Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1993 01:11:21 -0500 Reply-To: TWP66@ISUVAX.BITNET Sender: China-Net From: Yungui Ding Subject: CCF #9306, 9/29/93: "CSPA and Its Impact" To: Multiple recipients of list CHINA-NT ==+==+==+== C h i n e s e C o m m u n i t y F o r u m ==+==+==+=== Wednesday, September 29, 1993 (Issue No. 9306) +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= Chinese Community Forum (CCF) is a journal published on China-Net. CCF is dedicated to the discussion and debate on the issues related to our community. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the Editorial Board of CCF. Contributions to the discussions and suggestions of new topics are very much appreciated. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= Table of Contents Author | # of Lines ============================================================================ 1. Theme of Issue: CSPA and Its Impact a. Why Is It So Beautiful -- A Reflection on CSPA ........... Hou Junwei 50 b. To Return Or to Stay? -- A Reflection on Controversies Surrounding CSPA ......... Luo Ning 122 c. New York Has More Illegal Italians and Israelis Than Illegal Chinese 60 2. Windows to China: a. Jiangsu Develops Social Insurance System ........................ BBC 22 b. Doing Business in China--Wen Yuankai Talks in a Seminar ... Dai Qiang 65 ============================================================================ ===========***==========***==========**==========***==========***=========== From The Editor ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Four years after the bloody 6.4 in Tiananmen, a large group of CSS in the US became US permanent residents under the Chinese Students Protection Act of 1992 (CSPA). Some people see it as the first successful coordinated action to fight for their own rights and benefits within the American system, Some call this "collective defection", some call it "bloody card", and some call it "a jackpot". No matter we call it, it is a fact that by the end of this week, 45,000 fellow Chinese will be able to add a little green light to their lives' prospects. While the debate and controversy of CSPA will certainly continue for a long time, while there are still a portion of later applicants left for the next fiscal year, while there are still an equal number of fellow CSS' who happened to arrive at this land after the magical date are still struggling for their goals, the time of CSPA, a chapter of China's LiuXueSheng history, a chapter of "the great exodus" of the 20th century China, is closing itself. Joy or sorrow, the readers of this chapter will judge. Life goes on, as it goes. We will find that green card is not all of life as many of us had discovered that a city residency (HuKou) was not all of life. We will also find that the US is not all of the world, as we have discovered China is not all of the world. Looking back to the case, what do we see? Do (Shall) we learn anything from it? Looking forward from here, what do we see? Do we see the impact of CSPA positive? Or negative? We may leave these questions to our readers. In this issue, we carry two articles reflecting on CSPA. One is Hou Junwei's emotional article which indicates to us the tragic beauty of life. The other one is Luo Ning's article which introduces us to a broader view of the issue with a bit of history. Also included under this column is some statistic data of illegal immigrants in the New York State, which might give us a sense of this country's formation. While economic reform has been going deeper and wider in China, the social structure and value system is undergoing tremendous change. We hope the the two items in the "Windows to China", a brief news about Jiangsu's new social security system and a report on a business seminar written by Dai Qiang, would serve the purpose for us to peek at today's China. We will welcome contributions to our planned future topics: CSS Organization Profile Professional life after school Sino-US relations IFCSS and local CSSA's ===========***==========***==========**==========***==========***=========== 1a. Why Is It So Beautiful -- Reflection on CSPA ............. Hou Junwei 42 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- We are here to stay. We know that quite well because we had worked hard on its becoming reality. And along the way we have seen and learned something. Through our unprecedented email coordination, we have seen that our efforts are not without impact on our own destiny. We have seen that the value of freedom and the principle of human rights triumph as the lawmakers and the two presidents of this great nation determined to let us stay. We have seen that both the appointed and the self-claimed representatives of ours worked hard to lead the way to a successful final touch, even though their leadership were sometimes shadowed by the ugliness and stupidity of their addicted efforts to play on the fears and to withhold information at critical stages of the journey. We together have made a difference indeed. But, all in all, we know from where everything started. It was June 4. It reminds me of a verse I read on the net a little more than a year ago: (in ping-yin) "Wei4-shen2-mo1 Luu4-ka3 Mei3-Ru2-Hua4, 6.4 de Xian1-xue3 Ran3 Hong2 le Ta1." (Why is the green card so beautiful as if it were a painting? The blood of June 4 dyes it red). The verse's violent contradiction between the beauty of freedom and the tragedy of death serves well as a reminder for our conscience. It is true, though tragic, that the beautiful green we are getting is "stained" with the blood of June 4, for the piece of green would not have been on our pocket had the Chinese government not shed the blood of the June 4 heros in our homeland. And the piece of green is surely beautiful for it connotes not only freedom but also a privilege of our working and staying in this beautiful country. Will we blind ourselves to what our June 4 heros had