N Korea building bombs

AP, SEOUL

North Korea said yesterday that it has completed reprocessing its 8000 spent nuclear fuel rods and is using plutonium extracted from them to make nuclear weapons.

The claim came as some US intelligence analysts are becoming increasingly concerned that the communist regime may have as many as six nuclear weapons instead of the one or two the CIA now estimates.

New atomic bombs would drastically increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula and give Pyongyang more authority at nuclear arms-control talks with the US and others.

They also could mean that Pyongyang might part with one bomb, either in a test or by selling it. A North Korea official, however, told reporters in New York his government would not export its nuclear capability.

“The [North] successfully finished the reprocessing of some 8000 spent fuel rods,” a spokesman of Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the North’s official news agency KCNA.

Accusing the US of taking a “hostile policy” toward the North, the statement said Pyongyang “made a switchover in the use of plutonium churned out by reprocessing spent fuel rods in the direction [of] increasing its nuclear deterrent force.” North Korea refers to its nuclear weapons program as its “nuclear deterrent force.”

When reprocessed with chemicals, the 8000 rods can yield enough plutonium for North Korea to make five or six more nuclear weapons, according to experts.

China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday that North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su-hon insisted Pyongyang’s nuclear capability was “not intended to attack other countries.”

Choe, in New York for a meeting of the UN General Assembly, also said: “We [have] no intention of transferring any means of that nuclear deterrence to other countries.”

The US and its allies are trying to persuade North Korea to give up is nuclear programs. North Korea says it will do so only if the US signs a nonaggression treaty, provides economic aid and opens diplomatic ties.

The US, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia met in Beijing in August to defuse the crisis. The meeting ended without agreement on when to hold the next round.

HK press caters to powerful clique

By Emily Lau

The flood of Hong Kong delegations invited to Beijing after the historic march on July 1 reached a climax on Sept. 27, when a group of business tycoons and their sons and successors were received by top leaders.

The meeting was part of plans by the Chinese authorities to restore confidence in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) following demonstrations by more than half a million people against the administration of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.

The delegation of the super-rich was led by Henry Fok, who is Beijing's most trusted lieutenant in Hong Kong and a vice-president of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

It also included Li Ka-shing, the SAR's most powerful businessman and his two sons. The con is the Chinese Communist Party's organ for the United Front, a tactic for winning friends and marginalizing enemies.

In spite of the large number of delegations being invited to Beijing, it is doubtful whether the central government will learn the real causes which sparked off the huge demonstrations on July 1. This is because many of the social activists and politicians who took part in the march were excluded by Beijing.

In spite of the momentous developments, the central government has not changed its policy of non-communication with the pro-democracy movement.

Like Tung, the Beijing leaders do not want to listen to dissenting views. Given such intransigence and narrow-mindedness, how can they hope to find out what went wrong in Hong Kong?

The large number of delegations going to Beijing is also likely to undermine the SAR's "high degree of autonomy." In the past, the central government has publicly interfered with Hong Kong's affairs, but has never invited so many people to Beijing to give their views.

The visits are not only seen as a slap in the face for Tung, but also pose a danger of reducing his administration to a lame duck. In the future, when controversies arise, the parties concerned may bypass Tung and ask Beijing to intercede. This is not good for "one country, two systems," nor is it good for "a high degree of autonomy."

After the tumultuous developments of July 1, there were expectations that the central and the SAR governments would be more willing to listen to the views of the Hong Kong people. Some people even hope the government and the business community would agree to speed up the pace of democracy, so that the next chief executive can be directly elected in 2007.

However, when the leaders in Beijing only choose to listen to the tycoons and the business and professional elite, it is not a good omen.

Because so many delegations went to Beijing, the one from the news media did not attract too much attention. The group was led by the chairman of the Newspaper Society, Lee Cho-jat and included media proprietors and senior news executives. The delegation was received by Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo responsible for propaganda and ideology.

