THAI TALK: A prescription from a disillusioned doctor
The Nation, Bangkok
Published on October 28, 2004
Dr Prawase Wasi, our respected Âsenior citizenÂ, says we should thank Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra for showing us what Âmoney politics is really all about. ItÂs as if the activist physician were telling us that the country in fact owes the super-CEO a great debt for exposing the Âtrue face of the ugly side of capitalism.
For a moment, I thought he was speaking with his tongue in his cheek. But he was dead serious. Dr Prawase made these remarks during a major speech to mark the 31st anniversary of the October 14 student uprising that ushered in a new phase of democracy in this country.
Though he should have sounded more depressed, the doctor maintained a fairly optimistic tone. While the October 14, 1973, uprising put an end to military dictatorship in this country, money politics has taken its place, he said.
The threat of politics being ruled by financial considerations is, of course, nothing new. But whatÂs captivating is that money politics has been raised to a new state-of-the-art level. ItÂs blatant. ItÂs in your face. And it is shameless.
Dr Prawase put it more succinctly: ÂThe Thai people should thank Khun Thaksin for having shown us that money has the power to exploit the political vacuum to seize control of state power and turn it into a dictatorship.Â
Perhaps concerned that the post-October 14 generation may not appreciate what he was trying to convey in his speech, the doctor-author added: ÂIn the past, we learned about dictatorships from textbooks or from examples from other sources. But now, the people have learned in their real lives what money politics is.Â
Then, in an interesting twist, he quoted General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh as having told him, when the latter was the powerful army commander-in-chief: ÂSeizing power isnÂt difficult. The hard part is holding on to power.Â
ThatÂs the military version of authoritarianism. Perhaps Dr Prawase was trying to lay out the civilian version because he immediately said: ÂThanatipathai is a system in which money holds supreme power. Today, wherever you go you hear people talk about corruption, conflicts of interest and dictatorial rule in general. ThatÂs why I say we should thank Khun Thaksin for giving society these lessons. LetÂs extend our blessings to him.Â
He didnÂt say who was responsible for the depressing current situation. He didnÂt say why the Thai people should tolerate such a condition. And perhaps fearing that there was a risk of his audience assuming that he was employing sarcasm to make his point, Dr Prawase was quick to propose some positive action: representative politics is becoming obsolete. Direct public participatory politics is the best way to stop the current slide towards the Âmoney-is-everything abyss. In other words, politics is just too serious and important to be left to politicians.
The vicious triangle comprising politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen, he said, had blocked any attempt to cope with corruption.
The current Constitution contains a number of reformist clauses that could have, if implemented, promoted popular participation in setting the national agenda. But, the doctor said, the government has failed to take them seriously and Ânobody does anything about itÂ. He cited Article 40, which requires the government to use its broadcast frequencies for activities in the publicÂs interest. ÂInstead, the government has utilised them for the benefit of certain, specific groups. Now that the government doesnÂt respect the provisions of the Constitution, it canÂt possibly solve problems like poverty and others. The public and academics remain uninterested [in this issue], he said.
Dr Prawase suggested that if the ConstitutionÂs intent were strictly followed, the public would have a Âlink through which it could directly monitor the governmentÂs performance. The peopleÂs democratic rights would be restored under these conditions. ÂIf we let politicians run this country alone, society will fall apart and violence will take over. In this era of money, materialism and consumerism we must bring back the direct, democratic participation of the people, the activist physician said. WhatÂs to be done? The doctor had proposals for both PM Thaksin and the public. Dr Prawase sought the PMÂs help in creating direct public participation, reducing the influence of money in politics and reviving education reform. Addressing the public, he urged all civilian pressure groups (academics, monks, businessmen, trade groups, etc) to form horizontal instead of vertical alliances to embark on a fight for the restoration of the publicÂs right of direct democratic participation. Academics, he said, must also be ready to begin analysing and presenting public policy options to the country.
One could almost detect a sense of great disillusionment in Dr PrawaseÂs exhortations. He apparently realises that the super-CEO may agree with him in principle, but wonÂt do anything to undermine his own power base.
The PM wonÂt take action to undo the terrible wrongs in his government. He isnÂt totally ignorant of the danger of money politics. Up to a point, he gets the message. But power and authority have kept him in a state of denial. Academics and civil leaders get it, but wonÂt do anything about it until the threat hangs directly over their heads. Herein lies the good doctorÂs growing frustrations. And this is also where this deepening crisis of confidence lies.
Suthichai Yoon
A Profile of Modern-day Authoritarianism in ASEAN
Thaksin Shinawatra: From Securocrat to Telecoms Moghul to Prime Minister - A Profile of Modern-day Authoritarianism in ASEAN
By Dr. Farish A. Noor
That eighty-four Thais have been killed by their own security forces - most of them suffocated as a result of being crammed into the narrow confines of trucks as they were brought to an army detention centre - should serve as a warning to all ASEAN citizens. In Thailand, as in many parts of ASEAN today, we are witnessing the return of fascism to our shores. The brutal killings of the Thai Muslims also reminds us of the killing of dozens of Burmese pro- democracy activists in 1988, when they were crammed into lorries with exhaust pipes diverted into the trucks and were subsequently choked to death by the fumes. Perhaps this was yet another case of one brutal ASEAN regime learning from another? If anything it was proof that the struggle for democratic reform in ASEAN is far from over and that ASEAN's inter-governmental policy of 'non- interference' in domestic affairs is a convenient way to allow the respective governments to go on butchering their own populations.
That such casual manslaughter can take place in Thailand today, under the leadership of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, speaks volumes about the man's total disregard for the value of human life and fundamental rights. The editorial of the Thai newspaper The Nation summed up the moral vacuum in the country aptly when it blared: "His (Thaksin's) contempt for human rights has resulted in a scattering of personal tragedies, masked by the proclaimed success of the war on drugs. But now this flawed trait of his leadership is threatening to plunge the country into the bitterest and most detrimental divide between the people and the state." But none of this should come as a surprise, for Lieutenant-Colonel (rtd.) Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra's rise to power was, in many ways, an indirect result of the collapse of the democratic project in Thailand and the return of authoritarian, counter-reform tendencies in the country.
