and have received assistance for reintegration. Programs funded by the European Community are the vivid example of the effective assistance in this field, which also come from many agencies and other countries. The European Community Integration Program or the Reintegration of Vietnamese Refugees or ECIP has been deployed in Vietnam on the basis of an agreement signed between the European Community and the Vietnamese government. This is the first program of cooperation between Vietnam and the European Community. It started in June 1992 and will last 30 months with the total estimated cost of $130 million. The purpose of the program is to provide jobs and vocational training as well as to create opportunities to find jobs for Vietnamese returnees, thus helping them quickly stabilize their lives and reintegrate into the community. It also aims to contributing to consolidating and improving the lives of other people in Vietnam, especially in those places where the repatriation program is under way. In the past phase, the ECIP's granted loans were $14 million and have been reimbursed $13.5 million. Programs have created 34,000 jobs, 16,000 of these jobs for returnees. About 72 vocational centers throughout the country have received financial assistance from the ECIP. At these centers, more than 50,000 people received training for 44 different jobs and skills. In addition, the ECIP funded 57 small-size projects with a total cost of $2.9 million in order to build and rehabilitate the infrastructure, thus contributing to socioeconomic development of Vietnamese people generally. A number of healthcare projects have been carried out in many provinces in the central and southern Vietnam. The progressive efficiency of the ECIP have meant the number of people who illegally fled Vietnam has been reduced. And the program has also encouraged Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong and some Southeast Asian countries to return home. The Vietnamese Government is ready to negotiate bilaterally with countries concerned and to cooperate with the High Commissioner for Refugees. This will be done on the framework of the comprehensive program of action in order to receive those who cannot seek asylum in the third countries under the principle of respecting human dignity and insuring security, law, and order and the international financial assistance to help the returnees resettle in their homeland if necessary. Any repatriation of Vietnamese refugees that runs counter to these principles will not receive support from the world community nor from Vietnam. |
FBIS3-29180_5 | CPV Central Committee Political Report | mechanism in the economy. The amendment of laws and continued renovation of various systems and policies on planning, pricing, exchange rates, finance, banking, labor, wages, and land have created a more favorable environment for various firms to develop dynamism, self-motivation, and a sense of responsibility in production and business. The state has accumulated more experience and made progress in the macromanagement of the economy. Parallel to economic development, resolution of various social issues and implementation of social welfare policies have been given more attention. Thanks to an increase in production and services, market prices have become relatively stable and the lives of people in various urban and rural areas have been improved. The number of rich households has increased while the number of needy households -- especially the number of underfed households -- has been reduced. Basic needs for food and clothing have been met in a more satisfactory way. Construction of houses, roads, electrical facilities, and health establishments has developed in various rural and urban areas. Democratic rights -- especially economic democracy -- have developed gradually. The people are free to work according to the law. They feel more secure about putting their money into production and business, and this has created more jobs. Various policies -- tackling employment, eliminating hunger and poverty, war invalids, families of fallen heroes, and people who have performed meritorious deeds for the revolution; providing assistance to disabled, helpless, and homeless people; and the policy of helping needy students return to school -- have been carried out satisfactorily. Educational activities have made some progress in fighting degradation, diversifying various educational formats, rearranging the school network, consolidating the system of specialized schools and selective classes, and building general education schools for ethnic minority students. The popularization of education has begun to develop satisfactorily. Vocational training and the study of foreign languages and computer technology have developed in various cities. Science and technology have started to develop as a driving force. Scientific and technological studies have been linked with social requirements. Many research and application projects -- especially in agriculture, fisheries, consumer goods, and export goods -- have developed practical value. They have helped increase economic results and improve technological knowledge. State-level scientific study programs have become more centralized, and for the first time include programs on social science and the humanities. Cultural activities have become more lively. Exchanges with foreign countries have expanded. Literary and |
FBIS3-29194_2 | Deputy Minister on Regional Growth Projects | Thailand, Myanmar, and China in Bangkok and a high-level technical meeting of the four countries in Kunming to discuss the possibility of building regional communications lines (both overland and waterborne) to link the four countries. For its part, the LPDR Government has authorized the (Vicno) Company of Thailand to invest in exploiting coal in Viang Phoukha, Bokeo Province, and building a road linking Houai Sai and Viang Phoukha. In addition, it has granted an authorization for the (Usafamily) Company of Thailand to conduct surveys and plan a design for the construction of a road linking Houai Sai and Luang Namtha Province and to find funds for the construction of a road linking Viang Phoukha and Namtha. Regarding this, the LPDR Government has received cooperation from the World Bank which has granted loans to the LPDR for implementation of comprehensive development projects in Luang Namtha Province. The projects include repairing two roads to provide conveniences for vehicles to travel during the dry season -- one is the road linking Viang Phoukha and Namtha and another is the road linking Sing District and Siangkok which is an area bordering Myanmar. With regard to the development of waterborne communication lines, in 1993 our government granted authorization to a technical team from Yunnan Province in the PRC to make surveys and collect technical data along the Mekong River, from the Chinese border to Luang Prabang. The survey work is complete and various courses of action are under consideration. The deputy minister added in conclusion: Regarding the development of Routes 1, 2, 3 and 4 which involve various countries in this region, the LPDR Government invested in repairing them regularly. The loans used for these repairs have been obtained from the Asia Development Bank. All these are to create favorable conditions for the expansion of economic relations and the exchanges of visits between the peoples of Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and the PRC in the future. Regarding the use of the Mekong River as the primary waterborne communication route among these countries, appropriate methods and principles are being studied for implementation. As the Mekong does not belong to any particular country in the region, to make use of this significant river it is necessary for the countries to discuss details on utilization of the river. The International Mekong Organization may take an important role in making this river significant in the economic development of the region. |
FBIS3-29202_1 | Editorial on `Mature Relationship' With U.S. | between the United States and European nations, past Japan-U.S. summit meetings always ended successfully. For this reason, both leaders were anxious to minimize the shock of the rupture in their talks. It is certain that Japan and the United States are in a state of economic cold war in the wake of the breakdown in the economic framework talks. The President refrained from mentioning the possibility of imposing sanctions against Japan following the breakdown in the talks. However, the U.S. Congress has begun to move to impose sanctions against Japan. For example, Senator Baucus stressed the need for revival of the Super 301 provision of the 1988 Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act. The President himself referred to "fluctuations in exchange rates" as a concrete indicator to measure Japan's progress in opening markets, and the exchange market is moving toward the yen appreciation. Cool-Headed Action Is Required Amid the situation in which the economic framework talks will be frozen for the time being and there will be no way out to break the deadlock in economic relations between Japan and the United States, what is of most concern is that emotional confrontation will spread between the two countries. To avoid such a situation, it is important that Japan and the United States try to strengthen bilateral relations by all means. Although it goes without saying that the economic relations are important, the Japan-U.S. relationship does not consist only of those. What is important is to consider the depth of mutual dependence between Japan and the United States and to take a calm attitude. It seems that despite the breakdown in the summit talks, there is no tremor in the foundation of personal relationship between President Clinton and Prime Minister Hosokawa, both of whom seek reform. Nevertheless, it is dangerous that the two countries should rely on the relationship between the two leaders to prevent a decisive confrontation in Japanese-U.S. relations. There is no other adjusting mechanism than a summit between the two countries, and the situation is quite dangerous. It is understandable that trade negotiators of both countries confront each other. However, it is undesirable that the foreign minister and the secretary of state discuss issues in the same way as the negotiators. Why did Japan and the United States make a mistake? It can be said that now that they do not have to be united as a liberalism camp |
FBIS3-29210_9 | Implications of Political Realignment Viewed | in the single-seat district system. So party positions will become very similar. How much unity can they have when the trend is that each Diet member will act on his own in making policy decisions. When I analyze the United States, where there is absolutely no party discipline, I find that there is party unity for Congressional activities when it comes to issues on the tax system, government versus private business, countercyclical measures, and welfare. There is the issue of the Constitution/Security Treaty that places special conditions on Japan. The current realignment contains an excessively strong personal element. Just as Shigeru Yoshida and Ichiro Hatoyama united in the 1955 structure, logic which transcends [personal differences] is needed. When elections, political power, and actual parliamentary activities are not coherent, the voters will be confused. It is a question as to what kind of verdict the voters will hand out on the convenience of the politicians. Ideals are important, but the question is how will they judge achievements. [Kobayashi] I am more pessimistic about Japan than about the United States. There are hardly any national or local referendums in Japan. In the United States, the regional and class gap in society is coming to the surface. But in the Japanese framework, very little regulatory power for dealing with regional differences and economic classes is found in the LDP or in the coalition government parties. Each party has its own party constraints, but I think they are heading in the direction of not absorbing the differences in the ideals held by the voters, more so than in the United States. Moreover, from the beginning, they have abandoned the framework of direct democracy which could compensate for this deficiency. [Nakano] If party politics cannot deal with such a discrepancy, what can? [Kobayashi] It is difficult under the single-seat district system, because they cannot win an election unless the oppressed class reaches the 51 percent line. It means that minority opinion will be excluded more than ever. [Nakano] What about the bureaucratic system? [Kobayashi] The bureaucratic system will be strengthened. I do not know whether two or three major parties will emerge. But in the situation of a power struggle, the bureaucratic presence will grow. When MITI opposes, political power will be stalled. Bureaucratic power will keep growing, and the bureaucrats and vocal people, rather than the voters, will have their way. [Nakano] I agree. |
FBIS3-29211_1 | Miyazawa Assesses Hosokawa Administration Participation in the United Nations Force Is Also Not Permissible | had expected. Besides, although I myself was involved, there was unexpected political confusion. Although I thought that the confusion would not have so much influence on the economy, it turned out that the new government that was born to deal with the confusion was a cabinet which places importance on political reform. The new cabinet was not necessarily good with economic matters. That is why the problem of the economy tends to be neglected. [Tahara] Do you mean that the Hosokawa government is not concerned about the economic problems? [Miyazawa] As far as results are concerned, we should say that the economic problems are being neglected. Because so many different parties are allied together, it is natural that the economy cannot be managed effectively. Besides, although we experienced the cold summer and the strong-yen situation last year, the government could not, after all, deal with the situation effectively. In my opinion, this fact has created distrust, which further created the violent fluctuations in the stock market. I still believe in the persevering strength of the Japanese economy. Honestly speaking, however, as far as the present situation is concerned, it is not possible for me to foresee when the situation will take a turn for the better. [Tahara] I think I myself should be held responsible in that the new government has given primary attention to political reform. What measures do you think should have been taken? [Miyazawa] Originally, it should have been possible to carry out political reform and to grapple with the economic problems at the same time. If there were indications that cold-weather damage is likely to occur, the government should have taken prompt action to meet the situation by preparing for the disbursement of mutual aid funds and by making available low-interest loans, etc. As to the strong-yen situation, although there will be no quick remedy, the government at least should have demonstrated its positive attitude in dealing with the situation. [Tahara] Speaking concretely, what do you think should be done? [Miyazawa] One of the measures that the government should take now is drastic reduction of the income tax. The government should by all means reduce the income tax, whether by 6 trillion yen or 10 trillion yen. However, it is wrong to try to cover the reduction with a consumption tax. The change in tax revenues depends on the state of the economy. After the Plaza |
FBIS3-29211_13 | Miyazawa Assesses Hosokawa Administration Participation in the United Nations Force Is Also Not Permissible | [Miyazawa] No, I do not think so. Each country has its own tradition. Perhaps it would be impossible for Americans to live in Japanese society, where the rule of seniority and the lifetime-employment system apply. In the United States, a success story is created by a capable person making a sudden rise from obscurity and earning a high salary while moving freely from company to company. However, the same principle does not apply in our country. For Japanese enterprises, teamwork has been supposed to be the best way to operate in the business world, and, in the case of Japan, I suppose it will also be the best way in the future. Participation in the United Nations Force Is Also Not Permissible [Tahara] Let me change the subject. If there were things you left undone as prime minister, what would they be? [Miyazawa] Though I am afraid my reply may sound haughty, I am very confident that, except for political reform, I was, in general, able to show ideal guidelines in carrying out domestic and foreign affairs. First, it was my philosophy that Japan should not become a military superpower. Also, I made it a fundamental policy in carrying out internal affairs that an affluent community and a quality-of-life superpower should be created before the aging society emerges. My fundamental policy in carrying out diplomatic relations was to make contributions to the extent possible in order to build up a new order of peace after the Cold War. [Tahara] Let me ask a question on this point. What type of country are you thinking of when you talk about a military superpower? [Miyazawa] ... [ellipses as published] [Tahara] For instance, in his book titled "A Plan To Rebuild Japan [Nihon Kaizo Ron]" Ichiro Ozawa says that "Japan should become an ordinary country." Perhaps, by the expression `an ordinary country' Ozawa must be referring to the United Kingdom and France, and not the United States. In case the order of world peace is disturbed somewhere, Japan should contribute to restoring order. It seems to be his idea that, if the existing Self-Defense Forces are not to be mobilized, it may be necessary to organize a United Nations Force and to have the Self-Defense Forces join it. Do you think this is a military superpower? [Miyazawa] In my opinion, the only thing Japan should not do is to use military power outside |
FBIS3-29216_3 | Country Celebrates Kim Chong-il's Birthday NODONG SINMUN Hails Kim Chong-il | unity of all the party members and all the people centering on the dear leader Comrade Kim Chong-il has been firmly achieved. As the result, the problem in inheriting the tradition of unity has been brilliantly solved. Never has there been a time like today in which all the party members, working people, and officers and men of the People's Army, with absolute loyalty for the leader [yongdoja], are firmly united in terms of ideology, volition, morality, and fidelity. The achievement of the great single-hearted unity is the most biggest triumph for our revolution. The might of our single-hearted unity rallied around the dear leader Comrade Kim Chong-il has been clearly proved in our arduous practical revolution. The single-hearted unity of our revolutionary ranks is the most powerful weapon that enables them to brilliantly carry out any difficult and massive task in revolution and construction and vigorously accelerate the general onward march of socialism of our own style. The history of our socialist construction is decorated with proud courses in cultivating roads and creating miracles with the might of unity. Upon inheriting the long tradition of struggle, our people were able to create the speeds of march admired by the people of the world and to run like the wind in the seventies, eighties, and nineties because they waged struggles after strongly uniting around the dear leader Comrade Kim Chong-il. Everything that casts its ray on the fatherland -- the strong foundation for a self-reliant national economy, the powerful national defense capability, and the great monumental edifices erected everywhere -- is the brilliant fruition of the might of single-hearted unity. If it had not been for the weapon of single-hearted unity, we would not have been able to endlessly develop our economy during the period of the Third Seven-Year Plan, when the situation at home and abroad was difficult. And, if it were not for the might of single-hearted unity, all of us would not be able to march to highly display the superiority of socialism of our own style as boldly as we are doing today. Our single-hearted unity is a source of invincible might that enables us to defeat any antirevolutionary offensive of the imperialists and strongly defend achievements in reunification. For the past few years, imperialists and reactionaries of all sorts have maneuvered more viciously than ever to isolate and stifle [korip chilsik] socialism of our own |
FBIS3-29229_4 | LDP, Shinseito Leaders on U.S. Summit Results | expanding domestic demand, what cannot be done cannot be done. Each country must work together in areas where government can legitimately act. The recent Clinton-Hosokawa meeting was unsuccessful, but I think it marks the start of a process in which relations become more mature and warmer. I am sure people in Japan understand this. There are many who tell me they find the outcome of the summit acceptable. [passage omitted on comments by Dietmen from the Japan Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party of Japan] [Yamamoto] Mr. Muto, in the wake of the Japan-U.S. talks, what do you think the future Japan-U.S. relationship should be like? [Muto] As you, Mr. Yamamoto, noted earlier, I had a chance to serve as minister of international trade and industry during the Bush administration and also as foreign minister after the Clinton administration was inaugurated. I see a difference between these two administrations. I think Mr. Bush was an excellent politician, even in the area of diplomatic affairs, who thought about the United States while also thinking about the world. I receive the impression, even though I have not had close contacts with him personally, that Mr. Clinton thinks more about the United States and less about the world. I have met people around him such as Mr. Kantor and Mr. Christopher. I think it would benefit Japan if the government takes note of this in its future actions. I think Japan should strongly propose that the United States consider the rest of the world as well. Europe would welcome such an attitude, and so would people in Asia. There was criticism, even, of the Seattle conference of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation [APEC] which said that all Clinton did in bringing together the Asian leaders was to use them to make himself look good. I think Japan should strongly advise the United States it should think globally. Another point. What I want to say to the government is that if the yen value went up suddenly while we were in power, we used to ask the G-7 to intervene in the market. The current government has not taken such actions, even though the yen has risen sharply in value since last July. I think the government should have taken some action. I have a feeling a high yen will be the result of the current dispute. [passage omitted on discussion of tax issues] |