left behind? I don't think we will. They left us with a memory, and a hope--a hope for the arrival of a China Spring. For us, the least we can do is to appreciate and guard the truth of the memory and to keep the hope alive. Perhaps many of us still remember a song from one of the movies in our childhood years. It's a song I like, not because of the story in the movie, but because of its showing of the beauty of heroism and an appreciation of that startling beauty. "Why is the war-torn standard so beautiful as if it were a painting? The heros' blood dye it red. Why is the land forever Spring? It is the blossoms of the heros' lives." (From: ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2b. To Return Or to Stay? -- A Reflection on Controversies Surrounding CSPA ......... Luo Ning 122 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The dust of CSPA has fallen down. The beneficiaries are receiving approval notices everyday. It seems that the need to argue about CSPA is over. History is closing this chapter. People are looking forward to the future. No matter what excitement it had brought about, CSPA has become a memory of the past. However, the future would not truly be a future if there was no past. Without looking back, the paths leading to the future will be lost. After all, history is the only thing that human can put a reference upon, since no ultimate theory would be able to guide us at the gate of future. What are the impacts of CSPA on the Chinese community in the US? Where will the people covered or uncovered by the Act go? We may sort out some leads from the opinions and viewpoints expressed during the days when the CSPA, its moral and practical effects, were hotly debated. In the early days of the CSPA (before the Act was adopted by the US Congress last fall), the debate was mainly around whether should CSS be mobilized to lobby for the Act. There were two main issues debated: One was whether the Act was desirable, the other was whether the mean through which the Act sought its legal basis was proper. After the Congress adopted the Act, the debate around CSPA died down for about half a year. It was rekindled again in June of this year, but this time it was started on a completely different front: The focus was on the practical considerations about the sources of immigration quota and visa numbers issued under the CSPA umbrella, i.e. "where is the pie come from" and "how the pie is divided". Because of the limited space, I will not be able to discuss the recent controversies. The debate on the legitimacy of CSPA is also beyond the scope of this article. I will concentrate on the historic perspective of the "desirability" of emigration/immigration of CSS, a topic which has been debated many times in the past. Whether such an Act is desirable depends on the grounds upon which the views are formed. There has been little argument that many CSS want to stay and settle down in the US, and the desirability of an Act which will facilitate the process is not much up for question. It is also not up to Chinese to decide whether it is desirable for the "national interests of the US". It is on the impact to China, particularly from the viewpoint of "brain-drain", that most fierce fights have been conducted. Underlying this debate is the patriotism embedded deeply in the psyche of CSS. The patriotic sentiments runs particularly strong among CSS in the US. It often leads to a deep division within the community. The so-called "early-comers vs. later comers" division that we witness today is only one episode in the long history of conflicts centered around the question of "to return or to stay". Although almost all developing countries in the world are facing serious problems of brain-drain, the extreme apprehension of CSS in dealing with the decision of "to return or to stay" has its unique historic reasons. Especially for the CSS in the US, "the land of immigrants", the decision is much harder than the students from other foreign nations due to the history of the Chinese Exclusion Act (CEA). Because of CEA, which was enacted by Congress in 1882, a Chinese student not natively born in US would have practically no chance to stay in US after graduation during the period between 1882 and 1965 (CEA was repealed in 1943, but the immigration quota for Chinese was kept in a discriminately low level of 105 per year until the immigration reform of 1965). Therefore, during this period of over half a century, when the first few generations of "overseas students (Liu2 Xue2 Sheng1) were sent out to learn from the advanced West in order to "save China" during its deep crisis in facing the Western powers, these students would have no choice but to return to China, even if some of them might have wished otherwise. The experiences of CSS in other countries were each different, but the humiliation and frustration were shared by all. The discrimination they experienced in foreign lands made most of them the most earnest patriotists. Nobody would understand more acutely than them that what a strong nation meant to a person. Although CSS was only a very tiny portion of the Chinese population or even intellectuals, their views about the Western world had a very profound influence on the world-look of China as a nation. The experiences of CSS "internalized" the humiliation that China had suffered since the Opium Wars. In fact, it was one of the major driving forces behind both the republic and the communist revolutions, which in turn fabricated the patriotic fervor into the foundation of the new nation. Again, no other group of people than the CSS today burdened themselves so strongly to the call of the patriotism. Long before we left China, we were taught about the world image passed down from the CSS of the generations of our parents and grandparents. "The foreign countries might be more friendlier today", we were told, "but that's only because China is stronger." We were commanded to