The pro-democracy, pro-reform movement in Thailand had been active since the beginning of the 20th century, led by modernist-reformists like Pridi Banomyong and later taken up by Leftist intellectuals like Jit Pumisak in the 1960s. The brief democratic interlude in Thailand that was brought about by the student-led mass uprisings in October 1973 was brought to an end three years later thanks to a counter-reform putsch led by extreme right-wing elements supported by the army in October 1976. The pro-democracy reform movement was initially supported by some sections of the Thai elite, including the royal family. But due to the culture of paranoia and the stigmatisation of the Left thanks to the hostile climate of the Cold War, the leftist democrats were soon accused of harbouring pro- Communist sympathies and were portrayed as a threat to the ruling elite as well as foreign capital (notably American and Japanese) interests. As Thailand was a frontline state in the anti-Communist war waged by the USA in Vietnam, the US and other Western powers were prepared to allow a counter-reformist coup by the extreme right- wing elements of Thai society that included the royal family, the army and even the Buddhist clergy. The elimination of the Leftist democrats in Thailand in 1976 was reminiscent of the brutal slaughter of thousands of leftists in Indonesia in 1965 and the forceful annexation of left-leaning East Timor in 1974, once again under the watchful eye of Uncle Sam, whose concern for human rights stops short of his own realpolitik interests.
Nevertheless the democratic experiment of 1973-76 (which witnessed the coming to power of the first truly democratic government in the post-war era) left its mark by emphasising democratic and reformist values in Thai society. Later in October 1977 'moderate' elements of the Thai army staged an internal coup that brought them to power and added to the further moderation of Thai politics (that was still heavily dominated by the army, which in turn was still backed by the West.)
The absence of a functioning democratic opposition, however, contributed to the growth of a landed elite - constantly working hand-in-glove with the army and police - that used the limited civil democratic space to strengthen their own patron-client networks and were at the same time heavily involved in the underground black market economy. The culture of electocracy grew as Thai politicians regarded the state as their personal fiefdoms to be plundered at will and the electorate as constituencies to be bought. The 1970s and 1980s witnessed the growth of clientelist politics where ideological differences became secondary and political factionalism the norm; leading to a succession of unstable coalition governments where the Prime Minister's main function was to appease the demands of various political warlords who commanded local support but who paid little attention to longer, macro-level economic considerations. The state became a tool for factional political manoeuvring and the line between politics and business blurred as a result. Thailand had more elections than any other country in the ASEAN region, and the elections were usually heralded by politically- motivated violence. The breakdown of the state was only temporarily halted by a military-engineered coup led by the 'National Peace- Keeping Council'.
By 1992 however the politically-connected statist bourgeoisie was in a stronger position and in May 1992 it was the Thai urban middle- class that led the counter-coup that led to the resignation of Prime Minister General Suchinda Kraprayoon. May 1992 was a landmark event in the sense that it marked the end of the days of direct military intervention in Thai politics. Many local and foreign observers hoped that this would lead to the full restoration of civil society and democratic practices in the country, as well as the resumption of the reformist project.
However, between 1992-97 what happened was the rise of the liberal- capitalist urban business elite who merely reverted back to the politics of clientelism and patronage. Thailand's economy boomed as a result of indiscriminate and unregulated credit expansion, a swathe of mega-projects, its heedless entry into the global market and the huge amount of foreign capital that was invested into the country. The boom however came to an end in 1997, with the devaluing of the Thai Baht that precipitated the catastrophic East Asian financial crisis of 1997-98. As a result of this crisis, around 65% of Thailand's big capitalists became bankrupt.
In the post-crisis period, Thai society grew increasingly introverted and its middle-class in particular increasingly inward- looking and defensive. The total failure of the Prime Minister Chauvalit's government to halt the slide in the value of the Baht led to a crisis of confidence, and calls for a stronger state with wide-ranging interventionist powers to halt the economic crisis from getting worse. The pro-democracy and pro-reform movement was in turn delivered a fatal blow as the urban business elite switched their support to strong political leaders who proposed a stronger, centralist, even authoritarian state model for the country.
It was at this time that Thaksin Shinawatra came to prominence. The man was himself an ex-security forces commander, who held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of the Thai Police. With a similar educational background to that of the senior leaders of the Thai army, police and security services, he commanded considerable respect and support from the armed forces and security services. He then branched out into the world of business and rose to become a tycoon in the telecommunications field. With strong business and army links as well as an independent financial base, he formed and led the Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party and swept to power with the support of the urban middle class and business community (as well as the backing of foreign capital).
Thaksin's rise to power coincided with the promulgation of the 1997 Thai Constitution, which was reformist in appearance but which in reality was directed at the expansion and consolidation of the power and authority of the Executive (Prime Minister) over the Legislature and other wings of the government. Working within the parameters of the Executive-biased 1997 Constitution, Thaksin initiated a series of reforms intended to restore the power and standing of the Thai business elite and to serve the needs of both local and foreign capital. Following the unprecedented number of workers' demonstrations and strike actions in 1997 (1,200 in 1997, compared to 754 in 1995), Thaksin and his supporters in the business lobby wanted to create a political party and government that would protect their own invested interests while restoring order in society.
Part of Thaksin's project was his 'new social contract' with the Thai public, which promised the restoration of law and order at any cost. Under his leadership the Thai public was constantly fed with a stream of state propaganda about internal threats within Thailand, ranging from drugs gangs to Islamist militants in the South of the country. In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States of America on 11 September 2001 and the alleged terrorist attacks in Indonesia in 2002, Thaksin has used the rhetoric and discourse of the 'war on terror' to further extend his power and the scope of activities of the Thai security forces. In particular the government of Prime Minister Thaksin was keen to demonstrate to the Thai public and the international community that the troubles in the Muslim provinces in the South of the country was part of a global trend of 'Islamic terrorism' that required a strong, even violent, response from the state.
Thaksin's high-handed approach was bolstered with the appointment of General Panlop Pinmanee, a former mercenary officer in Laos who was also the head of an Anti-Communist Death Squad in the service of the Thai army to the post of Deputy Director of Internal Security Operations Command (originally an anti-Communist unit called the Communist Suppression Operations Command). Like his Indonesian counterpart General (rtd.) A. M. Hendropriyono (who was appointed for President Megawati Sukarnoputri as head of Indonesia's Anti- Terror Unit in Jakarta), General Panlop Pinmanee was known for his brutal tactics and record of human rights abuses, which he demonstrated once again during his campaign against alleged drugs gangs in Thailand which led to the extra-judicial killings of around 2,000 people.
Like Indonesia and Malaysia, Thailand also boasts of having its own international Anti-Terror centre in the South of the country. And like the other Anti-Terror centres that now blight the landscape of the ASEAN region, Thailand's own fetid offering to the altar of anti- terrorism is strongly supported by the West, notably the United States of America.