Li urged the Hong Kong media to be constructive and socially responsible in their criticisms of Hong Kong's government. He said the media should help maintain the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong by supporting Tung and the SAR government. He said supporting communist rule is a core component of the Chinese Constitution and Chinese laws.

Responding to Li's remarks, the South China Morning Post said in an editorial the local media has become well accustomed to receiving advice from Chinese officials on how it should go about its business. The Post observed that Chinese officials have abided by the "one country, two systems" policy and restricted their concerns to words, not actions. It also noted that the media has remained independent and robust since the change of sovereignty in 1997.

I do not share such optimism. It is an open secret that a number of news organizations often practice self-censorship, particularly on sensitive issues relating to China or on stories relating to big business and the business tycoons. Recently, some papers have become very cautious and supportive in their coverage of local government news.

In such a climate, any advice given to the heads of the Hong Kong media by a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo is likely to have the effect of encouraging more timidity and self-censorship, and such interference must be regarded as an anathema to press freedom.

Such concerns are not without justification. The major preoccupation of many members of the delegation was to find ways to expand their commercial interest in China. Press freedom and media independence was a side issue. In fact during the controversies on legislation relating to Article 23 of the Basic Law, most news proprietors have not uttered a word of dissent.

Some, including the South China Morning Post, would argue that Chinese officials, like anyone else, should be free to express their opinions. However the success of "one country, two systems" is dependent on Beijing's willingness to exercise self-restraint in the affairs of Hong Kong. This includes self-restraint in actions as well as words.

Advice given to the Hong Kong media to support the government will give rise to concerns over freedom of the press. If Hong Kong people cherish an independent, free and vibrant news media, they should urge Chinese officials to leave the media alone.

However, when so many people in the media are anxious to capture the Chinese market or to further their political or commercial interest, press freedom will be relegated to an even lower priority.

The only hope is that the consumers -- including the viewers, the listeners and the readers -- will exert pressure on the news organizations to deliver quality and professional products.

Emily Lau is a legislative councilor in Hong Kong and convener of the Frontier Party.

Hu's democracy call questioned

POWER GAME: Analysts suggest that the Communist Party wants to use limited elections to increase its responsiveness to public opinion and therefore its power

AP , BEIJING

President Hu Jintao's call for a more democratic China sounded a lot like pluralism. But it doesn't mean the one-party communist system will allow opposition politics, foreign analysts say.

Instead, they say, Hu's vague call for "democratic election" and other reforms in a speech this week heralds the start of long-planned changes aimed at strengthening the party's grip on power by making it better attuned to public needs in a fast-changing, increasingly capitalist society.

"In fact, this is aimed at preventing the development of a multiparty system by making the Communist Party more responsive and attractive," said Kenneth Lieberthal, a scholar of Chinese politics at the University of Michigan Business School.

Hu, speaking Tuesday to fellow Communist Party leaders, called for a bigger public role in government, more "socialist democracy" and a fairer legal system, according to state media. Hu called for "efforts to expand citizens' orderly participation in political affairs and guarantee the people's rights to carry out democratic election," the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The remarks were the most emphatic statement yet of political goals by Hu, a little-known figure who succeeded Jiang Zemin as party leader last year and as president in March.

But such reforms are in line with proposals debated for years by the communists and appear to reflect a carefully planned, party-wide effort rather than Hu's personal desires.

China has experimented for a decade with nonpartisan voting for low-level village offices. The party is rumored to be considering competitive internal elections to its posts. But the communists, who celebrated their 54th anniversary in power Wednesday, have crushed attempts to set up opposition parties, jailing their leaders on subversion charges.

"They might want a bit more involvement by the people, but still under the control of the Communist Party," said Steve Tsang, director of the Asian Studies Center at Oxford University's St. Antony's College.

"We see nothing in Hu's history to suggest he is any different from good members of the Communist Party, and none of them really believes in democracy," Tsang said.

Pressure has been building for years for change in the communist system.

The economy has been transformed by reforms launched in 1979 under the late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping, gradually creating a new elite of entrepreneurs and professionals. Government controls over where Chinese could live or work and even whom they could marry have been eliminated or relaxed.

