Lexis-Nexis Report of Free China Movement

            Copyright 1998 Federal Information Systems Corporation
                                  FNS DAYBOOK

                             JULY 2, 1998, THURSDAY

EDITION: FINAL

SECTION: GENERAL NEWS EVENTS

LENGTH: 65 words

HEADLINE: EVENT: BRIEFING ON SLAVE LABOR IN CHINA

 
TIME: 10:00 am

 BODY:
SUBJECT: The  Free China Movement  sponsors a press conference to announce
litigation against Adidas America for making soccer balls inside Chinese
labor-reform concentration camps.
LOCATION: Law Offices of Hemenway and Associates, 1150 Conn. Ave. NW., Suite
900.
                            FNS DAYBOOK JULY 2, 1998
 
-- July 2
CONTACT: 703-645-9054

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE: July 2, 1998
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                     Copyright 1998 Times Mirror Company
                               Los Angeles Times

                      June 30, 1998, Tuesday, Home Edition

SECTION: Part A; Page 10; Foreign Desk

LENGTH: 1088 words

HEADLINE: CHINA IS ABUZZ OVER OPENNESS;
CULTURE: DISCUSSIONS OF ONCE-FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS RAISE HOPES FOR FURTHER
EXCHANGES.

BYLINE: MAGGIE FARLEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: SHANGHAI

 BODY:
   President Clinton's taboo-breaking dialogue with Chinese President Jiang
Zemin and his later uncensored discussion with Beijing University students--both
sessions broadcast live nationwide--have sparked another debate here: Is this
the beginning of more openness in China?
                        Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1998
 
   "It is a turning point for our country," said Huang Renwei, a professor of
American Studies at Shanghai's Academy of Social Sciences. "It showed the two
countries facing each other as equals, not only having a conversation but
respecting their different opinions. It seems to be a signal that there can be
more open discussion now in China."

   In the first television appearance, Clinton broke China's nine-year silence
about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre to talk about the importance of human
rights during his news conference with Jiang. In Monday's speech at the
university, he again put an emphasis on human rights.

   Jiang parried by asserting that the crackdown, in which hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of pro-democracy, anti-corruption protesters were killed, preserved
the social stability that has improved the living conditions of millions of
Chinese in the last decade.

   *

   Beijing University students continued the frank exchange, asking Clinton
tough questions, while this nation watched, about perceived contradictions in
U.S. policy.

                        Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1998
 
   It was groundbreaking that the leaders were talking about such once-forbidden
subjects at all--and that a potential audience of 800 million Chinese citizens
could hear the results unedited. But more important, perhaps, is that the
sessions have raised expectations that such public discussions on such tough
issues can and should happen again.

   "I think this nonscripted press conference is an innovation in China," said
Zhang Guo Liang, deputy director of Fudan University's Journalism School. "It
has never happened like this in China before, but I think that the practice will
be expanded. This shows that China is getting on the track of the international
advanced way of doing things."

   The sensation that has caused in China may be difficult for media-weary
Americans to understand. In Jiang's first live media session--during his visit
to the United States in October--he read closely from prepared tracts, and the
footage was not broadcast in China until eight months later in a special
documentary aired earlier this month before Clinton's visit.

   It was only in March that Chinese viewers got their first break from
carefully scripted evening news. They watched Zhu Rongji, the nation's premier
and its economic czar, answer questions and banter briefly with reporters while
the cameras rolled.
                        Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1998
 
   That session was so well received that Zhu's news conference is available on
video in local stores--and is even being pirated.

   *

   But as spontaneous as those exchanges appeared, no piece of political theater
is truly without a script.

   For Jiang, the open discussion was a carefully calculated challenge to
China's conservative leaders, who prefer that debate occur behind closed doors.
Chinese officials withheld permission for months for American television
companies to broadcast live footage from China during the summit before finally
conceding. Jiang himself is said to have made the decision to go live just hours
before the news conference began.

   It was the bold move of a man in charge, a national leader finally secure in
his power, Western analysts said Monday.

   James R. Sasser, the United States ambassador to China, called Jiang's
gauntlet toss "audacious" and "daring."
 

                        Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1998
 
   "He took a chance, not only with the Chinese people but perhaps even with
some of his own colleagues in the Chinese government," Sasser said.

   Not all of the reviews were so positive. "It is not necessarily a good
thing," said engineer Luo Zhongbao, 32. "Clinton is good at speaking--he has
gone through two presidential elections. Jiang is not. . . . I don't think CCTV
China's state-controlled television network will play an unedited version
again."

   China's state-controlled media had mixed reactions Monday, indicating
uncertainty about how far and long the new openness will extend.

   National newspapers glossed over the leaders' controversial swerves toward
Tiananmen and Tibet; a few didn't mention the discussion of the long-banned
topics at all.