General Pinmanee and the Internal Security Commands Operation unit, along with Thailand's National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Thai 4th Army under the command of Lieutenant-General Pisarn Wattanawongkeeree have been put in charge of the Southern Muslim provinces of Patani, Jala, Narathiwat and Satun. General Pisarn is new to the post as this happened to be his first field command out of Bangkok. However General Pinmanee's more direct and confrontational approach was demonstrated on 28 April 2004 when Thai troops bombarded and then stormed the ancient Krue Se mosque in Patani, killing all of the alleged Muslim insurgents who had taken refuge there. (Local witnesses claimed that the troops also desecrated the mosque in the course of the fighting.)
Thaksin's approach to the problem of social unrest in the Southern Muslim provinces in Thailand has been a combination of the 'carrot- and-stick' approach. While allowing senior Thai military commanders to use their own initiatives and methods, the government has also promised a 300-million Baht investment project (to be parcelled out over a period of 10 years) into the region. One of the initiatives on offer is the 28-million Baht project to restore the Krue Se mosque near Patani.
Local Patani Muslim leaders however have argued that the real problems of local army and police corruption as well as abuse of power and infringement of fundamental human rights have not been addressed by any of these promises. Local critics also argue that these measures do not in any way solve the problem of Bangkok's inability to understand and appreciate the demands of the Patani Muslims, who are Malays, and who resent the hegemonic grip of Bangkok that wishes to impose a Thai-centric model of national identity on the Southern provinces. For centuries the Muslim provinces of Thailand have tried to defend their identity as Malay states with a culture and history of their own, and have been resentful of the attempts by successive Thai leaders (such as General Phibun Songkram) who sought to transform them culturally into mainstream Thais who are ethnically, culturally, linguistically and religiously different.
Contrary to the image of Thaksin as a civilian politician that is disseminated by his supporters, the man himself has maintained close links to the Thai armed forces and security agencies, and has further politicised the latter through his direct intervention in the re-shuffling of Thai senior army commanders. Thaksin has even appointed one of his relatives as a commander of the Thai army. General Pisarn has a close relationship to Prime Minister Thaksin (via his cousin Chaksin) and the Thai royal family (he is said to be on personal friendly terms with the Queen). The general has been given green light to pursue his objectives using his methods and on his terms. With such a laissez-faire approach to politics and the practicalities of government, is it any surprise that the value of human life in Thailand is so cheap these days and violence is on the increase?
The burden of shame and negative responsibility, however, falls on the governments of ASEAN for not trying to help resolve the troubles in Patani earlier. For so long the leaders of ASEAN have been content to play the role of Ostriches, burying their heads in the ground to avoid having to look at the realities close to them. Well today that option is not as easy as it was in the past: The soil in which they have buried their heads have been stained with the blood of innocents. And buried in that bloody soil is also our hopes for a democratic ASEAN of the people, by the people and for the people of ASEAN themselves.
Cheers as Russia's Duma gives Kyoto pact green light
REUTERS and ASSOCIATED PRESS in Moscow
Russia's Duma ratified the Kyoto Protocol yesterday, clearing the way for the long-delayed climate change pact to come into force worldwide.
The ratification pushes the 126-nation UN accord, aimed at battling global warming, over the threshold of 55 per cent of developed nations' greenhouse gas emissions needed to make it internationally binding after the US and Australia pulled out. The bill was passed 334 to 73, with two abstentions.
"We'll toast the Duma with vodka tonight," Greenpeace climate policy adviser Steve Sawyer said.
It still has to go through the upper house and be signed into law by President Vladimir Putin, but these are seen as formalities.
Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, said the decision was a milestone that "will concentrate the efforts of governments, business and industry on meeting the Kyoto targets and concentrate efforts on how we can deliver even deeper cuts".
Kyoto obliges rich nations to cut overall emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide to 5.2 per cent less than 1990 levels by 2008-12.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, whose view on the treaty is similar to President George W. Bush, says Australia will meet Kyoto's targets for emissions, but will not ratify the pact because it would push industry and jobs to countries that do not back the agreement.
Greenpeace Australia said yesterday Mr Howard was making it more expensive and more difficult for Australian companies to help tackle climate change.
Double-edged sword of a European welcome
MARK O'NEILL
In March, posters and handbills appeared on the streets of south Belfast calling on the public to drive out Chinese business people there.
In June last year, civil servants in the 11th district of Paris went on strike, to protest against what they called the "dirt and bad manners" of Chinese residents, their refusal to join mainstream French society and their obsession with making money.
In February, the China National Tourism Administration signed an agreement with the European Union that will boost tourism by Chinese to 12 of the 15 EU countries and sharply increase the number of visitors from the current 650,000 a year.
These news items illustrate the dilemma of European countries facing China's growing economic power.
According to mainland figures, there are about 1.5 million Chinese living legally in Europe - about 300,000 each in France and Britain; 150,000 each in Germany, Holland and Italy; 60,000 in Russia; 30,000 each in Hungary, Austria, Romania, Spain, Belgium and Sweden; and about 10,000 in the other countries. There are also tens of thousands of illegal immigrants.
The first large-scale migration arrived during the first world war, when Britain and France recruited 140,000 Chinese to carry corpses, clean streets and do other manual jobs because of the shortage of local men. The labourers were supposed to return to China after 1918, but several thousand stayed and prospered.
They set up restaurants, laundries and small factories and, clustered in Chinatowns, lived on the margins of society.
The social profile began to change with the second and third generation, who were educated in Europe and moved into white-collar jobs, aided by graduates from China who studied at European universities from the 1980s, and many of whom remained.
These changes present a confusing picture to the governments of Europe. They want the wealthy Chinese tourist who buys Louis Vuitton bags and the PhD graduate in computer science and bio-technology who can improve the competitiveness of European companies.
Europe wants cheap Chinese goods, a greater choice of products, and to keep down inflation, but without the political backlash that accompanies local shop and factory closures and the loss of local jobs.
The biggest obstacle in the tourist agreement negotiations was whether Beijing would take back tourists who overstayed their visas. It finally agreed to do so.
Aware of the tens of thousands of Chinese living illegally in Europe, Beijing did not want to write a blank cheque to take them back. There are no jobs for them at home and they are more useful to the Chinese economy by working in Europe and sending a portion of their income to families at home.
Workers fear backlash on cheap labour
MARK O'NEILL
When Chen Jiusong left his home town and was smuggled illegally into Spain in 1991, the last thing he imagined was appearing on the pages of the world's newspapers in front of a shop full of his ruined merchandise.