FBIS3-29243_5 | Minister of Finance Fujii Interviewed on Budget | are speculative moves which will probably last a day or so. [Mizuki] Various remarks by high-ranking U.S. Government officials have affected the speculative moves. The G-7 industrialized nations have agreed to cooperate with each other in dealing with severe fluctuations of the exchange rate. How do Japanese and U.S. financial authorities see the current sharp increase in the yen's exchange rate against the U.S. dollar? [Fujii] A responsible U.S. Government official has said there is no change in the U.S. Government's policy on the exchange rate. I agree with that. [Mizuki] Over the past few days, there has been no change in economic fundamentals. The breakdown of the Japan-U.S. summit talks over the opening of the Japanese market is responsible for the drastic appreciation of the yen against the U.S. dollar. It is important for the coalition government to settle the issue at the earliest date. [Fujii] I have said the drastic appreciation of the yen has been caused by speculative moves. There are various reasons for these speculative moves. It cannot be denied that the breakdown of the summit talks is responsible for it. Although the leaders of Japan and the United States failed to reach an agreement on various bilateral issues, they agreed there will be no change in friendly relations between the two countries. It is necessary for the leaders to have opportunities to understand each other. [Mizuki] If the appreciated yen sets back Japan's economy, this would adversely affect the world economy. The G-7 industrialized nations will meet later this month. Minister, how are you going to deal with the appreciated yen? [Fujii] Financial authorities in the G-7 industrialized nations have agreed that the exchange rate must mirror the economic fundamentals. Drastic fluctuations in the exchange rate have an adverse impact not only on the country concerned but on the world economy. Japan should try to reaffairm the agreement at the meeting to be held by the G-7 industrialized nations. [Mizuki] Then, Minister, do you think the current sharp increase in the yen's exchange rate against the U.S. dollar is temporary, and thus does not reflect Japan's economic fundamentals? [Fujii] Yes. I believe the drastic appreciation of the yen has been caused by speculative moves. [Mizuki] This is my last question. It is unclear why the yen has appreciated so drastically. Minister, when will Japan's economy recover? [Fujii] The government has agreed to put the economy |
FBIS3-29244_0 | Table of Government's FY `94 Budget Proposal | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Tokyo, Feb. 15 KYODO -- The following is a breakdown of the fiscal 1994 budget proposal approved Tuesday [15 February] by the government. Figures are in millions of yen with year-to-year percentage changes in parentheses. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Area |FY `94 |FY `93 |Percentage Changes| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Revenue | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Tax and stamp rec-|53,665,000 |61,303,000 |(-12.5) | |eipts | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |National debt con-|172,541 |186,622 |( -7.5) | |solidation fund, | | | | |special account r-| | | | |eceipts | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Nontax revenue |5,601,128 |2,735,202 |(104.8) | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |National bonds |13,643,000 |8,130,000 |( 67.8) | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Total |73,081,669 |72,354,824 |( 1.0) | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Expenditure | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |National debt exp-|14,360,242 |15,442,347 |( -7.0) | |enses | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Local public fina-|12,757,752 |15,617,350 |(-18.3) | |nce | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |General expenditu-|40,854,842 |39,916,800 |( 2.3) | |re | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Funds transferred |3,564,065 |1,378,327 |(158.6) | |to industrial inv-| | | | |estment, special | | | | |account | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Repayment to nati-|1,544,768 |-- |(--) | |onal debt consoli-| | | | |dation fund | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Total |73,081,669 |72,354,824 |(1.0) | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Breakdown of General Expenditure | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Social security |13,481,627 |13,145,674 |( 2.6) | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Education and sci-|5,957,796 |5,820,457 |( 2.4) | |ence | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |National debt exp-|14,360,242 |15,442,347 |( -7.0) | |enses | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Pensions |1,762,019 |1,776,600 |( -0.8) | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Local public fina-|12,757,752 |15,617,350 |(-18.3) | |nce | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Defense |4,683,548 |4,640,639 |( 0.9) | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Public works |11,146,108 |8,600,074 |( 29.6) | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Economic cooperat-|999,160 |957,059 |( 4.4) | |ion | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Small business-re-|187,651 |195,099 |( -3.8) | |lated measures | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Energy-related me-|675,928 |655,124 |( 3.2) | |asures | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Food control acco-|274,318 |311,315 |(-11.9) | |unt | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Funds transferred |172,541 |186,622 |( -7.5) | |to industrial inv-| | | | |estment, special | | | | |account | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Other expenses |4,728,211 |4,656,464 |( 1.5) | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Reserves |350,000 |350,000 |( 0.0) | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Reserves for adju-|350,000 |-- |(--) | |stments | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Repayment to nati-|1,544,768 |-- |(--) | |onal debt consoli-| | | | |dation fund | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Total |73,081,669 |72,354,824 |( 1.0) |
FBIS3-29290_0 | Government Seeks AFTA Extension on Petrochemicals | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Thailand wants to renegotiate the ASEAN Free Trade Area [AFTA] agreements with Indonesia and Malaysia to put petrochemical industries under AFTA's 15-year "normal track" tariff cutting schedule instead of the seven-to-10 year "fast track". The move would amount to final acceptance by Thailand that its petrochemical industry cannot handle the swifter lowering of protectionist barriers originally envisaged under AFTA's "fast track". But Finance Minister Tharin Nimmanhemin indicated yesterday that Thailand was not seeking permanent withdrawal of the sector from AFTA, not even on the list of exclusions that will be subject to review after eight years. He said that to do so would be a backward step that would run counter to Thailand's leadership in cutting tariffs under the AFTA programme. The Thai petrochemicals industry has been seeking a delay in the reduction of AFTA barriers ever since the basic agreements were signed at the ASEAN summit in Singapore in January 1992. The industry argues that it cannot compete without the protection of tariff barriers because the natural gas that it uses as a raw material is considerably more expensive than the supplies used by Malaysia and Indonesia, partly because of the length of the undersea pipe that brings the gas from the Gulf of Thailand to Rayong. Some industries that use petrochemicals as raw materials, such as textiles, have argued strongly against retaining protection for petrochemicals. They say that the retention of tariff barriers makes their costs higher than those of their competitors in other ASEAN countries where petrochemicals supplies are cheaper. Officials say privately that Thailand under the first Anand Panyarachun government initially agreed to put petrochemicals on the "fast track" as a result of a challenge from Indonesia and Malaysia. During negotiations on the creation of the free trade area, the other ASEAN countries are said to have argued that Thailand was the most protectionist of the six. They therefore reportedly challenged Thailand to demonstrate its seriousness by agreeing to put the sensitive petrochemicals sector on the fast track. All along, some sections of the bureaucracy have questioned whether the Anand government's position was justified, and yesterday's decision by a Finance Ministry-led subcommittee appears to reflect the feeling. The sub-committee decided to send delegates to negotiate with Indonesia and Malaysia to keep petrochemical industries on the "normal track" list. Mr Tharin admitted the two countries are opposed to the idea. An alternative |
FBIS3-29312_3 | Long-Term Outlook in U.S. Relationship Urged | and the United States are also opposed to numerical targets. Washington should listen to what they have said. The United States Acts Too Rashly President Clinton expressed a sense of distrust in Japan by saying that despite more than 30 agreements reached on opening up the Japanese market, there had been absolutely no change. His understanding is not completely correct. Certainly, Japan's trade surplus has not been reduced remarkably. But bilateral agreements have produced results in the government procurement of satellites and supercomputers as well as the expansion of imports of beef and citrus. It was predicted from the beginning that framework trade talks would be rough. Some people said that the end of the Cold War would allow the two nations to discuss economic issues straightforwardly, and others said President Clinton, who seeks reelection, would call for quick results. Others also pointed to the differences in the trade policies of the two nations. Another factor that cannot be overlooked is the return of Japanese industry to a "Japan as Number Two" position. Semiconductor accords used as a model by the United States in recent trade talks and the plans by the Japanese auto industry to buy more U.S.-made auto parts were drawn up during a time when Japanese industry was increasing in prosperity. Faced with the difficult position of being sandwiched between the resurrection of U.S. industry and the rise of Asia, Japanese industry can no longer afford to accept difficult requests from the United States. Because of the appreciation of the yen since last year, Japanese industry has moved production bases overseas, and imports from Asia and other countries have rapidly increased. As a result, the trade surplus has begun to decrease slowly. Some people have made hasty predictions that if this trend continues, the fierce trade friction between Japan and the United States will disappear. It is unavoidable that economic relations between Japan and the United States will continue to be strained for the time being. It is also possible that bills will be submitted to U.S. Congress urging hard-line action against Japan, and that the U.S. Government will threaten to impose sanctions. However, if the world's two economic superpowers should turn inward and mutually implement protectionist measures, the negative effect on the world economy will be great. We hope the two nations will tide over the current difficulties with calm while not losing a long-term perspective. |
FBIS3-29323_0 | * Bureaucrat, Industry Adhesion Examined | Language: Japanese Article Type:CSO [Article by reporters Akira Hachisu, Midori Akamine: "Adhesive Structure of Bureaucracy and Industry Obvious"] [Text] There are 1,012 persons who have made the "descent from heaven" [amakudari, that is, the practice of retiring from government bureaucracy to serve as a corporate official] to the 2,128 total listed companies. One in five companies accepts amakudari. The triumvirate are the Ministries of Construction, Finance, and International Trade and Industry. The actual state of bureaucracy and industry adhesion is clear. Japanese society has been formed by the "iron triangle" of politicians, bureaucrats, and industrialists. The arena cultivated for a long time by both politicians and industrialists has become too fat and now, a series of general contractor bribes has shaken the islands of Japan. The bureaucratic system, which is another apex, was shaped in the early Meiji period [1868-1912], and its system of control has extended for over one century. Particularly after World War II, politicians and industrialists united to push economic reconstruction based on the leadership of the bureaucrats in order to rebuild the devastated country. The structure of bureaucrats and industrialists leaning on each other has been formed in the shape of industry accepting a large number of amakudari bureaucrats to obtain protection for their own company and industry and the newest information. A survey of amakudari officers from the bureaucracy in private firms was made recently by TOYO KEIZAI, and all of their names have been ascertained. The target firms were 2,175 companies with a total of 40,800 employees. Added to all 2,128 listed firms were 47 life and nonlife insurance companies and other nonlisted firms, as well as major economic agencies such as the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. (See 1994 edition of "Political and Government Agency Personnel Record") Table 1. Amakudari Officers by Former Ministry/Agency (including nonlisted firms) (Unit = persons) Ministry of Finance 189 Board of 3 (MOF affiliated) (MITI Audit affiliated) Ministry of 176 National Land 3 Japan Tobacco 15 Japan National 1 Construction Agency Industry Oil Corp. Ministry of 99 Ministry of 3 Overseas 1 (MOT International Trade Foreign Economic affiliated) & Industry Affairs Cooperation Fund National Tax 85 Ministry of 3 Hokkaido-Tohoku 1 Former Japan 104 Administration Health & Development National Welfare Corp. Railways Ministry of 72 Maritime 3 (MOC affiliated) Japan Railway 3 Transport Safety Agency Construction Public Corp. Ministry of 59 Supreme Court 3 Japan Highway 55 National |
FBIS3-29329_0 | Malaysian-Made Tanks for Libyan Plant Disappear | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Report by Raymond Whittaker: "Libyan Nerve Gas Tanks Go Missing in Malaysia"] [Text] Equipment for a Libyan poison gas plant, made by a British-owned company in Malaysia and returned there last year after the United Nations Security Council blocked delivery, has disappeared. The issue has resurfaced as the Pergau dam affair has put British dealings with Malaysia under intense scrutiny. It could complicate government attempts to remain on good terms with a country sensitive to any perceived interference in relations with fellow Islamic states. Concern over Malaysia's Libyan connection was renewed recently when the government auctioned eight steel reactor tanks which had been returned from Singapore, where they were seized last March on the orders of the Security Council's sanctions committee. The buyer was a small local trading company whose only contact is a mobile telephone number. The equipment left a Malaysian customs warehouse a few weeks ago, though other governments have been told it is in the country and will not be permitted to reach Libya. But one Western diplomat said: "We are not 100 per cent happy, and won't be until we see this equipment in the hands of a non-Libyan end-user who actually wants it." Britain has co-ordinated efforts to keep the tanks out of Libya since becoming aware in 1989 of Tripoli's attempts to obtain them. It says the equipment could produce hundreds of tons of mustard gas and nerve gases. Kuala Lumpur refused to stop the first delivery attempt, saying they were for civilian use. The telephone number of the buyer, Wargames Management, is unobtainable, but investigators who have spoken to the company's directors say they claim to be trying to sell the vessels to Petronas, Malaysia's state oil company, or an American company. Another source said the equipment had been tailor-made for Tripoli and could not be adapted easily for other uses. A spokesman for the Malaysian High Commission in London declined to comment, saying he would have to check with Kuala Lumpur. Libya first tried in 1989 to order reactor vessels from a British engineering company, APV, saying they would be used to produce drilling mud for the oil industry. Western agencies suspected that they would be used to make chemical weapons. When the order was rejected, the Libyans turned to an obscure Malaysian company, Pacificwide Management, which again has only a mobile number. Pacificwide ordered the equipment from |
FBIS3-29331_0 | Crime During Lunar New Year Festival Reported | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Ulaanbaatar, February 14 (OANA-MONTSAME) -- Two cases of assassination were recorded to be committed in the first days of the "tsagaan sar" a new year according to the lunar calendar. In all as was the MONTSAME correspondent informed at the general police department 15 people perished during those days. Some being drunk froze to death in the streets or committed suicide or due to accidents [sentence as received]. Out of 65 crimes committed in the festival days some 35 registered to have happened in the capital of Mongolia where there worked about 2830 policemen in order to secure order. About 700 people were fined, some 70 pieces of coldsteel were confiscated and some 514 people had to meet the new year of the wooden dog in the sobering stations. |
FBIS3-29336_5 | Part Two of Interview | cover will become lesser and lesser. The logging concessions are not only on the border areas but also deeper inside the country too. Our concern is that foreign partners would become richer and richer, but local partners would have no change in status. Because of this we want to encourage local people. Thailand has plans to develop several hydropower dams along the Thai-Burmese border such as the over 6,000 Megawatt Salween Dam, and many envirommentalists are concerned that those projects will have negative impacts on your natural resources, mainly the forests. What is your opinion? [Chit Swe] Now they are discussing natural gas to Thailand through Kanchanaburi Province. The project does not affect a big area--only a small area for the gas pipeline and only some roads. I think there is no problem. As for the Salween Dam, I think it is a very big project. It has to go phase by phase. You should ask the Energy Minister. He may be able give you some ideas. Which country is the biggest investor in your forestry industry and the biggest log buyer? [Chit Swe] I think Thai companies. When it is not easy to get logs from the border, they come here. Thai people have very good experience in the timber business. They buy from our country, logs as well as other forestry products. The Japanese are usually the highest bidders. They buy the best quality teak and other hardwood. However, they usually sell it later, especially hardwood, to the Taiwanese. There is a case when a Japanese company bid highest in one tender for some logs. We thought it was going to Japan, but it turned out that the company sold the logs here to a Taiwanese company. When I met the Taiwanese gentleman and asked him if he was going to take the logs to Taiwan he said he was going to sell the logs to China. So it is just changing hands causing the value to go higher and higher. Because of this, we are trying to sell directly to the real buyers. Is China one of your biggest timber buyers? [Chit Swe] No. It is Japan. The West also buys quality teak. Fourth quality teak is bought mainly by the Indians. They have got a very good market with the Middle East, which we don't. Because of this we go through the Indians as third party. |
FBIS3-29421_1 | Article Analyzes Hosokawa-Clinton Conference | targets." Even U.S. negotiators seem to have "felt cathartical" (as stated by a high-ranking White House official). The same official has added: "Nothing can move as long as we have to deal with Japanese bureaucrats. Sensing it would be useless to go on like this, we were extremely frustrated." Both the Japanese and U.S. Governments tried to give the impression that their relationship was undergoing a "maturing process" (as stated by U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher) so this relationship, as a whole, would not be shaken despite the breakdown in top-level trade negotiations. A high-ranking U.S. Government official has explained: "Although the United States has at times imposed sanctions against European nations and Canada because of trade disputes, it has been able to maintain basic relations with these countries. Our relationship with Japan has reached this stage." In other words, this relationship is probably one based on "gamesmanship." This cannot necessarily be denied. In the United States, a younger generation of politicians who are intolerant of Japan's attitude of taking advantage of U.S. tolerance has taken control of politics and diplomacy. In Japan, the idea that Japan should say what it has to say to the United States and maintain a firm attitude so as to come up to the expectations of other Asian countries is spreading among its leaders. Both nations have begun to think about whether they can somehow have more business-like relations with each other. It certainly is necessary for the two nations to broaden the scope and context of their relationship by outgrowing their excessive bilateralism under which they look at each other from the opposite ends of a telescope. Nevertheless, the latest "cathartical diplomacy" between Japan and the United States lays bare the uncertainty of post-Cold War relations between the two nations. There was almost no coordination of macroeconomic measures to maintain economic growth, while microeconomic measures to deal with sectoral trade issues stood out. The idea of "Japan-U.S. cooperation on a global scale" regresses as the United States sticks firmly to its inward-looking stance. While Japan and the United States call for a promotion of an open regionalism for the Asia-Pacific region, both of the all-important nations continue to engage in their chronic trade conflicts. The Clinton administration has its own "internal problems" to worry about. Since it pushed through the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) against opposition by |