   But on Shanghai's Oriental Television news Monday night, a broadcaster
commented, "The press conference showed the degree of openness of China and the
confidence of Chinese leaders."

   Still, even as Chinese were abuzz about their possible version of glasnost, a
democracy activist who was trying to set up an opposition political party was
                        Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1998
 
detained Monday by Chinese police--the latest dissident rounded up during
Clinton's visit. Plainclothes police showed up at Wang Youcai's home in the
eastern city of Hangzhou, dissident groups in the United States and Hong Kong
reported.

   *

   Wang had tried to register his China Democracy Party with Zhejiang provincial
authorities last week but was turned away. He had planned to try again Monday
afternoon, the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic
Movement said. His application was the first time Chinese dissidents have openly
tried to gain government approval for an opposition party, the Washington-based
 Free China Movement  reported.

   Wang was a student leader in the democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square
in 1989. He spent 2 1/2 years in prison for helping lead the protests and has
had repeated run-ins with police ever since.

   Today, the Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement said
that authorities released Wang after six hours of questioning but warned him
that they would take further action if he did not drop his plan to register the
Chinese Democracy Party.
                        Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1998
 
   Wang told police it was none of their business and that he will try again to
register the party with Zhejiang's provincial department of civil affairs, the
group said.

   As for the import of the Clinton sessions, the big question now is if the
political discussions can continue. "It was a significant starting point," said
Huang, the Shanghai professor who advised Jiang before his trip to the U.S. "The
discussion will go on in some way, but not so openly and not in every field. We
are still focused on market reform and economic development, and that will take
90% of our attention. We will keep 10% focused on political issues."

   *

   * SOUTHLAND VISIT

   Chinese government officials and entrepreneurs tour Glendale-based insurer.
D2

GRAPHIC: PHOTO: (A10 Southland Edition) President Clinton responds to remarks
made after he donated American reference books to Beijing University's library.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Agence France-Presse

                        Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1998
 
LANGUAGE: English

LOAD-DATE: June 30, 1998
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                  LEVEL 1 - GROUP 1 - 2 OF 10 NEWS & ANALYSIS

                     Copyright 1998 Agence France Presse
                              Agence France Presse

                            June 29, 1998 12:34 GMT

SECTION: International news

LENGTH: 482 words

HEADLINE: China detains activist over opposition party

 BODY:
   (ADDS White House reaction, background, fixes distance in par 4) By Lorien
Holland

   BEIJING, June 29 (AFP) - China on Monday detained Wang Youcai, a
pro-democracy activist who had applied to set up an opposition party just hours
before US President Bill Clinton arrived for his state visit.

   Wang was taken from his home in eastern Zhejiang province mid-afternoon
Monday, his wife Hu Jiangxia said.

                      Agence France Presse, June 29, 1998
 
   "Plain-clothes police came to our house around one o'clock and talked to my
husband about his activities and about the Chinese Democracy Party. They took
him away just before four o'clock," she said.

   The detention came as Clinton flew out of Beijing for China's commercial
centre of Shanghai, which is some 150 kilometres (80 miles) (eds: correct) from
Wang's home.

   "President Clinton must tell the Chinese government now that they must
release Mr Wang unconditionally," the Washington-based  Free China Movement
said in a fax.

   "If not, he should cancel the rest of his schedule in China to show his
strong protest at the Chinese government's manipulation," the group added.

   US officials travelling with Clinton said they were unaware of Wang's
detention but said the US government and official delegation would "continue to
raise these issues with the authorities."

   A string of dissident detentions in the central city of Xian ahead of the
president's arrival there last Thursday caused Clinton to order his ambassador
to make an official protest to the authorities.
                      Agence France Presse, June 29, 1998
 
   "While the president's trip is focusing on China's potential, there are of
course still major problems in this regard which we will continue to take up in
discussion with the Chinese authorities," a US official said.

   "While there has been some progress, incidents like this are still taking
place," he added.

   Wang Youcai, who was number 15 on the government's most-wanted list after the
1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, lodged an application to form the Chinese
Democracy Party with Wang Donghai and Lin Hui on Thursday just hours before the
start of Clinton's visit.

   It was the first open application to form an opposition party since the
Communist Party came to power in 1949, and came despite almost zero tolerance
from the government towards open dissent.

   Wang Donghai and Lin Hui both said they had so far been unaffected.

   In an interview Sunday, Wang Donghai said they had used the cover of
Clinton's visit to mount a challenge to the Communist Party's monopoly on power.
 

                      Agence France Presse, June 29, 1998
 
   "I think everyone is playing the American card at the moment because
President Clinton is here," he said.

   "We chose this time as it is very suitable, as everything is very calm and
safer than usual," he said by telephone.

