Confusion likely over new civil service law
scmp - Wednesday, December 29, 2004
SHI JIANGTAO
A draft law recognising Communist Party officials as civil servants, ending a decade-old argument over the issue, may create a new legal grey area, experts say.
The legislation might cause confusion among party members, who are subject to party regulations, a scholar from the China University of Politics and Law said.
Professor Liu Junsheng said the legislation would cover most party officials, from state leaders to grassroots party organisation staff, with the exception of those in state-owned enterprises and institutions.
"Party officials will be subject to two completely different set of rules: one is the legislation and the other is the party's constitution and internal regulations," he said.
Professor Liu said an urgent task would be to co-ordinate the new law and previous party regulations, likely to contradict each other over appointments and promotions.
He questioned an attempt to bring judges and prosecutors under the jurisdiction of the draft law.
"The draft says civil servants shall not oppose decisions and orders by their superiors. But judges do not have such an obligation according to the current law on judges," Professor Liu said. "It is an obvious contradiction which seems to have been overlooked."
His concerns were shared by a senior legal scholar from Peking University.
"It is unnecessary to define all those who are on government payrolls as civil servants," Jiang Mingan said. "It may be viewed by some as a step forward in strengthening the legal system, but in my view it could be a backward step, especially the proposal of applying the law to judges and prosecutors.
"About 70 to 80 per cent of the content of the civil service law is not applicable to judges. The move will not be conducive to [the promotion of] the professionalism, independence and impartiality of the judicial system."
Professor Jiang participated in the drafting of the current regulation on civil servants adopted in 1993. The draft law is being examined by the National People's Congress Standing Committee at a session scheduled to close today.
SHI JIANGTAO
A draft law recognising Communist Party officials as civil servants, ending a decade-old argument over the issue, may create a new legal grey area, experts say.
The legislation might cause confusion among party members, who are subject to party regulations, a scholar from the China University of Politics and Law said.
Professor Liu Junsheng said the legislation would cover most party officials, from state leaders to grassroots party organisation staff, with the exception of those in state-owned enterprises and institutions.
"Party officials will be subject to two completely different set of rules: one is the legislation and the other is the party's constitution and internal regulations," he said.
Professor Liu said an urgent task would be to co-ordinate the new law and previous party regulations, likely to contradict each other over appointments and promotions.
He questioned an attempt to bring judges and prosecutors under the jurisdiction of the draft law.
"The draft says civil servants shall not oppose decisions and orders by their superiors. But judges do not have such an obligation according to the current law on judges," Professor Liu said. "It is an obvious contradiction which seems to have been overlooked."
His concerns were shared by a senior legal scholar from Peking University.
"It is unnecessary to define all those who are on government payrolls as civil servants," Jiang Mingan said. "It may be viewed by some as a step forward in strengthening the legal system, but in my view it could be a backward step, especially the proposal of applying the law to judges and prosecutors.
"About 70 to 80 per cent of the content of the civil service law is not applicable to judges. The move will not be conducive to [the promotion of] the professionalism, independence and impartiality of the judicial system."
Professor Jiang participated in the drafting of the current regulation on civil servants adopted in 1993. The draft law is being examined by the National People's Congress Standing Committee at a session scheduled to close today.
Jiang Zemin to resign from last government post
scmp - Wednesday, December 29, 2004
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Beijing
Updated at 4.50pm:
China’s Former President Jiang Zemin will step down from his last remaining government post in March, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Mr Jiang, who holds the largely symbolic title of chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China, has asked for permission to resign at the next meeting of the nation’s legislature, the agency said.
The move was expected, and the legislature will almost definitely endorse it.
Mr Jiang, 78, already stepped down from his more powerful position as chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China in September. Chinese President Hu Jintao took over the post.
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Beijing
Updated at 4.50pm:
China’s Former President Jiang Zemin will step down from his last remaining government post in March, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Mr Jiang, who holds the largely symbolic title of chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China, has asked for permission to resign at the next meeting of the nation’s legislature, the agency said.
The move was expected, and the legislature will almost definitely endorse it.
Mr Jiang, 78, already stepped down from his more powerful position as chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China in September. Chinese President Hu Jintao took over the post.
Anti-secession law to be submitted to full parliament in March
scmp - Wednesday, December 29, 2004
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Beijing
Updated at 4.54pm:
A proposed Chinese anti-secession law aimed at preventing Taiwan from declaring formal independence will be submitted to the full parliamentary session in March, state media said on Wednesday.
The decision was made public at the end of a five-day meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), or parliament, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The annual full meeting of the NPC, gathering about 3,000 legislators from across China in Beijing every March, is widely considered a rubber-stamp parliament with little real debate.
China sees Taiwan, an island off its southeastern coast, as part of its territory even though it broke with the mainland in 1949 after a civil war.
Beijing frequently warns it will use military force to prevent Taiwan declaring formal independence.
Chinese political analysts have said the proposed law could make it illegal for Taiwan to declare independence and might create more leeway for Beijing to take the island by force or pressure it to accept reunification.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Beijing
Updated at 4.54pm:
A proposed Chinese anti-secession law aimed at preventing Taiwan from declaring formal independence will be submitted to the full parliamentary session in March, state media said on Wednesday.
The decision was made public at the end of a five-day meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), or parliament, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The annual full meeting of the NPC, gathering about 3,000 legislators from across China in Beijing every March, is widely considered a rubber-stamp parliament with little real debate.
China sees Taiwan, an island off its southeastern coast, as part of its territory even though it broke with the mainland in 1949 after a civil war.
Beijing frequently warns it will use military force to prevent Taiwan declaring formal independence.
Chinese political analysts have said the proposed law could make it illegal for Taiwan to declare independence and might create more leeway for Beijing to take the island by force or pressure it to accept reunification.
Jury is still out on mainland court reforms
scmp - Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Trial by jury is widely regarded as a fundamental requirement for the fair and objective consideration of certain court cases. The mainland's bid to strengthen its very limited jury system is therefore a positive move.
But the way in which the jurors will operate will be different from their counterparts in common law jurisdictions such as Hong Kong. It remains to be seen whether the reforms will achieve the declared aim of making mainland courts less corrupt and more independent.
The jurors, otherwise known as assessors, are to sit alongside judges and contribute to the findings of the court. They will be used in important civil and administrative law cases, as well as criminal trials.
Assessors have been used as part of the mainland's system for many years. But they have played a minor role and in parts of the mainland they are hardly used at all. The stepping-up of their duties and status is part of wider reforms intended to make the dispensing of justice more professional, efficient and independent.
The presence of a number of jurors in court - instead of just a judge - could act as an important safeguard against corruption. It is also possible that the new scheme, which is to begin next year, will bring about greater public involvement in court decisions and therefore allow litigants and defendants to feel that they are being tried by their peers.
Rather than being picked at random, the jurors will be elected and must meet certain standards. They will effectively become "professional" jurors, serving a five-year term. Candidates must have had at least two years of university education and will receive special training.
Critics of the jury system in countries where it is well established may envy such arrangements. In the west, concerns are often raised that jurors fail to understand the more difficult cases and sometimes return perverse verdicts.
But the value of bringing members of the public into the decision-making process in court cannot be overstated. It is especially important in serious criminal cases, as it helps to ensure a fair trial.
Whether the mainland system will work in this way remains in doubt. Much will depend on the election process and the extent to which the jurors are - in practice - able to influence the outcome of court proceedings.
The five-year term will enable them to gain experience and hopefully become expert legal decision-makers. But their full-time role and payment by the court means they will effectively become part of the establishment. This will make it less easy for them to act independently and as a voice of the people.
Other reforms in the pipeline are perhaps more important, including efforts to make the judges more professional and impartial. But the strengthening of even a limited jury system is a move in the right direction.
Trial by jury is widely regarded as a fundamental requirement for the fair and objective consideration of certain court cases. The mainland's bid to strengthen its very limited jury system is therefore a positive move.
But the way in which the jurors will operate will be different from their counterparts in common law jurisdictions such as Hong Kong. It remains to be seen whether the reforms will achieve the declared aim of making mainland courts less corrupt and more independent.
The jurors, otherwise known as assessors, are to sit alongside judges and contribute to the findings of the court. They will be used in important civil and administrative law cases, as well as criminal trials.
Assessors have been used as part of the mainland's system for many years. But they have played a minor role and in parts of the mainland they are hardly used at all. The stepping-up of their duties and status is part of wider reforms intended to make the dispensing of justice more professional, efficient and independent.
The presence of a number of jurors in court - instead of just a judge - could act as an important safeguard against corruption. It is also possible that the new scheme, which is to begin next year, will bring about greater public involvement in court decisions and therefore allow litigants and defendants to feel that they are being tried by their peers.
Rather than being picked at random, the jurors will be elected and must meet certain standards. They will effectively become "professional" jurors, serving a five-year term. Candidates must have had at least two years of university education and will receive special training.
Critics of the jury system in countries where it is well established may envy such arrangements. In the west, concerns are often raised that jurors fail to understand the more difficult cases and sometimes return perverse verdicts.
But the value of bringing members of the public into the decision-making process in court cannot be overstated. It is especially important in serious criminal cases, as it helps to ensure a fair trial.
Whether the mainland system will work in this way remains in doubt. Much will depend on the election process and the extent to which the jurors are - in practice - able to influence the outcome of court proceedings.
The five-year term will enable them to gain experience and hopefully become expert legal decision-makers. But their full-time role and payment by the court means they will effectively become part of the establishment. This will make it less easy for them to act independently and as a voice of the people.
Other reforms in the pipeline are perhaps more important, including efforts to make the judges more professional and impartial. But the strengthening of even a limited jury system is a move in the right direction.
New rules offer little comfort to religious groups
scmp - Tuesday, December 21, 2004
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Beijing
Analysts warned yesterday that Beijing's new rules on religious affairs could signal a tougher time for underground churches and groups not officially sanctioned.
The regulations, to take effect on March 1, were made public on Sunday by official media, which said they were aimed at safeguarding religious freedom and human rights.
But the rules, which protect only the legal rights of state-sanctioned religious groups, meant non-state-sanctioned ones such as Christian house churches or other religious sects would be worse off, according to analysts.