FBIS3-29428_10 | Memorandum Issued on ROK Nuclear Development I. The South Korean Authorities' Nuclear Weapons Development Policy and Introduction of PHWR II. The Stockpiling of Plutonium Through the PHWR and Completion of System for the Full-Scale Nuclear Weapons Development | countries for nuclear fuel.'" (U.S. newspaper INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, November 2, 1993). The increasingly undisguised efforts on the part of the South Korean authorities to invalidate the "joint declaration on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula" have further intensified recently, simultaneously with the on-going ruckus over the DPRK's so-called `suspected nuclear programme'. South Korea's former "Minister of National Unification" Yi Se-ki said in April 1993 that "the `North-South joint declaration on the denuclearization' has been invalidated in principle," and went the length of insisting that "it is high time we have to acquire nuclear weapons capability, and the `National Assembly' should raise voice calling for this." (South Korean newspaper TONG-A ILBO, April 11, 1993). South Korean "MBC Television" reported on October 9, 1993 that some observers speculated that Kim Yong-sam called a "security-related ministers' meeting," unusually attended by the "minister of science and technology," and the meeting discussed matters related to the "acquisition of nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities" and to the "review of the `declaration on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.'" It has become a stark fact that the persistent dustup by the South Korean authorities over the DPRK's so-called "suspected nuclear programme" is, after all, intended to justify their attempts to develop nuclear weapons. Commenting on this, the Romanian weekly EUROPA in its edition No. 152 disclosed that "the South Korean authorities' kickup over the North's `suspected nuclear programme' is part of their propaganda offensive to legalize their own nuclear weapons development." The Canada-based overseas Koreans' newspaper NEW KOREA TIMES commented on October 23, 1993 that "particularly, the voice of the new right-wing forces in South Korea calling for the possession of nuclear weapons was high in intensity and the opposition response was no less tough. As if reflecting such pros and cons, South Korea's nuclear independence turned out to be a favorite topic in the `National Assembly' as well". These facts alone suffice to show that the South Korean authorities are dashing headlong toward nuclear weapons development, unconcerned with the "joint declaration on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," which they have now rendered worthless. The South Korean authorities must renounce their "nuclear weapons development policy" for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, remove the nuclear materials they have already produced or brought from other countries, and take urgent measures either to dismantle their PHWRs both in operation and under construction or to replace them with LWRs. |
FBIS3-29429_9 | Pyongyang Radio Carries Memorandum I. The South Korean Authorities' Nuclear Weapons Development Policy and Introduction of PHWR II. The Stockpiling of Plutonium Through the PHWR and the Completion of a System for Full-Scale Nuclear Weapons Development | Mr. No left office. One of the key advisers to President Kim Yong-sam, Chong Chae-mun, chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee has called for a review of the 1991 agreement. We know that we could generate nuclear power at a lower cost if we have reprocessing facilities, Mr. Chong said last May, and we cannot continue to depend on foreign countries for nuclear fuel. -- U.S. newspaper INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, 2 November 1993. The increasingly undisguised efforts on the part of the South Korean authorities to invalidate [muhohwa] the joint declaration on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula have further intensified recently, simultaneously with the on-going ruckus over the DPRK's so-called suspected nuclear program. South Korea's former Minister of National Unification Yi Se-ki said in April 1993 that the North-South joint declaration on the denuclearization has been invalidated in principle, and went to the length of insisting that it is high time we have to acquire nuclear weapons capability [haengnungnyok], and the so-called National Assembly should raise voice calling for this. -- South Korean newspaper TONG-A ILBO, 11 April 1993. South Korean MBC Television reported on 9 October 1993 that some observers speculated that Kim Yong-sam called a security-related ministers' meeting, unusually attended by the minister of science and technology, and the meeting discussed matters related to the acquisition of nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities and to the review of the declaration on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. It has become a stark fact that the persistent dustup by the South Korean authorities over the DPRK's so-called suspected nuclear program is, after all, intended to justify their attempts to develop nuclear weapons. Commenting on this, the Romanian weekly EUROPA in its edition No. 152 disclosed that the South Korean authorities' kickup over the North's suspected nuclear program is part of their propaganda offensive to legalize their own nuclear weapons development. The Canada-based overseas Koreans' newspaper NEW KOREA TIMES commented on 23 October 1993 that in particular, the voice of the new right-wing forces in South Korea calling for the possession of nuclear weapons was high in intensity and the opposition response was no less tough. As if reflecting such pros and cons, South Korea's nuclear independence turned out to be a favorite topic in the so-called National Assembly as well. These facts alone suffice to show that the South Korean authorities are dashing headlong toward nuclear |
FBIS3-29442_0 | Article Views U.S. Policy in Trade Talks | Language: Japanese Article Type:BFN [Article by U.S. Bureau Chief Yoichi Funabashi: "Changing Stands of the United States"] [Text] The new, "mature" era of the Japanese-U.S. relationship began with the Clinton administration resuming attacks on Japan, using the high yen and economic sanctions as weapons. This is a strange situation in which even the President is not hesitating to talk about a "trade war" between Japan and the United States. Both countries declared, after the framework talks broke up, that they would resume the framework talks after a "cooling-off period." But the character of the U.S. negotiating team, the team's attitude in the talks, the pressure it is receiving, as well as its views on the politics of Japan have changed greatly from the past. If Japan fails to recognize this change adequately, another rupture in the talks is possible. What has changed in this era of "mature" frictions? We will examine it. Compromise Comes Only at Last Moment One of the U.S. congressional staff members blamed the rupture in the talks on the presumptuous force of the "lawyer mafiosi" such as U.S. Trade Representative [USTR] Mickey Kantor and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshevsky. Another official said, "The only way they know how to do things is to demand the highest possible price, and then to bargain at the last moment." They overdid it this time, and they failed. The USTR with his lawyer's seriousness persisted with the "numerical targets" issue, warding off attempts to attach loopholes to them. There is no denying that this made a political decision difficult. In Japan, there are wishful voices saying, "If only Kantor were not there" (to quote one of negotiating team's members), but (according to a White House staff member), his political standing now is "very strong, for he is close to Mrs. Clinton." The NEC's Predominance The power of the National Security Council (NSC), which used to have the final say on Japanese-U.S. relations during the cold war, is now falling fast with the appearance of its rival, the National Economic Council (NEC), which is having a great impact. Particularly with respect to economic relations with Japan, the NEC's power is clearly predominant. In the "mature" relationship, which may mean having economic matters handled separately from political and security matters, this state of the NSC being unable to fully interfere in the NEC's formulation of policies on Japan is likely to |
FBIS3-29463_1 | Czech Delegation's Talks, Havel's Address Noted | some 15 years. The Czech delegation drew attention to the considerable possibilities of investing in the Czech Republic within the privatisation process. They also showed their interest in Thai financial participation in the Czech banking sector. Czech Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Ivan Kocarnik, one of the Czech delegation's members, invited Likphai to Prague on behalf of Czech Premier Vaclav Klaus. Havel also met with chairman of the Thai parliament, Marut Bunnak. They agreed on a visit of Czech parliamentarians to Thailand in late March. Today Havel is to tour some of Bangkok's monuments. Four inter-state agreements are also to be signed. Havel today received an honorary degree from Chulalongkorn University and gave a speech of thanks. On leaving the university, which is named after a turn-of-the-century king who abolished slavery, Havel said with a smile he saw an "enormous gulf" between the quantity of doctorates he received and the quantity of knowledge he had. The way of coexistence of various cultures and powers which would not threaten the fate of the globe, is a big task for the present world, Havel said in a speech given at the occasion of being awarded the title. It is necessary in the present era that a multicultural world and a multipolar atmosphere in conditions of a single global civilisation are created, Havel said. A generally acceptable minimum must be sought within the variety of national features, historical and cultural traditions and different ways of thinking. This minimum must be cultivated with full respect for all differences and equality of their bearers. Simply, the era of new global universalism has come, Havel said. The several principles included in the mentioned minimum are those of respect for the basic human rights -- those to freedom and dignity, democracy, a respect for property, including private property, care for material development of human communities and generally acceptable social rights. Without this minimum being sensibly and steadily cultivated, developed and deepened, and without the world's identifying itself with it, he could hardly imagine that the present civilisation does not result in big catastrophes, Havel stressed. A new political metaculture could gradually arise from the new spirit of world cooperation. It would be the culture of political existence on principles of equality and cooperation of various cultures of the present multicultural civilisation, he said. Havel said that several basic tools, whose development, strengthening and transformation in line with |
FBIS3-29466_0 | U.S. Sanctions Threat Against Japan Criticized | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Editorial: "Clinton's Folly"] [Text] The Clinton administration's response to the collapse of the weekend trade talks between the United States and Japan is disturbing news. Threatening trade sanctions against Japan for a transgression of dubious validity, namely, failing to ensure that a U.S. company, Motorola, won a certain quantitative share of the Tokyo cellular phone market is bad enough. To also say, as Mr. Clinton did, that yes, sanctions could trigger a trade war but the United States is "willing to take that risk" borders on recklessness and irresponsibility. Already, stock and currency markets in Asia are reeling. They have nothing whatsoever to do with the U.S.-Japan trade spat. And there are consumers and producers, buyers and sellers, and traders and investors all over our economically interdependent world who would be hit. It is tragic and hugely unfair that their fortunes should be buffeted by willful economic saber-rattling. The operative word here is willful. According to a NEW YORK TIMES report, the administration's strategy is to create uncertainty and anxiety in Japan so as to drive up the value of the yen and thus pressure the Japanese to return to the bargaining table on American terms. If true, this suggests a cynicism that is misguided and dangerous. It is misguided because, first, a sudden and unexpected appreciation of the yen without consultation with Japan would undermine the effects of the economic stimulus package which the United States Government lobbied for and the Japanese Government worked so hard to deliver. A prolonged Japanese recession is the last thing U.S. producers need if they want to sell more to Japanese consumers. Second, a yen appreciation would indeed raise Japan's export prices and blunt it competitiveness. But there is a downside: Japanese-made parts and components which account for a large proportion of Japan's exports to the United States would also be more expensive. This would undermine the competitiveness of many U.S. industries. Third, even if a stronger yen were a great idea, there is not much sense talking the currency up without any mechanism to keep it there. The administration's strategy is therefore at best, a short-term gamble. And like many gambles,it could be dangerous. Far from forcing the Japanese to dance to an American tune, it could inflame nationalistic sentiment in Japan and stiffen resolve to resist U.S. pressure. If the conflict then escalates, the Japanese could even |
FBIS3-29476_0 | Writer Criticizes Radio Free Asia Plan | Language: Lao Article Type:BFN ["Talk" by Singhasai: "Is There Anything Else Behind the Plan To Set Up Radio Free Asia?"] [Text] International public opinion has appreciated the United States' lifting the trade embargo against Vietnam which lasted 30 years. Everyone has praised the decision of President Clinton as it is considered appropriate, conforming to the common trend of the final decade of the 20th century, the era regarded by various industrialized countries, including the United States, as one of achieving cooperation and mutual understanding in all fields. In light of this, why has the U.S. Senate recently approved the establishment of Radio Free Asia again with the intention of beaming news broadcasts to China, Myanmar [Burma], Tibet, the DPRK, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Lao People's Democratic Republic? It has said with a straight face that the residents of these countries have not had full freedom to express their views. It has also noted that Radio Free Asia will serve as a tool to gather views in different fields from the people of those countries. This may not be the true purpose of Radio Free Asia. There must be others. It is difficult to answer this question. The questioner himself has not mentioned a correct answer. Nevertheless, radio experts are of the view that the new Radio Free Asia broadcasts will create interference on frequencies used by broadcasters in various countries in this region. Radio Free Asia has also reprimanded various nations in the region by saying that they have not maintained full rights and freedom of people to express their views. The Lao people, like the peoples of other Indochinese countries, China, Myanmar, Tibet, and the DPRK, already enjoy full rights and freedom of expression. They can freely speak on whatever they want without needing Radio Free Asia. They have also exercised the rights to effectively safeguard their sovereignty and territorial integrity by opposing outside intervention and aggression under various forms. Economically, the United States has announced the end of the trade embargo against Vietnam. It has done a precious thing. Why has it now announced the establishment of Radio Free Asia? Spiritually, this contradicts the economic interest of the peoples in the region. BBC radio, in its broadcast of 29 January, expressed the view that the United States wants to set up Radio Free Asia because of its experience with its Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty contributing to |
FBIS3-29481_0 | Singapore-Prasong Talks on Burma Consensus | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Excerpts] The approval of all member states would be needed for ASEAN to invite Burma to attend as a guest at the group's annual conference of foreign ministers, Singapore Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar said yesterday. Singapore would have no objections if the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was to reach a consensus on the matter, he said. [passage omitted] Mr Jayakumar described as "not finalised" Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's plan to visit Rangoon. Mr Jayakumar's comments came after a U.S. congressman said he believed it would be "premature" for ASEAN to invite Burma if there were no talks between now and July between Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the military junta's key member Lt Gen Khin Nyunt. Bill Richardson (Democrat-New Mexico) was replying to a reporter's question during a press conference on Wednesday after he became the first non-family member to be allowed to meet Suu Kyi in Rangoon. By July, the charismatic Burmese leader also will have been under house arrest for five years, normally the limit allowed by Burmese law. Foreign Minister Sqn Ldr Prasong Sunsiri earlier spoke of the possibility of Thailand, as this year's chairman of ASEAN, inviting Burma to the meeting of the group's foreign ministers. He raised the possibility after the last ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Singapore. Sqn Ldr Prasong yesterday described the meeting between the U.S. congressman and Suu Kyi as an indication of improvements in Burma. But he said it would be "Burma's affair" whether or not the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council kept Suu Kyi under house arrest until at least next year. The Thai foreign ministry wanted to see better conditions in Burma before moving to invite Rangoon to attend the ASEAN meeting. The release of Suu Kyi was among a number of improvements sought. But Thai foreign ministry officials expressed confidence that there was still time for ASEAN to decide on the matter. Senior officials of ASEAN would not rush into the decision but closely monitor the situation in that country, a foreign ministry source said. One senior foreign ministry source described the U.S. congressman's remark on the question as an attempt by a U.S. politician to dictate to other countries in international politics. Meanwhile, the Singaporean foreign minister said he would like to see Thailand and Singapore work closely for "ASEAN interests" in the Asia-Pacific Economic |
FBIS3-29512_1 | Papers on DPRK Acceptance of Inspection | to avoid UN Security Council's sanctions, it will only add to its image of being "an impossible country to deal with" and urges North Korea to keep in mind the "economic benefits" that are to be gained from the resolution of the nuclear issue. The editorial concludes by telling readers to wait until North Korea accepts special and mutual inspections [sangho sachal] between the North and the South. The moderate TONG-A ILBO editorial entitled "Still a Long Way To Go To Resolve North Korea's Nuclear Issue" chimes in with CHOSON ILBO by saying that "real negotiations begin when the issues of special inspection on two undeclared facilities and mutual inspections [sangho sachal] between the North and the South are discussed at the third round of the U.S.-North Korea talks," but adds that developments prove that North Korea only takes action when faced with "resolute measures [tanohan taecho]." The moderate HANGUK ILBO editorial entitled "While Catastrophe Has Been Avoided on the North Korean Nuclear Issue" says that "although North Korea's avoidance of catastrophe and economic sanctions is to be praised, ...this does not mean a complete resolution of the nuclear issue." The editorial urges the government to be fully prepared for North Korea's tricks as the sudden change is part of a "meticulous, premeditated plan." HANGUK ILBO's 800-word article by Paris correspondent Han Ki-pong on page 2, in analyzing the implications of the long drawn-out negotiations process, says that "no progress has been made from the starting point of negotiations a year ago," but that the resolution of conflict between North Korea and the international community is important in and of itself. HANGUK ILBO carries an 800-word article by Choe Kyu-sik on page 4 on the ROK Government's view on North Korea's acceptance of nuclear inspections. While finding North Korea's decision "fortunate and welcoming," the government expressed its position that it is too early to be optimistic. The article says that the government hopes to have meaningful development in working-level contacts concerning the exchange of special envoys and to lead North Korea to completely return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty [NPT] system following a successful third round of U.S.-North Korea talks regarding the special inspections [tukpyol sachal] of the two undeclared facilities. While the government does not interpret North Korea's acceptance of inspections to mean complete abandonment of nuclear development, it is not being interpreted as "a temporary step" to get |