   A second group of Chinese dissidents said Saturday they had also lodged an
application to establish an opposition political party -- the Chinese Democracy
and Justice Party.

   blh/jit

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE: June 29, 1998
 
 
 
 
 
 

                  LEVEL 1 - GROUP 1 - 3 OF 10 NEWS & ANALYSIS

                    Copyright 1998 Chicago Tribune Company
                                Chicago Tribune

                  June 29, 1998 Monday, EVENING UPDATE EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1; ZONE: C

LENGTH: 251 words

HEADLINE: CHINESE DETAIN DISSIDENT TRYING TO REGISTER PARTY

BYLINE: Associated Press.

DATELINE: BEIJING

 BODY:
   Chinese police on Monday detained a democracy activist who was trying to set
up an opposition political party--the latest dissident rounded up during
President Clinton's visit to China.

   Plainclothes police showed up at Wang Youcai's home in eastern Hangzhou city
Monday afternoon and took him away three hours later, according to dissident
                         Chicago Tribune, June 29, 1998
 
groups in the United States and Hong Kong.

   Having been turned away by officials Friday, Wang had planned to try again
Monday to register his China Democracy Party with provincial authorities, the
Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement said.

   The application marked the first time Chinese dissidents have openly tried to
gain government approval for an opposition party, the Washington-based  Free
 China Movement  reported.

   Wang, a student leader in the democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in
1989, was at least the sixth dissident taken into custody since Wednesday.

   His detention came as Clinton left Beijing for Shanghai. Clinton took up the
previous arrests with President Jiang Zemin, but Jiang afterward defended the
police action as important for security.

   In China, Clinton has emphasized the need for the government to allow more
freedom. Addressing students and faculty at Peking University Monday, he called
a freer society necessary to maintaining economic prosperity.
 

                         Chicago Tribune, June 29, 1998
 
   However, Clinton has refused appeals by Chinese democracy and human rights
campaigners to meet with a dissident.

GRAPHIC: PHOTOPHOTO (color): Waving American flags, students at Beijing
University cheer President Clinton Monday during a ceremony where he presented
500 books to the university library. After the appearance, Clinton left Beijing
for Shanghai, the next stop on his visit. Reuters photo.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE: June 30, 1998
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                  LEVEL 1 - GROUP 1 - 4 OF 10 NEWS & ANALYSIS

                      Copyright 1998 The Washington Post
                              The Washington Post

                      June 28, 1998, Sunday, Final Edition

SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A01

LENGTH: 1717 words

HEADLINE: Summit Debate Buoys U.S. Hopes; Chinese Broadcast Hailed as Sign of
Change

BYLINE: John F. Harris; John Pomfret, Washington Post Staff Writers

DATELINE: BEIJING, June 28 (Sunday)

 BODY:
   Hours after an uncommonly forthright public exchange between President
Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Clinton administration officials were
predicting a new chapter in U.S.-China relations that they said could lead to
breakthroughs on such nettlesome long-term problems as missile proliferation and
repression of Tibet.
                       The Washington Post, June 28, 1998
 
   The buoyancy, even boastfulness, in the U.S. delegation here today came less
from a series of limited agreements reached on arms control and other subjects
in Saturday's summit meeting than from the unprecedented openness Beijing
authorities exhibited by broadcasting a Clinton-Jiang news conference live to
the Chinese public.

   It was a dramatic moment for a regime that customarily has crushed internal
dissent and methodically tried to insulate its population from exposure to
external criticism.

   The Chinese population heard Clinton and Jiang debate such issues as human
rights, the lethal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators nine years ago in
Beijing's Tiananmen Square and the possibility of a rapprochement between
Beijing and the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet. In a
wide-ranging, often philosophical discussion, the two leaders agreed
occasionally and disagreed often.

   But a smiling Jiang projected little of the denial and defensiveness that he
and predecessors have shown on such occasions in the past, including at Jiang's
summit in Washington last October. Several times he invited Clinton to respond
to his assertions; such unscripted moments stretched a planned half-hour
appearance at the Great Hall of the People into a 70-minute affair.
                       The Washington Post, June 28, 1998
 
   Later, the surprisingly spontaneous chemistry between the two leaders was
again on display at a state dinner in the same imposing edifice astride
Tiananmen Square. Dining on shark's fin in soy sauce and grilled beef steak,
Clinton and Jiang toasted each other. And both leaders took turns conducting the
Military Band of the People's Liberation Army -- an image sure to rankle U.S.
critics who assert that Clinton is cozying too closely with a Communist
dictatorship.

   Administration officials, who in recent weeks were put repeatedly on the
defensive by a wide array of voices urging a tougher line against Beijing, went
quickly on the offensive to trumpet what they called a vindication of their
approach.

