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BBC: China raps US in sect row
China raps US in sect
row
China says Falun Gong is anti-scientific and
anti-government
China has told the United States to stay out of
its affairs following criticism of Beijing's plan to
prosecute leading members of the banned
meditation movement Falun Gong.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that
China was strongly opposed to interference
from other countries in its internal affairs.
It said Falun Gong was an anti-scientific,
anti-government and illegal organisation.
The statement came
after the US State
Department said no-one
in China should be
persecuted for
exercising their religious
beliefs as long as they
were not harming
anybody.
The Chinese authorities
banned Falun Gong
after thousands of its
followers, who mix
Buddhist teachings with meditation and
exercise, staged a silent protest in April outside
Communist Party headquarters in Beijing.
Sect 'sabotages social order'
The authorities have called for the arrest of the
sect's leader, Li Hongzhi, who has lived in New
York for two years.
The Chinese statement said: "Our laws protect
citizens' freedom of association, speech,
assembly and religious belief. But we will not
allow any one to abuse this freedom to engage
in activities that sabotage social order.''
US State Department spokeman James Foley
had urged China "to live up to its obligations
under international human rights instruments
and protect freedom of thought, conscience and
religion".
Falun Gong was banned
last month, with the
Chinese Government
calling it an illegal
organisation that
corrupted people's
minds, sabotaged
stability and sought to
replace the government.
Many of its leaders were
arrested, and hundreds
of thousands of books
and tapes have been
destroyed.
The official Xinhua news agency said on
Tuesday that the Communist Party had warned
that core members of Falun Gong "must be
punished in accordance with the law".
This, it said, would affect 'a tiny minority' of
Falun Gong followers, who could face a life
sentence.
'Social stability'
A Hong Kong-based human rights group, the
Information Centre of Human Rights and
Democratic Movement, said China was
expected to charge more than 50 Falun Gong
leaders.
Reuters reported that the group said lawyers in
Beijing had been told to get official permission
before taking on cases involving Falun Gong
members.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin has said
banning the sect was crucial to maintain social
stability.
And Li Peng, second in the ruling Politburo,
said the emergence of Falun Gong was a
warning that officials and members of the public
need more education about socialism.
----------------
China to rejoin WTO
talks
Shanghai wants to look outward
China has signalled its readiness to resume
talks with the United States on joining the World
Trade Organisation.
China had been aiming to join
the WTO, which regulates
world trade, in time for the next
round of trade talks which
begin in Seattle in November.
But the world's tenth largest trading nation cut
off negotiations with the US after the bombing
of the Chinese embassy on May 7.
Now an article in a Chinese newspaper says
that "there has been no change in China's
resolve to join" the WTO, and "there recently
seems to be a thaw in China-US relations."
The Financial Daily says that there is now
"hope for restarting the talks."
Among the recent positive factors in
Sino-American relations have been the US
decision to extend Normal Trade Relations with
China, its role in restraining Taiwan, and the
cordial messages after the China-US women's
soccer final in Los Angeles.
APEC meeting crucial
The negotiations are set
to resume at the
sidelines of the APEC
meeting in Auckland on
September 11 and 12,
which will be attended
both by US President
Clinton and Chinese
President Jiang Zemin.
"I think that there is a
real desire on both
sides to make this a
success," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for
East Asian and Pacific Affairs Stanley Roth
said in Canberra.
"Obviously we hope that this meeting can be
the occasion for significant progress on WTO -
the ideal outcome to reach an agreement at
that time or before, but at a minimum to use the
meeting to get the negotiations restarted on an
urgent basis."
Before that meeting, US trade officials will
travel to Beijing for "technical negotiations" on
entry.
The United States would like China to speed up
the timetable for foreign banks and insurance
companies to compete in China, allowing them
to open regional branches and buy and sell
foreign currency.
In the past, China has argued that as a
developing country, it should be allowed to
delay full liberalisation for many years - an
argument the US has rejected.
China and the United States narrowly missed
reaching an agreement in April when Prime
Minister Zhu Rongji visited Washington. At that
time China made some significant concessions
on opening up its service sector.
Both sides are now concerned that there is no
backsliding from that deal.
Li Zhaoxing, China's ambassador to the United
States, said last week that Washington should
not raise the threshold for China's entry to the
WTO.
Tight timetable
The United States is also concerned that China
may withdraw some of proposals made in April.
Those proposals triggered fierce opposition
within China, and seemed to have weakened
the position of Prime Minister Zhu Rongji.
China is now engaged in battle over how to
modernise its economy, and maintain its growth
rate in the face of fierce world competition for
its exports.
Recently, the government has ordered
restrictions on new investment in a range of
consumer goods in order to raise prices -
measures which would be incompatible with
WTO membership.
There is now not much time to reach a deal
before the world trade talks open.
If that deadline is missed, it could be years
before they could be resumed - and perhaps by
that time a less favourable regime in Beijing
might be in power.
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