Subject: CND-EP Weekly Posting, August 31, 1990

From: Bo Xiong <yawei>
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 90 20:33:01 -0500

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=====================  Europe / Pacific Section (CND-EP)  =====================
                                August 31, 1990
 
---------------------------- Table of Contents ---------------------------
No. Subject                                                     # of Lines

1. Chinese Students in Japan Appeal for Help...........................100

2. Hong Kong Official: Colony's Position Secure Beyond '97..............33
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1. Chinese Students in Japan Appeal for Help
==================================================================(100 lines)
Provided by CND Editor Xu, Gang <[email-masked]> Mon Aug 27 11:37:51 1990
Originally-From: ***@***.ce.***-u.ac.jp

Editor's note: This is a letter from a CND reader in Japan to CND editor
	       Xu, Gang.  CND has forwarded the letter to Chinese student
	       organizations in the USA (IFCSS) and in Canada (FCSSC).
	       By the way, the author himself is a Chinese and an assistant
	       professor in a Japanese university.
 
Dear Gang,
 
Thank you for your willingness to help.
 
I will discuss two things in this mail.  The first is the situation of the
Chinese students in trouble, and the second is the possible ways of boosting
the number of CND subscribers in Japan.
 
I have been following the development in US over the Nancy Bill.  So I know
it quite well.	CND has also reported the US case and the Australia case as
well. But you know there is no such thing in Japan. Let me tell you the reason.
 
First, Japan is a different democracy from America and West European
democracies.  The ordinary people are xenophobic and few leaders are really
committed to human rights. So it is hardly possible for Chinese students to
lobby the congressmen simply don't have attention to listen to you.

The second, Chinese students here are not organized. There  is no national
organization like IFCSS, even the Chinese Embassy didn't try to organize an
official one.  I think this is mainly because Japan doesn't provide a model
and an environment for association and free speech.  I don't mean you don't
have the freedom legally, but it is indeed difficult as atmosphere to do so.
 
There is a Japan branch of FDC, which is too political to absorb all students.
But it seems to me that most of the students in trouble now belong to FDC.
The position of Japanese government is to treat them individually when they
apply for a special status.  So they had to write what you did against the
Chinese government.
 
According to Katsutoshi Fujimori, one of the most enthusiastic lawyer,
there are 20 people who have applied for a special visa with the reason of
fear of persecution upon returning to China and who have been anwsered with
a "under consideration" stamp on the passport; there are 5 people who applied
with the same reason but have overstayed their visa; and there are 2 people
who applied with the same reason but have been ordered to leave the country
within a period.
 
You may be surprised that Japan has not granted any political asylum since the
World War II, although there is a law on accepting refugees.  Fujimori and
other activists have established the Committee for Accpetance of Political
Refugees in Japan (CAPRJ) on July, 13, 1990, and started lobby to Japanese
lawmakers.  There is an Amnesty Congressmen Association in Japan, it promised
Fujimori to cooperate.	Fujimori also wrote to American Senator Mitchell
and Asia Watch in US to appeal for help.
 
Under these circumstances, there are two fields where people can do something.
One is to lobby the Japanese Congress, as did Fujimori to the Amnesty
Congressmen Association, but one cannot put too much expectation on them.
The other one is the "Outside Pressure", which both Americans and Japanese
believe is "only" chance to advance the Japanese government to change.
Japanese politics does not allow any person to possese the real power
sufficient to change something.  That is why there is a joke, and sometimes
the reality, saying if Japanese people want to change a government policy,
protest before the White House, then the American Congress and US government
will do it for you.
 
For the "outside pressure", I think we can do there things:
1. to report the situation in American media;
2. to lobby US, Canadian, French and Australian governments and congresses
   by the student organizations in those countries.
   This is probably feasible in the context of international criticism of the
   Japanese conplacency selfishness in international trade and politics.
3. to cooperate all human rights organizations, like IFCSS HRC, HRIC, Asia
   Watch and Amnesty International.
 
Let me stop here on this subject.  I don't know how you evaluate these
proposals.  Let me know what you and others think about them.
 
Now move to the second subject, to expand CND subscribing in Japan.
 
As I have said above, there is no Chinese student organizations in Japan,
and nor any national publications by Chinese students.	But still there
are possibilities.  One is to put an ad on "MinZhu Zongguo", a publication
by FDC's Japan Branch.  Another is to put an ad on "The Quest", a publication
based in US, supported by, seemingly, Taiwan, which distributes quite a lot
of copies to Chinese students in Japan.  Still another one is to send a message
to NEWS network, which I don't think many Chinese students are reading
frequently.  The problem is that the current subscibers are not telling others
what they are reading, fearing troubles it may bring, including myself, I
haven't done this to any other Chinese students here.  But if quite a
percentage of poeple are doing so, the scale magnification will be very
considerable.

If you have any ideas on this, please let me know. I can help contact a friend
in FDC Japan Branch and put a piece of information on the Japanese computer
news system.
 
Best Regards,

*****
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2. Hong Kong Official: Colony's Position Secure Beyond '97
====================================================================(33 lines)
>From: [email-masked] (Charles P. Mok, CND Correspondent)
Source: soc.culture.china	  Date: 22 Aug 90 19:37:25 GMT

Hong Kong Official: Colony's Position Secure Beyond '97

The Japan Economic Journal, August 18, 1990

Despite general worries about Hong Kong's future, it is likely to become a
major economic zone afer the 1997 return to Chinese soverignty, said Sir
Piers Jacobs, Hong Kong's financial secretary.

In a recent interview with Keizai Shimbum, Jacobs said Hong Kong's economic
ties with Britain, the U.S., Japan and other countries will continue after
1997 and that its position as a major international city remain unchanged.

While 1997 will mean greater Chinese political influence on Hong Kong, it will
also signify the virtual economic integration of Southern China to Hong Kong.

As a reason for the emergence of such an economic area, Jacobs said Hong Kong
investment already accounts for some 80% of foreign investment in China's
special economic zones, that up to 2 million Chinese work for Hong Kong
companies outside the special zones and that as many as 50,000 Hong Kong
managers live in China.

Concerning relations between Taipei and Beijing, the secretary characterized
Hong Kong as an important connection point for Taiwanese trade with and
investments in China and predicted that exchanges between China and Taiwan
through Hong Kong will further increase in the future.

Even if Taipei lifts its ban on direct investment in and trade with China,
Hong Kong's financial, legal and other infrastructure will keep its
significance from declining, he said.
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