Subject: CSS Today 95024

From: [email-masked] (Yuan Wei)
Date: Fri, 25 Aug 95 12:48:07 PDT

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            ]]]    ]]]   ]]] ]]]   ]]] ]]]   ]]]    ]]]     No.  95024
            ]]]     ]]]]]]]  ]]]]]]]]  ]]]   ]]]    ]]]    _1995.08.24_

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CSS Today Editorial Board                          <[email-masked]>
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		     I N    T H I S   I S S U E                 No. of Lines
============================================================================
In the Community
    o  An Internet Service for CSSP in Operation ........................ 25

Special Topic: On Containing China -----------------------------------------
    o  The Cold War Policy Leftover--Containing China ................... 50
    o  A Global Chinese Community Not Containable ....................... 65
    o  China Poses No Threat to Others, History Shows.................... 95
    o  Taiwan: The Frontier of New Cold War ............................. 67

=========================<<<< In the Community >>>>=========================
An Internet Service for CSSP in Operation ............................... 25
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Pu Dai/CSS Today                                                  CSST 95024

Last week we have witnessed the jump of the stock of the Internet software
company Netscape Communications, from $28 to nearly $75 on its first 
day of trading. That seems to be biggest news in the network community.

However, many probably have overlooked various other Internet events that
are equally significant. As a matter of fact, the Chinese community has been
spearheading the venture in the network. Many projects are serving the CSSP
community without big publicity. The Internet Access Enterprises, Inc (IAE), 
headerquartered in the World Trade Center in New York City, has become the 
newest enterprise of all. 

IAE established Superprism Net service for the CSSP community, providing a
WWW service covering areas such as news, travel, job listings, interview
tips, on-line "hot" journals, Chinese studies, dating service, stock trend,
government information etc. Its goal is to serve as the "home base" on
internet for the tens of thousands of overseas Chinese. There will be a bit
of everything for everybody, varying taste, and varying needs, according to
Dong Xiao, the CEO of IAE.

The company will also provide user account service to CSSP's that have left
schools to continue to enjoy surfing on the internet. For further
information, send an email message to [email-masked] or check its web
site http://www.superprism.net.

================<<<< Special Topic: On Containing China >>>>================
The Cold War Policy Leftover--Containing China .......................... 50
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CHEN Yang                                                         CSST 95024

It is interesting to see that even at the time people have declared the end
of the cold war, the cold war policy still has certain market. Recently
mainstream media in the US have been advocating the containing China policy.
This kind of xenophobia mentality is hurting not only the people in the US,
the people in China, but also hurting the peaceful coexistence of people all
over the world. Should people want to live a peaceful life, this kind of
xenophobia mentality should be throw into the junkyard of the history.

In the time of the cold war, confrontation prevailed. The west tried to
contain the expansion of the former Soviet Union. As the results, the west's
nuclear warheads were pointing to the major Soviet cities at any time and
the Soviet's nuclear war heads were also pointing toward the major cities in
the west. People then were living under the constant fear of outbreak of
confrontation, the nuclear war. And one of the major confrontation
culminated at the Cuba missiles crisis. In fact, at that time, people at
different sides of the cold war all believed that it was highly possible
that the other side's nuclear war head would fire at any time. Consequently,
people were all preparing for food/shelter/sustainence for the nuclear war.
You may feel that those kind of things are very kiddish now, however, that
was what people really thought back at the cold war time. The media helped
to promote this kind of xenophobia. Thus everyone believed that nuclear war
could broke at any time.

Since the said nuclear war had never broken out, we don't know how imminent
the war was during the cold war. However, one thing certain is that the
containment policy, the xenophobia propaganda helped to promote the distrust
and pushed two sides of the cold war toward the brink of a real nuclear war.
It was this kind of mistrust that put people all over the world under the
threat of a disaster.

Now, the cold war has been over, and people has just been out of the fear of
the nuclear disaster for a short time, some people jump out and advocate the
idea of confrontation. If this kind of narrow-minded, short-sighted idea get
across and become the policy of the west, then the world will be back to
live under the panic of the outbreak of the confrontation. It certainly does
not good to any people.