   "The summit today and the press conference which followed I believe
demonstrate more graphically than anything we could possibly have said that the
premise we have been proceeding along is correct," said White House national
security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger. "I hope that those who are critical
of the relationship at home will see that through engagement you can get a lot
of serious things done and promote America's values and maybe even advance the
process of change in China all at the same time -- these are not multiple
choice."

                       The Washington Post, June 28, 1998
 
   Michel Oksenberg, a professor of Chinese politics at Stanford University,
said both the rapport between the leaders and the fact that the Chinese public
saw the news conference -- at which Clinton bluntly criticized the Tiananmen
massacre -- was remarkable. "I think it would be hard for the American public to
appreciate how significant this is," he said. "Jiang Zemin has performed a
courageous act. . . . It's an extraordinary act and it does make this an
extraordinary trip."

   The fact that the event was aired live in China was even more surprising
because for weeks Chinese officials had stalled on this question, indicating to
the U.S. team that it was unlikely Clinton would be able to speak directly to a
mass audience in China.

   While George Bush made unprovocative remarks to a televised audience when he
came to China in 1989, that was before the Tiananmen crackdown. "There was not
this rancorous dimension of the relationship at that time," Oksenberg said.

   U.S. officials said the summit was a sign that Jiang, 71, has grown more
secure in his leadership in the 16 months since paramount leader Deng Xiaoping
died. Since then he has consolidated control of the government, especially in
foreign affairs, and he referred repeatedly Saturday to the "partnership" he
wants with the United States.
                       The Washington Post, June 28, 1998
 
   For all the memorable atmosphere, the actual summit agreements hardly
clinched Berger's argument that the U.S.-China relationship is now on a "solid
and higher level of cooperation."

   In fact, months of painstaking negotiations that ended only hours before
Saturday morning's Jiang-Clinton talks produced a mixed bag of disappointments
and modest gains. Clinton gave the most attention to an agreement that the
United States and China no longer target nuclear missiles at each other.

   The agreement -- in part symbolic, since missiles can be quickly retargeted
-- indicated a shift in Chinese attitudes. Previously, Beijing had insisted that
the United States make a no-first-use pledge on nuclear weapons like the one
China extracted from Russia to win a similar detargeting agreement; this
weekend, that demand was dropped.

   The United States opposes a no-first-use pledge because Washington is
obligated by treaties to protect Japan and its NATO allies in Europe. Thirteen
of China's 18 intercontinental missiles are aimed at the United States, compared
with a vastly larger U.S. arsenal.

   The United States did not persuade China formally to join the Missile
Technology Control Regime, which seeks to curb proliferation of missile
                       The Washington Post, June 28, 1998
 
capability to smaller nations around the world. But in what administration
officials insisted was a hopeful sign, the Chinese did agree to "actively study"
whether to join later this year.

   Other efforts brought even fewer results. One administration official said
U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky's weeks-long effort to press the
Chinese to lower trade barriers -- the United States says it has a $ 49.7
billion annual trade deficit with China -- was an exercise in futility. The
Chinese summarily rejected her proposal for a slight opening of China's
financial services and telecommunications industries. This would have been in
exchange for a mild statement that the United States thought negotiations for
China's long-sought entry into the World Trade Organization were continuing
apace. Far from being advanced by the summit, the issue is no closer to
resolution than it was months ago.

   There were agreements for China to expand its list of substances that will be
controlled under an agreement to restrict the export of "dual-use" chemicals
with both commercial and military applications. On another proliferation issue,
the two nations agreed on a policy of allowing U.S. "end-use" visits to China to
ensure that dual-use technology exports are not being misused.
 

                       The Washington Post, June 28, 1998
 
   On Tibet, Jiang said as long as the Dalai Lama agreed that Tibet should not
be independent of China, "the door to dialogue and negotiation is open" for
expanding freedom in the province. Clinton, in a cheery closing line to the news
conference, said he thinks if Jiang and the spiritual leader could meet "they
would like each other very much."

   Clinton had other visits with senior Chinese officials Saturday, including a
luncheon with Premier Zhu Rongji to discuss the Asian economic crisis. At the
state dinner, Clinton shared a cocktail-party greeting with former premier Li
Peng, who had ordered the army to put down the Tiananmen protests.

   This morning, the president, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter
Chelsea attended services at Beijing's massive Chongwenmen Church, established
in 1870 as the first American Methodist-Episcopal church in northern China.
Speaking briefly from the pulpit, the president told parishioners, "I believe
that Chinese and Americans are brothers and sisters as children of God."

   In the past, U.S. officials have demanded that China release dissidents. The
human rights group Amnesty International says China still has 2,000 political
prisoners, about 250 of whom are in jail for their participation in the
Tiananmen protests. In their news conference, Clinton said he urged Jiang to
consider releasing at least those imprisoned for acts that are no longer
                       The Washington Post, June 28, 1998
 
regarded as crimes in China.