FBIS3-29515_0 | DPRK Envoy at ASEAN-Related Meeting in Bangkok | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Tokyo, Feb. 18 (YONHAP) -- North Korea participated in an Association of Southeast Asian Nations-United Nations workshop held in Bangkok on Thursday, KYODO News Service reported Friday. KYODO quoted a diplomatic source in Bangkok as saying that the North Korean ambassador to Thailand took part in the workshop as an observer, the first time that Pyongyang has participated in an ASEAN-related meeting. At the workshop, 19 countries discussed cooperating with one another in the diplomacy of peace and prevention of disputes. North Korea has contacted the Thai and other ASEAN member governments about joining their group, and its participation in the workshop may be related to the move, according to KYODO. Thailand was notified last week of North Korea's desire to participate in the ASEAN-UN workshop, and allowed Pyongyang to take part as an observer after consulting with other nations, KYODO said. The United States, Japan, Vietnam and China also attended the meeting in addition to the six ASEAN members, but South Korea did not take part, KYODO said. Meanwhile, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official in Seoul said that the Thai Government had invited South Korea as an observer. But he said he did not understand why Thailand had not invited South Korea, an ASEAN dialogue partner, as a formal attendant. |
FBIS3-29537_1 | Article Views Japanese-U.S. `Trade War' | to decide on defense policies or on the burdens necessary to implement such policies through agreement by only a handful of powerful men in the government and ruling party. With the Cold War structure gone, however, things do not work that way. It is still fresh in our memory that the Miyazawa-Bush conference in Tokyo in January 1992 was seen as a failure because it did not resolve economic problems. The key topic at the forthcoming summit meeting is progress in the Japan-U.S. economic consultations. But the two sides are making heavy weather of the consultations, and it is by no means clear the summit meeting will be successful. For both Japan and the United States, it would be good political news to announce the "summit meeting was a success." But the present differences will make it difficult for the United States to even issue the usual announcement that "measures presented by Japan in the economic consultations are a first step in the right direction, and we welcome it." Why are the consultations facing such heavy going this time? First, the talks are not needed, economically speaking. The Japan-U.S. structural impediments initiative (SII) talks concluded in 1990 were aimed at agreeing on the macroeconomic measures necessary for both Japan and the United States to redress their respective problems of underconsumption and undersaving. This was following an agreement that "the difference in the volume of savings used for investment is the cause of the bilateral imbalance." Agreements made at those SII talks are in the process of being implemented step by step. What Japan and the United States should be doing now, first of all, are further adjustments of macroeconomic measures within the framework of the talks (drastic Japanese deregulation in the interests of consumers, for instance). But it was impossible for the Clinton camp, which criticized President Bush's trade policy during the presidential election campaign, to simply take over and continue the SII talks. They had to create new framework talks no matter how absurd the logic for them. The upshot is the comprehensive framework talks intended to put numerical targets, called "objective criteria," on industrial sectors about which the United States has been unhappy. The U.S. demands smell strongly of managed trade, while many of them are excessive in view of the existing market mechanism. A second reason why the consultations are facing a tough time is that Japan, |
FBIS3-29537_3 | Article Views Japanese-U.S. `Trade War' | under the heavy pressure of economic recession, has become unable to find a way to accept the U.S. demands. Take automobiles, for instance. With the domestic production shrinking, there is no way the country can increase imports of auto parts from the United States no matter how hard the latter may push. A third reason is the difficult schedule according to which negotiations on three priority areas -- government procurement, insurance and automobiles -- must reach agreement in six months. Changing Negotiation Politics The SII talks started in July 1989. Six months later, in February 1990, Japanese and U.S. bureaucrats were still confronting each other. To find a breakthrough, Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu and President George Bush met at Palm Springs at the end of February. Based on agreements at the meeting, negotiations resumed in March, and, after repeated pushing and pulling in the tough talks, they finally arrived at a conclusion in June. Although the 1993 framework talks started in July, the same month the SII talks started, they were supposed to have been completed by February -- at the same stage the SII talks were only at the halfway point on the major points. To make matters worse, the Hosokawa government had, until recently, been very much occupied with debates on the issue of political reform. There is no denying that the talks have been too short. then there is a fourth reason, which is even more troublesome. This is the matter of Japan-U.S. negotiation politics. Previously in this column I once wrote about the Clinton government's mistake of turning Japan-U.S. relations from a multilayered relationship involving politics, security, the economy, and global cooperation into a single-layered relationship involving only the economy. Under Republican leaders, those in charge of Japan-U.S. economic negotiations were Secretary of State Shultz and Secretary of State Baker. But in recent negotiations one cannot find the name of Secretary of State Christopher anywhere. The people taking part in the negotiations are only sectoral battle commanders like U.S. Trade Representative Kantor and Secretary of Commerce Brown. Even during the SII talks there were sharp differences between Japan and the United States on individual issues. The reason the talks came to a conclusion despite them is that Japan promised to make public works investments of 430 trillion yen over a 10-year period and Secretary of State Baker, who was looking for a good time to conclude |
FBIS3-29574_3 | Significance of Kim Chong-il Birthday Noted | the head of the party and the revolutionary Armed Forces. On the morning of the February national day, all the people across the country are looking up to the building of the party Central Committee on which our glorious party's flag is unfurling. The compatriots in South Korea and overseas and world revolutionary people turn their envious eyes upon Pyongyang. The people upholding the great leader [yongdoja] are the happiest people. The people who do not uphold the great leader are the unhappiest people. This is truth. Looking around today's world, our people deeply feel this truth and they have deeply experienced the truth through their lives. All of our people have the great glory and happiness of upholding the great leader [yongdoja]. We extend the greatest glory and warmhearted thanks to the leader Comrade Kim Chong-il. We deeply wish General Kim Chong-il, our supreme commander, long life and good health. Our people's wish contains not only the absolute faith that we and the fatherland cannot exist without you, but also the ever- victorious confidence that we can win a victory if you exist. The dear leader comrade has tided over all tribulations with firm will and matchless grit and turned adversity into prosperity by single- heartedly rallying the hundreds of thousands of people through broad-scope politics and the politics of benevolence. With the great grit of never being shaken by any thunder and lightening and with unrivalled strategy of [word indistinct] everything in the world, the dear leader comrade makes millions of enemies tremble. Our people have been convinced that as long as there is the dear leader comrade, there is nothing that our people fear and cannot implement. Thus, even when the enemies brought the dark clouds of a nuclear war and threatened our people while talking about special inspections and collective sanctions, our people were not shaken at all. No matter how hard the imperialists may maneuver to separate and blockade us, our people, upholding the party's revolutionary economic strategy, have brought into full play the grit of self-reliance and fortitude and the might of single-hearted unity. On the morning marking the great national felicitous national day, the only wish cherished deep in the people's mind is long life and good health of the leader comrade. We wholeheartedly wish the dear leader Comrade Kim Chong-il--fate of our nation, fate of the country, great defender of the socialist |
FBIS3-29614_1 | Tokyo To Urge Stable Currency at G-7 Meeting | finance ministers and central bankers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. The themes of the G-7 talks will be considered when deputy finance ministers of these countries get together in Washington on Sunday. The sources said they expect the G-7 discussions to deal with, among other things, aid to Russia and policies to stabilize the currency market. The Japanese currency rocketed upward against the U.S. dollar in the wake of the failure last week between Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa and U.S. President Bill Clinton to reach an agreement on trade talks at their summit meeting in Washington. Speculation that the U.S. will strengthen upward pressure on the yen, after what in effect was a breakdown of the bilateral "framework" trade talks, spurred frantic buying of the yen in the currency market. Although the yen has given up some of its gains due to the Bank of Japan's dollar-buying, yen-selling market interventions, the threat of the Japanese currency jumping up again still exists. Japanese officials will likely tell the G-7 finance ministers that a higher yen has the danger of delaying recovery of Japan's economy as it could offset the benefits of the government's recently announced 15.25 trillion yen economic package, the sources said. The officials will probably assert that not only will a strong yen put a brake on the Japanese economy and work against efforts to reduce the country's trade surplus, but that it would also run counter to the policy of the G-7 countries to strive together for a global economic recovery, they said. Japan's assertions may not be easily accepted, however, amid the country's rift over trade talks with the U.S. Although Europe supports Japan's stance of refusing U.S. demands to set numerical targets to gauge the openness of Japanese markets, the breakdown in trade talks has already put the Japan-U.S. relationship in a hostile tone. On aid to Russia, the G-7 countries will hear from Russian officials the progress of economic reforms in that country, the sources said. It will consider whether the International Monetary Fund (IMF) can offer Russia the second part of their financial package started in April last year. In July 1993, Russia received 1.5 billion dollars of the 3 billion dollar package, but the remainder of the IMF aid has been withheld since conditions such as improvement in the Russian economic situation have not been met. |
FBIS3-29616_0 | Fujii Says G-7 To Discuss Currency Moves | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Tokyo, Feb. 22 KYODO -- Group of Seven (G-7) ministers are expected to discuss the recent "artificially manipulated" currency rates, Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said Tuesday [22 February]. "Artificially manipulated movements are undesirable," Fujii said, adding that this would be discussed at a meeting of G-7 finance ministers and central bankers on Saturday in Germany. Speaking at a regular press briefing after a morning cabinet meeting, Fujii was referring to the yen's recent sharp advance against the dollar on speculations over U.S. comments tolerating the yen's rise. But Fujii said, "I'm not thinking at the moment" of requesting a statement over the yen's recent sharp movements. He reiterated that the G-7 ministers would discuss their earlier accord to cooperate in keeping stable currency rates reflecting economic fundamentals. Considering the tax issue, Fujii said he would try to explain again to the U.S. side that Japan is to implement a "full-fledged" tax reform by the year-end. U.S. officials have said the 6 trillion yen tax cuts limited to a single year would not be enough to prop up Japan's domestic demand to curb trade imbalance. Fujii repeated that the tax cuts were conducted as an "emergency measure" and the ruling coalition leaders have shown "a direction for full-fledged" reform by agreeing to set a "balanced tax system in income, assets and consumption" by the year-end. Meanwhile, he said that discussions are under way over boosting a 10-year program of spending 430 trillion yen in public works as one option for Japan's market-opening measures. But he stressed that financial sources must be secured, and also rejected increasing construction bonds which he noted are "better than deficit-covering bonds but are the same in terms of national debt." The Finance Ministry estimated in the fiscal 1994 budget plan that Japan's outstanding balance of government bonds would top 200 trillion yen. |
FBIS3-29674_0 | Ministry Conveys `Concern' Over Super 301 Revival | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Korea has expressed concern with the projected U.S. revival of Super 301 in the U.S. Trade Act, pointing out that the act does not comply with free trade spirit and regulations of GATT and the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Foreign Ministry said yesterday. Seoul and Washington have agreed to hold a working-level body to improve U.S. procedures on investigation of anti-dumping practices of Korean exporters, a ministry official said. The agreement was reached at the close of three days of Korea-U.S. talks at the Dialogue for Economic Cooperation (DEC) in Washington Thursday. The two sides also reached an agreement to conclude a pact on exemption of social security tax on businessmen working in the United States. The official said that the United States accepted the request by Korea it improve unfair U.S. investigation procedures in connection with alleged anti-dumping practices by Korean commodity exporters. Korean companies have suffered from frequent anti-dumping probes. The two sides also decided to launch working-level negotiations to work out an agreement on exemption of social security tax. Korean businessmen have complained that they are forced to pay security tax on their income in the United States. The United States has agreed to arrange a dialogue channel between U.S. and Korean constructors to solve the difficulties Koreans experience, such as non-recognition of Korean constructors' performance in third countries and obligatory deposits of excessive amount of money for construction work in the United States. The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation between tax administration bodies to prevent unreasonable imposition of taxes on Korean firms. A final report on discussion of bilateral economic issues will be reported to a meeting of the Korea-U.S. economic consultative council slated for June in Washington, the official said. |
FBIS3-29708_1 | Military, Government in Arms Trade Dispute Editorial Backs Government Stand | and materials as on the construction of public facilities such as the elevated electric train system. Things have now changed. We believe that the elevated electric train project is a higher priority than the weapons needed for the country's defense. There is currently not much of an external threat to national security, but the traffic problem has become a national issue. It does not make sense to say that if we do not decide now the price of the planes will increase. It will not be difficult if the armed forces clearly understand the arms barter policy from the very beginning. They can agencies to help arrange purchases using this method. It is true that the armed forces have no expertise in this area, but the Commerce Ministry and several international firms can offer assistance. They know which countries produce what kinds of weapons and military hardware and what agricultural products they want. If the armed forces had only been a little more patient and had not revealed their position so hastily, the people would not have the feeling that there is a rift between the government and the military. We support the government's endeavors to tackle the problem of low crop prices through the practice of barter trade. Although it might not work out perfectly, at least we will be able to sell our crops in cases of production surplus or falling prices. The armed forces should realize how this scheme can benefit our poor farmers. If they really cannot implement the policy, though, they should talk to the government and explain the possible adverse consequences. The government's intentions are good, but it has not spelled them out clearly to the agencies concerned. It was not a surprise when the three armed forces convened a meeting and declared their disagreement with the government's arms barter policy, because they lack a clear understanding of it. It is necessary for the armed forces to study this policy thoroughly before they can implement it successfully. We appeal to the government and the armed forces to try to reach an agreement on which level this policy should be applied at, and the fact that this is one method to help solve the problem of low crop prices. We must make sure that deals are carried out in a transparent manner and that nobody pockets commission fees, as repeatedly has happened in various agencies. |
FBIS3-29709_0 | Daily Questions U.S. Fairness on Copyright | Language: Thai Article Type:BFN [Editorial: "The United States Must Act With Fairness"] [Text] A group of American companies late last week sent a petition to U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor indicating that Thailand is among the 36 countries with a gross violation of American copyrights. It says the private sectors in those countries were responsible for piracy of books, software, movies, and discs resulting in a loss of some 200,000 million baht to them. It is a pity the complaint did not give a specific figure about the damage caused by Thailand alone. It is quite understandable why American companies complained -- they wanted their government to apply Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act to penalize Thailand. Thailand is one of the countries on the priority watch list facing U.S. trade retaliation. It is possible the United States would take action against them the way it is doing with Japan for rejecting conditions offered by the United States to solve the problem of trade surplus -- Japan agreed to solve the problem, but not the way dictated by the United States. It also indicated it would take action before the G-7 meeting, or the meeting of the seven industrialized countries. That was Japan's condition. As for Thailand, it has no choice but to wait and see what decision the United States makes. This depends on how sincere and how serious Thailand is concerning its efforts to suppress copyright violations. We think the Commerce Ministry has been trying hard to suppress copyright violations. There have been raids and seizures of pirated cassettes, and the products are destroyed. Legal actions have been taken against imitators. However, the rate of arrests might not be big enough for the American companies; otherwise they would not have complained to the U.S. Trade Representative. So we think that to avoid U.S. trade retaliation Thailand, through the Commerce Ministry, should take action more seriously and consistently to stop copyright piracy. We must show to the United States that we did not remain oblivious to the problem, and thus the proposal by the American companies is not justified. The government must protect the interest of the nation against negative impacts caused by a handful of law violators. Anyway, we would like to appeal to the United States to be fair. As Thailand is cracking down on the illegals, certain countries are abusing the copyright law to a |
FBIS3-29716_0 | Government Ready To Send More Troops to Bosnia | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] The government is still prepared to send additional troops to Bosnia-Herzegovina under the proposal by the Organization of Islamic Conference [OIC]. Defense Minister Datuk Sri Najib Tun Razak said however the government had not determined the strength of the troops. He said the matter depended on the decision of the United Nations on whether or not to accept or reject the proposal. Malaysia also needs to hold discussions with OIC member countries in determining the strength of its troops and to find out their stand on the proposal. Najib said that he would also hold discussions with Pakistani Defense Minister Encik [Mr.] Aftab Shahban Mirani to find out his government's stand on the matter during his five-day official visit to the country from 25 February. |