return to China after graduation, to commit our body and soul, on the land of China, to make our country stronger. There seemed no other way. However, the world has indeed changed. It does not look like what our teachers, parents and grandparents have told us. A serious readjustment is almost inescapable for each CSS not only about the foreign world, but also about China, since the entire modern history of China is built upon the premise of catching up in the "Jungle Law" ruled world. The torment of "to return or to stay" could also be seen from the "liu2 xue2 sheng2 wen2 xue2 (literature about CSS)" of those from Taiwan in 60's and 70's. The problem was never "resolved", like any profound problems in history. People just don't take it that serious any more. "Bao3 Diao4 Movement" and the aftermath were a turning point for them to re-examine the patriotism deep in their minds. The "June Fourth" has the similar effect on CSS from the mainland. It is interesting to compare the debate of "to return or to stay" last year with that in 1988 on scc. The recent one was much short-lived and was overshadowed soon by the debate over other aspects of CSPA such as its legitimacy in resorting the human rights argument, etc.. Most participants of the debate no longer questioned the will to stay per se, they just argued about "what should be the proper means to achieve that goal". What a difference from the debate in 1988! Many people back then could simply not accept the notion that the CSS would not return China to "honor their obligation to the nation". Does this indicate that we, the CSS from mainland, have passed the transition of mentality from "luo4 ye4 gui1 gen1" to "luo4 di4 sheng1 gen1"? Looking into the future in the eve of this millennium, during which China had changed from the richest nation in the world to the edge of total collapse in both material and spiritual senses, we must recognize that the world is no longer the place where one can clearly divide where a national should reside. We Chinese must learn to live not only with other nations, but also within other nations, just like what other nations have done. A nation isolates itself culturally cannot face the challenge of the coming millennium, neither can a nation which forbids its people to migrate out the border of its country, to live peacefully with other peoples, to learn new cultures, and to share in the common-wealth of the mankind. (From: ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1c. New York Has More Illegal Italians and Israelis Than Illegal Chinese 60 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contrary to the images of Chinese boat people and Central American day laborers that dominate the public perception of illegal immigrants, the three major groups are from Ecuador, Italy and Poland. The first complete analysis ever of undocumented immigrants, released yesterday by the City Planning Department, estimates that the illegal population in New York State is the second largest in the country, after California's. The analysis, based on a complicated formula that combined data from border crossings, airports and the census, found that among the 18 million residents of New York are 490,000 illegal immigrants, with more than 80 percent living in New York City. The profile of the illegal immigrants in New York offered by the report differs strikingly from the national picture. Whereas Mexicans and Central Americans dominate illegal populations in much of the country, they barely show up in the state statistics. Illegal immigrants in New York are much more diverse, coming predominantly from Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. The illegal Ecuadorean, Italian and Polish populations are followed closely, and less surprisingly, by Dominicans, Colombians, Haitians and Jamaicans, the analysis found. But illegal Chinese immigrants do not even make the top 10, and illegal Mexicans were not even in the top 20. The INS agency estimated that there were 3.2 million illegal residents in the United States, last fall and estimated that an additional 300,000 arrived in the last year, with 45,000 settling in New York. "It's hardly a shock that New York draws Italians, given the fact that Italians are the largest ethnic group in the state," a city demographer, Joseph J. Salvo, said. "And in retrospect it's not that surprising that they are coming illegally, since the legal pathways for them have pretty much dried up." The number of illegal Chinese immigrants is small and represents a small fraction of the illegal population in New York City. But, strikingly, New York is home to more than half the illegal Chinese in the country. In contrast, New York draws just one fifth of the legal Chinese immigrants. Similarly, New York receives a greater proportion of Korean, Indian, Polish and Israeli illegal immigrants than legal immigrants. Appendix: LARGEST ILLECAL ALIEN GROUPS IN NEW YORK In thousands. (Sources: INS; NY City Dept of City Planning) Ecuador 27.1 Italy 26.8 Poland 25.8 Dominican Republic 25.6 Colombia 24.5 Haiti 21.4 Jamaica 21.2 Trinidad and Tobago 20.5 Ireland 16.9 El Salvador 15.3 Pakistan 14.6 Israel 13.5 China 12.7 (Source: The New York Times 9/2/93; Forwarded by: CND) ===========***==========***==========**==========***==========***=========== 2a. Jiangsu Develops Social Insurance System ........................ BBC 22 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- A social insurance system has taken shape in east China's Jiangsu Province. By the end of June this year, old age pensions in the province were available to more than 25m people still working and 1 .1m retired workers - 200,000 and 60,000, respectively, more than in the same period of last year. In the first half of this year 23,000 retired workers got more than 4.9m yuan from the social insurance sector, six times more than last year. Reforms in industrial injury compensation, child birth and medicare insurance are also developing rapidly, contributing a lot to the smooth transfer of China's economic mechanism. Retirement pay used to be taken care of exclusively by enterprises in China, which accounted for more than one third of workers'salaries in some cases. In 1985 Wuxi and Taizhou cities in Jiangsu started to experiment with a retirement fund system. A fixed portion of a worker's salary was saved for the retirement fund. Since 1992 workers in the province have started to save 2% of their salaries for their retirement. When the province was hit by serious flooding in 1991 social insurance organs set aside 295m yuan to ensure the livelihoods of retired workers in 42 counties and cities. In 1992 the province's social insurance bodies increased the amount they provided as old age pensions by 850m yuan. (From: CND ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2b. Doing Business in China--Wen Yuankai Talks in a Seminar ... Dai Qiang 65 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- On September 18,1993, the US-China Business Association (US-CBA), headquartered in the San Francisco bay area, with three other co-sponsors, organized a seminar in Sunnyvale Holiday Inn. The title of the seminar was "Doing business in China-Opportunities and Risks". Invited speakers were Benjamin Wu, Yingyi Qian and Yuankai Wen. Mr. Wu, a one-time programmer and self-made successful businessman, shared his "trade secrets" to the roomful of audience in the speech on "how to explore opportunities and avoid risks - insights from eight years of business experience". Mr. Wu and the AeRa Corporation (of which he is a vice president) have been doing business in China for eight years. Their business dealings in China range from production of chemical materials and energy- efficient light bulbs to restaurant operation. Drawing from his own experiences, he offered advises on how to be successful in China by selectively choosing the three P's: product, price and place, as well as technologies. He pointed out that although high-tech is a very fashionable word in China, a good many profitable ventures don't really need high-tech. Of many ways of doing business in China, Mr. Wu favored joint venture for its long-term stability and trading for its potential of quick profit. Talking about risks, Mr. Wu offered insights on how to manage exchange-rate risk, employee-management relation, credit issues, production factors, regulations and public relations. Mr. Qian is assistant professor of economics in the economics department of Stanford University, and is the former president of the "Association of Chinese Economists in US". In his monologue on "Doing business in China-from the point of view of an economist", he gave his forecasts on possible major reforms in China's near future in the following five areas: (1)Financial System; (2)Foreign currency exchange management; (3)Fiscal policy; (4)Social security; and (5)Ownership reform and his assessment on their impact on business opportunities in China. Although major state-owned enterprises will remain in the hands of the government to keep the socialist flavor, conceded Prof. Qian, there will probably a massive sell-off or privatization of mid- and small-sized state-owned companies. And the buying and re-selling (through repackaging) of these companies could become a very big business. Likening China's economy with that of the 19th century United States, Prof. Qian expressed his belief that the locomotive of the chinese economy should be the huge internal market instead of the export market. This would entail a huge infra-structure buildup (and business opportunities, of course), especially in the areas of energy and transportation. Responding to a question from the audience, Prof. Qian pointed out that while it is not realistic for an individual investor or businessman to directly bid for, say, railway construction projects, there will be plenty of opportunities in the peripheral business, such as providing machineries and construction materials. Mr. Wu expressed similar opinion. Declaring that he was ready to "Xia4 Hai3", the famous thinker, orator and chemistry professor Wen Yuankai delighted the audience with a mixture of anecdotes and serious analysis of the current status and future prospect of China's economic reform. Taking a car driving on a bumpy road as a metaphor of the chinese economy, Prof. Wen pointed out that this car is in the process of executing a radical turn with a faulty wheel and braking system. Added to the burden of the driver are three land-mines along the way: interest group, conservative bureaucratic system, and increasingly independent and assertive local authorities. However, while the fate of the driver is unpredictable, Prof. Wen was optimistic about the outlook of the chinese economy, because the recent emergence of a multi-facet economic structure has endowed the car with its own dynamics and sense of direction. The car will get there even if it has to pull the wheel along instead of being directed by it. Expressing his concern over the conflicts between economic and political reform, between political reform and stability, between rich and poor regions of China, and between moral or cultural and commercial values, Prof. Wen urged serious study of these problems. In the meanwhile, never a "pure" scholar, Prof. Wen will work for his own company, i.e., he will be "swimming in the sea". (From: Qiang Dai ) +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++ + Executive Editor: Yungui Ding Executive Moderator: Zhendong Liu + +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ + For subscription: mail "SUB CHINA-NT Your-First-Name Your-Last-Name" + + to LISTSERV@UGA (bitnet) or listserv@uga.cc.uga.edu (internet) + + For back issues of CCF: + + anonymous ftp to cnd.org[132.249.229.100]:pub/community/CCF + + For contribution and inquiry: mail to net-cord@lab.ultra.nyu.edu + +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++