Islamabad, Beijing call for cross-border cooperation
From Javed Akhtar  (APP)

BEIJING—Pakistan, China and other member countries of Organization of Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) have called for promoting cross-border cooperation to control corruption.
The member countries of the OECD citing corruption as being impacting all groups of society and criminals hiding proceeds of corruption in foreign jurisdictions and escaping from prosecution claimed that working together across sectors and border is vital to effectively combating corruption.
To fight the increasing corruption cases, the countries should devote more efforts in forming a supporting environment for business integrity and denying safe haven to officials and individuals guilty of corruption, said the OECD in a document issued here which offers recommendations for further actions against corruption.
The document was adopted at the OECD annual conference held in Beijing last week. Pakistan was represented at the conference by Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lt. Gen. Munir Hafiz.
The private sector has been playing significant roles both in acts of corruption and in the prevention of such acts and it’s of urgent necessity to ensure all businesses being operated with high-level integrity, said the OECD.
The countries could develop and enforce a series of accounting standards that support transparent public and private corporate accounts and prohibiting practices that are carried out for the purpose of bribery of public officials, it said.
Independent external auditing controls, it acknowledged, could also be strengthened to that end. At the same time, the private sector could also promote, develop and adopt adequate internal company controls that include standards of conduct prohibiting the giving of bribes.
The organization considered effective international judicial assistance as great importance in fighting against corruption.
According to the OECD, the assistance is of vital importance in effectively prosecuting corrupt criminals and recovering illegal assets. “In all the aspects, international cooperation is playing and will remain to play important roles,” it said.
A holistic approach and the cooperation of all countries are all badly needed, it declared.
The counties should exchange information on investigative procedures and establish a compendium of rules relevant to seizure, confiscation and recovery of illegal assets, it said, so that the “difficulties in international judicial assistance caused by the difference in legal systems and cultures” can be “overcome”
 

US, China textile talks likely to resume next week
From Max Lee
The Daily Mail’s
Special Correspondent in Beijing

BEIJING—The United States and China will make a fourth try next week at negotiating a comprehensive textile trade deal, U.S. trade officials said on Thursday.
U.S. and Chinese negotiators will meet Oct 12-13 in Beijing for talks on a pact that potentially could restrict China’s textile and clothing shipments to the United States through the end of 2008, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said.
The negotiations are driven by U.S. industry concerns about a sharp increase in textile and clothing shipments from China following the end of a global quota system on January 1.
The United States has already responded by curbing imports of shirts, trousers, bras, underwear, yarn and other textile and clothing products under a special “safeguard” provision of China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001.
However, industry groups have pushed for a comprehensive pact that would tightly restrict overall growth in China’s exports to the United States through the end of 2008, when the safeguard provision expires.
The two countries made strides toward an agreement in the third round of talks last week in Washington, but remain apart on many key issues, industry aides said.
China wants the pact to expire at the end of 2007 and cover fewer products than the United States has proposed, they said.
US caution urged on textile issue
A spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce yesterday urged the US Government to take a cautious and appropriate manner in handling the Sino-US textile trade issues.
The statement was given after the US Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) announced Wednesday it had accepted petitions from the US textile industry to launch investigations into whether quotas should be imposed on 21 categories of clothing and textile imports from China.
The spokesman said the move by the US side is against relevant rules of the World Trade Organization and expressed China’s resolute opposition to it.
CITA announced on Wednesday that it had accepted for review 13 textile and apparel safeguard petitions covering 21 categories. Nine of those petitions are reapplications for safeguards that previously have been implemented by the US Government, but are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. The other four petitions are new cases.
The spokesman expected the US Government would make a decision from the perspective of overall bilateral interests.
The final decision will be made by January unless the US Government asks for further time to complete its investigation.
While opposing the acceptance of new petitions, the spokesman also welcomes a decision by the United States to delay a finding on whether to set limits on four kinds of Chinese textile imports.
CITA announced on September 30 that it is extending until November 30, 2005, the period for determination on whether to request consultations with China regarding imports of cotton and man-made fibre sweaters, cotton and man-made fibre dressing gowns, and robes, men’s and boys’ wool trousers, and knit fabric.
“The US has not hesitated to use the textile safeguard mechanism as being permitted under China’s WTO accession agreement; however, we are seeking a longer-term solution that will permit the orderly development of textile and apparel trade,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce and CITA Chairman James C. Leonard III in a statement.
“We have made progress in our consultations with the Chinese Government and will meet again soon to continue those consultations. Today’s action demonstrates our intent to consult in good faith, but we will not accept a bad deal for the US industry”.
Negotiators from the United States and China reported progress last week in their fifth round of talks on reaching a comprehensive agreement to limit Chinese textile exports. Further talks are expected this month.
 

Sino-Japanese ties at low point: Survey
Bureau Report

BEIJING—Only 31 per cent of Japanese feel friendly towards China, less than half the number that felt close to the United States, a survey said yesterday, showing the strained ties between the Asian neighbors.
Of the 2,418 people interviewed by Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun, 31 per cent said they were very much or somewhat friendly towards China, while 68 per cent said they did not feel so. The survey conducted by the major daily, found that sentiment was particularly negative among the younger generation, with more than 70 per cent in their 20s to 40s saying they did not feel friendly towards China.
Those friendly to the US reached 65 per cent, overwhelming the 33 per cent with negative views about Japan’s closest ally.
People who felt friendship towards the Republic of Korea (ROK) came to 44 per cent against 54 per cent who said otherwise.
The Mainichi Shimbun, which conducted the poll over September 2-4 across Japan, said Japanese sentiment towards China fell after the April rallies in China against Japan’s approval of a controversial school history textbook.
The textbook, which whitewashes Japan’s wartime atrocities, also ignited massive protests in other Asian countries victimized by the Japanese invasion in World War II, including ROK and China.
Disputes over history have become the crux of strained ties between China and Japan. Aside from the history textbook issue, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi repeatedly visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which honours 14 A-class war criminals alongside the Japanese war dead.
The two neighbors also have disputes over claims to undersea oil and gas deposits in the East China Sea.
According to a joint opinion poll conducted by China Daily, Peking University and Japanese think tank Genron NPO in August, 54.7 per cent of Chinese see current bilateral ties at a low point.
About 90 per cent of the Chinese polled blamed Japan for the situation, whereas more than half of Japanese polled said it was hard to tell who bore responsibility.
However, 65 per cent of Chinese respondents and more than 40 per cent of Japanese respondents of that poll believed economic ties between China and Japan are still on track and will benefit both sides. Of Chinese respondents, 59 per cent expressed the hope that China and Japan could better co-operate to manage regional affairs.