Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji meets both Chinese and overseas journalists on March 15, shortly after the conclusion of the Second Session of the Ninth National People's Congress, China's top legislature.
Some 600 journalists are present at the press conference.
Chinese renminbi yuan remains " very strong and stable" , Premier Zhu Rongji said in response to a foreign reporter's question.
He said it is not up to him to answer the question if the yuan will become a world major curreny, as it is still too early to answer it. Zhu added: "I can tell you that the renminbi will not be devalued."
He went on to say that the year 1998 was an extremely difficult year and the difficulties were even greater than he had anticipated.
"There are two major reasons behind the difficulties: Firstly, the effect of the Asian financial crisis was greater than we expected, and secondly, the severe summer flooding also caused greater difficulties than we expected," said the premier.
He continued to say that China has tided over these two difficulties and stood rock-solid under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee with Jiang Zemin at the core, and with the concerted efforts of the Chinese people.
"That's why I have said in my government work report that all the achievements during the past year are hard-won." Zhu stressed.
When asked about what made him the most dissatisfied with, the Premier said he felt he had not done a good job, and some departments and localities had failed to fully implemented the policies and measures of the central government.
In response to a question of what touched him most during the past year, the premier said he was moved almost to tears during his inspection of the flood-devastated areas last summer when he saw the People's Liberation Army soldiers use their own bodies to plug the dikes and protect the safety of the Chinese people.
Zhu expects to encounter some "hostile or unfriendly atmosphere" during his coming visit to the United States.
"I noted that in February 22 issue of Business Weekly, there is an article titled: China, What's Going Wrong?" he said.
Noting that the Business Weekly article depicting China as being plagued by serious disasters, Zhu said that the story is "very special."
"So far I have never seen any other article of this kind appearing in the US media. In fact, it reflects the trend. The Sino-US relations have been victimized by internal struggle in the United States," he said.
He said that the anti-China tide emerging in Washington recently caused deep concern in China.
"I myself was also victimized by this anti-China trend. My picture on the cover of that issue of the Business Weekly magazine looks like a dead man," he said.
This shows that since some people in the United States have anger or complaints, "I'll go there to vent their anger or complaints, to tell them about the true picture in China," he said.
The so-called "spy case" in which China is alleged to obtain nuclear secrecy from the United States is "a real fallacy", premier Zhu said.
"I think that on this issue some Americans have made two mistakes due to underestimation," Zhu said. Firstly, those Americans have underestimated the ability of the United States to keep secret, he said.
The Los Alamos Lab has a very strict control system to keep secret and so far no evidence has been found to support the allegation that Wen Ho Lee had stolen military secrects, Zhu said.
Secondly, those Americans have underestimated the ability of China in research and development of military technology, he said.
The Chinese people are very intelligent and diligent, Zhu said, adding that "China is now fully capable of developing any kind of military technology and it is only a matter of time".
"So, why should we put ourselves under political and moral risks to steal military technology?" he asked.
Zhu went on to say that his trip to the United States early next month is designed to present a true picture about China and resume the good momentum of a constructive strategic partnership between the two countries.
Zhu said jokingly at the press conference that he himself is a victim of the bad atmosphere in the United States, because a photo on the cover of the Business Weekly makes him "look like a dead man."
Zhu said he is fully aware that under such a bad atmosphere his task during the trip will not be easy, and some media predicted that his trip could not possibly be successful.
"But I will continue to go on this trip," he said, adding that since some people in the United States have anger and complaints, he would let them to vent their anger and complaints.
His trip to the United States will not be to a minefield, but under some bad atmosphere, he said.
Mentioning the bankruptcy of the Guangdong International Trust and Investment Cooperation (Gitic), Zhu said that has sent a significant message to the outside world, that is the Chinese government will not repay debts for any individual Chinese financial institution, if the debts of the institution are not guaranteed by the governments at various levels.
The foreign financial institutions "should conduct proper risk analysis and act prudently and cautiously when extending loans to China's financial institutions," warned the premier.
Zhu continued with that the reason for China to stand "rock firm" amid the Asian financial crisis is that it prevented the country from an overheated economy by implementing proper macro-economic regulation and control.
"As a matter of fact, China experienced such crisis as early as 1993. Fortunately we took measures to check the unhealthy trend timely before it got spread," said the premier. Looking back at the economic overheating in 1993 in sectors of real estate, development zones and stock market which led to an inflation rate of 21.7 percent in 1994, Zhu said that of the 16 macro-economic regulation measures the central government took to fight the runaway inflation, 13 were economic measures, out of which 11 were related to banking and financial sectors.
Thanks to the measures, China has brought its economy back onto the right track and resumed its growth momentum and has scored great achievements since then, Zhu said.
He cited a New York Times article which criticized the United States for its role in prompting the financial crisis in Asia, stressing that economic development and financial liberalization must be accompanied with macro control and regulation policies and different macro control or regulation polices should be adopted according to the specific conditions of different countries, he said.
"To urge a country to liberalize or open its capital market too quickly, or to require an overflow of capital in the country would only result in what we say 'more haste, less speed' and can only undermine the economy of the country concerned," Zhu warned.
Premier Zhu Rongji also said that he is willing and ready to contribute to the further development of the Sino-Japanese relations.