Mr Chen, 47, was the biggest victim after three Thursdays of demonstrations last month in the Spanish city of Elche, the heart of that country's shoe industry.
On September 16, 500 demonstrators, angered by the loss of jobs and business after a flood of shoes from Wenzhou, attacked Mr Chen's shop and set it alight, destroying €1 million (HK$9.74 million) worth of goods.
The attack sent shivers through the population of 1.5 million Chinese living legally and tens of thousands more staying illegally in Europe, who wondered if they might be targeted next. Most at risk are those who run retail businesses, especially supplying shoes, textiles and garments - sectors in which a flood of cheap goods from China has put European workers out of jobs.
On December 31 this year, a decades-old system of global quotas on textile exports comes to an end, opening the world market to unrestricted exports of textiles from China, the world's cheapest producer.
Many governments in the US, Europe and elsewhere are under intense pressure to curb textile imports from China, using the same arguments that provoked the Elche demonstrators to torch Mr Chen's shop.
Last year, China exported 61.9 million pairs of shoes to Spain, a rise of 108 per cent since 1999 and accounting for nearly half of that country's market. Their average price is less than half that of comparable Spanish shoes.
Seeing this rapid growth, Chinese traders moved into Elche, which has more than 60 Chinese-owned shoe shops. One of the owners was Mr Chen, who was running a clothes stall in Poland. He moved to Elche and opened a shop in July, using the identity of a friend for the licence, because he is an illegal immigrant.
Because of the flood of Chinese imports, nearly 60 shoe factories in Elche have closed since 2002. Labour costs there are 17 times higher than in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, where most of the Chinese shoes are made.
The Chinese shops in Spain are open up to three hours longer each day than their local rivals, and receive shipments on Sundays when the Spanish shops close.
Ma Jinlong, chairman of the Wenzhou Economic Association, said Spanish and Wenzhou shoes were competing for the same market.
"Competition between them is very fierce," he said. "But it is unequal. Manufacturers in Wenzhou pay lower wages, welfare and environmental costs and can make their employees work overtime. For such labour-intensive goods, Chinese goods will have a cost advantage for many years."
Mr Ma said that countries in western Europe were safer for Wenzhou merchants because they had rule of law and established business practices.
"Those responsible for the Elche attack will be punished," he said. "But it is more dangerous for the merchants in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, where organised criminals seize entire shipments. It is bad, too, in Africa and Latin America."
Lin Dafu, 65, a Wenzhou shoe manufacturer who employs 300 people in his business that turns over 10 million yuan a year, recalled going to Europe in 1994.
"I realised the enormous potential of our shoes in Europe because of the price," he said. "We started to export to Austria and Hungary, which then had the biggest wholesale market, selling to Ukraine, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and other countries. Business was booming, handling four to five containers a day.
"But Hungarian manufacturers protested and, from 1996, their government raised the tax on imports of Chinese shoes and garments from US$2,000 a container to US$20,000. It drove many Chinese traders away," he said.
Similarly, the Spanish government is under pressure to impose high tariffs to control the flood of cheap Chinese imports.
Wenzhou is one of the biggest shoe producers in China, with more than 4,000 factories and 360,000 workers in the industry. The city of seven million is also a major manufacturer of other light industrial goods, including leather products, textiles and garments.
More important than the products are the people, known as the "Jews of China". From the start of the 18th century, Wenzhou people have migrated abroad, giving the city a global network similar to that of the coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong.
Mr Chen followed the route taken by thousands of people from his home town of Qingtian, outside Wenzhou.
From the late 1980s, this expansion spread increasingly to foreign countries, using the network of Wenzhou people. According to official estimates, three people leave illegally for each one that goes legally, smuggled mostly by rail, ship or container truck into the European Union.
The network means that, once they arrive, they get a job in a factory or restaurant and a place to live. They work to pay off the loan they paid to the snakehead to help them get there.
The illegal immigrant waits for an amnesty, looks for an EU spouse or has a baby that is eligible for citizenship. As long as he stays out of trouble with the police, he most likely can live in western Europe indefinitely.
Authorities to scrap sponsor rule for NGOs
VIVIEN CUI
Non-governmental organisations will eventually be able to register to work on the mainland without having to be sponsored by a government department, a Ministry of Civil Affairs official has predicted.
"It is imperative under the circumstances to withdraw the need for the link," the Beijing News quoted Qiao Shenqian , the deputy head of the ministry's NGO Registration Service Centre, as saying.
The ministry oversees NGOs on the mainland. Groups that have been registered officially are known as "government-organised non-governmental organisations". Each is required to find a government department to act as its supervisor. A department is held accountable for the actions of NGOs under it.
Mr Qiao said the authorities had been considering doing away with the supervisory requirement for several years - but he was not able to give a specific date for when it would happen.
"The withdrawal is definitely possible. I hope it will not take too long," he said during the International Co-operation and Public Participation Seminar in Beijing at the weekend.
Insiders say the government is drafting a new Management of Social Societies regulation, under which major changes such as the lifting of the supervisory requirement have been debated.
Wang Ming , head of the NGO Study Institute at Tsinghua University, said NGOs on the mainland were being given more latitude to develop.
He said although a package of new policies - covering everything from tax deductions to the public supervision system - was needed, the first step had to be changing the entry requirements for NGOs.
No international NGO had ever registered itself under the present stringent rules even though some had implemented projects in China for as long as two decades, Professor Wang said.
"Lots of inconvenience and difficulties are created when having to work without a legal identity," said Chan Puisi , the country programme manager in China for the Salvation Army.
"It's difficult to get an office or to set up a public account for public donations, and there are lots of complicated procedures that we have to go through.
"It's not that we don't want to abide by the law, it's that we don't have such a law available to us."
China groups NGOs into two categories, social societies and foundations, depending on the level of funding they get. Presently, the regulation for social societies does not recognise international NGOs. And while things are slightly different for NGOs that want to register as foundations, they are by no means better off.
Lo Sze-ping , Greenpeace's campaign director in China, said the group had been attempting to find a government sponsor for two years so it could be legally registered.
"We turned to the local environmental protection authority, but they turned us down by saying they were unable to take charge of an international organisation," he said.
While official statistics indicate China has 262,000 local NGOs, Mr Qiao admits many more are working throughout the nation.
Some NGOs, eager to expand their projects with a stronger legal status, have registered as companies but that incurs heavy taxes.
