Could China help on Siachen dispute?

PAKISTAN Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam stated at her weekly press briefing on Monday that Islamabad had given its proposals to resolve the Siachen issue at the Foreign Secretary-level talks in New Delhi two weeks ago and that India’s response was awaited. The Siachen crisis developed when the Indian troops occupied part of the Siachen Glacier area over two decades ago. Since then the armies of the two nuclear-armed rivals have been engaged in a purposeless and very costly war being fought in bitter cold of the highest mountain range. New Delhi, as per independent estimates, has paid ten times the cost in men and material compared to the rival army. Thousands of soldiers have perished due mostly to frost bite, intense cold, blizzards and fall from the glacier. A much larger number of troops have been incapacitated following amputations of their fingers, hands and legs due to cold-related diseases and injuries start, Islamabad and New Delhi could approach China to mediate on the question of Siachen.
Ever since the ongoing peace process commenced over two years back, President Musharraf has time and again offered to resolve the Siachen issue. No doubt, ceasefire along the Line of Control, at Siachen and the international border continues to hold but the armies need to pull back from Siachen so as to end a costly conflict which is in neither party’s interest. Off and on hopes are raised for a breakthrough on Siachen but something goes wrong somewhere. The Indian Army perhaps acts as a stumbling block. New Delhi wants to retain the positions it has taken. However, Islamabad proposes the just and fair c way: the armies should pull back to points they were occupying before the Siachen conflict started. The latest proposals advanced by Pakistan are now with New Delhi. The ball is in fact in India’s court.
Over two decades of the war on world’s highest ground has bogged down the troops from the two countries. Both sides have lost billions and have not achieved the result. The Siachen war exposes the futility of an armed conflict Instead of wasting their resources, the two countries should take the path of peace and focus on improving quality of life of over a billion people of South Asia, whose majority continues to groan under the yoke of disease, hunger and abject poverty.. The Chinese President, Mr. Hu Jintao, who recently visited Pakistan and India has offered to play a role in facilitating peaceful resolution of outstanding issues between the two major powers of the sub continent.
For a start, Islamabad and New Delhi could request Chinese leader to mediate on the question of Siachen. May be, the stage has come where the rivals need to look for a third party to help them in resolving their problems.
 

Making China charitable

Recently, some volunteers in China have begun to carry books and stationery with them when traveling in the country’s remote areas. By adding an extra kilogram of these items to their backpacks, their trip is no longer a journey in the conventional sense, but one of contribution. Although they do not mean to act as charity activists, they are offering aid and spreading love while enjoying their holidays.
Although the material donations are just books and stationery, these backpackers are giving children in far flung areas what they so desperately need. And that is to learn more about the great wide world they live in, which may inspire the children’s passion for life and even change their attitude toward living.
To do a kind deed is not a difficult job. As long as they have the will to do so, everyone can do something to help others. It makes more sense to make a contribution within one’s own ability, than to complain about people’s indifference and the fickleness of human relationships. According to official statistics, China has 10 million registered enterprises, but those that have a record of charity donation amount to no more than 100,000. That means 99 percent of the enterprises fail to lend a helping hand to the needy. In addition, no entrepreneurs topping the 2006 list of China’s richest released by British journalist Rupert Hoogewerf are found on the top of China’s charity roll. Statistics issued by the China Charity Federation show that China’s wealthy people, who possess 80 percent of the country’s fortune, contribute less than 20 percent of the total charitable donations.
We have reasons to accuse enterprises of their indifference to social responsibility, but while doing so, we may have neglected a striking characteristic of the charity cause: Charity is not the privilege of millionaires, but society as a whole should get involved. According to the China Charity Federation, every year 75 percent of the donations come from overseas, while 15 percent come from China’s wealthy and 10 percent from ordinary people. However, in countries with well-developed charity systems, like the United States, big companies only contribute 10 percent, big funds 5 percent, while individual contributions make up 85 percent.
This fact shows that the gap in the charity cause between China and the United States does not result from the limited company donations alone. In order to improve the cause in China, charity organizations need to speed up and win more trust from the public. There is a need for more relevant laws, regulations and system improvement, so as to create a favorable environment for the development of charities in China. This development is still in the embryonic stage. People’s awareness of charity is yet to be developed, and a law governing charity activities needs to be drawn up. Existing laws and regulations are incapable of promoting the sound development of the charities and allied institutions.
Charity organizations should be disengaged from direct connection with the government, so that charity activities will be based on people’s willingness to give, instead of on government demand. More importantly, how donations are used should be made more transparent.
Although a late starter, China is beginning to make inroads into developing an effective charity structure. When society begins to see giving to help others as an honorable action, attitudes will change. On the road to entrenching this it will be realized that charity really does begin at home.

—Beijing Review