It is even disturbing to see that people advocate the confrontation
with/containing China policy at the time when China is experiencing the free
market, and is adapting the rule of negotiation instead of confrontation,
which will certainly promote the peace in Asia and the World. The
confrontation policy toward China which is promoted by some narrow-minded,
short-sighted people would push back China to the isolation and hardline old
day and jeopardize the peace of the world. It should be realized that the
trend of the world is that people will use negotiation to resolve their
different instead of confrontation. If this trend is reversed as proposed by
some people, then we will all be drawn back to the darkness of the cold
world.

================<<<< Special Topic: On Containing China >>>>================
A Global Chinese Community Not Containable .............................. 65
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DING Yungui                                                       CSST 95024

I have been in a company training for a week. Employees from all over the
world came to the company's education center to participate in a week long
activities including classes, seminars, and more importantly, interactions
among themselves. Of the more than 100 people, about 1/3 are from Europe,
1/3 from US and 1/3 from Asia. That proportion more or less reflects the
current economic heat over the world.

I got a vivid feeling from this training that the world is becoming more and
more "integrated" (or "unified" in old political terminology), not under
political power, not under military forces, not under religions, but
via global business! Yes, economic ties among nations on the earth are
becoming more and more significant a factor that would dictate international
relationship to a large extent. While the American economy has been in a
bumpy road recent years, the Asia-Pacific region is enjoying a phenomenal
rise. In the current heat wave of fast growth, the Chinese no doubt stand
out gracefully. And that seems to be creating a lot of new thoughts. How
will the world evolves in the emerging new economic order is really
something interesting for everyone to think about.

While I was in the training center, I logged into the internet and read news
in one evening. An article about an Australian survey caught my attention.
The government sponsored investigation has studied the business community of
ethnic Chinese all over the world, trying to find the reasons of their
success. What they found is very interesting: the Chinese business network
world wide, which based on formal or informal organizations such as business
associations, dialect groups, personal contacts, and so on, is playing a
vital role in the operations of the Chinese business subworld. As a result,
the operations and managements of Chinese related business have their own
unique characteristics. Much more interesting is that the Australian
government, in this investigation report, urges Australian business people
to get contact with the Chinese business network and to integrate the
Australian economy into the Aisan community.

In sharp contrast, I find, after I came back from the school, that the the
U.S. is still talking, or supposedly doing so, to "contain China."

Containing China. For what? And how? I suppose one could easily find a dozen
reasons to do so. But, I don't think it is practical an idea. "Containing
China" is an old idea, just like it is an old phrase. It might be feasible
in the old days, it is definitely not any longer. China is still China, but
Chinese are no longer the old Chinese. That is a significant factor anyone
in the decision making position must not forget.

In the training class, I met Chinese emplyees from all places, Singapore,
Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Phillipines, Indonesia, and of course, U.S.
and China. It is not hard for one to sense that a Chinese global community
is emerging, by just looking at the demographics of such events. I believe
that is also the case in any good sized global oriented companies that are
currently having an interest in the East. One does not really need to read
the lengthy investigation report of Australia.

The question is: Can one contain the much globalized Chinese, their business
and their strength? I guess not. Then, it is not feasible to have China, all
Chinese still regard highly as their fatherland, contained effectively. It
is not only unfeasible an idea, it is really harmful a thing to do to the
whole world.

I think that people with the idea to contain someone else are very much with
the old style mentality. It is my feeling that human society is entering a
new era, with the fast development of technology and humanities. This new
era may not be so clear a picture yet now, but I believe it will be more
promising than the old one. The healthy growth of Chinese community and the
inevitable rennaisance of Chinese culture will definitely contribute
positively to this world.

================<<<< Special Topic: On Containing China >>>>================
China Poses No Threat to Others, History Shows........................... 95
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew ZHENG                                                      CSST 95024

Recently it has been really fashionable to talk about containing China.
Surely if the Communist China become such a monster superpower as the United
States or the former Soviet Union, it seems there will be real threat to the
free world. So it is necessary to implement a containing China policy by the
free world. In fact, some people in the free world has already sensed the
threat of the monster red China ready to conquer the Far East, and next the
rest of the world, just like the Ghengis Khan some centuries ago. Thus they
are advocating to actively contain China to save the world.