Shanghai and other major city governments have appointed advisory panels of leading capitalists. The central government's main advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has grown from a purely ceremonial group of businesspeople, academics and other noncommunist figures into an important resource for Chinese leaders to stay in touch with public opinion in an increasingly diverse -- and politically vocal -- society.

Yet the ruling party still operates almost exactly as it did when it took power in 1949.

Decisions are made in secret by a tiny clique of leaders who are struggling to keep up with economic and social change. Local party bosses -- unelected and unaccountable to the public -- are often accused of corruption or incompetence.

Hu has tried to build an image for himself as a champion of ordinary Chinese, having himself photographed visiting laborers and migrant herders. He has called for government officials to be more professional and accountable.

Lieberthal said that as changes accelerate, China could see direct elections within a year at the county level and to city-level offices by 2010. That could put popularly elected figures into positions with responsibility over millions of people.

Ultimately, he said, the ruling party could be aiming at a system like that of the Institutional Revolutionary Party of Mexico or the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. Both stayed in power for decades by uniting a wide array of competing factions -- then keeping them together by not demanding ideological unity.

US slams China on rights record

AFP , WASHINGTON

The US Congress on Thursday launched a renewed attack on China's human rights record and called on the US government to put greater pressure on Beijing to improve conditions.

The annual report by the Congressional Executive Commission on China also condemned China's "tepid" response to a looming AIDS crisis in the country and said it should be taken up at the highest level.

"The commission finds that human rights conditions in China have not improved overall in the past year. The Chinese government continues to violate China's own Constitution and laws and international norms and standards protecting human rights," said the report.

The commission -- a joint Senate-House of Representatives panel that also includes top State Department officials -- said "some developments are under way in China, particularly in the area of legal reform, that could provide the foundation for stronger protection of rights in the future."

But it added that the changes have been "incremental" and limited.

The report reaffirmed past criticism of people detained "for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression."

It said China was not keeping to international agreements on protecting workers' rights, still bans independent trades unions, child and prison labor remains a problem and that "scores of Christian, Muslim and Tibetan Buddhist worshippers have been arrested or detained during 2003."

The report urged US President George W. Bush and Congress to "increase diplomatic efforts" to make sure China keeps to commitments made during a dialogue with the United States last year.

It said special attention should be paid to those "arbitrarily detained" and to follow up on a Chinese promise to give unconditional invitations to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

The commission said greater efforts should be made to make sure goods made by prison laborers in China do not enter the US.

The report added: "Without urgent action, China faces an HIV/AIDS catastrophe, yet the Chinese government response has been tepid.

"The president and the Congress should continue to raise HIV/AIDS issues at the highest levels of the Chinese leadership during all bilateral meetings, citing the epidemic as an international concern that cannot be solved without the action of China's most senior leaders."

The commission said the government has attempted "significant steps" but progress was difficult and ignorance of the disease was widespread.

"Public health policies in some provinces have fostered the spread of HIV/AIDS and have left patients and orphans in dire distress. Complaints by these victims have been met with fear and forceful repression."

The Congress panel also raised concerns about Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, citing US interests in the territory and its "role as an example of the benefits of the rule of law and broad civil liberties."

Following widespread public protests and international criticism, the Hong Kong government withdrew proposed anti-subversion legislation.

"The commission supports the people of Hong Kong and appreciates their accomplishment in peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of speech, the press and assembly to ensure that they do not find these rights circumscribed."

The report praised Hong Kong officials for making "unprecedented efforts" to make public information about the legislation.

Let the sunshine in

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou has been called the "Teflon Mayor" because nothing bad ever sticks to him. But due to his visits to the Fubon Financial Holding Company's private club, something finally seems to be sticking. In response to the perceived wrong-doing, Ma is staking his entire political reputation and says he will resign immediately if it is shown that any illegal conduct was involved.

Days earlier, Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien had been criticized for receiving a massage from unlicensed masseuses at another private club. For this perceived misconduct, Premier Yu Shyi-kun rebuked Yu and demanded that both central and local government employees speak and act with extreme caution.