Removing stumbling blocks for NGOs welcome
For non-governmental organisations operating on the mainland, the road to official status is often long and winding. Many prefer to exist in a legal grey zone rather than submit to the government requirements of the registration process. One of the biggest stumbling blocks has been the necessity for sponsorship by a government agency, a rule that binds NGOs closely to the bureaucracy, hampering their effectiveness and exposing them to outside interference.
So it is encouraging to hear an official from the Ministry of Civil Affairs hint that this sponsorship requirement may be dropped. Already, new rules for NGOs - and covering international groups for the first time - have been implemented, representing a step forward in granting these groups official status and thereby supporting their development. Dropping what to many groups is the worst impediment to registration brings more NGOs within the law, can only be a positive step.
As the government and state-owned companies continue withdrawing from everyday lives, non-government groups will play a crucial role in filling in the gaps where state services cannot reach or cannot move quickly enough to meet emerging needs. From setting up medical clinics in remote villages, to Aids education in the cities, to checking the worst abuses of the environment, NGOs have been playing an important role in recent years.
Officials realise that more of the same will be necessary as society changes and welfare priorities grow. NGOs are also being seen as solid building blocks for an emerging civil society. Giving them freer rein is something that has been contemplated for years, but movement has been slow because of the risks associated with allowing groups not affiliated with the government to flourish. Perhaps the expanding number of social challenges facing the government is leading to a reappraisal of how best to strike a balance between helping these groups develop and maintaining official control.
Most registered NGOs on the mainland do have some kind of government affiliation, being spinoffs from government agencies or state-owned enterprises and staffed by present or retired civil servants. Any changes in the rules that would allow them to become independent and make it easier for non-government affiliated groups to gain official recognition are to be welcomed.
The changes introduced in June gave NGOs preferential tax status, while requiring them to file annual reports. This will help give them more legitimacy with the public, which is far from ready to grant non-governmental groups blanket trust.
If officials are reviewing the rules concerning official sponsorship, they might also consider the new minimum capital requirements. At 2 million to 8 million yuan, they are prohibitive for all but the biggest groups. Any hope of getting grassroots organisations under the official umbrella will be frustrated.
US troops a burden for Okinawa
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Washington
Japan's top diplomat said his government wants to ease the "excessive burden" the US military presence on Okinawa poses for the island's people.
"That point is very important for us," Foreign Minister Nobutake Machimura said on Thursday after meeting Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Mr Machimura suggested the issue is on the agenda in US-Japan talks about the realignment of US troops.
The United States wants to shift its military posture to take into account the post-September 11 strategic situation in East Asia and elsewhere.
About 58,000 US military personnel are stationed in Japan; two-thirds on Okinawa.
Residents of the island have long complained about noise from US military aircraft and crimes allegedly committed by American soldiers.
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage will raise that issue as part of a broader discussion on force realignment when he visits Japan next week.
The United States has given assurances to Japan and South Korea that it will undertake no decisions that will undercut their security. Both are treaty allies of the United States.
The US wants to achieve greater force mobility in the area, in order to respond more quickly to any crisis.
Dalai Lama demands true autonomy for Tibet
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Mexico City
Updated at 11.29am:
The Dalai Lama, exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, on Wednesday demanded that China grant "authentic" autonomy to Tibet, arguing that the status is guaranteed under the communist nation's constitution.
"According to the constitution of the Popular Republic of China, we already have an autonomous status," he said here as he met with Mexican legislators. "That autonomy should be authentic."
"In the totalitarian regimes, particularly in the Popular Republic of China, as in the former Soviet Union, there is always a gap between what is written and what happens in the reality," the Dalai Lama said. "We are trying to reduce that gap."
China, which has ruled Tibet since 1951, regularly protests the frequent travels of the Dalai Lama, who it accuses of being a separatist.
Before his visit with Mexican legislators, the Chinese Embassy had requested that the Dalai Lama be given no political platform. Mexican President Vicente Fox declined to meet him.
The 69-year-old Buddhist leader has been in Mexico since Sunday (overnight Monday HK time) and leaves on Friday.
India has hosted the Dalai Lama since he fled Tibet in 1959 amid a failed uprising against Chinese rule. In recent years he has been trying to engage Beijing in negotiations on a potential return.
The 1989 Nobel Peace laureate has agreed to end activities aimed at establishing Tibet's independence, but he has requested that Beijing allow greater autonomy to the Himalayan region, especially in efforts to preserve Tibet's unique culture and religion.
Reporting of farmland seizures outlawed
JOSEPHINE MA in Beijing
Beijing has ordered a ban on news reports of farmland seizures as it seeks to further tighten control of the media.
In a new sign of a crackdown against dissent, editors have also been told not to report on outspoken economist Mao Yushi or the Unirule Institute of Economics, co-founded by Professor Mao and other economists.
Sources said the publicity department had told media organisations that they should not report cases of farmland acquisition by local officials.
The move is a major departure after the pledge by the authorities to protect farmers' land rights was publicised last year, ensuring headlines for any illegal seizures.
But farmland seizures have become widespread and increasingly sensitive, driving hundreds of thousands of farmers to petition and protest against the government.
Many rural experts and officials have warned that the land rights issue could become a major destabilising force as farmers increasingly take drastic action after being deprived of their land.
Mainland officials have admitted that land seizures are the most common cause of rural protests at government offices.
It is understood the news blackout also covers websites specialising in exposing corruption and irregularities by local officials. They are not allowed to follow up on land-seizure cases they have been covering.
In a related move, Professor Mao, a former visiting fellow of Harvard and a prominent economist, has been blacklisted by the propaganda department.
He said yesterday the ban on news reports about him represented the attitude of the new leadership towards liberal voices.
The 75-year-old is a staunch supporter of a free-market economy. Despite holding differing views from mainstream economists, he has been quoted frequently by mainland media on economic issues.
Professor Mao said a book of his had been banned in August.
Asked if the tightened grip on freedom of expression was only a temporary phenomenon during the transition of power, Professor Mao said he believed the move represented the new leadership's style of governance.
"There are more and more areas which are out of their control and they can do little about. But in the areas they can control, they will increase control."
He said the media ban on the 11-year-old Unirule Institute of Economics not only targeted him but also the views and activities of the institute.
Professor Mao said at least two conferences and a training course organised by the institute had been banned by the authorities since May, including a conference and training course on institutional economics.
Li Peng recalls his nuclear odyssey
NAILENE CHOU WIEST in Beijing
When the mainland announced a year ago that it planned a five-fold increase in its nuclear power capacity before 2020, it caught the attention of the sector's global giants.