FBIS3-29717_0 | Demonstrators at U.S. Embassy Cite Drugs, Bosnia | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Excerpts] Jakarta, Feb 22 (AFP) -- Up to 2,000 Muslim youths staged an anti-American demonstration in front of the US Embassy here Tuesday, accusing it of involvement in drug trafficking and of anti-Muslim policies. "We demand an apology from the US government over the involvement of its two diplomatic staff in the crime of drug trafficking," said members of the group, which claims to belong to the Front for Indonesian Youths Saviour. One leader, haranguing the crowd through a megaphone, said the United States was influencing Indonesian youth with what he called a destructive culture, was unfair towards the Muslim world and was always forcing its interests on others. "America, out... America, AIDS ...America, narcotics ..." the crowd alternately yelled, as well as calling for the hanging of the two embassy staff. The crowd, which according to police estimates numbered 2,000 people, delivered a statement to the US Embassy. The embassy's spokesman was not available for comment. The demonstration leader also blamed the unrealization of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) threat to launch an airstrike on Serbian positions in Bosnia on pressures from Washington. Washington, he said, was also trying to pressure Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, to open ties with Israel. [passage omitted] Reading out parts of the statement handed to the embassy, they also accused US diplomats [of] "contempt for Indonesian laws," for sending two embassy staff members, accused last month of drug trafficking, to the United States last week. The embassy has said the men would be court martialled in the United States. The demonstrators demanded that the two Americans, identified as Joseph Bryner and Michael Karajin, be returned to Indonesia for trial and that the embassy apologize for their conduct. The two, one holding diplomatic immunity, were among four foreigners and two Indonesian nabbed by the police here for their alleged involvement in the trade of a dangerous drug, known as Ecstasy. The group, also said Washington needs to be fair and honest in viewing the rise of Islam and its followers and avoid the influence of the Jewish lobby when determining its foreign policy. [passage omitted] |
FBIS3-29738_2 | Editorial Warns Against Jeopardizing U.S. Ties | nations would resume talks on their trade issues after a cooling-off period. The latest U.S. moves rub this agreement in the wrong way and add more fuel to the bilateral trade friction, rather than help it cool off. Since the Japan-U.S. summit meeting has ended in a failure, we urge that both nations maintain their composure. Should the two nations, whose combined GNP accounts for 40 percent of the world's total GNP, find themselves bogged down in a trade war, it would be harmful not only to themselves, but also to the whole world. It cannot be denied that the latest U.S. decision implies a "retaliatory" measure against Japan for the latter's rejection of U.S. demands for numerical targets at the framework trade talks. It has also been reported that the United States intends to withdraw a promise it has made at GATT's new round of multilateral trade talks (Uruguay Round) to reduce tariffs on electronic products. It is believed the United States has in mind major Japanese items in connection with this move. After the summit meeting, the U.S. Government, together with Congress, has hinted that it is considering various options toward imposing retaliatory measures against Japan. This is extremely regrettable. The United States is resorting to a strategy which includes sanctions because it believes that, from past experience, Japan will not change unless there is outside pressure and that, if pressured, Japan will eventually give in. Unfortunately, the agreement between the two nations in 1989 regarding opening of Japan's market for car and portable telephones is a classic example. At the time, the Japanese Government insisted there were "no more frequencies left for allotment" to U.S. firms. However, the government gave in to demands of the U.S. Government, which threatened sanctions by invoking its 1988 Trade Act. Thus, the government agreed to a last-minute political settlement which allowed U.S. firms to gain access to the Japanese market. Such involuntary market opening maneuvers should now be discontinued. Should the U.S. Government initiate sanctions against Japan, it would be logical for Japan to take its case before multilateral review under GATT. That, however, would further escalate the tension between the two nations. The telecommunications industry can be expected to still continue making solid growth. We feel Japan and the United States can further cooperate in fields they are strong in, such as technological and product development and building information networks. |
FBIS3-29748_13 | Coalition Leaders Discuss Political Reform Political Reform Legislation: What Does It Signify and How Can It Be Assessed? The Treatment of SDPJ Dietmen who Rebelled Against Their Party Leadership | any income tax. A consumption tax hike will become a new burden for these people who will never share in the benefit of income tax cuts. In this sense, when we think of the purpose and the expected effect of income tax cuts, we cannot accept a rise in the consumption tax aimed at covering the shortfall in revenues. [Hata] We should soon start a debate on what the taxation system should be like; in other words, we will have to discuss whether it will be possible to carry out income tax cuts. My party is having hot discussions. The SDPJ is not the only party highly concerned with it. It is an important issue for every party. What we need is an income tax reduction to stimulate the economy. What should be done to cover the subsequent shortfall in revenues? The outline of a tax reform plan is expected to be presented in about three or four days. [Murayama] Parties in the ruling coalition should manage to reach an agreement after heated discussions, setting aside differences. Such a process helps support and invigorate the coalition government. To what extent will it be possible to implement an income tax reduction? How should it be financed? The SDPJ is now talking about these points. [Oikawa] However, the SDPJ seems to have difficulties putting up a united front on that issue. [Murayama] our immediate plan is to carry out a large-scale reduction of the income tax as a way to stimulate the economy. To cover the shortfall in revenues, we propose revising unfair points in the current taxation system, and cutting down operating expenses. If these measures are insufficient to finance the income tax reduction, we will accept issuing deficit-financing bonds as a special measure. However, it should not be done unconditionally. Deficit-covering bonds should be issued as a short-term revenue source, for instance, within a time limit of three or five years. Moreover, we will have to examine the ratio of direct and indirect taxes in tax revenue; we will also have to look at the balance between assets, income, and consumption. We might even consider a bold and drastic comprehensive taxation. [sentence as published] We propose a sweeping revision of the tax system. At the same time, we should form a new welfare vision to cope with the aging society. How should social welfare be financed? How far can it |
FBIS3-29782_0 | Commentary Previews ASEAN Chief's Visit | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Station commentary] [Text] The general secretary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, Mr. Ajit Singh, is to visit Vietnam from February 21 to 25. Now Thu Hang will bring you our comment on the purpose of the visit: This is the first visit to Vietnam by an ASEAN general secretary, and highlight coordinations between Vietnam and ASEAN are entering a new stage for cooperation and mutual development. Vietnam's participation in the Bali Treaty and in the foreign ministerial conference of ASEAN member countries last year has created conditions for Vietnam to join in regional political and economic cooperation. As well as ASEAN countries' investment in Vietnam is also greatly increasing. [sentence as heard] Singapore has 49 projects in Vietnam with a total capital of more than U.S.$366 million; Thailand, with 43 projects worth nearly U.S.$150 million; Indonesia, 13 projects with the total capital of U.S.$175 million; Malaysia, 20 projects worth U.S.$163 million; the Philippines, nine projects with the total capital of U.S.$47 million; and Brunei which has invested about U.S.$1.5 million. In comparison with the three previous years, the investment from these countries increased 10 times. Over 40 agreements on economic and trading cooperations, payments, credits, aviation, and navigation have been signed between Vietnam and members of the ASEAN. In addition, dozens of joint ventures between Vietnam and ASEAN countries are underway in Vietnam. Political relations between Vietnam and ASEAN member countries have also improved. Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet has visited all six of the ASEAN member countries. Recently, Vietnamese party leader Do Muoi visited Singapore and Thailand, and state and government leaders of six ASEAN countries also came to Vietnam. Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong pledged to do his utmost to help Vietnam in the latter's process of economic renovation. Thai Prime Minister Chuan Likphai stressed that Vietnam's quick development will help to promote development throughout the region. Relations between Vietnam and ASEAN member countries are developing effectively and will make the visit to Vietnam by the ASEAN general secretary a success and will help to create peace, stability, cooperation, and prosperity in Southeast Asia. |
FBIS3-29813_0 | Foreign Groups Support Ministry Statement | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Pyongyang, February 22 (KCNA) -- World political and public circles express full support to the January 31 statement of a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK which was made public in connection with the grave situation created by the perfidious acts of the United States. Twenty-two political parties and organisations of Peru including the Socialist Political Action Party, the Communist Party and the General Confederation of Workers, released a joint statement on February 6. The statement manifested full support and firm solidarity for the cause of the Workers' Party of Korea, the DPRK Government and people for defending their sovereignty and system chosen by themselves and for peace on the Korean peninsula and peaceful reunification of the country. It appealed to all the political parties, governments and peoples of the world who value peace and justice to support and encourage the DPRK's just stand for a solution of the nuclear problem on the Korean peninsula. Seven political parties and organisations of Pakistan including the Socialist Party, the Pakistan Organisation for Afro-Asian People's Solidarity and the Federation of Trade Unions issued a joint statement on February 8 urging the United States to approach the third round of DPRK-U.S. talks with a sincere attitude and position. The statement said that if the U.S. Administration really has a willingness to solve the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula in a peaceful way, it must honestly implement the DPRK-U.S. joint statement and not drive the situation to a catastrophe. Five organisations of Tanzania, including the Youth Union and the Scientific and Technical Association in a joint statement on February 3 said that the United States must renounce the policy of strength and immediately withdraw its troops and nuclear weapons from South Korea, mindful that a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula would bring irreparable grave consequences to the Korean people and the world people. A former general of Greece, George Pattas, chairman of the Western European Committee for Korea's Reunification and Peace, in a press statement on February 6 said that the U.S. hardline conservative forces are deliberately straining the situation by threatening to deploy even Patriot missiles in South Korea in a bid to overpower North Korea militarily. This will only result in obstructing an early and peaceful solution of the nuclear problem on the Korean peninsula through DPRK-U.S. talks, he added. |
FBIS3-29849_0 | Greek Port Closure to FYROM Protested | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Tokyo, Feb. 23 KYODO -- Japan lodged a protest Wednesday [23 February] against Greece for its decision to close a major port to Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia -- FYROM]), and called on the nation to solve the problem through negotiations, Foreign Ministry officials said. Shigeru Tsumura, deputy director general of the European and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Foreign Ministry, lodged the protest with Greek Ambassador to Japan Yeoryios Sioris, the officials said. Tsumura told Sioris Japan is concerned that Greece's decision would have a negative influence on peace and stability in the Balkan region, the officials said. Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou announced last Wednesday it would ban neighboring Macedonia from using the Greek port of Salonika, its second largest port, for all but humanitarian purposes. The decision was the latest development involving Skopje, the capital of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which declared independence in 1991. Greece has claimed that the republic's use of the historical Greek name "Macedonia" as well as its use of historic Greek emblems on its flag, implies territorial claims against the northern Greek province of Macedonia. Japan is concerned that conflicts in Bosnia will spread to other regions of the former Yugoslavia and so considers it important to solve problems involving Albanians in Macedonia, Tsumura was quoted as telling Sioris. Tsumura also said Japan is considering offering economic assistance to Macedonia, which is affected by U.N. sanctions on Serbia and Montenegro, saying economic development and improvement of living standards there are essential to maintain political stability, they said. Greece issued a statement of protest with Japan in December when it gave official recognition to Macedonia. |
FBIS3-30032_0 | Trade Report With Clinton's Comments Discussed | Language: Japanese Article Type:BFN [By Shigeo Masui] [Text] New York, 19 Feb -- "It is better to have reached no agreement than to have reached an empty agreement." This was what President Bill Clinton stated positively at the recent Japan-U.S. summit talks. However, YOMIURI SHIMBUN's New York Bureau recently obtained a document that clearly indicates how the President decided on taking a hard line against Japan. The document entitled "Repairing the U.S.-Japan Relationship" was written by Glen S. Fukushima, vice chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry [of American businessmen] in Japan. Fukushima, who is currently head of the Comprehensive Policy Department of AT&T in Japan and a former USTR official in charge of Japanese affairs, is no stranger to the backstage activities of Japan-U.S. talks on such issues as rice and automobiles. The President himself read through the 12-page report, and wrote on it such comments as "worth reading," "to the point," and "needs to be discussed." Here and there in the document are underlined sections with a note stating "agree." Included in this report are an analysis of the current Japan-U.S. relationship, a frank criticism of the Clinton administration's policy toward Japan, and suggestions for future strategy in dealing with Japan. The report was handed to the president by Prof. Derek Shearer [name as published] of the Occidental University, who has been an intimate friend of the President since their student years. The President studied the report on 20 January. Reportedly, the copy of the report with the President's comments was returned to Fukushima through Prof. Shearer. At the same time, President Clinton gave instructions that copies of this report, bearing the initial "B (Bill)," should be distributed to 10 officials, including USTR Mickey Kantor, Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen, Treasury Undersecretary Roger Altman, and Anthony Lake, assistant to the President for national security affairs. What is noteworthy is that the so-called pro-Japanese group at the State Department, which oversees Japan-U.S. security issues, was excluded. The returned report indicates the President read it intensively. In particular, the comment "agree" was written in two places in the report. One place is where the report concludes it is "wrong" to say that "Japan will go down [shizumu]," a comment that has been conspicuous in recent news coverage. It continues by stating the "depression may last longer than expected," but "since the foundations of the Japanese economy are not impaired, it |
FBIS3-30041_3 | Implementation of Economic Reforms Discussed | are strongly monopolistic regionally were intended to prevent unilateral price hikes by railways. However, in reality, as long as a standard for "appropriate fees" cannot be established in the absence of market competition, government-controlled rates are determined by adding a prescribed margin to cost. Under such circumstances, railways are subject controled fare levels regardless of their business efforts and it becomes more advantageous for them to devote themselves to influencing regulators rather than improving productivity. Under government controls, businesses tend to "seek economic rent" rather than "seek profit," which is a primary cause for consumer interests to be sacrificed. What means are available to protect consumer interests in lieu of government control? The answer is the perspective that "a true ally of the consumer is free competition among businesses rather than government control" (Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman). An important factor causing an increase in the demand for deregulation has been that technical innovation, progress in computerization, and economic internationalization have all combined to provide for quantum advances in the effectiveness of the competitive mechanism in the market place. Regional monopolies are destroyed in areas such as communications, thanks to the arrival of new technology or an unanticipated new competitor. Further, the speed with which information flows among consumers accelerates, enhances the presence of potential competitors, and imposes difficulties in attempts to raise prices. And, as the scale of Japanese markets expands, sales efforts of foreign firms intensify and collusion among Japanese businesses becomes difficult. The foregoing thought process clarifies the priorities which should be assigned to specific deregulation measures. At this point, we can introduce the arguments contained in the Hiraiwa Report calling for priority implementation of the "deregulation in principle" relative to economic controls in areas where it is easy to attain competition among businesses and intensify cautionary measures relative to relaxation of social controls which are not susceptible to easy attainment of such competition. However, at issue is the fact that a distinction has not been established between economic controls and social controls. Examples are the vehicle inspection system, which is a major burden on consumers, and the Fire Prevention Law, which prohibits self-service gasoline retailers common in both Europe and the United States, which are both social controls and in principle are designed to protect the safety of consumers. However, in reality, they accomplish the role of economic controls protecting the interests of the business |
FBIS3-30042_5 | Tax Commission, Tax Policy Reexamined | As a result of compromise, unlike the Western tax reports, the reports proffered by the Tax Commission tend to become theoretically ambiguous. However, when one considers the final step in the tax deliberation process, namely the step from deliberation in the legislature to execution of reform, Japan's deliberative body system has performed well, resulting in a clearly higher number of proposals being implemented than are adopted under the Western tax report system. This means that, during the process of preparing their report, the work of making adjustments to the plan, balancing the advantages and disadvantages of all of the groups affected, including the various ministries and agencies, has already been completed. On the other hand, in the Western system, things can become confused in the legislature, and often, tax reform proposals have a tendency to become politically buried without achieving any political results. However, the Japanese practice of giving high esteem to the reports from the government's Tax Commission and implementing their recommendations within the tax system started to change in the 1980's. Of course this is not unrelated to the rise in power of the LDP Tax Commission. The situation developed where the actual power to create change in the tax system was shifted from the government Tax Commission to the LDP Tax Commission. Because of the LDP's long run in power, Diet members often formed connections with industry and became tied to the creation and/or expansion of special tax measures. One famous example of these connection is the existence of the "telephone book," a list of petitions submitted asking for tax reductions. The specific content of tax system reform, in other words the determining of the tax rate and the final numerical value of the deduction levels, fell under the scope of authority of the LDP's Tax Commission. The tax system is surely politics itself. Instead of following a logical course based on taxation theory, gradually, tax system reform was politicized by the LDP Tax Commission, and tied to the advantages and disadvantages of special interest groups. The venue for important tax deliberations was shifted from the government's Tax Commission to the LDP's Tax Commission. The government's Tax Commission's basic philosophy toward the tax system was to keep its implementation fair, neutral, and simple. Subsequently, it generally had the tendency not to support measures that would give special treatment under the tax system to special sectors. Therefore, the |