   But he did not frame the rights issue principally in terms of American
concepts of individual liberty -- appeals the Chinese typically have not taken
well. Instead, he appealed to Chinese pocketbooks.

   "So the question for all societies, going forward into the 21st century, is,
which is the better gamble?" Clinton asked Jiang. "If you have a lot of personal
freedom, some people may abuse it. But if you are so afraid of personal freedom
. . . that you limit people's freedom too much, then you pay . . . an even
greater price in a world where the whole economy is based on ideas and
information and exchange and debate."

   In his state dinner toast last night, Jiang offered a decidedly different
perspective: "China and the U.S. differ in social system, ideology, cultural
tradition and historical background, and are at different stages of economic
development. It is nothing strange that they should have some differences of
views on certain subjects. What is important is that the common interests
between the two sides far outweigh their differences."

   In Washington, Republicans were generally restrained in their criticism.
Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), in
                       The Washington Post, June 28, 1998
 
Saturday's weekly Republican radio address, said many GOP colleagues were
"concerned about the symbolism" of a presidential trip to China in the light of
recent controversies over military technology transfers and Chinese links to
campaign fund-raising controversies.

   "Nevertheless . . . while he is in that country we should put our differences
on hold until his return and hope that his trip is a success," Thompson said.

   Some others were more openly critical. "The 'constructive engagement' is for
Fortune 500 companies who want to make a bundle of profits in China," said Joel
Segal, the American director of the  Free China Movement,  a coalition of more
than 30 Chinese dissident groups both in China and outside it. "There are 250
people still in jails from Tiananmen Square. Has constructive engagement
released them? Absolutely not."

   Staff writer Joby Warrick in Washington contributed to this report.

GRAPHIC: PH,,AP/J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, As the Clintons watch, President Jiang
Zemin takes a turn leading the Military Band of the People's Liberation Army at
a state dinner in Beijing.
 

                       The Washington Post, June 28, 1998
 
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE: June 28, 1998
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                  LEVEL 1 - GROUP 1 - 5 OF 10 NEWS & ANALYSIS

                      Copyright 1998 Central News Agency
                              Central News Agency

                            June 24, 1998, Wednesday

LENGTH: 372 words

HEADLINE: CLINTON URGED TO HIGHLIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS DURING MAINLAND TRIP

BYLINE: By Jay Chen & Elizabeth Hsu

DATELINE:  Washington, June 24

 BODY:
    US President Bill Clinton's decision to receive military honors from his
communist Chinese hosts at Tiananmen Square -- site of the bloody 1989 crackdown
-- continued to meet with protests Tuesday from leaders of Congress and various
civic groups.

   In a statement to the press, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo.,
said that he and 61 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives have
called on Clinton to make human rights the central topic of his nine-day visit
                       Central News Agency, June 24, 1998
 
to mainland China which starts on Thursday.

   Gephardt also urged Clinton to use all the leverage at his disposal,
including sanctions, to promote American national interests and values.

   During a Congress press conference Wednesday afternoon, Clinton was urged to
raise the issue of talks with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai
Lama, deliver a speech in remembrance of the Tiananmen massacre victims, visit
some of the victims' families, and demand that Beijing release political and
religious prisoners.

   Xiong Yian, a mainland student leader who was jailed for 19 months for his
part in the 1989 pro-democracy protest, also attended the press conference.  He
implored Clinton not to forget Beijing's mass killings and not to embrace the
mainland Chinese dictators.

   Meanwhile, " Free China Movement"  members staged separate protests in front
of the mainland Chinese embassy and the White House, where an open letter to
Clinton was read which contained the following four appeals:

   -- Pressure Beijing into releasing all prisoners jailed for their
pro-democracy beliefs;
                       Central News Agency, June 24, 1998
 
   -- Demand that the mainland authorities recognize their mistake in conducting
the June 4 military oppression at Tiananmen Square and punish those responsible
for the killing;

   -- Ask mainland China to allow freedom of speech, dissemination and
association, and to follow international conventions on human rights;

   -- Take the previous demands into consideration when planning to continue
mainland China's most-favored nation trade status, when discussing Beijing's
entry into the World Trade Organization, and when enhancing economic and
political relations between Washington and Beijing.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE: June 25, 1998
 
 
 
 
 
 

                  LEVEL 1 - GROUP 1 - 6 OF 10 NEWS & ANALYSIS

                      Copyright 1998 Kyodo News Service
                            Japan Economic Newswire

                            JUNE 24, 1998, WEDNESDAY

LENGTH: 871 words

HEADLINE: Satellites, human rights taint Clinton's China trip

BYLINE: Keiji Urakami

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 23 Kyodo

 BODY:
   The alleged transfer of sensitive U.S. satellite technology to China and
continuing concerns about China's dismal human rights record have cast a shadow
over President Bill Clinton's trip to Beijing, which begins Thursday.