Chan Kim-kwong, an expert on mainland affairs at the Hong Kong Christian Council, said the clearer regulations meant there would be less room for manoeuvre for groups not registered with the state. "For those which are not registered, the Chinese government's dismissal of them in terms of banning or punishment will be stepped up," he said.
"These groups will have even less room for survival. When the grey areas have gone, if you're not registered, you won't be in the game any more."
China, largely atheist, officially sanctions five religious groups: Protestant and Catholic Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Taoism.
Worship is only allowed in state-sanctioned churches and temples, and authorities regularly crack down on groups outside the government's control, shutting underground house churches and arresting practitioners.
The new regulations clarify the areas of supervisory responsibility of various government departments and the sorts of religious activities, projects and publications that come under state control.
Nicolas Becquelin, research director of Human Rights in China, said it indicated a stepping up of the supervision of religion.
"We're still talking about a socialist atheist state with the dominant ideology that religion is a bad thing," he said. "But over the past 20 years the state has moved from trying to stamp out religion to trying to manage it."
He noted that the rules still required religious groups to register with the state - a de facto approval process which has barred myriad groups from being recognised as legal religious entities.
Mr Becquelin also noted that citizens who violated state administrative regulations could be detained for up to four years under the "re-education through labour" system without having gone through a court trial.
"What China has to do is to grant real rights to people without pre-conditional approval," he said.
But analysts said the news was not bad for all religious groups, especially those sanctioned by the state.
Anthony Lam, a Hong Kong-based Catholic academic, cited a rule which specifies that government agents who abuse their powers when handling religious groups would face prosecution.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Beijing
Analysts warned yesterday that Beijing's new rules on religious affairs could signal a tougher time for underground churches and groups not officially sanctioned.
The regulations, to take effect on March 1, were made public on Sunday by official media, which said they were aimed at safeguarding religious freedom and human rights.
But the rules, which protect only the legal rights of state-sanctioned religious groups, meant non-state-sanctioned ones such as Christian house churches or other religious sects would be worse off, according to analysts.
Chan Kim-kwong, an expert on mainland affairs at the Hong Kong Christian Council, said the clearer regulations meant there would be less room for manoeuvre for groups not registered with the state. "For those which are not registered, the Chinese government's dismissal of them in terms of banning or punishment will be stepped up," he said.
"These groups will have even less room for survival. When the grey areas have gone, if you're not registered, you won't be in the game any more."
China, largely atheist, officially sanctions five religious groups: Protestant and Catholic Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Taoism.
Worship is only allowed in state-sanctioned churches and temples, and authorities regularly crack down on groups outside the government's control, shutting underground house churches and arresting practitioners.
The new regulations clarify the areas of supervisory responsibility of various government departments and the sorts of religious activities, projects and publications that come under state control.
Nicolas Becquelin, research director of Human Rights in China, said it indicated a stepping up of the supervision of religion.
"We're still talking about a socialist atheist state with the dominant ideology that religion is a bad thing," he said. "But over the past 20 years the state has moved from trying to stamp out religion to trying to manage it."
He noted that the rules still required religious groups to register with the state - a de facto approval process which has barred myriad groups from being recognised as legal religious entities.
Mr Becquelin also noted that citizens who violated state administrative regulations could be detained for up to four years under the "re-education through labour" system without having gone through a court trial.
"What China has to do is to grant real rights to people without pre-conditional approval," he said.
But analysts said the news was not bad for all religious groups, especially those sanctioned by the state.
Anthony Lam, a Hong Kong-based Catholic academic, cited a rule which specifies that government agents who abuse their powers when handling religious groups would face prosecution.
Guidelines set for new jury system
scmp - Tuesday, December 21, 2004
JANE CAI
Top judicial authorities have issued a set of guidelines to govern the revised jury system in an attempt to raise sentencing standards and root out corruption in the mainland's courts.
The Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Justice issued the standards to support legislative reforms to the decades-old "people's assessor" system announced in August.
The assessors act similar to juries in some western courts - they review evidence, hear testimony and listen to counsels' arguments - and were introduced in the 1950s to give the public a voice in the process.
Appointments of assessors, their training and performance evaluations will be handled by the courts and their parallel government legal administration departments.
Members of the public can either nominate themselves or be recommended for the job by their work unit. They must be at least 23 and have a minimum two years of college education.
Well-respected older people are excluded from the education requirement.
Local courts decide on the number of assessors and seek advice from local government legal administration departments on their shortlists.
Assessors will be appointed by local people's congress standing committees to a five-year term.
Successful candidates will be trained by local courts in a range of areas including the law, judicial principles and professional ethics. Courts will also evaluate the assessors on their performance, morals, work attitude and adherence to the rules.
Appointees found guilty of malpractice or making a wrong judgment face dismissal or punishment.
China University of Political Science and Law professor Gu Yongzhong said assessors would be selected to hear a case at random.
Defendants in criminal cases, plaintiffs in administrative cases, and both plaintiffs and defendants in civil cases can ask for assessors to sit in on their hearings.
"Assessors [can also play a role] in cases with a great social impact," Professor Gu said. "This is a great improvement."
Professor Gu said there were problems in the previous assessor system, with many of the appointees simply sitting in court and listening to the judges like "ornaments".
"Judges often appointed the assessors they liked to form a bench because there was little legal documentation governing this aspect," he said.
However, the judge - as head of the trial - retains the final say on the verdict under the new system.
But the assessors also have the option of conveying their views to the head of the court if they are not satisfied with the decision made by a judge.
JANE CAI
Top judicial authorities have issued a set of guidelines to govern the revised jury system in an attempt to raise sentencing standards and root out corruption in the mainland's courts.
The Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Justice issued the standards to support legislative reforms to the decades-old "people's assessor" system announced in August.
The assessors act similar to juries in some western courts - they review evidence, hear testimony and listen to counsels' arguments - and were introduced in the 1950s to give the public a voice in the process.
Appointments of assessors, their training and performance evaluations will be handled by the courts and their parallel government legal administration departments.
Members of the public can either nominate themselves or be recommended for the job by their work unit. They must be at least 23 and have a minimum two years of college education.
Well-respected older people are excluded from the education requirement.
Local courts decide on the number of assessors and seek advice from local government legal administration departments on their shortlists.
Assessors will be appointed by local people's congress standing committees to a five-year term.
Successful candidates will be trained by local courts in a range of areas including the law, judicial principles and professional ethics. Courts will also evaluate the assessors on their performance, morals, work attitude and adherence to the rules.
Appointees found guilty of malpractice or making a wrong judgment face dismissal or punishment.
China University of Political Science and Law professor Gu Yongzhong said assessors would be selected to hear a case at random.
Defendants in criminal cases, plaintiffs in administrative cases, and both plaintiffs and defendants in civil cases can ask for assessors to sit in on their hearings.
"Assessors [can also play a role] in cases with a great social impact," Professor Gu said. "This is a great improvement."
Professor Gu said there were problems in the previous assessor system, with many of the appointees simply sitting in court and listening to the judges like "ornaments".
"Judges often appointed the assessors they liked to form a bench because there was little legal documentation governing this aspect," he said.
However, the judge - as head of the trial - retains the final say on the verdict under the new system.
But the assessors also have the option of conveying their views to the head of the court if they are not satisfied with the decision made by a judge.
Beijing's strong reminder
scmp - Monday, December 20, 2004
CHRIS YEUNG
It may be merely coincidental, but the announcement on Friday of a plan to introduce an anti-secession law - less than a week after Taiwan's legislative election - reflects a lingering sense of crisis and disillusionment in Beijing over the island's pro-independence movement.
Clearly, the mainland is not prepared to take any chances with Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian and his dangerous cross-strait games.
Even though details of the bill, scheduled for scrutiny at the top level this month, are not yet available, it is for all intents and purposes a clear attempt to counter Mr Chen's plan to push for a new constitution via a referendum in 2006.
The central government views the constitutional change as a big step towards independence.
Indeed, the fact that an anti-secession bill looks set to go through the National People's Congress Standing Committee this month - roughly six months after a similar idea was floated publicly - speaks volumes about the depth of fears in Beijing over the growing political uncertainty in Taiwan.
During a visit to London in May, Premier Wen Jiabao was urged by a group of overseas Chinese to enact such a law in the face of the rampant growth of pro-independent activities on the island.
Mr Wen said: "Your views on unification of the motherland are very important. We will seriously consider it."
Fears of cross-strait tension have been fuelled since Mr Chen's victory in the presidential election in March. Most analysts had also expected the Democratic Progressive Party to gain a legislative majority in the December 11 election, giving a further boost to Mr Chen's reign.
But the result came as a blow to the DPP, and Mr Chen has quit as party chairman, taking responsibility for the setback.
However, the election has not changed the state of cross-strait relations. In broad terms, the island of 23 million people is still heading in the direction of separation, not reunification.
Over the past four years, the process of getting rid of any reference to the mainland has been quickened, with Mr Chen intensifying efforts to foster a sense of separate identity.
Mr Chen has also vowed to continue his campaign to get Taiwan accepted into the United Nations under its own name. He has said that he wants government-controlled enterprises to replace the name "China" with "Taiwan" in their titles.
Changes to the school curriculum, and the growing use of the Taiwanese language have been seen as part of a multi-dimensional attempt to promote a separate identity.
On the defence front, talks are under way concerning a multibillion-dollar weapons deal from the United States to beef up the island's military strength.
Instead of playing the game of "creeping independence", some analysts say that Mr Chen has changed tactics and accelerated the pace of seeking an independent, or quasi-independent, Taiwan.
It is against this background that Beijing and Washington both seem to have come to an understanding about their shared interest, and the importance of more efforts to stop the trend of independence. US President George W. Bush and his top aides have given veiled warnings to Mr Chen not to go too far.
The latest legislative move against secession is aimed at sending a clear and strong reminder to Taiwan, and countries including the US and Japan, about Beijing's zero-tolerance of Taiwan's pro-independence move.
It is only by doing so that the end-game of reunification will remain a possibility, albeit a very distant one.
Chris Yeung is the Post's editor-at-large.
CHRIS YEUNG
It may be merely coincidental, but the announcement on Friday of a plan to introduce an anti-secession law - less than a week after Taiwan's legislative election - reflects a lingering sense of crisis and disillusionment in Beijing over the island's pro-independence movement.