Is China really a threat to its neighbor countries? Is it necessary to
engage in a containing China policy? Looking back to the history of the
Chinese Civilization, it is easy to understand that there is absolutely no
need to be afraid of a superpower China and there is actually no need to
contain China. China will be contained by itself.

When we look back to Chinese history in the past 200 hundred years, we find
no trace of China threat to its neighbor countries as well as to the rest of
the world. Quite on the contrary, China had long been a target of invasion
and exploitation. The recent hundred years have been China's years of
humiliation and sufferness of occupation. China had been the battleground of
the war between Russia and Japan. From the opium war through the Japanese
invasion during the WWII, such a long history, has you ever seen that China
being a threat to its neighbor countries? NO! If history tells us that China
has never been a threat to its neighbor countries, how can it be a future
threat to other countries?

In fact, Chinese has been very meeky in nature. And it is not the nature of
Chinese to invade other countries, or even use force in other countries. You
don't believe it? Just look around, from the Cuba missile crisis to the
genocide of the Bosnia war, have you ever seen a Chinese in uniform carrying
an AK-47 automatic? You still don't believe? Look again, from the
Afghanistan's endless war in the early eighty to the toppling of Panamaniam
strongman general Norriega, from the war tortured Angola, Ruwanda, to the
humiliation of Mogadishu, to the great triumphant of Gulf War, you cannot
still see even a ghost of Chinese in uniform. Just remember, that after the
WWII, there have been a lot of confrontation and invasion and massacre and
occupation by any kind of countries and people in uniform, and you seldom
see that there is any Chinese in uniform that participate in those events.
Yes, you may say, I agree with you, but how about the Korea War? Well,
things like Korea War are very exception. It was an unfortunate event
happening at a wrong time in a wrong place. Back then, the Korea War
happened to be occurred close to China, the UN troops happened to drive close
to the Chinese Border and that event happened to occur during a time when
the mistrust between China and the West was played high and the Country just
changed their leadership. And remember that even during the Korea War,
Chinese Army didn't enter until the war fire burning near its border.

Yes, Chinese are usually too soft and meeky that they lack the
aggressiveness to be an aggressor, that they only react when they are
provoked and the warfire is burning in their countries. This is what history
has shown to us. So why bother to contain China? To contain a country whose
people have long been lacking the aggressiveness to be an aggressor is a
waste of time, money and any resource.

Actually, Chinese being lack of the aggressiveness has been traced back to
about 2,000 years ago. And today you can still understand why Chinese are so
soft in general and meeky and lack of aggressiveness in particular through
the philosophy Chinese have been preaching for thousands of years: the
Taoism. This philosophy has been deeply rooted in Chinese history, in
Chinese Culture and in the deep heart of every Chinese. The Taoism is in
favor of doing nothing (being not aggressive). It says that bying doing
nothing, you can achieve everything (Wu Wei Er Wu Suo Bu Wei). So when
aggressor comes, don't fight with them and use your love to melt their
swords. Such a meeky and do-nothing philosophy has produced generation after
generation of meeky and peace-loving Chinese for thousand years.

China has been such a country with its huge population as a pressing problem
to any of its leadership. While its leadership and its people are busying
coping its own problems: the huge population, the environment problem, the
modernization problem, etc. It is unconceivable to even think that China
will be a threat to its neighbor countries. In fact, the problems in China
have been so huge that even its leadership has trouble to cope with. Aside
from the population and the modernization problems they are facing, the
political reform (the so-called democratization process) has been another
threat to Chinese leadership. When Chinese are dealing with Chinese in
China, when the government has no way to cope its own problem but has to use
force to its own people (in 1989), can you imagine that China can be a
threat to other countries? An old Chinese proverb goes: if you want to be
strong outside, you have to be strong inside. At a time such as present,
when China is so weak inside, it is impossible and against Chinese nature to
do anything outside, outside the Chinese border. So, why bother to contain
China?