The private clubs of local enterprises are, by definition, places for receiving people from business or political circles and it's not really a big deal for a politicians to visit such clubs. Nevertheless, after the Zanadau development scandal was uncovered, we found that many businesspeople and politicians had received extravagant treatment at China Development Industrial Bank's private club while discussing investments -- many of which later proved to be criminal.

Society is then aware that illegal activities may be planned at such high-profile private clubs. This has made politicians' visits to such clubs particularly sensitive, attracting massive public attention.

The fact that Yu was investigated by the Department of Government Ethics for letting a friend treat him to that massage has shown that people are becoming more critical of those politicians and businessmen who blur the lines between socializing and meeting on official government business. It was correct of the premier to rebuke Yu for accepting a massage from a sighted person -- a misstep that violated the Protection Law for the Handicapped and Disabled, which says that only blind people may work as masseurs or masseuses.

Although nothing illegal has yet been found about Ma's visits to Fubon's private club. But while it may not be illegal for the mayor to accept lavish meals at the club, it certainly runs counter to the principle of avoiding apparent conflicts of interest.

Ma has been caught in a mire of conflict because he didn't understand that he should avoid places that may lead to suspicion. Furthermore, Ma has been caught in an untruth: First he said that he had visited the Fubon club only twice, while city councilors claimed he had been there on seven occasions. Ma later admitted to five such visits. Such changes to his story affect the public's trust in Ma.

The nation's "sunshine legislation" is not yet complete. Since there are currently no regulations governing lobbying and public relations activities, people's views of such activities are often colored. Highly private gatherings and venues are understandably seen as perfect places for illegal exchanges of benefits. It is difficult for government officials to avoid official as well as private social activities but in this area they should show self-restraint. In addition, the draft lobbying law should be enacted as soon as possible to allow enterprises or vested interests to engage in public and transparent lobbying activities, rather than having to resort to covert, secret activities.

Many public interests are sacrificed in backroom deals between politicians and enterprises. To avoid having politicians favor enterprises in exchange for political donations, action should also be taken on the draft political-donations law, currently stuck in the legislature. That way, the flow of political donations between enterprises and politicians can be laid open for public supervision and review.

TSU targets former servicemen

RIGHT AND WRONG: The party's lawmakers said that it was unfair that former military and security officials who move to China can still receive their pensions

CNA , TAIPEI

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) said yesterday that it will propose legislation that will halt pension payments to former military and security personnel who move to China without permission.

The TSU legislative caucus expressed the views after listening to a report delivered by the National Security Bureau (NSB).

TSU legislators were upset that Pan Hsi-hsien -- a former head of the NSB's personnel department who went to work at a friend's factory in Shenzhen three days after he retired in June 2000 -- is still claiming his pension through his wife.

NSB Vice Director Huang Lei reported that Pan has been detained by the China authorities and has been forbidden from leaving China.

Another NSB official, former chief accountant Liu Kuan-chun, is wanted by prosecutors for embezzling more than NT$192 million (US$5.68 million) and sneaking out of Taiwan in September 2000, Huang reported.

Liao Ben-yan, TSU caucus whip, said that according to Huang's report, the government has no way to regulate retired military and security officials who travel to China. He said it was "incredible" that Pan could continue to claim his pension.

Liao said that many retired generals have not followed the regulations that state that if their work involved national security, they should obtain approval from the Ministry of the Interior and other related government agencies if they want to travel to China within three years of their retirement.

He said regulations for former military and security officials should be more strict and that those who ignore the regulations should be severely punished.

TSU Legislator Lo Jhih-ming said that based on the fact that more than 100 retired generals have moved to China, the money Taiwan remits each year to China in pensions amounts to more than NT$1 billion.

In addition, Lo said, those people might reveal national secrets or expose intelligence networks.

The TSU will present an amendment to the Statute Governing the Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area next week.

The amendment will prescribe a fine, up to two years in prison and the loss of pension rights to those violating the travel rules, Lo said.