Clearly, the mainland is not prepared to take any chances with Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian and his dangerous cross-strait games.
Even though details of the bill, scheduled for scrutiny at the top level this month, are not yet available, it is for all intents and purposes a clear attempt to counter Mr Chen's plan to push for a new constitution via a referendum in 2006.
The central government views the constitutional change as a big step towards independence.
Indeed, the fact that an anti-secession bill looks set to go through the National People's Congress Standing Committee this month - roughly six months after a similar idea was floated publicly - speaks volumes about the depth of fears in Beijing over the growing political uncertainty in Taiwan.
During a visit to London in May, Premier Wen Jiabao was urged by a group of overseas Chinese to enact such a law in the face of the rampant growth of pro-independent activities on the island.
Mr Wen said: "Your views on unification of the motherland are very important. We will seriously consider it."
Fears of cross-strait tension have been fuelled since Mr Chen's victory in the presidential election in March. Most analysts had also expected the Democratic Progressive Party to gain a legislative majority in the December 11 election, giving a further boost to Mr Chen's reign.
But the result came as a blow to the DPP, and Mr Chen has quit as party chairman, taking responsibility for the setback.
However, the election has not changed the state of cross-strait relations. In broad terms, the island of 23 million people is still heading in the direction of separation, not reunification.
Over the past four years, the process of getting rid of any reference to the mainland has been quickened, with Mr Chen intensifying efforts to foster a sense of separate identity.
Mr Chen has also vowed to continue his campaign to get Taiwan accepted into the United Nations under its own name. He has said that he wants government-controlled enterprises to replace the name "China" with "Taiwan" in their titles.
Changes to the school curriculum, and the growing use of the Taiwanese language have been seen as part of a multi-dimensional attempt to promote a separate identity.
On the defence front, talks are under way concerning a multibillion-dollar weapons deal from the United States to beef up the island's military strength.
Instead of playing the game of "creeping independence", some analysts say that Mr Chen has changed tactics and accelerated the pace of seeking an independent, or quasi-independent, Taiwan.
It is against this background that Beijing and Washington both seem to have come to an understanding about their shared interest, and the importance of more efforts to stop the trend of independence. US President George W. Bush and his top aides have given veiled warnings to Mr Chen not to go too far.
The latest legislative move against secession is aimed at sending a clear and strong reminder to Taiwan, and countries including the US and Japan, about Beijing's zero-tolerance of Taiwan's pro-independence move.
It is only by doing so that the end-game of reunification will remain a possibility, albeit a very distant one.
Chris Yeung is the Post's editor-at-large.
Nursing schools antidote to poverty
scmp - Monday, December 20, 2004
SIMON MONTLAKE in Manila
As the Philippines struggles to plug a yawning deficit, one business sector is booming: private nursing schools.
More than 100 schools have opened this year, capitalising on demand for nursing diplomas that open doors to well-paying jobs in North American and European hospitals.
Schools are scrambling to recruit teachers with nursing backgrounds to cope with the deluge of applicants.
For the Philippines, which relies on cash remittances from overseas workers to prop up its economy, exporting nurses is a well-travelled route.
But what is new is the men and women queuing to study nursing: many are experienced doctors escaping from low-paying jobs. Others are accountants, engineers, managers and bankers.
For professionals, an overseas nursing job represents an escape route from a country that stumbles from economic crisis to economic crisis.
"Even if you are well educated and well trained, there's no economic activity to absorb doctors," said David Rico, a doctor who is studying nursing part-time.
"This is a fallback for me in case our economic situation goes from bad to worse."
The result is a brain drain that has left hospitals understaffed and piled pressure on health officials already struggling with a spending freeze.
The problem has attracted the government's attention - lawmakers have floated a plan to force newly qualified nurses to work in government hospitals for at least two years before they are allowed to go overseas. The bill has yet to reach Congress.
Economists say the gains of exporting overseas workers, who send home about US$8 billion annually, will not compensate for the medical brain drain at home and could hobble the economy.
"We already have serious shortages in our hospitals, and there are more opportunities to work overseas now in the medical services," said Alex Magno, an economist and informal adviser to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Hospital directors in Britain, who struggle to recruit nurses to jobs with low pay and long hours, are increasingly recruiting in Africa and Asia.
According to one study, the number of non-European nurses and midwives in Britain has risen more than tenfold in a decade.
Malou Ombac is a 37-year-old paediatrician who works in a private clinic in Manila. She cannot remember her last pay increase.
She has enrolled in a Sunday class and hopes to sit the nursing board exam next year. But she still shakes her head at the thought of giving up her practice to become a nurse.
"I used to think I'd be better off as a doctor, but it's getting worse."
SIMON MONTLAKE in Manila
As the Philippines struggles to plug a yawning deficit, one business sector is booming: private nursing schools.
More than 100 schools have opened this year, capitalising on demand for nursing diplomas that open doors to well-paying jobs in North American and European hospitals.
Schools are scrambling to recruit teachers with nursing backgrounds to cope with the deluge of applicants.
For the Philippines, which relies on cash remittances from overseas workers to prop up its economy, exporting nurses is a well-travelled route.
But what is new is the men and women queuing to study nursing: many are experienced doctors escaping from low-paying jobs. Others are accountants, engineers, managers and bankers.
For professionals, an overseas nursing job represents an escape route from a country that stumbles from economic crisis to economic crisis.
"Even if you are well educated and well trained, there's no economic activity to absorb doctors," said David Rico, a doctor who is studying nursing part-time.
"This is a fallback for me in case our economic situation goes from bad to worse."
The result is a brain drain that has left hospitals understaffed and piled pressure on health officials already struggling with a spending freeze.
The problem has attracted the government's attention - lawmakers have floated a plan to force newly qualified nurses to work in government hospitals for at least two years before they are allowed to go overseas. The bill has yet to reach Congress.
Economists say the gains of exporting overseas workers, who send home about US$8 billion annually, will not compensate for the medical brain drain at home and could hobble the economy.
"We already have serious shortages in our hospitals, and there are more opportunities to work overseas now in the medical services," said Alex Magno, an economist and informal adviser to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Hospital directors in Britain, who struggle to recruit nurses to jobs with low pay and long hours, are increasingly recruiting in Africa and Asia.
According to one study, the number of non-European nurses and midwives in Britain has risen more than tenfold in a decade.
Malou Ombac is a 37-year-old paediatrician who works in a private clinic in Manila. She cannot remember her last pay increase.
She has enrolled in a Sunday class and hopes to sit the nursing board exam next year. But she still shakes her head at the thought of giving up her practice to become a nurse.
"I used to think I'd be better off as a doctor, but it's getting worse."
Taiwan separatists face new weapon in anti-secession law
scmp - Monday, December 20, 2004
WANG XIANGWEI
Beijing's decision to enact anti-secession legislation signals a dramatic hardening of its stance towards Taiwan's independence movement, with more measures expected in the coming months.
The message is clear. After the law is enacted, Beijing will have legal measures allowing it to use military force against Taiwan if it believes the law has been violated.
The law is intended to serve as a powerful deterrent to Taiwanese independence activists who might call Beijing's bluff, believing it does not have the will or capability to win a war.
It will also allow President Hu Jintao to cement his position as commander in chief and rally popular support around his leadership, riding high on nationalistic sentiment.
Speculation among some analysts that Mr Hu is bowing to pressure from hawkish generals in the People's Liberation Army is misplaced. Indeed, the enactment of the law would earn him much respect, not only among the PLA rank and file but also ordinary mainland Chinese. No Chinese leader can afford to be seen as weak on national issues, particularly on such an emotionally charged subject as Taiwan's independence.
Details of the proposed law have remained under wraps, but they should be clear in the following areas.
The law is likely to state that its sole purpose is aimed at fighting Taiwanese independence, unlike the originally proposed "unification law" which had wider implications.
It is also likely to say that peaceful reunification still remains the priority.
But it will likely spell out clearly for the first time Beijing's bottom line on what constitutes independence for Taiwan and under what circumstances Beijing would resort to unconventional means to prevent it.
However, the law is unlikely to contain a framework for reunification with Taiwan, although some analysts have speculated that Beijing planned to reunite with Taiwan by 2020.
The law should be more easily accepted by the international community than the unification law, which had led to some concerns around the globe as it would have also covered Hong Kong, Macau and separatist activities in Tibet and Xinjiang .
Beijing officials have already made it clear that the anti-secession law will not apply to Hong Kong and Macau.
Moreover, the anti-secession law indicates that Beijing is more keen to check Taiwan's independence movement than seek reunification.
Mainland analysts have said the law will not merely be symbolic, as some have suggested. It could be an effective weapon against institutions such as the administration of Chen Shui-bian, and individuals such as Taiwan's former president Lee Teng-hui, who is seen by Beijing as the godfather of Taiwan's independence movement.
"Every time Lee makes a trip overseas, China lodges strong protests with host countries, but to no avail," one analyst said.
"But with the law, things could be different. Beijing could use the law to convene a special court to put Lee on trial by default for instigating Taiwan's independence and issue an international warrant for his arrest.
"That would make it extremely difficult for Lee or other hardline independence activists to go anywhere."
The United States has so far remained silent on the issue, saying it will not comment until after it has studied the legislation. But Washington is unlikely to make any strong comment as the law is purely domestic legislation that is most likely to reiterate existing policies. More importantly, Washington is in line with Beijing and is against independence for Taiwan.
Sources said Beijing looked set to launch several rounds of lobbying in foreign capitals to try to win support for the law. As mentioned in this column previously, Beijing will also soon launch a drive to promote and uphold traditional Chinese culture and values to rally support of mainland and overseas Chinese at a time when the Chen administration is trying to downplay its links with China and highlight Taiwan's identity. It will also step up efforts to win over the dozens of smaller countries that recognise Taiwan.
However, the hardening of Beijing's stance does not mean that the window of opportunity for genuine dialogue is becoming narrower or closing altogether, analysts believe.
From Beijing's point of view, genuine dialogue across the Taiwan Strait can only start after the mainland shows its determination and capability to crush the Taiwan independence movement and leave no room for false hopes or scepticism.