In fact, I have found out that for a country to be a threat to its neighbor
countries, for a country to be an aggressor, there must be something in its
history that has already revealed its very nature of aggressiveness. We have
seen plenty of this kind of aggressiveness in the past fifties years, from
East to the West, from WWI to WWII, from Pearl Harbor to Afghanistan, but so
far we see no trace from Chinese. The world is changing and people are
learning. If you want to worry about China threat, perhaps wait for another
200 hundreds when Chinese begin to learn the nature of aggressiveness from
those former and current aggressors. Till then, you are safe to leave China
alone. No kidding! Why bother to contain China?

================<<<< Special Topic: On Containing China >>>>================
Taiwan: The Frontier of New Cold War .................................... 67
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QI Bing                                                           CSST 95024

With the collapse of the communist regimes in east Europe and former Soviet
Union, America has been enjoying the power and glory of the Roman Empire,
until it sees a potential rival threatening its supreme authority. China has
had the world's fastest growing economy over the past 15 years and its GNP,
as predicted by some American economists, is expected to surpass American in
about 25 years. Although the courtship between Beijing and Washington has
long lost its ground since the old cold war came to an end in the 80s, a new
cold war has to evolve with American's severe concerns over a fast expanding
China.

Assistant Secretary of State Winston Lord denies vehemently that American is
trying to contain China as it once did the Soviet Union. Our policy is one
of engagement not containment, he insists. And Newt Gingrich says on Face
the Nation that we should help the Chinese people undermine the Chinese
government, then spends the next five minutes explaining that he didn't
really mean undermine at all. While leaders of Capitol Hill and White House
murmur their words, the media is explicitly depicting China as a rising,
threatening state, citing that its defense spending has doubled in the past
10 years. A recent issue of Time claims that China is much more like late
19th Germany, a country growing too big and too strong for the continent it
finds itself on.

Ever since the end of the old cold war, American foreign policy toward China
has been in a dilemma. In between hoping to keep peace with a future China
superpower and containing China, American has various reasons to choose the
latter one, and it did. Despite all the emotion surrounding the
normalization with Vietnam, American set up an embassy at Hanoi, easily
appeasing the generation hatred and courting the China's traditional enemy.
The rest of the strategy includes a new security relationship with India,
renewing the US-Japan alliance, encouraging Philippine to challenge China's
authority claims over the islands in the South China Sea and cozying up to
the Russians, who have a common interest in boxing in China. However, the
containment would not be complete and the new cold war was not declared
until the private visit to the US by Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui.

The importance of Taiwan to America is hard to deny. Taiwan is its
sixth largest trading partner. Whereas for China, Taiwan is critically
related to its economic growth and its expansion toward a Pacific country in
the next century, and its sovereignty as well. "If you can rule your whole
country," declared Confucius, "who dare insult you?" Territorial unity is
what has always bestowed legitimacy upon a Chinese ruler. Today's leaders,
saddled with a succession crisis and an ideology they barely even pretend to
espouse, seem to be looking for traditional sources of strength.

China is making bellicose noises before a Taiwanese direct presidential
election, hoping that the Taiwanese will not vote for an explicitly
pro-independence candidate. However, Lee, who is too ambitious to be obscured
by the smoke from China's missile tests, seems to be favorite to win. He is
already detested in Beijing and the manner of his reelection will be
particularly hard for China to swallow. If events in Taiwan appear to be
leading towards a declaration of independence, China will invade. However,
China hopes that the next century will bring it more power and more respect.
It knows that continued growth is critical to that ambition. The only
serious threats to rising prosperity in China are internal collapse or war,
so China will not start a war unless it believes it could do so without
bring intolerable economic disruption.

On the other hand, Washington understands clearly that encouraging the
Taiwanese to declare independence would be irresponsible, since there is no
prospect of its being willing to fight a war for Taiwan. The best policy is
gradually to expand ties with Taiwan, to lead Taiwan into the international
arena step by step. Whereas China has responded fiercely toward this attempt
with missile tests, both sides have to be cautious for any further move. "It
is a game full of uncertainty", says a Western analyst.

(Adapted from The Economist. July 29th, 1995 & Time July 31st, 1995.)

############################################################################
| Editor of This Issue: ER Huan            Deputy Coordinator: DING Yungui |
|                      Technical Editor: LIANG Guihe                       |
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