FBIS3-30042_12 | Tax Commission, Tax Policy Reexamined | effect if we adopted a tax report system like that of the countries of Europe and the United States. It is also inconceivable that our politicians would authorize a group of experts to formulate a tax report because the politicians would not like it if an authorized tax report were published that called for reform of the tax system that would be disadvantageous for the politicians, or that would contain a reform proposal that would be difficult to implement. To promote future tax system reform, however, we should incorporate as many elements of the tax report system as possible. Specifically, the final report of the government's Tax Commission should have the same level of weight and substance as those reports had in the 1960's. I think that what is wanted are reports such as those prepared during the term in office of the first head of the government's Tax Commission, Ichiro Tanaka. These reports contained the results of the analysis of all of the extended discussions within the Tax Commission, as well as all of the data used. This type of document could become the tax report for our country. In order to do this, it would be desirable that we increase the number of researchers on the commission who can view the the tax system as a whole instead of representing various interest groups as members. In order to make tax system reform truly a more democratic issue, we must make the dissemination and gathering of information more open, and we must pursue it more positively. One way to do this would be for the Tax Commission to discuss all of the tax system reform proposals drawn up and published by the various sectors. One result of this would be that the proposals raised by various groups could be effectively utilized. This would also aid in making the discussions on tax system reform within the Tax Commission more constructive. Chairman Hiroshi Kato has repeatedly emphasized that he wants to open the deliberations of the Tax Commission as much as possible to the public. We should also consider ways to make materials submitted to the Tax Commission more readily available to those who want to utilize them. We should also open "one-day Tax Commission meetings" throughout the various regions of the country, and positively adopt ways so that we can directly hear the views of the taxpayer, the average citizen. |
FBIS3-30044_0 | Vice Premier Discusses Technology in Thailand | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Ulaanbaatar, February 22 (OANA-MONTSAME) -- Vice Premier L. Enebish paying a visit to Thailand noted the great achievements of this country reached in the development of nonferrous metallurgy. According to him, between the two countries there are proper perspectives in relation to a creation of joint ventures on processing agricultural raw materials and mining industry. L. Enebish specially underlined that there is a particular interest in the application of the technology of Thailand for manufacturing products with the use of copper. |
FBIS3-30055_11 | *Tug of War Between Posts Minister, Bureaucrats | he would have not lent his ear to the remarks of the people in accordance with a scenario prepared by officials. At the appearance of a non-LDP minister who actively intends to hear the voice of the ministry's service customers, the bureaucrats seem to feel that their job has become harder. After finishing about two hours of his inspection, the minister expressed the following view: "As a nation, we have to value such a village in the underpopulated area. I would like to treasure such a contact in the future as well." In response, village chief Kawakami reportedly revealed with joy that "the mere fact that the minister has visited us is enough to make us happy." Astounded at Unexpected Eagerness To Learn The minister is so eager to learn things that the places he visits are quite beyond expectations, and therefore it seems that MPT bureaucrats are busy chasing him in hot haste and confusion. For example, in mid-September the minister even inspected the "library" on the eighth floor of the ministry building. The library of an office is its brains. A library does not show the list of readers to the public. This is because one's creed and ideology can be guessed by learning what books one reads. Likewise, a government agency's course to take and intellectual level can be guessed by what books its library has. Minister Kanzaki, who inspected the library, is indeed no ordinary person. We cannot but say that he is a man whose intellectual level is high. He also took MPT bureaucrats aback by choosing the MPT's Communications Research Laboratory in Kodaira City, Tokyo, as the first place to visit among subsidiary organs. An MPT minister usually visits such facilities as NHK, NTT [Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation], and KDD [Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co.] as his course of study. A leading member of the Communications Research Laboratory joyously said that visiting the laboratory first of all showed him to be not an ordinary minister. This laboratory is the eighth-largest among government research organizations, but as the saying goes about piquant though small, it has now become an indispensable organ. It contributes to foreseeing huge earthquakes by measuring warps of the Japanese Archipelago through the length of time in which power sources arrive from a volume of radio waves. It also tackles a program to develop a system for preventing crashes between cars by |
FBIS3-30071_0 | Alatas, Prasong Back Burma ASEAN Ties | Language: Thai Article Type:BFN [Text] Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas made a stopover at Bangkok's international airport yesterday, during which he held an hour-long informal discussion with Foreign Minister Squadron Leader Prasong Sunsiri. The Indonesian foreign minister said Indonesia had no objection if Thailand wants to invite Burma to attend the July ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Bangkok as Thailand's guest. Alatas said it is a common practice within ASEAN for the host country to invite other countries to attend the meeting. He said that Indonesia is pleased to see the economic and political developments in Burma as the country becomes more open. Indonesia welcomes Burma's decision to strengthen its ties with ASEAN. Foreign Minister Prasong Sunsiri, meanwhile, stressed the Thai Government's wish to see Burma attend the ASEAN meeting in Bangkok. Burma's decision to attend should be approved by ASEAN members first, however. According to a Foreign Ministry source, Foreign Minister Prasong Sunsiri will visit the Philippines on 4-5 March to attend the first meeting of the Thai-Philippine joint committee. He will also take the opportunity during to visit to discuss the Burma issue with Philippine leaders. |
FBIS3-30075_9 | Conference Opens on 30th Anniversary of Theses Kim Il-song Sends Letter | level where all the major farm operations ranging from ploughing to threshing can be done with the help of machines. The amount of use of chemical fertilizers has greatly increased, the quality of their properties has improved, and a scientific system of manuring has been established. Highly effective insecticides, disinfectants, and herbicides have been produced and supplied in large quantities so as to protect farm crops better from insect pests and to kill weeds by chemical means. The independent and modern tractor and lorry production centres, farm machinery production centres, fertilizer factories and other chemical industry bases which have been established in our country provide a sure guarantee for the completion of the mechanization of agriculture and a sufficient use of chemicals for farming. With the realization of irrigation, electrification and mechanization of agriculture, and with an extensive chemical application in farming the historic task of the rural technical revolution set forth in the socialist rural theses has been basically carried out. We have laid solid material and technical foundations for freeing the farmers from difficult and exhausting work and increasing agricultural production to a great extent by industrializing and modernizing agriculture with our own efforts and techniques. As a result of the rural technical revolution and the full implementation of the chuche farming method, all branches of agriculture including grain production have developed rapidly, and last year, too, we reaped an unusually rich harvest despite the unfavourable weather conditions. Under our people-centred socialist system the material and cultural standards of the farmers have radically improved through the implementation of the rural theses. Our cooperative farmers live in cosy modern houses built at state expense, free from worries about food and clothing in the modern socialist countryside that has been built up splendidly, and the standard of living of the farmers is improving with the passage of time like that of the workers and office employees. In our country the cooperative farmers also enjoy all the state benefits such as free compulsory education, free medical care and advanced social security. Our farmers who were oppressed, maltreated and poverty-stricken for centuries, now enjoy, along with the working class, a secure and happy life free from all worries as the full-fledged masters of the state and society. In addition to the change in the social and economic position of the farmers, the conditions needed for their material and cultural life have completely |
FBIS3-30076_2 | Conference Opens on 30th Anniversary of Theses Premier Delivers Report | the task to give priority to the ideological revolution laid down in the rural theses, with the result that all our agricultural working people have been firmly armed with the socialist idea of chuche, the revolutionary idea of our party, and the chuche idea has become predominant in rural communities. The great changes in the ideological and moral traits and manner of work of our peasants are the most precious success achieved in our efforts to implement the theses, which is incomparable even to millions of tons of rice. As a result of the active cultural revolution along with the ideological revolution, our peasants have grown to be more powerful beings and their cultural living conditions have been fundamentally improved. Regular universities and colleges of agriculture and such study-while-working centres for training technical personnel as farm colleges have been firmly built up in each province, at which a large number of agro-technicians and experts are being trained. Under the popular policy of our party, tap water, bus, wire radio and television services have been introduced, clinics developed into hospitals and cosy modern dwelling houses built in the rural areas. Newspapers, magazines and various books find their way to each peasant household. Thus our countryside has turned into a prospering modern socialist countryside good to live and work in, which is little different from towns. With the successful fulfilment of the four major tasks of the rural technical revolution--irrigation, electrification, mechanization and an extensive chemical application--through the energetic efforts to implement the rural theses, solid material and technical foundations of socialism have been laid in the countryside and, on this basis, the peasants are satisfactorily provided with independent and creative living conditions. As a result of the completion of irrigation and electrification of agriculture on a high level, our country has a most advanced and powerful irrigation system under which rich and stable harvest is reaped in any weather, and the yearly electricity consumption in the rural areas has increased 8.6 times the 1963 figure. Over the past 30 years the number of the tractors and lorries engaged in agriculture has increased respectively six and five times, with the result that the comprehensive mechanization of agriculture in the country is reaching a high level where all categories of farm work ranging from ploughing to sowing, rice-transplanting, weeding, harvesting, thrashing and carriage are done with the help of machines. An extensive use |
FBIS3-30190_0 | * `Former Regime' Officers Sentenced for Sabotage | Language: Vietnamese Article Type:CSO [Editorial Report] On 15 December 1993, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court tried Nguyen Thanh Van and his accomplices on charges of sabotaging security and disturbing public order. The presiding judge was Le Thuc Anh, deputy chief judge of the Municipal People's Court; the prosecutor was Truong Hoang Minh, chief of the security investigations bureau of the Municipal People's Organ of Control. Defendants Trinh Van Thuong, Nguyen Thanh Van, Nguyen Duc Loi, Nguyen Van Trong, and Nguyen Huu Son were military officers under the former regime. In 1978, while undergoing re-education, they created the so-called Vietnam People's Party under the leadership of Trinh Van Thuong with objective of overthrowing the "revolutionary government." After leaving re-education, they helped Nguyen Thanh Van flee to contact reactionary groups overseas in order to organize forces to oppose and sabotage the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In November 1990, Van returned from the United States, re-established contact with Thuong, Loi, and Son, and helped set up the "Hung Gia Dai Viet United Front," chaired by Son. They launched their "Nguyen Trai campaign" but did not achieve the desired result. Next, Thuong discussed with Loi the idea of exploiting some unresolved complaints about ricefields by a number of peasants from Gia Tan 3 Village, Thong Nhat District, Dong Nai Province, to incite them to oppose the authorities. In May 1991, Van returned to Vietnam and planned with Loi and Thuong to organize the Gia Tan 3 peasants to demonstrate in Ho Chi Minh City. Van intended to photograph the demonstration as evidence that he could take abroad in order to seek support from exile groups. On 16 June 1991, Nguyen Van Chinh and La Thi Na organized about 100 peasants who gathered at Office 2 of the Council of Ministers; Van, Thuong, and Loi were also there to observe and take pictures. All three were uncovered and arrested afterwards. The Municipal People's Court ruled that Van, Thuong, Loi, Son, and Trong were reactionaries who had carried out many acts against the people's government. Chinh and Na, though knowing the five were "bad elements", had cooperated with them to organize two demonstrations. After discussing the defendants' roles and degrees of guilt, the court handed down prison sentences: Nguyen Duc Loi, 11 years; Trinh Van Thuong, 10 years; Nguyen Thanh Van, nine years; Nguyen Huu Son, six years; Nguyen Van Trong, three years; Nguyen |
FBIS3-30191_0 | * Mineral Reserves, Exploitation, Markets Assessed * Bao Loc Bauxite Awaits Markets | Language: Vietnamese Article Type:CSO [Article by P.T.] [Text] Since the beginning of the year, the Bao Loc bauxite ore enterprise has mined almost 900 tons of ore, a very small amount compared with the enterprise's capabilities (each year, it mines approximately 15-16,000 tons). For lack of markets, the enterprise has mined only moderate amounts. At present, the only market for this ore is the Southern Chemicals General Corporation. This is a great loss for this abundant mineral. Based on surveys, Bao Loc and nearby areas have approximately a billion tons of bauxite, of which approximately 220 million tons is concentrated around Bao Loc City. In particular, the ore at Bao Loc has a very high alumina (AL2O3) content, 45-50 percent. On the other hand, the ore has a hardened, weathered structure and is easy to mine and transport. The industrial-mineral sector must make plans to exploit this very abundant natural resource. |
FBIS3-30192_0 | * Mineral Reserves, Exploitation, Markets Assessed * Ilmenite Exports Reported | Language: Vietnamese Article Type:CSO [Article by D.C.] [Text] During the 3 months it has officially been in operation, the Austinh-Ha Tinh (Austinh Ltd) Ileminte Corporation has attracted many new customers, including those from Japan, Taiwan, Spain, and Malaysia. It has exported almost 30,000 tons of Ilmenite. In particular, in August 1993, the corporation exported 22,800 tons, 80 percent of the 1993 plan. The ilmenite ore found in Ha Tinh has a high content, and there are large reserves. Thus, the corporation should be able to attract many customers. In 1994, the corporation hopes to export 60-80,000 tons with ore grading systems at the mines able to handle 120,000 tons. In the past, because mining operations were not organized, damage was done to the environment. Today, the Austinh Corporation is using new techniques and purchasing ore only from individuals extracting ore from within designated zones. As a result, the above situation has been overcome. Austinh is the economic spearhead of Ha Tinh. During the 3 months the corporation has been in operation, revenues have exceeded $3 million, more than 1 billion dong has been paid into the budget, $15,000 has been contributed to the people of Ha Tinh, 12 beds have been contributed to the provincial hospital, and 100 million dong has been invested to repair roads and bridges and help three villages build schools. |
FBIS3-30193_0 | * Mineral Reserves, Exploitation, Markets Assessed * Ha Tinh Gold Mining | Language: Vietnamese Article Type:CSO [Article by Thanh Phong] [Text] Recently, digging and panning for gold has reached fever pitch in Ha Tinh. People are not only panning for gold but also digging for gold ore, primarily in Ky Anh and Huong Khe districts. At the Hoa Hai gold mine in Huong Khe District, people from various localities have come to dig for gold ore using a variety of implements such as rock crushers and manual grading machines. At times, thousands have come, with the average being 200 people with about 40 rock crushers in operation. There have been reports that Nguyen Van Dai, a local person, extracted 40 kg of gold ore, which is the equivalent of 26 ounces of gold. After mining this gold, he abandoned his tools and left the area, fearing that he would be robbed. One person was murdered while digging for gold. Village authorities collect 1.2 million dong for each gold excavation pit without giving any attention to how the land is dug up. This has had a serious impact on the environment. |
FBIS3-30194_1 | * Mineral Reserves, Exploitation, Markets Assessed * Ruby Exploitation Reported | first ruby in Luc Yen in Yen Bai Province, 275 km northwest of Hanoi. This is an alluvial area containing Burmese-colored rubies, purple sapphires, and a number of other colored stones. People have surveyed a number of zones and preliminarily evaluated the distribution of rubies here. In their survey, geologists zoned the Khoan Thong Valley, creating the preconditions for the birth of a joint gemstone venture with the Thai B.H. Corporation. In a number of other valleys such as Nuoc Ngap and Lung Cay, the locations of gemstones, mainly rubies, were determined. In 1987, geologists found another alluvial mining area containing rubies in Quy Chau in Nghe An Province, 250 km southeast of Hanoi. By chance, several rubies were discovered in the waste disposal yard of the Chau Cuong tin mine. The survey program here revealed the presence of rubies over a broad area. A broad zone running parallel to Highway 48 was zoned for geological surveys. Because the secret got out, at the end of 1990, large numbers of people started coming here, with the number sometimes reaching several tens of thousands. They dug everywhere in this zone, which gave rise to the names Doi Ty [Billion Hill] and Doi Trieu [Million Hill]. Some were lucky, but hundreds of others died in the pits. Doi Ty became Doi Tu [Death Hill], with almost 100 people buried alive. Robbery, gambling, and prostitution became rampant and could not be controlled. With the help of the central echelon, after 2 years of great effort, the local authorities managed to reestablish order there. The government has promulgated many policies to expand the ruby mining and processing industry. This includes organizing bidding on plots of land ranging in size from 1-5 hectares, allowing various economic elements, including individuals, to participate, encouraging foreign corporations to invest together with domestic corporation, and lowering the export tariff on cut rubies from 5 percent to 1 percent. However, out of concern that the masses will carry on mining activities spontaneously outside the control of the various-echelon authorities, the government has yet not lifted the ban on conducting gemstone surveys, which was promulgated in September 1991, except in zones adjoining mines now in operation. If this problem is resolved soon and control over this valuable resource is organized well, the Vietnamese gemstone industry will develop rapidly, creating jobs for hundreds of thousands of laborers, particularly in the processing sector. |
FBIS3-30195_2 | Article Examines Open-Door Economic Policy | this time is the world economic race in the background of competition and cooperation on the basis of mutual existence. This background, together with challenges, is creating favorable opportunities for us. The increasing dependence among different nations means that we need them, but that they need us as well. Therefore, opening the door is necessary and possible. But how to open so the owner is not blown away by hurricanes and the house does not become a hut in the wilderness? What can we do so that we do not lose ourselves? That is where the key issue rests. Can we manage in a way such that only we receive the benefits? Lenin denounced this idea by saying that whoever wants to sign a land lease agreement on the basis of communist principles should be put in a mental hospital. According to a review of the Committee for International Processing Zones, good processing zones must have favorable labor conditions such as low wages, good workers, and concessional taxes. In conclusion, both economic and political benefits must be favorable. And this should be made clear. Even former U.S. President Richard Nixon, in his strategy to destroy the USSR, said clearly in 1988 that the requisite for material aid and its use was aimed at provoking the fight for national rights in the USSR; if the devil of self-esteem and national hatred was aroused, the door for peaceful evolution would be widely open. Everybody must seek their own benefit. Therefore, the dominating principle is bilateral benefit. There can be winners and losers when the door is already open. The important thing is that we have to realize the changelessness and the content and limit of the benefit upon which the two sides have agreed. We need to have a clear concept of our benefit, realizing temporary and long-term benefits and fundamental and secondary benefits. The fundamental and long-term benefit to our country is that we have to develop our production force at all means to build socialism. That means that we cannot fall on the concept of one-sided economy and one-sided marketing. Every economic development step must be a better step for the implementation of social fairness to strengthen economic independence and social stabilization. [passage omitted] Under present conditions where our country is adopting a market-oriented economy and an open-door policy, the legislative system must create a safe corridor of laws for |