WANG XIANGWEI
Beijing's decision to enact anti-secession legislation signals a dramatic hardening of its stance towards Taiwan's independence movement, with more measures expected in the coming months.
The message is clear. After the law is enacted, Beijing will have legal measures allowing it to use military force against Taiwan if it believes the law has been violated.
The law is intended to serve as a powerful deterrent to Taiwanese independence activists who might call Beijing's bluff, believing it does not have the will or capability to win a war.
It will also allow President Hu Jintao to cement his position as commander in chief and rally popular support around his leadership, riding high on nationalistic sentiment.
Speculation among some analysts that Mr Hu is bowing to pressure from hawkish generals in the People's Liberation Army is misplaced. Indeed, the enactment of the law would earn him much respect, not only among the PLA rank and file but also ordinary mainland Chinese. No Chinese leader can afford to be seen as weak on national issues, particularly on such an emotionally charged subject as Taiwan's independence.
Details of the proposed law have remained under wraps, but they should be clear in the following areas.
The law is likely to state that its sole purpose is aimed at fighting Taiwanese independence, unlike the originally proposed "unification law" which had wider implications.
It is also likely to say that peaceful reunification still remains the priority.
But it will likely spell out clearly for the first time Beijing's bottom line on what constitutes independence for Taiwan and under what circumstances Beijing would resort to unconventional means to prevent it.
However, the law is unlikely to contain a framework for reunification with Taiwan, although some analysts have speculated that Beijing planned to reunite with Taiwan by 2020.
The law should be more easily accepted by the international community than the unification law, which had led to some concerns around the globe as it would have also covered Hong Kong, Macau and separatist activities in Tibet and Xinjiang .
Beijing officials have already made it clear that the anti-secession law will not apply to Hong Kong and Macau.
Moreover, the anti-secession law indicates that Beijing is more keen to check Taiwan's independence movement than seek reunification.
Mainland analysts have said the law will not merely be symbolic, as some have suggested. It could be an effective weapon against institutions such as the administration of Chen Shui-bian, and individuals such as Taiwan's former president Lee Teng-hui, who is seen by Beijing as the godfather of Taiwan's independence movement.
"Every time Lee makes a trip overseas, China lodges strong protests with host countries, but to no avail," one analyst said.
"But with the law, things could be different. Beijing could use the law to convene a special court to put Lee on trial by default for instigating Taiwan's independence and issue an international warrant for his arrest.
"That would make it extremely difficult for Lee or other hardline independence activists to go anywhere."
The United States has so far remained silent on the issue, saying it will not comment until after it has studied the legislation. But Washington is unlikely to make any strong comment as the law is purely domestic legislation that is most likely to reiterate existing policies. More importantly, Washington is in line with Beijing and is against independence for Taiwan.
Sources said Beijing looked set to launch several rounds of lobbying in foreign capitals to try to win support for the law. As mentioned in this column previously, Beijing will also soon launch a drive to promote and uphold traditional Chinese culture and values to rally support of mainland and overseas Chinese at a time when the Chen administration is trying to downplay its links with China and highlight Taiwan's identity. It will also step up efforts to win over the dozens of smaller countries that recognise Taiwan.
However, the hardening of Beijing's stance does not mean that the window of opportunity for genuine dialogue is becoming narrower or closing altogether, analysts believe.
From Beijing's point of view, genuine dialogue across the Taiwan Strait can only start after the mainland shows its determination and capability to crush the Taiwan independence movement and leave no room for false hopes or scepticism.
Journalist who was a farmers' advocate is detained by police
scmp - Monday, December 20, 2004
ELAINE KURTENBACH of Associated Press in Shanghai
Updated at 1.21pm:
A Chinese journalist and advocate for poor farmers has been detained for unspecified alleged criminal offences, police and his supporters said on Monday.
The action against Li Boguang follows the detention of several other writers as Chinese authorities, jittery amid public anger at official abuses, are intensifying a crackdown on the media.
"We took him in on Friday. His activities here constitute a criminal offence," said a police official in Fu'an, a city in southeastern China's Fujian province. He gave only his surname, Zheng.
Mr Li hasn't been formally arrested, Mr Zheng said.
"We have reason enough to charge him. I don't want to tell you what crime," he said. "We now are detaining him for 15 days. We can prolong it to one month if we need."
Word of Mr Li's detention first came from an overseas human rights group. Mr Li had run into trouble for working with farmers in Fu'an, who accused local officials of corruption.
In an article posted on the Internet in October, Mr Li wrote that he planned to return to Fu'an despite threats by officials that he and another reporter, Zhao Yan, would be "thrown to the sharks."
According to that article, Mr Li and Mr Zhao were helping farmers in Fu'an to petition the central government for help in a land use dispute with local officials.
Mr Zhao was arrested in October, a few months after he began working as a research assistant for the Beijing bureau of The New York Times. The status of his case is unclear.
Mr Zhao, who had worked for a Chinese magazine, was well known for exposing official abuses. He was a political activist and had spent three years in prison after taking part in a failed attempt to create a new political party.
Pu Zhiqiang, a lawyer in Beijing who has represented other writers involved in farmers' rights cases, said he received a call over the weekend saying Mr Li had run into trouble in Fujian.
"I'm not clear about Li's situation now. As a civilian lawyer, I don't handle criminal cases," Mr Pu said in a telephone interview. "I can't help if he's caught on criminal charges."
A week ago, activists Yu Jie and Liu Xiaobo, whose writings frequently criticised the ruling Communist Party, were detained overnight in Beijing and questioned.
ELAINE KURTENBACH of Associated Press in Shanghai
Updated at 1.21pm:
A Chinese journalist and advocate for poor farmers has been detained for unspecified alleged criminal offences, police and his supporters said on Monday.
The action against Li Boguang follows the detention of several other writers as Chinese authorities, jittery amid public anger at official abuses, are intensifying a crackdown on the media.
"We took him in on Friday. His activities here constitute a criminal offence," said a police official in Fu'an, a city in southeastern China's Fujian province. He gave only his surname, Zheng.
Mr Li hasn't been formally arrested, Mr Zheng said.
"We have reason enough to charge him. I don't want to tell you what crime," he said. "We now are detaining him for 15 days. We can prolong it to one month if we need."
Word of Mr Li's detention first came from an overseas human rights group. Mr Li had run into trouble for working with farmers in Fu'an, who accused local officials of corruption.
In an article posted on the Internet in October, Mr Li wrote that he planned to return to Fu'an despite threats by officials that he and another reporter, Zhao Yan, would be "thrown to the sharks."
According to that article, Mr Li and Mr Zhao were helping farmers in Fu'an to petition the central government for help in a land use dispute with local officials.
Mr Zhao was arrested in October, a few months after he began working as a research assistant for the Beijing bureau of The New York Times. The status of his case is unclear.
Mr Zhao, who had worked for a Chinese magazine, was well known for exposing official abuses. He was a political activist and had spent three years in prison after taking part in a failed attempt to create a new political party.
Pu Zhiqiang, a lawyer in Beijing who has represented other writers involved in farmers' rights cases, said he received a call over the weekend saying Mr Li had run into trouble in Fujian.
"I'm not clear about Li's situation now. As a civilian lawyer, I don't handle criminal cases," Mr Pu said in a telephone interview. "I can't help if he's caught on criminal charges."
A week ago, activists Yu Jie and Liu Xiaobo, whose writings frequently criticised the ruling Communist Party, were detained overnight in Beijing and questioned.
China to introduce jury trials
scmp - Monday, December 20, 2004
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Beijing
Updated at 5.21pm:
China will introduce jury trials next year, state media reported on Monday, in an apparent attempt to reform a system widely criticised for lack of independence.
The jurors, who are expected to have powers equal to those of a judge, will begin to sit in on cases starting May 1 and will serve five-year terms.
Candidates would be chosen through elections in January and February, the China Youth Daily reported, citing the Supreme People's Court.
Jurors must have at least two years of university education and would undergo professional training.
Xinhua news agency said the Supreme People's Court has formed a task force to handle the selection of jurors.
Under the current system, judges are the sole arbiters in court cases but they have been widely criticised by the public for lack of independence from the government and the Communist Party.
The legal system is also riddled with corruption.
While China already has jurors, Xinhua said, they are largely hand-picked by a court or approved by court officials after they received recommendations from local authorities.
Many have low levels of education and largely function as figureheads.
Improving the jury system was one of nine major tasks the Supreme People's Court mapped out for 2005 during a meeting on Friday, Xinhua said, without giving details.
At the meeting, Xiao Yang, China's supreme justice and president of the Supreme People's Court, said courts would crackdown on financial and economic fraud in the year ahead.
They would also focus on tackling smuggling, intellectual property infringement, the abuse of power and dereliction of duty.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Beijing
Updated at 5.21pm:
China will introduce jury trials next year, state media reported on Monday, in an apparent attempt to reform a system widely criticised for lack of independence.
The jurors, who are expected to have powers equal to those of a judge, will begin to sit in on cases starting May 1 and will serve five-year terms.
Candidates would be chosen through elections in January and February, the China Youth Daily reported, citing the Supreme People's Court.
Jurors must have at least two years of university education and would undergo professional training.
Xinhua news agency said the Supreme People's Court has formed a task force to handle the selection of jurors.
Under the current system, judges are the sole arbiters in court cases but they have been widely criticised by the public for lack of independence from the government and the Communist Party.
The legal system is also riddled with corruption.
While China already has jurors, Xinhua said, they are largely hand-picked by a court or approved by court officials after they received recommendations from local authorities.
Many have low levels of education and largely function as figureheads.
Improving the jury system was one of nine major tasks the Supreme People's Court mapped out for 2005 during a meeting on Friday, Xinhua said, without giving details.
At the meeting, Xiao Yang, China's supreme justice and president of the Supreme People's Court, said courts would crackdown on financial and economic fraud in the year ahead.
They would also focus on tackling smuggling, intellectual property infringement, the abuse of power and dereliction of duty.
New guidelines on religious freedom
scmp - Monday, December 20, 2004
VIVIAN WU
Beijing has committed itself to religious freedom while reaffirming its administrative control over registered religious groups in a long-awaited regulation that will come into effect in March.
The new Religious Affairs Provisions, which were revealed on Saturday, supercede a set of regulations on the management of religious sites issued in 1994, according to Xinhua.