   Last October during his meeting with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Clinton
said his visit to China would help forge a 'constructive strategic partnership,'
but recent events have put such a partnership under severe scrutiny by the
public and Congress.
                     Japan Economic Newswire, JUNE 24, 1998
 
   'The very concept of a strategic partnership was then, and is now, premature
and quite possibly delusional,' said Richard Fisher, senior analyst at the
Heritage Foundation.

   'If a strategic partnership is possible, then it must be grounded in
broad-based political support in Congress and among the American people,' he
said.

   The main issue drawing criticism from Congress is a Clinton policy that
allowed American aerospace companies to export sophisticated satellites for
launch aboard Chinese rockets -- a policy critics say enabled China to use U.S.
satellite technology to improve the accuracy of its missiles.

   Clinton has defended the 1988 accord with Beijing that created the policy,
saying it served U.S. interests by bringing television and telephone services to
Chinese households.  He said sensitive technology was and still can be protected
under 'strict safeguards,' including Defense Department monitoring of each
launch.

   Perhaps more importantly, the accord met the interests of U.S. industry,
because launching satellites from China costs 60% less than launching from
within the U.S.
                     Japan Economic Newswire, JUNE 24, 1998
 
   The accord was suspended following the bloody Tiananmen crackdown in 1989,
and it was replaced in 1990 by legislation banning the transfer of U.S. military
items or satellites to China.  The law, however, contains a provision allowing
the president to waive the sanctions if he determines doing so would be in the
national interest.

   President Clinton has signed nine waivers for 12 separate launches.

   Critics say Clinton approved the waivers because the chairman of Loral Space
and Communications, a New York-based satellite company, was the largest personal
donor to the Democratic Party in 1996.

   Concerns over the technology transfer were heightened following press reports
that China had targeted 13 nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles at the
U.S. and that China had assisted Iran and Pakistan in developing weapons of mass
destruction.

   'U.S. export control policy should not, directly or indirectly, serve to
facilitate China's capacity to target the United States with nuclear missiles,'
said Floyd Spence, a Republican congressman from South Carolina, in his opening
statement at the recent House National Security Committee meeting on U.S.
satellite export policy.
                     Japan Economic Newswire, JUNE 24, 1998
 
   The satellite issue was also spotlighted when Clinton decided earlier this
month to renew China's most favored nation trade status for another year.

   Benjamin Gilman, chairman of the House International Relations Committee,
said Clinton's trip to China should involve 'no concession, no deals, no
permanent waivers, no new technology or science agreements and -- most
importantly -- no shoehorning of China into a missile technology control regime
they have been violating over the past decade.'

   Clinton brushed off criticism, saying the U.S. government allowed the launch
of American satellites on Chinese rockets 'for the simple reason that the demand
for American satellites far outstrips America's launch capacity.'

   He said Washington's engagement policy, rather than isolation policy, helped
China agree to stop selling cruise missiles to Iran last October.  He said the
U.S. government will continue to press Beijing on nuclear proliferation.

   Meanwhile, human rights activists, Chinese pro-democracy leaders and
Republican lawmakers have been angered by Clinton's plan to attend a welcoming
ceremony at Tiananmen Square during his state visit to Beijing.
 

                     Japan Economic Newswire, JUNE 24, 1998
 
   Clinton said attending the ceremony does not mean Washington absolves China
of 'its responsibility for the terrible killing' that took place there.
'Protocol and honoring a nation's traditional practices should not be confused
with principle,' he said.

   One day ahead of Clinton's departure, four House of Representatives members
held a press conference on Capitol Hill to protest the president's attendance at
the Tiananmen Square gathering.

   North Carolina Republican Sue Myrick said, 'Mr. President, we wholly agree
that China is of enormous economic and strategic importance to the United
States...but any dialogue with China must include a frank discussion of human
rights.'

   'To help the president, we have taken down the flag that flies above the
Stature of Freedom on our Capitol Dome.  We will include this flag with a copy
of our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and we will give these
items to the president to take with him to China,' she said.

   The  Free China Movement  Network, a group of exiled Chinese democrats,
gathered outside the Chinese embassy Tuesday to urge Clinton to meet with
pro-democracy activists during his trip to China.
                     Japan Economic Newswire, JUNE 24, 1998
 
   The U.S. government has so far indicated Clinton has no plans to hold such a
meeting.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                  LEVEL 1 - GROUP 1 - 7 OF 10 NEWS & ANALYSIS

                      Copyright 1998 Kyodo News Service
                            Japan Economic Newswire

                             JUNE 16, 1998, TUESDAY

LENGTH: 178 words

HEADLINE: Clinton may meet dissidents in Beijing, says McCurry

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 15 Kyodo

 BODY:
   U.S. President Bill Clinton may meet with political dissidents during his
visit to China from June 25, a White House spokesman indicated Monday.