For former premier Li Peng the policy shift vindicated his advocacy, over more than two decades, of nuclear power to help meet the nation's energy needs.
Mr Li, a Soviet-trained engineer, was involved in China's emerging nuclear power industry as minister of electric power, vice-premier, premier and chairman of the National People's Congress.
His newly released book, From Start-up to Development: Li Peng's Diary on Nuclear Power, offers a detailed account of his involvement in the country's nuclear development.
The book, which hit the stores last week, shows Beijing was always conscious of the link between foreign relations and economic interest in awarding major contracts to foreign companies.
French firms enjoyed a lead over other foreign competitors through their persistent and patient courtship of China.
In the book, Mr Li recalls his visits to French nuclear power plants in 1963 and in 1972, years before Deng Xiaoping gave approval for diversification of energy sources.
The protracted negotiations over building the Daya Bay nuclear plant in Guangdong in the early 1980s are described in detail.
Mr Li also tells of the lesson he learned in pushing ahead with the Daya Bay project despite strong opposition from the Hong Kong public.
Faced with strong objections in the city for most of 1986, Beijing sought to ease public fears by persuading anti-nuclear petitioners of the safety of nuclear energy while refusing to budge on the decision.
He says the experience taught him that stability in Hong Kong must be maintained, and that the mainland could not be "jostled" by petitioners.
Mr Li generally refrains from passing judgment on the officials and business people he came into contact with.
But he cannot resist describing the exchanges between Deng and Armand Hammer in 1984, during a meeting over a joint venture to develop an open-pit mine in Shanxi , when the 85-year-old chairman of Occidental Petroleum asked Deng to lend two pandas for the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
In a later exchange with Mr Li, Hammer asked him why the Soviets spent so much money on armaments and so little on improving people's lives.
Mr Li replied that the Soviets were playing the hegemony game, which was also being played by the Americans.
Mr Li has no qualms in telling readers that he still wields considerable influence in the power sector despite having retired from all his official positions in March last year.
He is kept informed of the operations of major nuclear power plants. Making his 15th visit to the Daya Bay plant this year, he said he enjoyed basking in the media limelight.
Mr Li also relishes the fact that Premier Wen Jiabao consulted him on importing nuclear technology as foreign companies were queuing up to bid for contracts.
Tokyo mulls over pre-emptive strikes
Teruaki Ueno
Japan should consider steps to alter its purely defensive security policy, including acquiring the capability to carry out pre-emptive strikes, an advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi argues.
Recommendations by the panel of academics and business leaders will serve as a basis for a sweeping defence review that the government plans to complete by the end of the year.
"Japan wants to build a defence structure that will respond dynamically and flexibly to various threats,'' Koizumi said after receiving the report on Monday.
The advisers said Japan should study whether to develop the capability to strike at missile bases when it has no other means to counter missile attacks - a position that is likely to anger China and North Korea in particular.
"A comprehensive judgment should be made after carefully verifying the effectiveness of a deterrent from the United States and the credibility of a missile defence system,'' they said.
In a sign of the sensitivity of the subject, they avoided the term "pre-emptive strike''. And there was a clear message that Japan should not change its ban on having nuclear arms.
But the 10-member panel did recommend that a relaxation of a decades-old self-imposed ban on arms exports to the United States and possibly other countries, which analysts noted would be a drastic departure from the policy of past governments and the principles of the pacificist constitution.
"The report makes bold suggestions on issues that were strictly taboo for a long time,'' said Tetsuo Maeda, professor of international relations at Tokyo International University.
A review of the ban would be needed if Japan, nervous about North Korea, were to produce a missile defence system with the US. North Korea shocked the world in 1998 when it fired a missile across Japan, and experts think it has up to 200 "Rodong'' missiles that could reach most of the country, including Tokyo.
"We must relax the ban on weapons exports, at least to the United States,'' the advisers said.
Japan has been conducting research with Washington on developing a missile defence shield, but has stopped short of moving the project to the development stage for fear of angering China, which sees the system as a way of keeping its military capabilities in check.
The report noted that the region, home to nuclear powers Russia and China as well as communist North Korea, has several potential security flashpoints. But the advisers refrained from singling out China as a threat, despite suggestions they might. "China, by definition, is not a threat,'' an official said in a briefing on the report.
The advisers also warned against any move to go nuclear, although experts think Japan has the technology to become a nuclear power. "Japan's own security efforts must work effectively for the defence of Japan and they must not pose a threat to other countries, and Japan must not possess nuclear weapons,'' the report said.
It was proposed that Japan review its post-war policy of developing and making weapons strictly on its own, paving the way for joint production of weaponry with other countries.
The advisers also said Japan should make clear whether it would abandon its self-imposed ban on exercising the right of "collective defence'' - aiding allies who come under attack - to enable greater military participation in global security. Successive governments in Tokyo have interpreted the post-war 1947 constitution as forbidding acts of "collective defence''.
US to delay troop cuts in S Korea
Agence France-Presse
October 5, 2004
A South Korean protester burns a North Korean flag in protest against Seoul's plan to declassify the North as an anti-national group. - REUTERS
The United States is said to have agreed to delay a deadline for troop reductions in South Korea until 2008 at the request of the Seoul government.
The deadline was pushed back by three years under a deal to be announced this week, Seoul's Yonhap news agency reported.
The US planned to withdraw 12,500 troops - a third of its strength in South Korea - by next year.
President George W Bush announced last month that up to 70,000 US troops would eventually leave Europe and Asia in a move related to the "war on terror'' and new threats.
American military authorities also agreed to scrap a plan to withdraw multiple launch rocket system units from the border with North Korea under the deal. These units are designed to trace and hit at North Korea's heavy artillery, which have Seoul within range.
Park Jin of the opposition Grand National Party cited a report by the state's Korea Institute for Defence Analysis as saying that the North's artillery could devastate Seoul.
"If North Korea's long-range artillery are fired, some 25,000 shells per hour would rain down and destroy one third of Seoul within one hour,'' Park said. The city would fall within 15 days if the South attempted to fight without support from the US military, he said.
China urges Israel to end Gaza offensive
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Beijing
Updated at 1.01pm:
The mainland on Monday “strongly urged” Israel to end military operations in the Gaza Strip - where dozens have been killed in a new offensive.
Foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan pointed to the high number of civilian casualties among the 69 dead and called for a halt to the operation to stem rising tensions.
“We express our serious concern about the latest bloody clashes between Israelis and Palestinians, which have caused many civilian casualties among the Palestinians,” Mr Kong said in a statement posted on the ministry’s website.