Its preamble says the provisions aim to protect freedom of religious belief, maintain harmony between different religions and society, and regulate religious affairs throughout the country.
Without providing a definition of "religious belief", the provisions say: "No organisation or individual should force a citizen to adopt or cast aside religion, nor should a citizen with or without religious beliefs face discrimination."
The property of religious bodies will be protected by law, and no organisation or individuals will be permitted to seize, destroy or confiscate property lawfully belonging to religious groups. The regulations also state officials will be disciplined for any abuses of power while managing religious affairs.
Local religious regulatory authorities must approve construction and registration of venues for religious activities, and they must be informed of religious appointments.
But the regulations are not expected to ease suppression of illegal religious organisations - such as the Falun Gong movement and the underground Catholic Church - as they only apply to registered organisations.
Feng Jinyuan , a researcher at the China Academy of Social Sciences, said the absence of a definition of "religious belief" highlighted the government's caution when it came to religion. He also noted that the promulgation of the regulations had been postponed since the end of 2001.
"The core disputes centred on the definition of religious affairs and the scope of the ruling itself," said Professor Feng, who was one of numerous academics the government turned to for advice about the provisions.
He stressed it was important for the government to manage religious affairs and not religion itself and to avoid tampering with people's religious freedom.
Anthony Lam Sui-ki, a Hong Kong-based Catholic academic, said some of the provisions indicated there had been a "slight improvement" in Beijing's handling of religious bodies, citing the rule against abuse of power.
"Previous rules were only a set of administrative measures to manage [religious bodies] ... now that they mention abuse of power and the consequences, it is an improvement."
Mr Lam, however, said he did not expect any immediate or dramatic changes in China's handling of religious bodies.
Additional reporting by Agence-France Presse
VIVIAN WU
Beijing has committed itself to religious freedom while reaffirming its administrative control over registered religious groups in a long-awaited regulation that will come into effect in March.
The new Religious Affairs Provisions, which were revealed on Saturday, supercede a set of regulations on the management of religious sites issued in 1994, according to Xinhua.
Its preamble says the provisions aim to protect freedom of religious belief, maintain harmony between different religions and society, and regulate religious affairs throughout the country.
Without providing a definition of "religious belief", the provisions say: "No organisation or individual should force a citizen to adopt or cast aside religion, nor should a citizen with or without religious beliefs face discrimination."
The property of religious bodies will be protected by law, and no organisation or individuals will be permitted to seize, destroy or confiscate property lawfully belonging to religious groups. The regulations also state officials will be disciplined for any abuses of power while managing religious affairs.
Local religious regulatory authorities must approve construction and registration of venues for religious activities, and they must be informed of religious appointments.
But the regulations are not expected to ease suppression of illegal religious organisations - such as the Falun Gong movement and the underground Catholic Church - as they only apply to registered organisations.
Feng Jinyuan , a researcher at the China Academy of Social Sciences, said the absence of a definition of "religious belief" highlighted the government's caution when it came to religion. He also noted that the promulgation of the regulations had been postponed since the end of 2001.
"The core disputes centred on the definition of religious affairs and the scope of the ruling itself," said Professor Feng, who was one of numerous academics the government turned to for advice about the provisions.
He stressed it was important for the government to manage religious affairs and not religion itself and to avoid tampering with people's religious freedom.
Anthony Lam Sui-ki, a Hong Kong-based Catholic academic, said some of the provisions indicated there had been a "slight improvement" in Beijing's handling of religious bodies, citing the rule against abuse of power.
"Previous rules were only a set of administrative measures to manage [religious bodies] ... now that they mention abuse of power and the consequences, it is an improvement."
Mr Lam, however, said he did not expect any immediate or dramatic changes in China's handling of religious bodies.
Additional reporting by Agence-France Presse
Campaigner for farmers' rights detained in Fujian
scmp - Monday, December 20, 2004
AGENCE-FRANCE PRESSE in Beijing
Police in Fujian province have detained a farmers' rights campaigner, a US-based rights body said yesterday, following the brief detention of three outspoken intellectuals last week.
Li Baiguang , a 37-year-old legal academic and freelance writer, was detained last Tuesday, said the New York-based China Labour Watch. It did not say what charges he had been held under.
His detention came just a day after three top intellectuals were detained in Beijing on Monday.
Yu Jie , Liu Xiaobo and Zhang Zuhua were released on Tuesday after being warned to stop writing articles critical of the Communist Party.
Mr Yu, who is a friend of the farmers' rights advocate, said he had not heard about Mr Li's alleged detention, but said the activist had told him he was travelling to Fujian when they met last week.
"I don't know whether it was related [to my detention]. It could be that he offended some officials when he was fighting for farmers' rights," Mr Yu said.
Mr Li wrote on the website Epoch Times in October that police told farmers to report on his whereabouts and had threatened to arrest him if he continued to provide them with legal advice.
Police could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Another farmers' rights advocate, Zhao Yan , also a researcher for The New York Times, has been detained since September.
AGENCE-FRANCE PRESSE in Beijing
Police in Fujian province have detained a farmers' rights campaigner, a US-based rights body said yesterday, following the brief detention of three outspoken intellectuals last week.
Li Baiguang , a 37-year-old legal academic and freelance writer, was detained last Tuesday, said the New York-based China Labour Watch. It did not say what charges he had been held under.
His detention came just a day after three top intellectuals were detained in Beijing on Monday.
Yu Jie , Liu Xiaobo and Zhang Zuhua were released on Tuesday after being warned to stop writing articles critical of the Communist Party.
Mr Yu, who is a friend of the farmers' rights advocate, said he had not heard about Mr Li's alleged detention, but said the activist had told him he was travelling to Fujian when they met last week.
"I don't know whether it was related [to my detention]. It could be that he offended some officials when he was fighting for farmers' rights," Mr Yu said.
Mr Li wrote on the website Epoch Times in October that police told farmers to report on his whereabouts and had threatened to arrest him if he continued to provide them with legal advice.
Police could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Another farmers' rights advocate, Zhao Yan , also a researcher for The New York Times, has been detained since September.
Climate change threatens China’s food production
scmp - Tuesday, December 14, 2004
ODILE MEUVRET of Agence France-Presse in Buenos Aires
Updated at 10.57am:
Climate change could cut China’s food production 10 per cent by 2050, said an official report at a major UN conference here on Monday.
Given current conditions, the damage would hit China between 2030 and 2050.
The report, based on an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions carried out between 1990 and 1994, was presented at the 10th annual UN climate change conference, meeting here December 6-17.
Some 5,000 scientists, environmental activists and government officials from nearly 190 countries attended. A focus this year is preparing to implement the 1997 Kyoto accord, the world’s most ambitious and complex environmental treaty.
The accord legally commits 39 industrial nations and territories to trim their output of six greenhouse gases — especially carbon dioxide — by at least 5.2 per cent by 2012, compared with 1990 levels.
Russia’s ratification in November gave the protocol the final stamp of approval needed to go into force on February 16. China signed the accord and ratified it in 2002.
“Simulations indicate that the potential food production would decrease by ten percent due to climate change and extreme weather events during 2030-2050, under the present cropping system, [given] present crop varieties and present management levels,” reads an executive summary of the China report.
“Climate warming would speed up plant growth and shorten the crop growing period,” read the report, adding that there would be “an overall decreasing trend for wheat, rice and maize yield.”
China’s climate change trend corresponds “to the general trend of global climate change,” the report said, noting that the 1990’s “was one of the warmest decade in the last 100 years.”
The warming was most noticeable across northern China, according to the report.
While the number of cold snaps is likely to decrease, heat waves “are likely to increase, and the drought and flooding are likely to be enhanced.”
There has been “a continuous drought in the north China plain since the 1980s, while flooding disasters have happened frequently in southern China. This impact has been especially enhanced since the 1990s,” the report read.
Since the 1950s the sea level has risen along China’s coast, a trend that “has become significantly more obvious in the past few years.”
The ocean is currently rising at a rate of 1.4 to 2.6 millimetres a year, and the current projections are for a rise of between 31 to 65 centimetres by 2100, aggravating coastal erosion and increasing the amount of ocean water entering river, thus degrading “the fresh water quality and adversely affect the fresh water supply along the river mouth,” the report read.
In an interview Monday, the head of the Chinese delegation, Gao Feng, insisted that China has already done much to fight global warming.
China’s pollution levels, however, remain high because of its reliance on coal as an energy source.
Future actions to decrease greenhouse gas emissions include increased energy efficiency and recycling. “We will try to use some cleaner energies like nuclear power,” he said.
ODILE MEUVRET of Agence France-Presse in Buenos Aires
Updated at 10.57am:
Climate change could cut China’s food production 10 per cent by 2050, said an official report at a major UN conference here on Monday.
Given current conditions, the damage would hit China between 2030 and 2050.
The report, based on an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions carried out between 1990 and 1994, was presented at the 10th annual UN climate change conference, meeting here December 6-17.
Some 5,000 scientists, environmental activists and government officials from nearly 190 countries attended. A focus this year is preparing to implement the 1997 Kyoto accord, the world’s most ambitious and complex environmental treaty.
The accord legally commits 39 industrial nations and territories to trim their output of six greenhouse gases — especially carbon dioxide — by at least 5.2 per cent by 2012, compared with 1990 levels.
Russia’s ratification in November gave the protocol the final stamp of approval needed to go into force on February 16. China signed the accord and ratified it in 2002.
“Simulations indicate that the potential food production would decrease by ten percent due to climate change and extreme weather events during 2030-2050, under the present cropping system, [given] present crop varieties and present management levels,” reads an executive summary of the China report.
“Climate warming would speed up plant growth and shorten the crop growing period,” read the report, adding that there would be “an overall decreasing trend for wheat, rice and maize yield.”
China’s climate change trend corresponds “to the general trend of global climate change,” the report said, noting that the 1990’s “was one of the warmest decade in the last 100 years.”
The warming was most noticeable across northern China, according to the report.
While the number of cold snaps is likely to decrease, heat waves “are likely to increase, and the drought and flooding are likely to be enhanced.”
There has been “a continuous drought in the north China plain since the 1980s, while flooding disasters have happened frequently in southern China. This impact has been especially enhanced since the 1990s,” the report read.