"Last year was the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship, and President Jiang Zemin paid a state visit to Japan," Zhu noted. During Jiang's visit to Japan, Zhu said the Chinese and Japanese sides agreed to take history as a guide and to work to establish a friendly and cooperative relation for peace and development.
"I think this is in the fundamental interests of both China and Japan," said the premier, adding that the Chinese side will do its utmost for the implementation of the joint statement signed by the two countries.
"Personally, I'm ready to do my part in this regard," said Zhu, adding that it's possible for him to pay a visit to Japan after necessary diplomatic discussions.
Nextly, Zhu made the pledge China will further open its telecommunications market to foreign investors and open renminbi business to more foreign banks in China.
Although he did not provide any details concerning market-opening, the Premier said it is a general principle to further open the market.
He suggested Hong Kong bankers to apply for setting up branches in China as early as possible, saying "the earlier you apply, the sooner you will get approved."
Zhu also vowed to reform the system of the telecommunications industry, break monopoly and introduce competition into the telecommunications market.
He stressed China will cut down the level of charges on telecommunication services "continuously and by several times".
Nextly, Zhu opposes the attempt to include China's Taiwan Province in the Theater Missile Defense (TMD) system with Japan.
"We oppose the TMD and we are firmly and particularly opposed to including Taiwan into the TMD," Zhu said, stressing that the program violates international agreements and infringes on China's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Zhu also denied the rumor about a recent deployment of 600 missiles along the Taiwan Straits, saying: "I don't know that and how could you know that China has deployed 600 missiles?"
"We are by no means to target missiles at our brothers and sisters in Taiwan," he emphasized, "and we will not use these missiles very lightly and easily."
Referring to reported tests of missiles and development of nuclear weapons by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) , the premier said China has no rights to interfere in the internal affairs of an independent country like DPRK.
Zhu continued that the United States has overestimated the so-called " China threat." "All the advanced weapons are originated from the United States, what does it need for the United States to be afraid of it," he said.
As to the relations with Russia and the United States, Premier Zhu Rongji said that both of them are "good".
Zhu's comments came in response to a Russian reporter's question whether the Sino-Russian ties are closer than the Sino-US ties. The Chinese premier noted that China and Russia are working to establish a strategic partnership of coordination, while China and the United States are making efforts to set up a constructive strategic partnership.
On his recent visit to Russia, Zhu said the visit was to implement the requirements and concrete projects stipulated in the strategic partnership of coordination jointly initiated by President Jiang Zemin and his Russian counterpart Boris Yeltsin.
The visit has scored many results, mainly in the economic and trade sectors, as more than 10 agreements were signed, he said, adding "this has been unprecedented".
As for Russia's support to China against the TMD (Theater Missile Defense) system, he said both sides did not talk about this issue during the visit.
However, he said when he met President Yeltsin, the Russian president put Zhu's hand before his chest, saying "Jiang is my best friend, and so are you."
Zhu also put Yeltsin's hand before his chest and said, "We are friends indeed worthy of trust," he recalled.
When the meeting came to an end, Zhu went on to say, Yeltsin and he hugged each other very "tightly", showing both are "sincere friends".
He believed during his forthcoming visit to the United States, he could also get a warm welcome, instead of "walking into a minefield", he said.
"President Bill Clinton and I might not hug each other, but we might shake hands tightly," he said, adding that these mean the same in friendship.
Nextly, Premier Zhu Rongji said that China's human rights cause is progressing day by day.
"We have adopted laws and regulations to intensify legislation work to protect human rights, and we will continue to do so," the Premier stressed.
Zhu said that "foreign friends are welcome to criticize our work, but don't be impatient, I am more impatient than you after all."
The premier said he recently told US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright when he met her in Beijing that he joined the revolutionary struggle for democracy, freedom and human rights of the Chinese people much earlier than Albright's career for human rights. He told Albright he is 10 years older than her.
"We have been influenced by the May 4th Movement which fought for democracy and science, and under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, we fought against the dictatorship and violations of human rights for many decades. Today, how could we possibly suppress human rights?" he questioned.
"And only we know how we can preserve and protect human rights in China," Zhu stressed.
He said that he cannot say that China is perfect in human rights. Comparing the long history of China's feudalism and semi-colonialism of several thousand years with a short history of 50 years of New China, which was founded in 1949, he said that China' s human rights cause has made much headway and is progressing every day.
As to the entry to the World Trade Organization Premier Zhu said that China is "prepared to make the biggest concession within its capability" .
He said that with the experience accumulated during the course of reform and opening up to the outside world, China has strengthened its supervision and regulation, as well as capability and sustainability, with regard to problems that may arise after China joins the WTO.
Another factor in favor of China's entry to the WTO is that, according to the Premier, WTO members have recognized that a WTO without China is not representative enough, and that is a neglect of China as a huge potential market.
He said that it has been 13 years since the negotiations began on China's resumption of the GATT membership and later its access to the WTO.
"Black hair has turned gray," he said, "It's high time to conclude the negotiations."
China's recent talks with some WTO members have narrowed the gap of their respective positions, but major differences remain, he pointed out.
"It is hopeful for both sides to reach an agreement as long as they make concessions out of the larger interests of promoting stability and prosperity of the international trade," Zhu said.
The press has lasted for one and a half hour, which is the most important press conference since the Ninth NPC has been held.
March 16, 1999, www.people.com.cn
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