FBIS3-30200_0 | Granic Signs Memorandum on Serbian Sanctions | Language: Serbo-Croatian Article Type:BFN [Text] On behalf of the Croatian Government, Mate Granic, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, has signed a memorandum of understanding between the Republic of Croatia, the European Union [EU] and the CSCE. The memorandum is linked with the EU and CSCE missions in Croatia, whose task is to support the sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro. On behalf of the EU the memorandum was signed by Danish Ambassador to Croatia Eric Skov, and on behalf of the CSCE -- currently chaired by Italy -- by Italian Ambassador to Croatia Salvatore Cilento. The memorandum regulates the ways of working and the methods of activity of the two international missions -- the EU and the CSCE -- active in Croatia since January 1993. The missions' task is to ensure that the sanctions are fully implemented. The Croatian authorities, especially the customs and financial bodies, are called on to help supervize the implementation of measures envisaged by the sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro. The memorandum also regulates the status of the missions' members, in keeping with the Vienna Convention. A memorandum with the same content was also signed by all other countries bordering Serbia and Montenegro. |
FBIS3-30212_2 | Interview With FRY's Jovanovic Published | Italy and Spain have become more flexible. Sanctions are a factor that directly influences the continuation of the war and might lead to a rapid destabilization in the Balkans. [Andon] How far from or how close to a result are the Geneva negotiations? What is the major obstacle in the path of those negotiations? [Jovanovic] The major obstacle is the sanctions because they give the Muslims the illusion that they can continue the war. However, actions of support for lifting the embargo have not been prepared yet and the international community can still not oppose the Islamic world, those rich Arab countries which support Izetbegovic's [Alija, president of Bosnia's Presidency] blackmail. Through him, they aim at the establishment of a unitary Muslim Bosnia in the center of Europe. [Andon] You held talks in Bucharest with your Romanian counterpart Teodor Melescanu about the relations of the two countries with other countries in this area, namely with Albania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. In concrete terms, what are the results and the conclusions of those talks? [Jovanovic] We agreed that we have to renew inter-Balkan cooperation, as part of the process of European integration. Certainly, it is still too early to talk about precise terms. First we have to be out of the woods and then cry "halloo." [Andon] What role have the relations with Romania played in the context of Yugoslavia's quasi isolation? [Jovanovic] They have played the role that derives mostly from the reality that the two countries have never had conflicts throughout their history. Thus, Romania and Greece made possible that this monstrous wish to isolate Yugoslavia completely has never been achieved, and this helped other countries as well to adopt a more independent view regarding relations with Yugoslavia. We have had scores of political contacts and visits. First of all with Romania and Greece but also with countries that are situated farther, such as India and China. [Andon] Have you received signs from any country that, after the lift of embargo, they would like to have economic cooperation with Yugoslavia? [Jovanovic] Yes, from several countries. As a matter of fact, even now businessmen from Germany and France, that is, countries that have a very tough stand toward Yugoslavia, sell goods to us. Others are afraid that they may lose the market. Currently we are preparing bilateral economic accords -- the type we have with Romania -- also with Ukraine, India, |
FBIS3-30224_0 | Pawlak's Brussels Visit, `Partnership' Decision | Language: Polish Article Type:BFN [Article by Maria Wagrowska: "Signature on `Partnership'; Prior to Prime Minister Pawlak's Visit to Brussels"] [Text] The Council of Ministers is scheduled to make a decision today on whether Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak will sign a document committing Poland to joining the program of cooperation with NATO known as "Partnership for Peace" during his visit to NATO Headquarters in Brussels tomorrow. The government's decisions to date justify a supposition that this kind of authorization will indeed be formulated for the prime minister, said Andrzej Olechowski, Poland's chief diplomat, during Monday's [31 January] press conference at the Office of the Council of Ministers. Olechowski stated he will submit a motion to the government requesting that it approve a resolution authorizing the prime minister to sign the document. Observers deem the Council of Ministers' acceptance as virtually certain, although, as is widely known, Poland has reservations with regard to "Partnership for Peace" because it says the program provides no guarantees for future membership of our country in the Western alliance. In a separate conversation with RZECZPOSPOLITA, Jerzy Milewski, who is chief of the National Security Bureau and first deputy defense minister, said he believes the Council of Ministers will give the prime minister a "green light" enabling him to sign a so-called document of principles, in which the West outlined the main principles of the "Partnership" and which contains an invitation to take part in the program. Specific issues regarding NATO-Poland cooperation will be worked out during consultations which are to begin shortly. Both "Partnership for Peace" and general relations with NATO are scheduled to be one of the main topics discussed during the prime minister's visit to Brussels, as well as during a meeting with the new first deputy secretary general of NATO, Sergio Silvio Balanzino of Italy (Manfred Woerner is seriously ill). During the second day of the visit (3 February), Waldemar Pawlak will present a lecture at a conference organized by the Washington-based Strategic and International Research Center. The topic of the lecture will be the security of Poland and Europe in general. The prime minister will also be a guest of Professor Zbigniew Brzezinski. Regardless of the prime minister's participation, some personalities from Polish political life are also scheduled to take part in the Brussels conference--for instance, Professor Bronislaw Geremek. Polish National Bank Chairwoman Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz will be a representative of the Polish economic |
FBIS3-30235_0 | Daily on `Leaked' German Plan on Security | Language: Polish Article Type:BFN [Article by Krystyna Grzybowska from Bonn: "Security of East Europe; Territorial Claims Forbidden"] [Text] After Helmut Kohl left to meet with President Clinton, the Chancellor's Office leaked information on Bonn's plans to reconciliate the security needs of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the three Baltic states with support for Boris Yeltsin and Russian interests. These plans were discussed during talks in Washington. Bonn believes that the security needs of Poland and the other neighbors might, for the time being, be satisfied by decreasing the distance to the West European Union [WEU]. Germany wants to present the East European states, which have already signed association treaties with the European Union [EU], with an offer of membership in the European Political Cooperation, in the system of diplomatic consultations of the EU, which, in line with the Maastricht Treaty, will be replaced by a joint foreign policy. In line with Chancellor Kohl's plans, Poland as well as other countries would take part in the meetings of political directors of foreign affairs ministries, and they would have the full right to express their opinions when joint policies on the most fundamental issues are established. At the same time, a process of shortening the distance to the WEU would be ongoing; it would be harmonized with the integration with EU structures. One could also hear in German diplomatic circles talk that, even though the entire "Partnership for Peace" proposal is still quite fuzzy, one thing, according to Bonn, must be made clear: Excluded from the "Partnership" will be any and all states making territorial claims on their neighbors. |
FBIS3-30236_1 | FRG Consul on EU-Poland Relations, Pomerania | we faced new challenges, with the possibility of making new cross-border contacts, and with entirely new expectations from the people living on the two sides of the border. So I see it as my most important task in Szczecin to bring about the realization of all these aspects of our new neighborhood situation. [Palmirski] The Odra-Nysa border is now the frontier line between the European Union [EU] and Central Europe. What are the chances of making sure that it will not become a dividing line between a community of wealth and a community of poverty? [Koebl] I hope that that sort of dividing line will be abolished to the same extent that a similar line was abolished between Germany and France. That particular division does not exist any more. The whole process will, of course, take some time, just as in the case of our own western border. A significant impulse lending an impact to the transformation process was the association agreement between the EU and Poland which, according to our intentions, will eventually lead to Poland's full membership of the Union. This is something that we are striving for on both sides. Consequently, I hope that the dividing line between the present EU and Poland will gradually disappear in the future, and that Poland will enter more and more deeply into the Union's structures until finally it becomes completely integrated with the Union. Many new initiatives are springing up nowadays from the background of these concerns, and the authors of these initiatives attempt to accelerate the whole process of integration. I am thinking here of the campaigns to create new Euroregions on both the Polish and German sides of the border.... [Palmirski] But the proposed "Pomerania" Euroregion appears at the moment to be sunk in deep slumber. What impulses are necessary to wake it up and bring it to life? [Koebl] This will depend on both partners. Associations of parishes which have expressed the wish to create the new Euroregion have already been set up on both sides of the border. Both these associations are sovereign structures and it is entirely up to them when they decide to set a date for the creation of the Pomerania Euroregion. Nevertheless, if there are still some reservations on either side, we simply need more time for these to disappear. Patience is sometimes also needed in politics. It is just like in |
FBIS3-30286_2 | Interview With FRY's Jovanovic Published | Italy and Spain have become more flexible. Sanctions are a factor that directly influences the continuation of the war and might lead to a rapid destabilization in the Balkans. [Andon] How far from or how close to a result are the Geneva negotiations? What is the major obstacle in the path of those negotiations? [Jovanovic] The major obstacle is the sanctions because they give the Muslims the illusion that they can continue the war. However, actions of support for lifting the embargo have not been prepared yet and the international community can still not oppose the Islamic world, those rich Arab countries which support Izetbegovic's [Alija, president of Bosnia's Presidency] blackmail. Through him, they aim at the establishment of a unitary Muslim Bosnia in the center of Europe. [Andon] You held talks in Bucharest with your Romanian counterpart Teodor Melescanu about the relations of the two countries with other countries in this area, namely with Albania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. In concrete terms, what are the results and the conclusions of those talks? [Jovanovic] We agreed that we have to renew inter-Balkan cooperation, as part of the process of European integration. Certainly, it is still too early to talk about precise terms. First we have to be out of the woods and then cry "halloo." [Andon] What role have the relations with Romania played in the context of Yugoslavia's quasi isolation? [Jovanovic] They have played the role that derives mostly from the reality that the two countries have never had conflicts throughout their history. Thus, Romania and Greece made possible that this monstrous wish to isolate Yugoslavia completely has never been achieved, and this helped other countries as well to adopt a more independent view regarding relations with Yugoslavia. We have had scores of political contacts and visits. First of all with Romania and Greece but also with countries that are situated farther, such as India and China. [Andon] Have you received signs from any country that, after the lift of embargo, they would like to have economic cooperation with Yugoslavia? [Jovanovic] Yes, from several countries. As a matter of fact, even now businessmen from Germany and France, that is, countries that have a very tough stand toward Yugoslavia, sell goods to us. Others are afraid that they may lose the market. Currently we are preparing bilateral economic accords -- the type we have with Romania -- also with Ukraine, India, |
FBIS3-30299_0 | Economic Figures Show Declining Production | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Report by Mariya Barutchieva] [Text] Sofia, January 27 (BTA) -- Lack of markets, the enterprises' low adaptability to free-market conditions, and a delay in privatization and structural adjustment caused a shrinkage in production and sales in 1993, Dimitur Fratev, spokesman for the National Statistical Institute (NSI) and head of the NSI Finance and Lending Statistics Department, told BTA. Significantly, the share of private sector production and sales increased in 1993. Private sector output, excluding farming, rose 22 percent. Production dropped about 8 percent (excluding agriculture), the drop in the state sector alone being 10 percent, Mr. Fratev told a news conference today. Industrial output dropped 10 percent from 1992 and sales went down 9 percent. The shrinkage in production was greatest in the food, machine engineering and textile industries. A total 8 percent growth in production was reported in power engineering, ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, and the chemical and oil-processing industries, which account for 45 percent of the aggregate output. The private sector accounted for about 4 percent of industrial output in 1993. Sales in the private sector exceeded 9 billion leva (3.5 percent of industrial sales), a 29 percent rise over 1992 at comparable prices. At 57 percent the share of the private sector was biggest in retail trade, up from 46 percent in 1992, an increase by nearly one quarter, Mr. Fratev added. Inflation dropped 15.6 percent, from 79.5 percent in 1992 to 63.9 percent in 1993. Last year inflation began to be computed on a different basis from the 1990-92 period, when commodity turnover was the key indicator. The consumer price index, adopted as a key indicator of inflation in 1993, is calculated on the basis of monthly observations of the actual retail prices of a basket of 1,400 commodities and services. Food prices went up by an average 60.38 percent, non-foods 55.94 percent, and services 93.66 percent. Heating and energy outlays accounted for about 4 percentage points of the total consumer price increase. The upward trend of redundancies in the state and cooperative sector persisted in 1993, Mr. Fratev said. The employment figure for the state and cooperative sector (excluding agriculture) was 1,322,000, a drop of over 10 percent (about 152,000 persons) on 1992. Private sector employees numbered 750,000. The latest figures (by September 30, 1993) show unemployment in Bulgaria at 814,000, including 50,000 pensioners and 14,000 students seeking jobs. State and |
FBIS3-30313_1 | Details on 1993 Economic Performance Reported | to the Central Statistical Office (GUS) the Gross National Product (GNP) in 1993 increased by 4 per cent, the industry and agriculture production went up whereas the unemployment figures did not decrease and inflation was still high. Also the purchasing power of payments declined, the GUS Deputy President Roman Sawinski said on Friday. In comparison with 1992 the sales of industry went up by 6.2 per cent but were still lower than in 1989 and 1990. The highest sales were recorded in the printing, transport, electro-technological, electronic and clothing industries while coal-mining, energy and leather industries noted a decrease in production. The GUS data also indicate that generally companies became more profitable by decreasing their costs. In 1993 the housing construction suffered a serious breakdown, it build 35 per cent flats less than in 1992. The agriculture produce increased by 2.2 per cent and the total area of uncultivated arable land decreased from 12 to 7 per cent. In the eighties only 1 per cent of arable land was left fallow. In 1993 prices went up by 35.3 per cent. Such a high inflation rate was influenced mainly by hikes in gas, energy, transport, telecommunications and fuel prices. Although the purchasing power of payments declined by 1.8 per cent and of pensions by 2.6 per cent, private consumption rose, which means that poles did bigger shopping taking loans or diminishing their savings. Unemployment figures were still high in 1993 and in December the unemployment rate amounted to 15.7 per cent. There were 2,889,600 unemployed people registered in job centres. The highest unemployment rate was recorded in the northern provinces of Koszalin (28.7 per cent), Suwalki (28.6 per cent), Olsztyn (27.8 per cent), Slupsk (27.3 per cent) and Elblag (26.8 per cent). The budget deficit was lower than it was envisaged in the budget law and amounted to 44 trillion zlotys (over 2 billion U.S. dollars). The budget revenue (459 trillion zlotys) was higher by 6 per cent than envisaged as the state got more money from income tax and customs duties and the budget expenditure (503 trillion zlotys) was lower by 2.3 per cent. Imports exceeded exports by 3.5 billion dollars, which, according to Sawinski, was connected with the increase of imports by 47 per cent in comparison with 1992 before the introduction of VAT [Value Added Tax]. In the same time exports went up only by 24.1 per cent. |
FBIS3-30314_1 | Iliescu Spokesman on Coalition Talks, Yugoslavia | prerogative of the prime minister and he may do it whenever he sees it as necessary, said the spokesman. The next week visit to Bucharest by the two co-presidents of the peace conference on former Yugoslavia was appreciated by the presidency spokesman as the result of the interest constantly shown by Romania in supporting the settlement of the Yugoslav crisis. The role of the Geneva conference as well as of the neighbouring countries is to support the efforts made by the countries involved in the settling of the crisis as a viable solution can emerge only from within the former Yugoslavia, the spokesman said and further added: "We can only contribute to the creation of an external climate favourable to the dialogue." Romania, as a neighbour, is interested in the settlement of the problems in the zone as soon as possible, leaving out the use of force means. The Partnership for Peace is, the spokesman said, an offer made by the NATO to the Eastern countries, an offer which we have saluted. Romania's linking to the Euro-Atlantic structures and the NATO is an important step toward a strengthened security for Romania. It is a success for the Romanian diplomacy as the Partnership for Peace matches our constant approaches with respect to the role of NATO in this part of Europe, namely, that of not making discriminations with regard to the security of the countries in the zone. This point of view has prevailed in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, said the Romanian presidency spokesman. Presidential spokesman, Ambassador Traian Chebeleu also referred his news conference on January 28 to President Ion Iliescu's visit in Timisoara and, before that, in Focsani, regarding a pointless protest by the county branch of the Alfa Trade Union Cartel, and, respectively, the president's contacts with private companies, as seen by an EXPRES MAGAZIN journalist. The presidential spokesman recalled to the attending journalists the fact that "during almost all his visits in the country the president inquired about and visited private economic enterprises." Ambassador Chebeleu referred in that context to the Romanian head of state's meeting with Romanian businessmen on November 30, 1993, his attendance of the "1993 Private Companies' Top" meeting, where he made an extensive address, as well as to the fact that on his trips abroad, when he was accompanied by businessmen, the Romanian president included every time also representatives of private Romanian firms. |