Since the 1950s the sea level has risen along China’s coast, a trend that “has become significantly more obvious in the past few years.”
The ocean is currently rising at a rate of 1.4 to 2.6 millimetres a year, and the current projections are for a rise of between 31 to 65 centimetres by 2100, aggravating coastal erosion and increasing the amount of ocean water entering river, thus degrading “the fresh water quality and adversely affect the fresh water supply along the river mouth,” the report read.
In an interview Monday, the head of the Chinese delegation, Gao Feng, insisted that China has already done much to fight global warming.
China’s pollution levels, however, remain high because of its reliance on coal as an energy source.
Future actions to decrease greenhouse gas emissions include increased energy efficiency and recycling. “We will try to use some cleaner energies like nuclear power,” he said.
Oxfam says third world pays the price of wealthy nations' growth
scmp - Tuesday, December 7, 2004
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in London
Rich nations need to do much more to overcome global poverty, Oxfam said yesterday in a report aimed at influencing Britain's turn at the helm of the Group of Eight leading industrialised nations.
In its report, Paying the Price, the development charity said foreign aid budgets were now half what they were in 1960, while poor countries faced debt repayments of US$100 million ($777 million) a day.
"As rich countries get richer, they're giving less and less. This is a scandal that must stop," said Oxfam director Barbara Stocking.
"The world's poorest children are paying for rich countries' policies on aid and debt with their lives," she said.
In Oxfam's view, the new year - when Britain will chair the G8 and, in the second half of the year, hold the European Union presidency - "offers the chance of an historic breakthrough".
"Unless world leaders act now, the year will end in shameful failure," it said.
Oxfam - which gets a chunk of its funding from governments and other public institutions like the United Nations - said that in 1970, G8 countries agreed to spend just 0.7 per cent of their incomes on foreign aid.
Thirty-four years on, however, "none of the G8 members have reached this target and many have not even set a timetable", it said in a statement summarising the content of the report.
Without a sea change in policy, it said, "45 million more children will die needlessly by 2015 [and] 97 million more children will be out of school".
"For many rich countries, aid is tied to national interest, which Oxfam estimates undermines the effectiveness of aid by 30 per cent," the charity said.
"For example, 20 per cent of the European Union's aid arrives at least a year late, and 70 per cent of American aid is spent on US goods and services," it said.
At 0.14 per cent of national income, US spending on foreign aid last year was just 10 per cent of what it spent on Iraq, Oxfam said.
"The United States won't reach the aid target needed to halve world poverty until 2040. Germany won't reach the target until 2087, while Japan is decreasing its aid commitments," it said.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in London
Rich nations need to do much more to overcome global poverty, Oxfam said yesterday in a report aimed at influencing Britain's turn at the helm of the Group of Eight leading industrialised nations.
In its report, Paying the Price, the development charity said foreign aid budgets were now half what they were in 1960, while poor countries faced debt repayments of US$100 million ($777 million) a day.
"As rich countries get richer, they're giving less and less. This is a scandal that must stop," said Oxfam director Barbara Stocking.
"The world's poorest children are paying for rich countries' policies on aid and debt with their lives," she said.
In Oxfam's view, the new year - when Britain will chair the G8 and, in the second half of the year, hold the European Union presidency - "offers the chance of an historic breakthrough".
"Unless world leaders act now, the year will end in shameful failure," it said.
Oxfam - which gets a chunk of its funding from governments and other public institutions like the United Nations - said that in 1970, G8 countries agreed to spend just 0.7 per cent of their incomes on foreign aid.
Thirty-four years on, however, "none of the G8 members have reached this target and many have not even set a timetable", it said in a statement summarising the content of the report.
Without a sea change in policy, it said, "45 million more children will die needlessly by 2015 [and] 97 million more children will be out of school".
"For many rich countries, aid is tied to national interest, which Oxfam estimates undermines the effectiveness of aid by 30 per cent," the charity said.
"For example, 20 per cent of the European Union's aid arrives at least a year late, and 70 per cent of American aid is spent on US goods and services," it said.
At 0.14 per cent of national income, US spending on foreign aid last year was just 10 per cent of what it spent on Iraq, Oxfam said.
"The United States won't reach the aid target needed to halve world poverty until 2040. Germany won't reach the target until 2087, while Japan is decreasing its aid commitments," it said.
ILO study reveals 1.4 billion people caught in poverty trap
scmp - Tuesday, December 7, 2004
PAGGIE LEUNG
Half the world's workers - some 1.4 billion people - are so poor they are unable to earn more than US$2 (about HK$15.6) a day, a new study released by the International Labour Office (ILO) says.
The ILO World Employment Report 2004-2005 said economic policies to create employment opportunities was vital for reducing global poverty.
"Women and men all over the world expect to get a fair chance at a decent job," ILO director-general Juan Somavia said.
"Generating more and better jobs must become the central plank of the global drive to reduce poverty," he said.
The ILO report also revealed that the 185.9 million unemployed people in 2003 represented the "tip of the iceberg" of those who are poor. More than seven times that number of people are employed but still suffer great financial hardship.
About 2.8 billion people internationally were working in 2003 - more than before. Of these, a record 1.4 billion were living on less than US$2 a day. Some 550 million are even living below the US$1 a day poverty line. The problem is more serious in regions such as sub-saharan Africa, south and south-east Asia. Poverty is also widespread in parts in South America.
The figures were not all bad. The ILO said the share of people working under the US$2 a day poverty level has declined from 57.2 per cent in 1990 to 49.7 per cent in 2003. The figure might drop to around 40 per cent in 2015.
"The key to reducing the number of working poor is creating decent and productive employment opportunities and promoting a fairer globalisation as strategies for poverty reduction," Mr Somavia said.
"It is not only the absence of work that is the source of poverty, but the less productive nature of that work. Productivity growth, after all, is the engine of the economic growth that enables working men and women to earn enough to lift themselves out of poverty," he added.
In Hong Kong, although the number of employed has reached a record of 3.29 million in the three months to the end of October, the gap between rich and the poor is widening.
Having the third highest numbers of rich people with 16 billionaires in 2004, Hong Kong has greater extremes of wealth and poverty than many developed countries.
One-quarter of Hong Kong's children live in families struggling below the poverty line, recent studies have shown.
PAGGIE LEUNG
Half the world's workers - some 1.4 billion people - are so poor they are unable to earn more than US$2 (about HK$15.6) a day, a new study released by the International Labour Office (ILO) says.
The ILO World Employment Report 2004-2005 said economic policies to create employment opportunities was vital for reducing global poverty.
"Women and men all over the world expect to get a fair chance at a decent job," ILO director-general Juan Somavia said.
"Generating more and better jobs must become the central plank of the global drive to reduce poverty," he said.
The ILO report also revealed that the 185.9 million unemployed people in 2003 represented the "tip of the iceberg" of those who are poor. More than seven times that number of people are employed but still suffer great financial hardship.
About 2.8 billion people internationally were working in 2003 - more than before. Of these, a record 1.4 billion were living on less than US$2 a day. Some 550 million are even living below the US$1 a day poverty line. The problem is more serious in regions such as sub-saharan Africa, south and south-east Asia. Poverty is also widespread in parts in South America.
The figures were not all bad. The ILO said the share of people working under the US$2 a day poverty level has declined from 57.2 per cent in 1990 to 49.7 per cent in 2003. The figure might drop to around 40 per cent in 2015.
"The key to reducing the number of working poor is creating decent and productive employment opportunities and promoting a fairer globalisation as strategies for poverty reduction," Mr Somavia said.
"It is not only the absence of work that is the source of poverty, but the less productive nature of that work. Productivity growth, after all, is the engine of the economic growth that enables working men and women to earn enough to lift themselves out of poverty," he added.
In Hong Kong, although the number of employed has reached a record of 3.29 million in the three months to the end of October, the gap between rich and the poor is widening.
Having the third highest numbers of rich people with 16 billionaires in 2004, Hong Kong has greater extremes of wealth and poverty than many developed countries.
One-quarter of Hong Kong's children live in families struggling below the poverty line, recent studies have shown.
Thousands of men in Punjab take the dowry and run
scmp - Saturday, December 4, 2004
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Ludhiana
Baljeet Kaur gave her life savings and a scooter as a dowry to marry Harvinder Singh in 1986 with the promise she would leave India's farm state of Punjab and join him in Canada, where he drove a taxi.
A few weeks later, after pocketing 400,000 rupees ($70,574), Mr Singh went back to Canada, promising his then 24-year-old pregnant bride he would return for her within a year.
"But he never came back," Ms Kaur said. "Whenever I asked my in-laws about him, they used to beat me and tell me to get lost. After a couple of years, I moved to my mother's house. My son doesn't even know who his father is."
Ms Kaur is one of an estimated 16,000 women in the Punjab who have been abandoned by suitors working abroad who come back home briefly in the hope of finding a wife who can pay a dowry.
Social activists have noted the extent of such quickie marriages and are waging a battle for compensation and justice.
"It's a very planned crime by the entire family," said Adarsh Sharma of the National Institute of Public Co-operation and Child Development, which is investigating the cases.
"What usually happens is that these boys come home for a holiday during which they get married after taking loads of money as dowry - money that would help them abroad. After some time, the grooms go back and the girls begin an endless wait."
Most of the suitors are working as taxi drivers, electricians, waiters and petrol-station attendants in the United States, Canada, Britain and the Gulf countries, Ms Sharma said.
A majority of them are Sikh, the largest expatriate Indian community.
At a recent seminar in Ludhiana - a bustling textile hub in north India and the epicentre of this scourge - dozens of deserted wives gathered to discuss their common woes and seek solutions and solace.
"You should be united and strong," Ms Sharma told the women, many of whom are in their early 20s and 30s.
"You should feel each other's pain. Women are such a power that they can do anything. Don't lose hope."
Many said they were forced to work as slaves by in-laws, beaten and eventually sent back to their mothers.
Ms Sharma noted parents are eager to marry daughters to a suitor who works abroad because the salary and lifestyle in many cases would be better than in India. The suitors have a lust for the potentially huge dowry and the groom's parents see the daughter-in-law as a source of support in old age.