   'The president, every time he goes to countries, touches base with a broad
cross-section of the life of that country, and I expect him to do so when he is
in China,' spokesman Mike McCurry told a news briefing.

   But McCurry avoided further comments on the matter, including who the
president may meet.

                     Japan Economic Newswire, JUNE 16, 1998
 
   A group of exiled Chinese dissidents recently asked Clinton to meet them
before visiting Beijing next week.

   The group, the  Free China Movement,  said it wants Clinton to allow some of
its members to accompany him to Tiananmen Square to lay a wreath as a memorial
to those killed by the Chinese military during pro-democracy demonstrations in
1989.

   During his visit to Beijing in February 1989, then U.S. President George Bush
invited dissident scientist Fang Lizhi to a party hosted by the president.

   The invitation, however, angered Chinese authorities, who forced Fang to
decline the invitation.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
 
 
 
 
 
 

                  LEVEL 1 - GROUP 1 - 8 OF 10 NEWS & ANALYSIS

                      Copyright 1998 Central News Agency
                              Central News Agency

                              June 5, 1998, Friday

LENGTH: 593 words

HEADLINE: WASHINGTON COMMEMORATES JUNE 4TH WITH DECLARATION

BYLINE: By Nelson Chung and Flor Wang

DATELINE: Washington, June 4

 BODY:
   Washington D. C. Mayor Marion Barry on Thursday declared June 4th "Freedom
and Democracy in China Day" to commemorate the deaths of thousands of protesters
killed in a bloody military crack down in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.

   Announcing the declaration at a news conference, Barry said Washington D. C.
supports all those who have fought for democracy, as freedom belongs to every
citizen around the world.

                       Central News Agency, June 5, 1998
 
   Meanwhile, more than 100 mainland Chinese dissidents based in the United
States launched a three-day seminar here on Thursday to mark the ninth
anniversary of the June 4 incident.

   Lian Shengde, co-founder of the Free China Forum which sponsored the
symposium, called the gathering a historical "meeting of union" among all
mainland Chinese dissidents living in exile abroad.

   With assistance from US congressmen, academics, human rights and religious
groups, as well as former government officials, Lian said they are planning to
set up a " Free China Movement"  in an effort to gain support from the US
government for pro-democracy activists and political reformists in the mainland.

   The US government should revoke the most favored nation trading status and
impose trade sanctions on mainland China until Beijing agrees to respect human
rights, end the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and resolve
international disputes through peaceful means, Lian claimed.

   Wang Dan, a former pro-democracy student leader and prominent dissident who
was recently released by Beijing on medical parole to the United States, sent a
congratulatory message to Lian to show his support for a free China.

                       Central News Agency, June 5, 1998
 
   Ye Ning, a lawyer from mainland China who has reportedly suffered over 200
incidents of torture by communist authorities since he was 14 years old, called
the regime in Beijing the biggest threat to world peace as it is responsible for
the slaughter of over 60 million people.

   The "strategical partnership" engagement policy adopted by the US government
to deal with mainland China will impede the democratization process in the
mainland, Ye said. He called on Washington to suspend any move which would help
Chinese communists foster.

   Zhou Yungjun, one of the leaders in the 1989 student-led protests, urged
American people to back democracy movements in the mainland and assist them in
their efforts to bring about changes there.

   On the eve of the June 4 anniversary, New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani
declared Thursday as "New York Backs Democracy in China Day" to commemorate
those killed or persecuted for seeking democracy and freedom.

   Giuliani said in a public statement that New York City admires all those who
sacrificed their lives in a struggle for democracy, especially those in mainland
China.  The efforts pro-democracy advocates have awakened the American people,
he said, allowing them to understand that millions of people still live under
                       Central News Agency, June 5, 1998
 
a repressive regime.

   Giuliani has always been a staunch supporter of democracy in mainland China
and often publicly criticizes Beijing for its autocratic rule.

   The mayor refused to meet mainland Chinese President Jiang Zemin last
November while Jiang was visiting New York. But he received Wei Jiangsheng, the
most prominent mainland Chinese dissident who was set free by Beijing on medical
parole to the United States, shortly after that.

   More than 300 overseas Chinese and democracy activists from mainland China,
including Wang Dan, also took part in a protest outside Beijing's consulate here
on Thursday to mark the June 4 massacre.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE: June 6, 1998
 
 
 
 

                  LEVEL 1 - GROUP 1 - 9 OF 10 NEWS & ANALYSIS

                      Copyright 1998 Kyodo News Service
                            Japan Economic Newswire

                              JUNE 5, 1998, FRIDAY

LENGTH: 400 words

HEADLINE: Exiled Chinese dissidents form new coalition

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 4 Kyodo

 BODY:
   A large group of exiled Chinese political prisoners and dissidents gathered
in Washington on Thursday, the ninth anniversary of the military crackdown at
Beijing's Tiananmen Square, to announce a new coalition for democracy and human
rights in China.