FBIS3-30324_0 | Iranian Foreign Minister Arrives for Visit Velayati on Sending Forces to B-H | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Sofia, Feb. 1, IRNA -- Foreign Minister 'Ali Akbar Velayati Monday voiced readiness of the Islamic countries to dispatch peace-keeping forces to Bosnia-Herzegovina under the flag of the United Nations. Speaking to local reporters at the end of the first round of talks with his Bulgarian counterpart Stanislav Dascalov, Velayati said the forces can play an outstanding role in the establishment of peace and tranquillity in the Balkans and former Yugoslavia. Velayati who arrived here Monday on an official 2-day visit, made the remark in response to a question of Bulgarian reporters on the incompetence of the United Nations with regard to the Bosnian crisis. He stressed that Iran would not spare any effort for the establishment of a just and honorable peace in the former Yugoslavia. The Bulgarian Government which used to export a considerable amount of goods through former Yugoslavia prior to the arms embargo, has asked the U.N. for compensation. A source close to the both sides told IRNA here that the Bulgarian foreign minister has expressed deep concern over the spread of the war in the Balkans and stressed his country's readiness to help establishment of peace in the region through international cooperation. |
FBIS3-30332_2 | KDNP Official Discusses Economic Program | operating the viable state-owned production capacities for purposes of taxation and employment represents the basis of our economic program. The resulting positive processes could indirectly help the problems facing the budget by increasing the income. [Hammang] One can mostly achieve an increase in income by increasing taxes. However, we can no longer follow this road. Is there a solution at all? [Mandoky] In our view, for a more proportional tax burden, it is necessary to reexamine our taxation system, including a shift from income-type taxation to consumer-type taxation, the taxation of big properties, and focusing on a family-type taxation in the personal income tax. We also think that strengthening the taxation discipline is essential for financial stability. Supervision should be strengthened in order to discover the hidden incomes. Investments and research-development should be encouraged through tax allowances, and the tax policy should serve ventures that increase investment and create jobs. [Hammang] In addition to helping the ventures, it is important to develop a welfare network. Are there any possibilities of increasing welfare expenses in the near future? [Mandoky] Welfare expenses are closely connected to the economic situation. It was not by accident that we Christian Democrats were the first to turn to economic issues, because we have a strong commitment to correctly handling the social problems. Halting regression and starting an economic revival are the basic goals of our economic program. We know that this is a process that needs a longer time. Economic revival depends on the prevailing economic program and the professional abilities serving the implementation of this program. At the moment, it is irresponsible to promise an increase in the standard of living and to suggest the need to further increase the welfare burdens and expenses. We must concentrate all our efforts to accelerate the economy and to increase production, services, and exports. [Hammang] However, all this is hindered by the debt burden left to us by the previous regime and the need to repay the interest. [Mandoky] We have repeatedly expressed our position on the issue of debt servicing and credits, and this problem makes up one chapter of our program. Naturally, we accept the repayment of our debts. However, we wonder about the heavy burden of debt servicing, a burden that questions our ability to emerge from the prevailing economic crisis. Therefore, we think that a reexamination of the problem is justified in any case. |
FBIS3-30333_0 | Spiroiu, Aleksandrov Oppose UN Action on FRY | Language: Romanian Article Type:BFN ["Al.A."-signed report: "The Ministers Mend What Was Spoiled by Journalists"] [Text] At the end of last week, Romanian National Defense Minister Lieutenant General Niculae Spiroiu received his Bulgarian counterpart, Valentin Aleksandrov. Despite the fact that one would expect closer political ties between Romania and Bulgaria -- as the two countries are neighbors, they have similar domestic problems, and a chance that if they had cooperated they would find a way to solve the difficulties generated by the crisis situation outside their borders. Except for a few random attempts to further their ties, relations between the two countries have been characterized by indifference, perhaps even competition. The Bulgarian defense minister's visit was due for several months, but it was postponed a number of times, although the reasons for that had nothing to do with the nature of bilateral relations. Merely one week before the meeting of the two ministers, a certain suspicion and tension emerged again as a consequence of the fact that the Bulgarian press had published some false information claiming that Romania had massed troops along the common border. However, in Bucharest, the two defense ministers still managed to find a common "language." They reasserted their consequent support for the political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and excluded the variant of military involvement, which they termed as dangerous for both conflict parties [the Bosnian Serbs and the NATO allies acting on behalf of the United Nations], because of the high probability that, as a consequence of such involvement, the conflict would expand. In the same context, the ministers agreed that neither country would send troops to join the "blue helmets" in former Yugoslavia. Such a decision was only natural, whereas the opposite would have been quite unusual, as UN peacekeeping operations are never carried out by forces of countries that neighbor a conflict region. During the visit, they also signed the Romanian-Bulgarian military cooperation accord. Among other things, the accord also provides for cooperation in the education and training of military personnel, a chapter that, in view of the Partnership for Peace, might be equally interesting for both countries. |
FBIS3-30361_0 | `Increasingly Closer' PSL-Church Ties Viewed | Language: Polish Article Type:BFN [Article by Miroslaw Usidus: "Church Well-Wishing but Also Cautious"] [Text] To win the trust of the church, it is not enough to show up in a cathedral a few times and take a picture of oneself with a cardinal. That is the opinion of right-wing politicians. Such is also, more or less, the conclusion expressed in a statement by Primate Jozef Glemp upon his return from a visit to Germany. The right word here is trust because the church protested against the word "support." The Christian-National Union [ZChN] won the sympathy of priests with their firm fight for issues that party activists, judging from the statements of hierarchy representatives, consider important. The ZChN was accused of blindly following the church of defending everything that was said to be its stance or in its interest. Common are opinions that this devotion paid off to the party of Jurek and Niesiolowski. In the 1991 elections, many representatives of the clergy portrayed to believers the election list of the Electoral Catholic Action, established by the ZChN, as the right list to choose. The celebration of the 100th anniversary of the peasant movement in the Warsaw cathedral, declarations (in the statements of leaders, at least) of the desire to defend the Concordat, statements protecting money collected at church Masses from tax, references to the image of a traditionally religious peasant who is tied to the belief of his forefathers as much as he is to his land--as a result of all this... A Faint Odor of Incense ...has began to surround the Polish Peasant Party [PSL]. It is difficult to say how many representatives of the clergy have been influenced by it. There are priests, such as the well-known Boguslaw Bijak, who have been engaged in the policy of improving relations with the peasants for a long time. Many examples of contacts between peasant activists and rural priests are no secret. All the same, it is not very likely that the church will get really involved in the coming self-governmental elections, or in any other elections in the near future. Representatives of the hierarchy are rather cautious. "I do not know whether this is merely a demonstration or the real and true attachment of a great number of people--of farmers or people linked to farming--which is tied to the church," says Cardinal Jozef Glemp. Caution as well as friendliness is |
FBIS3-30378_1 | Official Views Advantages of EU Association | are very important for Hungary come into force, and at the same time, the implementation of the cooperation program can also begin. The preparation of the legal harmonization program belongs here, and the planning of projects affecting industry, agriculture, investment development, and education and training, which we have not been able to start yet. The cooperation also extends to various areas of transport and traffic, environmental protection, and culture. [Bossanyi] Let us look at the already existing section of the Association Agreement, namely the trade section. In your experience, is the agreement entirely advantageous for the country or are there any areas where we are now in a disadvantageous position for various reasons? [Juhasz] In 1992, the agreement had a clearly dynamic effect because Hungarian exports to the European Community increased much faster than exports to other areas that have similar market economies -- for example the countries of the European Free Trade Association [EFTA] or the United States. This no longer applied in 1993, mainly due to the western recession. The decline of our exports to the EU was more marked than to other regions. [Bossanyi] Does this mean that the Association Agreement did not give us concrete advantages in the deepening recession? [Juhasz] On the contrary. Without the agreement, our exports would probably have fallen even more. Even then, we managed to use our preferential quotas, except in some areas of agriculture. However, the lack of competitive Hungarian products was the main reason for the latter. [Bossanyi] Did we also fill our textile quota? [Juhasz] We had the opportunity to do so, exports were not hindered by the quotas. In this area, the decrease of labor applied to imported materials with the purpose of reexport was a disadvantage for us. Quotas no longer exist in other industrial areas. However, there are so-called customs ceilings and customs quotas. If we exceeded these, then in theory, the EU could reinstate the customs but this did not happen last year. All in all, we can say that the Association Agreement gave greater scope to Hungarian goods in spite of the recession. [Bossanyi] When the Association Agreement was signed, many interest groups -- and mainly the domestic agrarian lobby -- argued that the Hungarian government had given concessions in the hope of achieving association relatively quickly, and it does not adequately protect, for example, agricultural exports from the EC's protectionism. Now they |
FBIS3-30393_1 | Official Discusses Relations With Moscow | the economy, which is supposed to be headed by deputy prime ministers -- we are waiting for the Russian component to be formed, which will be possible only after the restructuring of the Russian Government. A protocol is signed annually on the supplies of crude oil and power plant fuel, and the new commission will also deal with this issue. Regarding the recent five-day interruption in supply, I can only say that I do not believe that it was caused by some political influence. Crude oil prices were declining on the world markets at the end of last year, and I have the impression that Chemapol and Transpetrol were eliminating their stock. They acted in a market-conforming manner, and did not think of the complications that could arise if reserves smaller than usual are maintained, as happened at the beginning of this year before the Russian Government was formed. The processing of the relevant documents was delayed in the still non-market environment in the Russian Federation. [Cervinka] What is the new political climate like in Moscow? [Vondra] I wanted to utilize the visit to Moscow to probe the situation in the Russian parliament. I met with the deputies of all the main political streams, and it is my impression that a somewhat new stage is beginning in the development in the Russian Federation, that the future progress of particularly the economic reforms will be limited by the political will of the parliament, and the support for a rapid transfer to capitalism and free market will clearly decline. [Cervinka] Can these changes lead to a change of the development initiated in Russia? [Vondra] It is difficult to predict. A complete retardation of this development backwards [as published] may not be possible, but it is likely that a slow down and a change in the style of the reforms will occur, and a trend will commence toward command methods in the management of the economy. The anti-inflationary policy and budget stabilization will no longer be a priority. It is possible that inflation will be reduced in Russia by the non-market measures, a price regulation at the cost of a budget deficit. [Cervinka] Can the changes you have indicated affect relations between Prague and Moscow? [Vondra] I believe that we completed the basic transformation steps long time ago, and the distance between Prague and Moscow -- in this respect -- has grown sufficiently. |
FBIS3-30406_0 | Serbs Set Conditions | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Belgrade, Feb 3 (AFP) -- Serb forces would agree to the reopening of the airport at Tuzla in northeast Bosnia provided they could control all traffic going through, a Yugoslav military official was quoted as saying Thursday [3 February]. Armed Forces spokesman Colonel Ljubodrag Stojadinovic, in remarks quoted by the Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA, added that if Serb observers were not present, "the airport could be used as a channel for arms deliveries to Moslems." He welcomed Russia's proposal to send observers to the airport but added that "the presence of Serb observers" was "vital." It appeared unlikely the Moslems would agree to such conditions, observers said. It also seemed surprising that the rump Yugoslavia's army should announce the Bosnian Serbs' conditions on reopening the airport. Although Serbia openly backs Bosnia's Serbs, it does not officially have authority over them. Until now, Bosnian Serbs have steadfastly refused to yield on the airport issue. Their leader Radovan Karadzic said Tuesday [1 February] it was up to the Bosnian Serb "parliament" to decide what to do on the issue. While Tuzla itself is controlled by Moslems, the airport zone is within firing distance of Serb forces, whose positions are a few kilometers (miles) from the town. The United Nations is considering authorising air strikes against besieging Serb forces to obtain the reopening of Tuzla, which is considered an essential channel for humanitarian aid. |
FBIS3-30410_2 | News Conference Reported | country. I would like to express my gratitude to Mrs. Bhutto and Mrs. Ciller for the unqualified support we have received from their governments and people in our struggle for a just peace. This country, which is a victim of two (fascist) [words indistinct]. The joint declaration of the two prime ministers -- with which I have had a chance to acquaint myself -- reiterates their readiness to extend, on a bilateral level, concrete material and other assistance to our struggle. Finally, I would like to congratulate these brave women on their personal courage to come to Sarajevo despite warnings not to do so. Their visit and support are an encouragement to us to persevere in the struggle for the defense of our homeland, and therefore for all those principles on which the United Nations rest. This is also a incentive to all the defenders of democratic [word indistinct] in the world to intensify their efforts in the search for a just peace [words indistinct]. [Musabasic] The Turkish and Pakistani prime ministers also prepared a declaration on their visit to Sarajevo, and they addressed a few words to the reporters. Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said: [Ciller] We are here primarily for humanitarian purposes. We believe that the Bosnians are fighting for freedom, territorial integrity, and human rights. We have always been concerned about human rights, regardless of where [word indistinct]. The basic right is the right to life. Thus our aim can serve as an appeal for the defense of human rights. Second, we believe in territorial integrity, and we believe that territorial integrity always has to be defended. This is why we believe that the efforts by the European Commnity must be reassessed, and they must be complete. This is a humanitarian issue, and also a moral issue [word indistinct]. Civilians are being killed here. We have once again to draw the attention of the world community to the fact that this is a moral issue. We have always defended democracy and human rights, and territorial integrity. Now it is time to unite and defend the aims that we and the international community support. It is an European idea, coexistence, coexistence among various religions, ethnic groups, and cultures, and we have to defend that. (That) is our treasure. This is the reason why we should defend that idea. The territorial integrity and coexistence in Sarajevo [words indistinct] but |
FBIS3-30413_2 | Zhirinovskiy Views Future of Balkans | present Macedonia, but otherwise this would be a big country. Alexander the Great, who conquered all of Asia Minor and got all the way to India, was from this area. [Zerdin] What about Russia? [Zhirinovskiy] See, what is Ukraine? It is Russia. [Zerdin] And Czechia and Slovakia? [Zhirinovskiy] Because of the Sudetenland and Moravia, the Czechs are closer to the Germans. Practically speaking, Czechia has no future. Germany will gradually take it over. Bratislava, however, could turn into a center for East European Slavic cooperation. This would be a counterbalance to the West European alliance. Bratislava could be something similar to what Strasbourg and Maastricht are for the Western Europe. Economically, the Slavs could have been stronger than Western Europe. However, they would have to act without ideologies. The entire Western Europe is infected with fascism: Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany. Eastern Europe used to be ailing from communism. Now there is a threat of nationalism. There is killing again and there are wars. This must be stopped. In the 21th century, the arms will speak for the last time against those who will be against democracy. This will be a religious war against the Muslim world. Well, it is already happening. For this reason, I have also written the book -- the Last Push to the South. At the end of the 20th century, there will be no more international wars, however, religious wars will begin. You see, Turkey toward the Caucasus, Azerbaijan against Armenia.... These are religious wars. Here is Tajikistan, and if these wars spread World War II will take place. We are in a situation similar to Europe in 1935. Nobody expected a war then and suddenly it has all started. Now Turkey and Iran can push toward Caucasus, the Turks are penetrating into the Balkans, Iraq in Central Asia, Afghanistan in Tajikistan. You will have pan Islamism, Balkans, Arabs. France and Germany will be destabilized. Finally, Europe will be in a state of war. [Zerdin] Who can stop all this? [Zhirinovskiy] Only Russia. Russia could be a factor of stability. It could stop the process of disintegration of Europe, the Balkans, and central Asia. You see yourselves what has happened after Russia has withdrawn from the Balkans. A war has happened. If Russia helps, war can be prevented. [Zerdin] Slovenia would like to become a NATO member. [Zhirinovskiy] Well, if Slovenia becomes a NATO member it |
FBIS3-30421_1 | Text of Granic Address | What are its strategic guidelines? First and foremost, the reintegration of the UNPA [UN Protected Areas] into the state and legal system of Croatia -- this is the first strategic guideline. Then comes the resolution of the crisis, the war in Bosnia- Herzegovina, and the establishment of a just peace. There is the regulation of all disputed issues with our neighbors and joining European integrational processes -- an agreement on associate membership in the European Union [EU], the joining of all European projects -- and, last but certainly not least, global and regional security mechanisms. This includes regional security mechanisms that we have already proposed to the CSCE and, of course, Partnership for Peace -- NATO's latest proposal; an extremely important proposal, especially for the future. Most dilemmas and questions, a joint declaration -- yes or no [as received] -- concerned this first strategic guideline. The only real difference in fact lies in expectation. There are no other differences. I have not heard that anyone is satisfied with the present situation. We all agree about this. Of 295,000 Croats and non-Serb people in UNPAs and Pink Zones, almost all have been expelled. Except a few thousand elderly people. Ethnic cleansing is almost complete. There are still 7,800 people either missing or forcibly taken away. Respect for human rights is zero and practically beyond the control of the Croatian authorities. We have an excellent resolution of the UN Security Council -- 871 -- but it is certain that no fundamental and definite progress can be expected from the present UNPROFOR [UN Protection Force] mandate. I have also not heard many people say they were in favor of war. There are some deputies, however, who have taken this stand consistently. This is, of course, their right. I need to warn at this moment that this option would not only cause victims -- and the generals are much better placed to speak about this -- but also total and immediate isolation. Not just sanctions, but also total isolation. This is not guesswork, we were told this directly. What is the third option? Only this, brave and full of challenge [as heard]. The last thing that can be said of us is that we are naive. It is naive to expect that Milosevic will come to Zagreb and say that he is abandoning his policy. However, both the internal and external situation has made |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.