"In many cases, either they are already married abroad to foreigners or have girlfriends," she added.
K.K. Singh, co-director of the institute, said the women had a plethora of legal rights under the Hindu Marriage Act, including the ability to file for divorce.
"But the bridegrooms are mostly NRIs [non-resident Indians] and are living abroad. They don't respond to the summons."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Ludhiana
Baljeet Kaur gave her life savings and a scooter as a dowry to marry Harvinder Singh in 1986 with the promise she would leave India's farm state of Punjab and join him in Canada, where he drove a taxi.
A few weeks later, after pocketing 400,000 rupees ($70,574), Mr Singh went back to Canada, promising his then 24-year-old pregnant bride he would return for her within a year.
"But he never came back," Ms Kaur said. "Whenever I asked my in-laws about him, they used to beat me and tell me to get lost. After a couple of years, I moved to my mother's house. My son doesn't even know who his father is."
Ms Kaur is one of an estimated 16,000 women in the Punjab who have been abandoned by suitors working abroad who come back home briefly in the hope of finding a wife who can pay a dowry.
Social activists have noted the extent of such quickie marriages and are waging a battle for compensation and justice.
"It's a very planned crime by the entire family," said Adarsh Sharma of the National Institute of Public Co-operation and Child Development, which is investigating the cases.
"What usually happens is that these boys come home for a holiday during which they get married after taking loads of money as dowry - money that would help them abroad. After some time, the grooms go back and the girls begin an endless wait."
Most of the suitors are working as taxi drivers, electricians, waiters and petrol-station attendants in the United States, Canada, Britain and the Gulf countries, Ms Sharma said.
A majority of them are Sikh, the largest expatriate Indian community.
At a recent seminar in Ludhiana - a bustling textile hub in north India and the epicentre of this scourge - dozens of deserted wives gathered to discuss their common woes and seek solutions and solace.
"You should be united and strong," Ms Sharma told the women, many of whom are in their early 20s and 30s.
"You should feel each other's pain. Women are such a power that they can do anything. Don't lose hope."
Many said they were forced to work as slaves by in-laws, beaten and eventually sent back to their mothers.
Ms Sharma noted parents are eager to marry daughters to a suitor who works abroad because the salary and lifestyle in many cases would be better than in India. The suitors have a lust for the potentially huge dowry and the groom's parents see the daughter-in-law as a source of support in old age.
"In many cases, either they are already married abroad to foreigners or have girlfriends," she added.
K.K. Singh, co-director of the institute, said the women had a plethora of legal rights under the Hindu Marriage Act, including the ability to file for divorce.
"But the bridegrooms are mostly NRIs [non-resident Indians] and are living abroad. They don't respond to the summons."
Women struggle against Maoists as men flee villages
scmp - Saturday, December 4, 2004
THOMAS BELL in Kathmandu
Women are increasingly finding themselves on the front line of Nepal's brutal civil war, as men flee affected villages and wives and daughters are left to face forced Maoist recruitment and harsh penalties for dissent.
Reports emerged this week from the remote western district of Baglung that the Maoists had tortured six women with drills - accusing them of belonging to a rival, non-violent communist group called the People's Front.
Local reports said Rupa Thapa was dragged from her house and her arms, legs and head were drilled with a wood gauge during a three-hour ordeal. Six months pregnant, Achula Sapkota was similarly tortured and left for dead. All the women are now in hospital.
In Dailekh, also in the remote west, women lead an ongoing uprising against Maoist brutality in which several rebels have been beaten and as many as 100 either turned over to security forces or forced to surrender.
"When they said every family had to give one son, that is when I lost all my fear," Krishna Shahi, 42, said. "We told them, `kill us but you can't take our sons'. We had nothing left to give them, we couldn't take it any longer."
Rebels had told local people: "Join the movement, leave the village, or live with broken limbs."
Mrs Shahi, who emerged as a leader of the spontaneous uprising late last month, said: "We have set an example for the people of Dailekh and for the rest of Nepal. Let's hope all the victims of Maoism hear our call."
The Nepalese media applauded the women's bravery. "Women did what the men did not have the courage to do," said the Rajdhani daily.
"To rebel against the Maoists is not easy but such was the desperation of the mothers, who, though illiterate, rose up to protest. When politicians feared going to villages, teachers fled, schools closed down and men migrated, the women defied the gun."
Maoist reprisals followed, in which at least three people died, including an eight-year-old boy. Around 1,500 refugees from the villages that rose up are now sheltering in the nearby town of Dailekh.
Prekesh Ojho, a human rights worker, said: "There are children and women [sheltering in the town of Dailekh], it is a very critical situation. And the Maoists have cut the water pipe, so the situation is terrible."
Unicef has expressed deep concern at the forced recruitment of children in Nepal. "It is hard to think of a more terrifying ordeal for children," said Dr Suomi Sakai, chief of Unicef in Nepal.
And it is not only boys who are recruited. A human rights worker in Humla district says 60 per cent of recruits there are girls.
THOMAS BELL in Kathmandu
Women are increasingly finding themselves on the front line of Nepal's brutal civil war, as men flee affected villages and wives and daughters are left to face forced Maoist recruitment and harsh penalties for dissent.
Reports emerged this week from the remote western district of Baglung that the Maoists had tortured six women with drills - accusing them of belonging to a rival, non-violent communist group called the People's Front.
Local reports said Rupa Thapa was dragged from her house and her arms, legs and head were drilled with a wood gauge during a three-hour ordeal. Six months pregnant, Achula Sapkota was similarly tortured and left for dead. All the women are now in hospital.
In Dailekh, also in the remote west, women lead an ongoing uprising against Maoist brutality in which several rebels have been beaten and as many as 100 either turned over to security forces or forced to surrender.
"When they said every family had to give one son, that is when I lost all my fear," Krishna Shahi, 42, said. "We told them, `kill us but you can't take our sons'. We had nothing left to give them, we couldn't take it any longer."
Rebels had told local people: "Join the movement, leave the village, or live with broken limbs."
Mrs Shahi, who emerged as a leader of the spontaneous uprising late last month, said: "We have set an example for the people of Dailekh and for the rest of Nepal. Let's hope all the victims of Maoism hear our call."
The Nepalese media applauded the women's bravery. "Women did what the men did not have the courage to do," said the Rajdhani daily.
"To rebel against the Maoists is not easy but such was the desperation of the mothers, who, though illiterate, rose up to protest. When politicians feared going to villages, teachers fled, schools closed down and men migrated, the women defied the gun."
Maoist reprisals followed, in which at least three people died, including an eight-year-old boy. Around 1,500 refugees from the villages that rose up are now sheltering in the nearby town of Dailekh.
Prekesh Ojho, a human rights worker, said: "There are children and women [sheltering in the town of Dailekh], it is a very critical situation. And the Maoists have cut the water pipe, so the situation is terrible."
Unicef has expressed deep concern at the forced recruitment of children in Nepal. "It is hard to think of a more terrifying ordeal for children," said Dr Suomi Sakai, chief of Unicef in Nepal.
And it is not only boys who are recruited. A human rights worker in Humla district says 60 per cent of recruits there are girls.
Justice eludes the victims of Bhopal gas leak 20 years on
scmp - Tuesday, November 30, 2004
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in London
Tens of thousands of Indians still suffer appalling effects from the Bhopal gas leak 20 years ago and more than 20,000 have died from the disaster, Amnesty International said yesterday. It labelled the victims' long wait for justice a major breach of human rights.
The aftermath of the leak showed how "an industrial disaster can involve a complexity of violations of civil, political, economic and social rights for generation after generation", the London-based group said in a major report.
Amnesty said it believed at least 15,000 people died between 1985 and last year because of the disaster, which saw tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate seep into the atmosphere on the night of December 2, 1984, from a pesticide plant owned by US firm Union Carbide in Bhopal.
"This is in addition to the 7,000 to 10,000 people who died in the immediate aftermath, taking the total death toll to well over 20,000," the report said.
About 100,000 people were still suffering from "chronic and debilitating illnesses", Amnesty said, noting that even 20 years later, many had yet to receive adequate compensation or medical treatment.
"Today, 20 years after the disastrous gas leak at Bhopal, tens of thousands of people are still suffering the after-effects," Amnesty said in an 82-page report entitled "Clouds of Injustice".
"Despite the determined efforts of survivors to secure justice, the large numbers affected have received inadequate compensation and medical assistance.
"People already living in poverty face health problems that are shortening their lives and affecting their ability to work.
"The site has not been cleaned up so toxic wastes continue to pollute the water which the surrounding communities rely on."
After a protracted legal battle, Union Carbide, now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, paid US$470 million to the Indian government in a settlement reached in 1989.
India's Supreme Court directed the government to pay out part of the money, with the rest kept by the Reserve Bank of India. Some of that sum was ordered to be handed over in July following a legal petition from victims.
Overall, efforts by survivors to get proper justice through both US and Indian courts "have so far been unsuccessful", Amnesty said.
"The transnational corporations involved ... have publicly stated that they have no responsibility for the leak and its consequences or for the pollution from the plant.
"Union Carbide Corporation refuses to appear before the court in Bhopal to face trial and the Indian government agreed to a final settlement which has left survivors living in penury."
Amnesty said it had identified "a pattern of serious failures" over safety by Union Carbide ahead of the leak, as well as subsequent attempts to frustrate survivors before courts in both the United States and India.
The Indian government was also culpable in that it failed to tackle safety problems with the plant, and subsequently negotiated a settlement "without the participation of the victims".
It was undeniable that the disaster was a human rights issue, Amnesty said. "Thousands of people in Bhopal were denied their right to life," it said.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in London
Tens of thousands of Indians still suffer appalling effects from the Bhopal gas leak 20 years ago and more than 20,000 have died from the disaster, Amnesty International said yesterday. It labelled the victims' long wait for justice a major breach of human rights.
The aftermath of the leak showed how "an industrial disaster can involve a complexity of violations of civil, political, economic and social rights for generation after generation", the London-based group said in a major report.
Amnesty said it believed at least 15,000 people died between 1985 and last year because of the disaster, which saw tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate seep into the atmosphere on the night of December 2, 1984, from a pesticide plant owned by US firm Union Carbide in Bhopal.