   More than 100 exiled Chinese traveled from all over the United States and
from abroad to participate in a meeting where they declared the formation of the
new coalition, called the ' Free China Movement. '
 

                     Japan Economic Newswire, JUNE 5, 1998
 
   Representatives of the new coalition said they want U.S. President Bill
Clinton to meet them before making a state visit to China later this month, and
some want to accompany him to Tiananmen Square to lay a wreath there as a
memorial to those killed in the 1989 pro-democracy demonstration.

   'This new coalition seeks to invite and gather together all those committed
to the cause of political freedom and democracy in China so we may build a
movement for real change,' said Shengde Lian, chairman of the Free China Forum,
a principal group organizing the meeting, said.

   Shengde Lian, who was among the Tiananmen Square leaders and was sentenced to
two years in prison, said, 'We Chinese people deserve democracy and deserve
freedom.  We believe we can make this if we work together.'

   He read out a message from Wang Dan, a recently released Chinese dissident
who is a symbol of the 1989 pro-democracy student movement.

   In the message, Wang, who was freed in April on medical parole and exiled to
the United States, urged the Chinese government to release many other political
prisoners.
 

                     Japan Economic Newswire, JUNE 5, 1998
 
   'Today, there are thousands of...prisoners of conscience.  They are still in
jail even if I and several others were released,' Wang was quoted as saying.

   Ye Ning, a lawyer for the Free China Forum, said he wants Clinton to urge
Chinese leaders to 'stop stabilizing the dictatorship, stop legitimizing the
dictatorship and stop subsidizing the dictatorship.'

   Ye said he was tortured more than 200 times by Chinese authorities from age
14.

   Clinton will leave June 24 for China and return home July 3.

   He is expected to appear in Tiananmen Square for a welcoming ceremony during
his four-day state visit to the Chinese capital from June 26.

   But domestic critics, especially Republicans, have urged Clinton, who will be
the first U.S. president to visit China since the Tiananmen Square crackdown, to
stay away from Tiananmen.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
 

                  LEVEL 1 - GROUP 1 - 10 OF 10 NEWS & ANALYSIS

                      Copyright 1998 Kyodo News Service
                            Japan Economic Newswire

                              JUNE 5, 1998, FRIDAY

LENGTH: 358 words

HEADLINE: Kyodo news summary

DATELINE: TOKYO, June 5 Kyodo

 BODY:
   -- Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko left Copenhagen on Thursday
night for Tokyo aboard a special government plane, wrapping up a 13-day tour to
Portugal, Britain and Denmark.

   The emperor and empress said in written answers to questions from Japanese
reporters that they were pleased to feel that Japan has built close and friendly
relations with the three European nations.

   -- South Korea's ruling coalition parties posted major wins in local
elections Thursday, winning 10 of 16 mayoral and gubernatorial races.
                     Japan Economic Newswire, JUNE 5, 1998
 
   Among the top gains are the Seoul and Inchon mayoralties and the governorship
of Kyonggi Province, according to results by the Central Election Management
Commission on Friday.  The three big wins are seen as a major affirmation
President Kim Dae Jung, who is president of the NCNP, should press ahead with
economic reforms and political realignment.

   -- A large group of exiled Chinese political prisoners and dissidents
gathered in Washington on Thursday, the ninth anniversary of the military
crackdown at Beijing's Tiananmen Square, to announce a new coalition for
democracy and human rights in China, the ' Free China Movement.

   -- Police arrested Thursday Hisashi Tanimura, 61, the director of a public
hospital in Ueno, Mie Prefecture, on suspicion of receiving bribes from a
Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company in exchange for agreeing to purchase new
drugs, police officials said.

   -- The world's five major nuclear powers issued a joint communique Thursday
that they will not accept India and Pakistan into the nuclear club.

   The foreign ministers of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States
met in Geneva to coordinate their response to the nuclear tests conducted last
month by India and Pakistan.
                     Japan Economic Newswire, JUNE 5, 1998
 
   -- Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi said Friday he is considering proposing a
meeting among nonnuclear countries which could potentially develop nuclear arms,
in a bid to pressure nuclear states toward nuclear disarmament.

   Obuchi made the remarks following the end of an emergency foreign ministerial
meeting among the five nuclear powers in Geneva on Thursday on nuclear issues.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
 
 

This page contain the partial report of FCM from June4 to July 7 1998

For more reports of FCM after July 5, click here