China Spotlight

by Tony Lambert

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF ZHU RONGJI

Zhu Rongji, China’s outgoing Prime Minister and the architect of the economic miracle, received a spontaneous ovation at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing when he gave his farewell speech to the National People’s Congress. However, he gave warning that the future of the world’s fastest growing economy would be under threat unless prosperity spread to the rural poor. On the eve of retirement, he called for more capitalist-style reform, closing inefficient state industries and opening China’s markets wider to foreign competition. Under his direction:

* China has become the biggest recipient of foreign investment worldwide.

* It is now the second largest economy in the world after the U.S.

* GDP rose from £570 billion to £780 billion—an annual increase of 7.7%.

However, closures and reforms have led to tens, possibly hundreds, of millions of unemployed who are the basis of a new, disaffected protest movement. The reality and stability of the economic miracle remain open to question. Corruption remains endemic, the financial system is distinctly wobbly and state-owned enterprises have not been fully privatized. (The Times and Daily Telegraph, 6 March 2003)

CPPCC MORE OUTSPOKEN

The 10th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference opened on March 2, promising to tackle tough issues ranging from social instability and the needs of the poor to arbitrary taxation and rural reform. Delegates have become increasingly outspoken as economic reforms increase the gap between rich and poor, and also attacked corruption. The body has no actual power but its opinions are supposed to reflect the concerns of Chinese society. Only about 40% of its members are Communist Party members. (SCMP, 3 March 2003)

LIVING STANDARDS IMPROVE

More and more Chinese have realized their dream of buying a car of their own. Private automobiles have risen from 4.2 million five years ago to over 10 million. China’s motor vehicle output has topped 3.25 million annually—the fifth in the world. In 2002 alone, 500,000 individuals bought private cars.

Also, 40 million families have moved into new homes over the last five years. More people have bought apartments by obtaining housing loans from banks. Until five years ago, it cost several thousand yuan to install a telephone and over 10,000 yuan to buy a mobile phone due to limited telecommunications services. Today, it is quite common for each household to have two fixed telephones. (Xinhua News, 4 March)

MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE HITS XINJIANG

A killer earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck Bachu and Jiashi counties near Kashgar in Xinjiang, far west China, on February 24. Nearly 300 people were killed and 4,000 injured, mostly local Uygur people. About 50,000 people were rendered homeless in winter temperatures still below zero. Thousands of homes and hundreds of schools and clinics were destroyed. Relief agencies, including Christian ones, are seeking to bring in food, drinking water, shelter and housing and to repair precious irrigation channels in this desert area. About 16,000 people were without proper shelter, and relief work has been hampered by severe snowstorms. (Reuters, 4 March 2003) Pray for the bereaved and all those affected. Reconstruction will take many months.

BOMBS EXPLODE AT TWO BEIJING UNIVERSITIES

Two homemade bombs ripped through cafeterias at Beijing’s two most famous universities at lunchtime on February 25, leaving nine injured. Made from what police called “homemade charcoal gunpowder,” the first bomb exploded at Qinghua University. About 90 minutes later, a second blast blew out dining-hall windows at Beijing University. Hundreds of police descended on the leafy campuses, cordoning off the areas and forbidding foreign journalists from providing information to foreign media. One student said: “It could be a revenge attack against the schools by a disgruntled graduate but it’s more likely linked to politics because it happened just a week before the National People’s Congress.” Police identified in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province, a suspect caught on security cameras and subsequently arrested. (Washington Post, 25 Feb, 4 March 2003; South China Morning Post, 27 February 2003)

TIBETAN-MUSLIM CLASHES LEAVE HUNDREDS INJURED

A business dispute between ethnic Tibetans and Chinese Muslims in China’s western Qinghai province flared into large-scale communal violence, resulting in hundreds of injuries and massive property damage. Authorities responded by deploying extra troops. The clashes began February 14 in Jiangzha county, Qinghai. Violent clashes left hundreds injured and a large number of Muslim-owned shops and restaurants ransacked. Troops were still out in force a week later. Relations between Tibetans and Muslims in the area have been tense for years, but this incident marks the first large-scale clash in recent memory. (Radio Free Asia, 24 February)

WENZHOU CHURCH UPDATE

There are officially 700,000 evangelical Protestants in Greater Wenzhou—10% of the population of 7 million. Over 100 house churches in Greater Wenzhou have recently registered directly with the government while refusing to join the Three Self. However, in Wenzhou city center, house churches have refused to register and have so far been free to continue their preaching and evangelistic ministries.

Wenzhou Christian business entrepreneurs are taking the gospel throughout China and setting up churches in many places as far away as Chongqing, the Northeast and Lhasa, Tibet Province.

DEATH OF A SAINT

News has come of the death, aged 76, of Epaphras Wu in Yinchuan, Ningxia on December 21, 2002. Epaphras was imprisoned for his faith in 1967 and, when released, lived in a hut at the gate of the labor camp. From there he exercised a spiritual ministry, writing regular letters commenting on Chinese church affairs which were widely circulated throughout the house-church community. Just ten days before he died, his home was again searched by police and all his Christian books and writings were confiscated. (Zhongguo yu Fuyin, December 2002)

GROWTH IN XINJIANG – AND A NEW CHURCH OPENS

On November 16, 2002 a new church was dedicated at Changji, a large city in Xinjiang 30 miles northwest of Urumqi. The three-story building, built at a cost of 1.3 million RMB (170,000 US$) can accommodate 2,000, but 4,000 people attended the dedication service.

In Urumqi itself there are now two large churches and 16 registered meeting points. The six-story church at Mingde Street was built in 1995 and on Sundays is packed with 2,500 worshippers (before 1949 there were only 200.) Two of the other meeting points can seat 500 and 2,000. However, there are only three pastors, three elders, seven theological graduates and seven deacons to oversee the work not only in Urumqi but the whole of Xinjiang, which is bigger than Western Europe. (Tianfeng, February 2003)