"This is in addition to the 7,000 to 10,000 people who died in the immediate aftermath, taking the total death toll to well over 20,000," the report said.
About 100,000 people were still suffering from "chronic and debilitating illnesses", Amnesty said, noting that even 20 years later, many had yet to receive adequate compensation or medical treatment.
"Today, 20 years after the disastrous gas leak at Bhopal, tens of thousands of people are still suffering the after-effects," Amnesty said in an 82-page report entitled "Clouds of Injustice".
"Despite the determined efforts of survivors to secure justice, the large numbers affected have received inadequate compensation and medical assistance.
"People already living in poverty face health problems that are shortening their lives and affecting their ability to work.
"The site has not been cleaned up so toxic wastes continue to pollute the water which the surrounding communities rely on."
After a protracted legal battle, Union Carbide, now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, paid US$470 million to the Indian government in a settlement reached in 1989.
India's Supreme Court directed the government to pay out part of the money, with the rest kept by the Reserve Bank of India. Some of that sum was ordered to be handed over in July following a legal petition from victims.
Overall, efforts by survivors to get proper justice through both US and Indian courts "have so far been unsuccessful", Amnesty said.
"The transnational corporations involved ... have publicly stated that they have no responsibility for the leak and its consequences or for the pollution from the plant.
"Union Carbide Corporation refuses to appear before the court in Bhopal to face trial and the Indian government agreed to a final settlement which has left survivors living in penury."
Amnesty said it had identified "a pattern of serious failures" over safety by Union Carbide ahead of the leak, as well as subsequent attempts to frustrate survivors before courts in both the United States and India.
The Indian government was also culpable in that it failed to tackle safety problems with the plant, and subsequently negotiated a settlement "without the participation of the victims".
It was undeniable that the disaster was a human rights issue, Amnesty said. "Thousands of people in Bhopal were denied their right to life," it said.
Local courts to lose execution power
scmp - Tuesday, November 30, 2004
ALICE YAN
Beijing is a step closer to stripping local courts of the power to impose the death penalty without referring cases to the Supreme People's Court, following the submission of draft amendments to the People's Court Organisation Law.
The amendments seek to reverse a two-decade-old statute giving higher people's courts in provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions - rather than the Supreme People's Court - the power to approve death sentences handed down by lower legal authorities.
The amendments were drawn up by an expert panel and have been submitted to the Supreme People's Court, which will soon pass them on to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for final approval.
A member of the drafting panel, Peking University Law School professor He Weifang , said the changes would help improve the standard of verdicts. "Withdrawing the right of local courts to ratify the death penalty and [returning that authority] to the highest people's court is an important measure in ensuring verdict quality and citizens' human rights," Professor He said.
The Supreme People's Court was the ultimate authority on death sentences until 1983, when an increase in the number of crimes prompted the mainland to give the higher provincial courts responsibility for reviewing some death-penalty cases.
Since then, provincial courts have been able to approve the execution of people convicted of undermining social order in cases such as those involving murder, rape, or bombings. The Supreme People's Court also authorised several senior provincial courts, including those in Yunnan and Guangdong, to ratify the death penalty in drug cases.
Professor Song Yinghui, of the China University of Political Sciences and Law in Beijing, told the People's Daily that there was no unified standard for assessing death-penalty cases under the existing legislative arrangements.
"Courts in different regions have different standards in issuing death penalties based on their own understanding of the law," Professor Song said. "They usually are not as strict as the Supreme People's Court in approving a death-penalty decision."
Problems with provincial courts having the power to both issue and review death-penalty cases were highlighted by the case of a Hebei juvenile executed for killing a neighbour in Baoding in 2001.
The Beijing Evening News reported the provincial higher court had handed down a death sentence and rejected an appeal by the youth's family based on the defendant's age. The family appealed to the Supreme People's Court but the youth was executed in February before the case could be heard.
Supreme People's Court president Xiao Yang confirmed in spring that the court was considering plans to remove the lower courts' death-penalty powers.
ALICE YAN
Beijing is a step closer to stripping local courts of the power to impose the death penalty without referring cases to the Supreme People's Court, following the submission of draft amendments to the People's Court Organisation Law.
The amendments seek to reverse a two-decade-old statute giving higher people's courts in provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions - rather than the Supreme People's Court - the power to approve death sentences handed down by lower legal authorities.
The amendments were drawn up by an expert panel and have been submitted to the Supreme People's Court, which will soon pass them on to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for final approval.
A member of the drafting panel, Peking University Law School professor He Weifang , said the changes would help improve the standard of verdicts. "Withdrawing the right of local courts to ratify the death penalty and [returning that authority] to the highest people's court is an important measure in ensuring verdict quality and citizens' human rights," Professor He said.
The Supreme People's Court was the ultimate authority on death sentences until 1983, when an increase in the number of crimes prompted the mainland to give the higher provincial courts responsibility for reviewing some death-penalty cases.
Since then, provincial courts have been able to approve the execution of people convicted of undermining social order in cases such as those involving murder, rape, or bombings. The Supreme People's Court also authorised several senior provincial courts, including those in Yunnan and Guangdong, to ratify the death penalty in drug cases.
Professor Song Yinghui, of the China University of Political Sciences and Law in Beijing, told the People's Daily that there was no unified standard for assessing death-penalty cases under the existing legislative arrangements.
"Courts in different regions have different standards in issuing death penalties based on their own understanding of the law," Professor Song said. "They usually are not as strict as the Supreme People's Court in approving a death-penalty decision."
Problems with provincial courts having the power to both issue and review death-penalty cases were highlighted by the case of a Hebei juvenile executed for killing a neighbour in Baoding in 2001.
The Beijing Evening News reported the provincial higher court had handed down a death sentence and rejected an appeal by the youth's family based on the defendant's age. The family appealed to the Supreme People's Court but the youth was executed in February before the case could be heard.
Supreme People's Court president Xiao Yang confirmed in spring that the court was considering plans to remove the lower courts' death-penalty powers.
China 'gets critical role in US foreign policy'
scmp - Tuesday, November 30, 2004
SHI JIANGTAO
The mainland will play an increasingly critical role in US President George W. Bush's foreign policy as diplomatic crises in Iraq, North Korea and Iran continue to cloud Washington's ties, according to a former senior US official.
Strobe Talbott, former US deputy secretary of state under the Clinton administration and currently president of the influential Brookings Institute think-tank, said various problems hampering Washington's foreign policies had underscored the significance of co-operation with the mainland.
It was unlikely Mr Bush would resort to unilateral military solutions in dealing with three "crises", namely Iraq, North Korea and Iran countries, Dr Talbott said.
"In all three issues, China has important and constructive roles to play," he said during a speech yesterday in Hong Kong.
Dr Talbott said he believed Mr Bush would opt for "continuity" in US policy towards Taiwan, the most sensitive and important issue in Sino-US relations.
Praising Mr Bush for his handling of the Taiwan issue over the past four years, he said the US president had sent clear messages cautioning President Chen Shui-bian against unilateral moves towards independence.
Dr Talbott said the September 2001 terrorist attacks against the US had transformed bilateral ties, including Mr Bush's initial scepticism towards China's role as a strategic partner.
Since the attacks, the two countries had been able to put aside many differences in their troubled ties and start co-operating in the fight against terrorism, he said.
However, the attacks had also strengthened the views of those who characterised the mainland as a threat, he added.
Dr Talbott said closer Sino-US relations would not only help the Bush administration in its "war on terror", but also encourage key members of the US government to consider Beijing a strategic partner.
The Foreign Ministry's commissioner in Hong Kong, Yang Wenchang , also expressed confidence over the future of bilateral relations.
He said a meeting between Mr Bush and President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of last week's Apec forum had been very successful, with the two leaders committing to push forward constructive and strategic relations.
Saying the two sides had been maintaining closer contact, Mr Yang said Mr Hu had asked Mr Bush to join Beijing in its fight against Taiwanese independence forces.
Foreign Vice-Minister Dai Bingguo would visit the US "in the near future" to discuss issues stemming from the recent Apec summit, the Foreign Ministry said.
Xinhua said Mr Dai would firm up a consensus reached between the two presidents during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Chile.
SHI JIANGTAO
The mainland will play an increasingly critical role in US President George W. Bush's foreign policy as diplomatic crises in Iraq, North Korea and Iran continue to cloud Washington's ties, according to a former senior US official.
Strobe Talbott, former US deputy secretary of state under the Clinton administration and currently president of the influential Brookings Institute think-tank, said various problems hampering Washington's foreign policies had underscored the significance of co-operation with the mainland.
It was unlikely Mr Bush would resort to unilateral military solutions in dealing with three "crises", namely Iraq, North Korea and Iran countries, Dr Talbott said.
"In all three issues, China has important and constructive roles to play," he said during a speech yesterday in Hong Kong.
Dr Talbott said he believed Mr Bush would opt for "continuity" in US policy towards Taiwan, the most sensitive and important issue in Sino-US relations.
Praising Mr Bush for his handling of the Taiwan issue over the past four years, he said the US president had sent clear messages cautioning President Chen Shui-bian against unilateral moves towards independence.
Dr Talbott said the September 2001 terrorist attacks against the US had transformed bilateral ties, including Mr Bush's initial scepticism towards China's role as a strategic partner.
Since the attacks, the two countries had been able to put aside many differences in their troubled ties and start co-operating in the fight against terrorism, he said.
However, the attacks had also strengthened the views of those who characterised the mainland as a threat, he added.
Dr Talbott said closer Sino-US relations would not only help the Bush administration in its "war on terror", but also encourage key members of the US government to consider Beijing a strategic partner.
The Foreign Ministry's commissioner in Hong Kong, Yang Wenchang , also expressed confidence over the future of bilateral relations.
He said a meeting between Mr Bush and President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of last week's Apec forum had been very successful, with the two leaders committing to push forward constructive and strategic relations.
Saying the two sides had been maintaining closer contact, Mr Yang said Mr Hu had asked Mr Bush to join Beijing in its fight against Taiwanese independence forces.
Foreign Vice-Minister Dai Bingguo would visit the US "in the near future" to discuss issues stemming from the recent Apec summit, the Foreign Ministry said.
Xinhua said Mr Dai would firm up a consensus reached between the two presidents during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Chile.