“We strongly urge Israel to stop its military operations in order to avoid further escalation in the tense situation in the region.”
The Israeli army launched the operation in northern Gaza late Tuesday which escalated a day later after a Palestinian rocket attack killed two children in the southern Israeli town of Sderot.
All but three of the dead are Palestinians.
The violence has been widely condemned and even Israeli ally the United States has expressed regret over the civilian casualties, calling for Israel to use only “proportional force.”
Sushi from Sri Lanka
TOKYO, MUTSUKO MURAKAMI
Many tourists arrive in Japan, anxious to enjoy the traditional cuisine of sushi in the country of its origin. Decent sushi is never available abroad. Red maguro (tuna), succulent sea urchin, delicate squid slices and plump shrimp sit elegantly on vinegar rice. This is the taste of real Japan, you may think. But more often than not, chances are the seafood came from distant seas, particularly if you are eating sushi at the popular kaiten (rotating) sushi bars.
Tuna often hails from New Zealand or Sri Lanka, while sea urchin is sourced from Canada or Chile. Shrimp is from Vietnam, salmon from Norway and sea bream from Panama. After all, 50 per cent of marine products consumed in Japan is imported.
Japan is the top marine food importer in the world, purchasing 3.3 million tonnes last year. The imports are cheaper and more accessible to informal, casual kaiten boasting lower prices than classy sushi bars. (Local fastidious epicures would choose "near-sea" fish in season, although the bill can be double or triple.) It is yet only a small slice of a significant issue for Japan, where the "food self-sufficiency ratio" continues to drop - a measure showing how much of the food eaten in the country is domestically produced. The ratio was 79 per cent in 1960 when the government began taking such statistics.
But it is now 40 per cent, unchanged for the sixth straight year. As affluency grew, the diet moved from the traditional to a wider menu, of grains, meat and fish from abroad as well as oil, ingredients and other processed food. As a result, Japan is at the bottom in independence in food supply, among industrialised nations - 29th among 30 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member nations in 2001. Except for rice, Japan relies on imports for 72 per cent of grain consumption, including feed. Particularly worrying is that Japan produces only 14 per cent of wheat consumed, 6 per cent of beans eaten on its own - the two other main diet staples. If the food inflow is disrupted, many are concerned Japan will be short of beans to make tofu and miso or wheat for bread or noodles.
Alarmed by the falling ratios, the government in 2000 set a target to raise the supply to 45 per cent by 2010. But there are few signs of success. Rising imports are driving local farmers into tougher competition and the government to more protective policies, the reverse trend to free trade initiatives. Agriculture ministry officials are quickly reviewing the target rate for drawing up a new plan before March. But how can you control the appetite of consumers in the age of gluttony? There seems to be no way of stopping a trend that is already visible also in China.
Washington retreating from UN accords and legal system
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Washington
Despite its pledges to stay engaged with the world, the United States is gradually retreating from the UN-sponsored system of international law.
A study reveals the US has only ratified about 29 per cent of existing multilateral agreements.
The report, unveiled by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy - a farmers' lobbying group - on the eve of today's foreign policy debate between President George W Bush and his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, found "a steady decline" in the US government's support for multilateral accords, particularly those covering human and labour rights and security issues.
"This retreat from the UN system makes it much harder for the Bush administration to lead at the international level," said Kristin Dawkins, a vice-president of the institute. "It has set a dangerous precedent that other countries could follow in areas such as arms trade and nuclear weapons."
The widely publicised decisions by Mr Bush to withdraw US support from the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, abandon the US-Russian Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty and shun the International Criminal Court are just the latest manifestations of a sceptical attitude in Washington towards international law, the report pointed out.
Over the years, the US has ratified only 14 out of 162 "active treaties" put together by the International Labour Organisation and only two of the eight "core" UN conventions protecting the rights of workers, according to the study.
It has approved just three of 11 major environmental treaties and five out of the 12 human rights treaties promoted by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Other international accords shunned by the US include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which has been approved by 178 other countries, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Many American voters are unaware of these positions. A recent survey by the University of Maryland found that 69 per cent of them thought the US was a party to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, while 66 per cent believed Washington participated in the International Criminal Court.
Kyoto saved, but will it save the Earth?
ANALYSIS by REUTERS in Moscow
President Vladimir Putin's decision yesterday to ask Russia's parliament to ratify the Kyoto Protocol should belatedly allow the environmental treaty to come into force - but it is far from saving the world from climatic catastrophe, experts said.
While Mr Putin, who once joked that the chilly regions of Russia could benefit from global warming, basks in the praise of environmentalists, climate experts said that even with the treaty in place the world had barely started to tackle climate change.
Scientists said a reduction of at least 70 per cent of greenhouse emissions over this century was necessary to curb the worst effects of climate change, which could include rising sea levels, flooding and more frequent chaotic weather events such as hurricanes. The pact requires developed countries to reduce greenhouse emissions by 5.2 per cent of 1990 levels by the period 2008-2012.
But without the United States - which withdrew in 2001 - and with loopholes designed to entice Russia and Japan into ratifying, Kyoto might ultimately only cut emissions by as little as 1 per cent, some analysts said.
"The 5 per cent reduction was a baby step; this is an even more baby step," said Greenpeace's Steve Sawyer.
Despite that, environmentalists are still delighted at the prospect of Russian ratification.
It will mean that nations accounting for over 55 per cent of developed countries' carbon-dioxide emissions are on board - the last requirement for the treaty to become binding.
"I hope other nations will now join us in this truly global endeavour," said Klaus Toepfer, head of the United Nations Environment Programme, with a nod to Australia and perhaps the US.
The Australian general election next week pits an anti-Kyoto government against a pro-Kyoto opposition.
In the US, Democratic challenger John Kerry has said Washington should take a lead in confronting global warming, although he also said it was too late to sign up for Kyoto, which runs until 2012 and which the incumbent President George W. Bush withdrew from.
Kyoto's supporters said the Russian decision would also galvanise support for sometimes painful and costly emission reduction measures in countries that were starting to waver.
Loyola de Palacio, head of transport and energy policy at the European Commission - which fought to keep Kyoto afloat after Mr Bush's pullout - said last week the EU should rethink its own climate policy if Russia did not ratify it.
The EU is set to launch the world's first international greenhouse gas emissions trading system in January, allowing countries and firms that cannot reach their targets to buy "credits" from neighbours that have made greater cuts.
Russia, which will have a surplus of credits due to the collapse of much of its Soviet-era industry since 1990, will be a net seller. The emissions trading data firm Point Carbon said Russia could make US$10 billion in this way by 2012.
"The United States is in a difficult position because they don't like to sit at the back of the room and have no influence," said Dirk Forrister, a former US official.
Law puts generals out of business but they retain some key powers in Indonesia
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Jakarta
Indonesia's parliament yesterday approved a landmark law on the military that allows the top brass to retain some of their powers but forces them to surrender their widespread business enterprises within five years.
The bill, aimed at defining the role of the military after the downfall of former dictator Suharto in 1998, was seen as a compromise between the demands of rights groups that want the military under total civilian control and those of generals keen to keep their privileges.
The wide-ranging legislation also gives the military an undefined role in "overcoming terrorist acts" in the world's most populous Muslim nation as it struggles against al-Qaeda-linked terror groups.
"This law fulfills demands for military reforms," said legislator Ibrahim Ambong, chairman of the parliament commission that drafted the bill. "The public fears that reforms stalled were baseless."
Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno welcomed the new law. "It is good that the military now has the legislative umbrella to conduct its functions," he said.
The law, which was watered down after months of complaints by rights activists, states that only the president has the power to declare war, but stops short of putting the military under the authority of the civilian-run Defence Department.
Earlier drafts of the law stated the military chief could declare war under exceptional circumstances.
The new law bars serving soldiers from involvement in politics but allows them to hold positions in the civilian bureaucracy if the "position requires military skills".
"It is the first step [toward full civilian control] but definitely not the final one," said Munarman, from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation. "There are still many loopholes where the military could wrestle back power. We have to be careful." Munarman goes by a single name.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a former general who takes over the country's presidency on October 20, has said he would back moves to reform the military.
US push on human rights divides parties
KHANG HYUN-SUNG
There has been a mixed reaction in South Korea to the US Senate's approval of a bill designed to pressure North Korea into improving its record on human rights.
The leader of South Korea's ruling Uri Party warned that the North Korea Human Rights Act 2004 could backfire and severely damage inter-Korean relations.
"It is very desirable to improve human rights conditions in North Korea, but we are compelled to consider the adverse impact the law may have on our economy if inter-Korean relations worsen," South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted Lee Bu-Young as saying.
Following similar legislation passed by the House of Representatives in July, the Senate unanimously approved spending of up to US$24 million a year over the next four years to improve human rights in North Korea.
The money would be used to fund non-governmental organisations working for improved human rights in the North, expand radio broadcasts to the communist country and support North Korean defectors in third countries. It would also make it easier for North Korean refugees to apply for immigration to the United States.
The Uri Party believes the legislation could upset Seoul's pursuit of quiet diplomacy in its dealings with Pyongyang. The international community is currently locked in a standoff with North Korea over its suspected nuclear weapons programme.
"We must think about whether the issue has to be addressed just now because we have to worry about the overall relationship between the North and South," Mr Lee said.
But in a reflection of the political divide over how to deal with the North, the opposition conservative Grand National Party has accused the government and ruling party of sacrificing the human rights of North Koreans for talks.
"The ruling party's attempt to challenge the [US] bill is equivalent to their pursuit of inter-Korean dialogue at the cost of North Korean human rights," party spokeswoman Jun Yeo-ok said.
Fears for gorge as dam work begins
LEU SIEW YING in Guangzhou
Work has started on a hydropower project in Yunnan that will destroy one of the world's most spectacular gorges but the project has yet to be approved by the provincial and central governments.
The decision by the government in Lijiang has upset residents and tourists.
"They are digging holes everywhere and setting off explosives every day. The environment is already damaged with muddy water seeping out of the holes and uprooted trees," said one inn keeper in the area.
"It has not affected our business yet but many tourists are against the building of the dam."
Tiger Leaping Gorge, which spans more than 16km, lies in the Three Parallel Rivers area where the Jinsha, Nu and Lancang rivers cut deep parallel gorges. The area was listed as a World Heritage site last year.
Wang Shenming , a tourist from Hangzhou on his third hiking trip to the gorge, said he saw workers blasting the mountain in January.
"This is not a good thing. This trail is very popular among hikers. The scenery is spectacular. We hope it can be preserved forever," said Mr Wang, who gave up running a travel agency business to develop environmentally friendly resorts.
"The local people are against the dam and the tourists also but we do not know where to go to complain."
A Lijiang Environment Bureau official said the local government had approved the hydropower project, which will produce 2.5 million kW of power and double Lijiang's income to 400 million yuan a year.
An official in charge of planning said work to bring water, electricity and roads to the project site as well as ground levelling began last year and work on diverting the Jinsha river was scheduled for 2005/06.
The Guangzhou-based Nanfang Weekly said the project was awaiting approval by the Yunnan and central governments. They could not be contacted for comment.
The report quoted a Three Parallel Rivers management bureau official as saying the World Heritage site did not cover Tiger Leaping Gorge.
"We deliberately excluded this area so that we can construct the dam," he was quoted as saying.
Envoys seek talks for Dalai Lama and Beijing
REUTERS in Beijing
Envoys of the Dalai Lama are in Beijing to bring about what they hope will become full-blown negotiations between the central government and Tibet's spiritual leader, according to Thubten Samphel, a spokesman of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Lodi Gyari, a US-based representative of the Dalai Lama, and three colleagues have been on the mainland since September 12 on a third, secrecy-shrouded visit by envoys in just more than two years to discuss the future of the Himalayan region.
The Foreign Ministry confirmed four days after their arrival that they were visiting the mainland, and said it hoped they would take a positive message back to the spiritual leader.
Mr Samphel, speaking from his base in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala, did not say who the envoys had visited or what they discussed. He said he hoped Beijing's leaders, especially President and Communist Party chief Hu Jintao , would choose to engage soon.
Mr Hu presided over Tibet from 1988 to 1992 as party chief.
"Since he has first-hand experience in Tibet, our hope is that he will have a genuine appreciation of the concerns of the Tibetan people," Mr Samphel said.
Kate Saunders, a British-based specialist on Tibet, highlighted the significance of the current visit by Mr Gyari compared with the previous two.
"This visit is a critical one... [Mr Gyari] bears the weight of history on his shoulders right now," she said. "The last two visits were very much about confidence-building, and for this visit there are hopes that there may be something more substantial."
The Dalai Lama, who fled to Dharamsala in 1959, says he does not seek independence for Tibet, only greater autonomy. Beijing allowed a human rights delegation from the European Union to visit Tibet from September 20 to 23.
