P A G E
Friday, August 7, 1998
today's calendar
|
E D I T O R I A L P A G E |
Friday, August 7, 1998 |
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
||
|
Not
by dole alone
In
search of a
Constitutional
review
|
 |
Lala
Lajpat Rai’s |
|
|
|||||
 |
Not by dole alone IT sounds churlish to find fault with the government when it is groping to overcome a gathering crisis. Yet it is necessary to point out the inadequacies of the incentive package announced by Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde on Wednesday. The highlight is the 2 per cent cut in the interest rate on bank credit to exporters. At any given time outstanding credit has been conservatively estimated at about Rs 30,000 crore, and the impact of lower interest will mean a loss of revenue of a minimum of Rs 600 crore to the banks, or Rs 300 crore during the last six months of the current financial year. Considering that the total value of exports is very much over Rs 1,25,000 crore, the measure will not provide a substantial relief and hence cannot act as a powerful incentive to boost exports. The other points made by the Minister relate to easing the procedures and placing total trust on importer-manufacturer-exporters in duty-free imports. These are like pep pills when the need is to reverse a steep slide in both the volume and dollar value of exports and thus to arrest the widening trade deficit. After recording a hefty
growth of around 20 per cent a year for some time,
exports began to shrink during the past two years. In
1997-98, exports actually fell by 4.7 per cent and the
trend is continuing in a virulent form. So far exports
have fallen by about 8 per cent and as the Minister has
stated, it has been very steep in large-volume items
accounting for nearly a third of the total earnings.
Among the “underachievers” are cotton yarn and
fabrics (20 per cent), readymade garments of manmade
fabrics (35 per cent), transport equipment (20 per cent),
computers (60 per cent) and oil meals (50 per cent). Some
of these are primary articles and worldwide their price
has plunged. What is more, there is no immediate prospect
of a big push in demand and hence a revival of their
prices. The battered economies of South-East Asia have
shut out a big market for Indian goods and a general
slowdown in much of the world has pared down trade
growth. There is yet another factor. Indian computer
firms find it difficult to keep pace with sophistication
and are losing customers as is the case with three
leading units in the export-oriented zone in Mumbai and
Chennai. Add to this the crippled Kandla port and the
12-day-long strike in Mumbai port and the littany of woes
of exporters is complete. Cash concessions can make
Indian goods competitive and export that much more
profitable; but they cannot create or revive markets.
That is precisely the crux of the Indian problem. |
|||||
Hiroshima Day protests INDIA and Pakistan tried to steal the Hiroshima Day thunder from Japan where nationwide ceremonies are held every year on August 6 to remind the global community of the first nuclear sin committed by a country which today demands the exclusive right to be the international peacekeeper. The protest of the liberal class in the sub-continent was not focused against the USA but India and Pakistan for having conducted nuclear tests in Pokhran and Chagai. Without going into the merits of the protest, it can be said with a fair degree of conviction that they got the timing all wrong. Of course, it is not just the liberals in the two countries who decided to question the policy of going nuclear. The CPM held a massive rally in Calcutta to attack the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition for having conducted nuclear tests. Without meaning to question the right of the liberals and the politicians to free speech the point which needs to be emphasised is that August 6 should not have been chosen to attack Pokhran II. Hiroshima Day should be observed to focus global attention only on the nuclear misadventures of the USA and four other countries which have together converted the membership of the nuclear club into a status symbol. Pokhran II has not altered India’s stand on total global disarmament. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s unilateral declaration of “no first use” of nuclear weapons against nations possessing these weapons should remove any lingering doubt about the country’s total commitment to the policy of resolving global disputes through dialogue and diplomacy. A discordant and disquieting note has been added to the nuclear debate by Ms Arundhati Roy who believes that the act of having invented “The God of Small Things” has given her the right to speak even on “big issues” — issues which are beyond the comprehension of this fiction writer. She is now being projected as the new icon of peace in the subcontinent. A signed article in an English weekly saw her raving and ranting that “if protesting against having a nuclear bomb implanted in my brain is anti-Hindu and anti-national, then I secede”. She is welcome to do worse things so long as these are done to herself, like proclaiming: “I hereby declare myself an independent, mobile republic”. If only someone had cared to explain to the mother of “The God of Small Things” the import of her statement that “I am a citizen of the earth”, she might not have gone public with her confused ideas on a sensitive issue. Which part of the earth does she claim to be a citizen of having obviously renounced the part where Pokhran is located? There is hardly a part on the planet which has not been ravaged and raped by the USA and its nuclear allies. Hiroshima was just the beginning of the process of turning the earth into a nuclear cauldron. Just because napalm was used by the USA against civilians — it would have been as evil had the girl in the universally acclaimed photograph been a Vietnamese soldier — several years ago, is not a valid excuse for not reminding the world about the past deeds of the country whose present misdeeds are equally revolting. What global cause was
served by killing the little daughter of the Libyan
President by bombing his palace in Tripoli? Who sustained
Iraq’s war machinery during the prolonged skirmish
with Iran? Who is suffering because of the USA’s
stand on the lifting of the embargo against Iraq? The
Taliban certainly do not draw their strength from sources
in Pakistan. Of course, Ms Arundhati Roy was not born as
a fiction writer when the world’s worst industrial
disaster occurred in Bhopal. But the liberals and the
politicians who have been in the business of protests
ever since such acts came to be acknowledged as
“politically correct” have not even cared to
visit the site of the continuing tragedy. Those who have
been hurt by the blasts at Pokhran should at least first
observe Bhopal Day on December 3 every year to show that
their heart really bleeds for India. |
From FERA to FEMA IN its over-enthusiasm to attract the maximum investment in India from foreign sources in the wake of the economic liberalisation programme, the Congress government headed by Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao had removed most of the restrictions on foreign capital. The most significant of these curbs was the law that foreign equity in a joint venture company could not exceed 40 per cent. This was done away with by amending the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. The limit was increased to the satisfaction of multinationals to enable them to control joint venture companies. Certain other provisions in FERA to strictly regulate the operations of multinationals — like borrowing or raising of funds, seeking deposits in India and appointments of crucial nature as agents or advisers, whether technical or managerial — were also given a decent burial to tell the business houses in the developed countries that the investment climate in India was as encouraging as anywhere else. But in the process the government had deprived itself of the ways to regulate the entry of foreign capital, so essential for a developing country like India having its own peculiar problems. All this also affected the business interests of Indian industrialists. The BJP-led coalition government had committed itself to bringing back some of these controls, though in different cloathing, so that foreign investors did not have an unrestricted movement in India. The idea was that this would also cheer up the local entrepreneurs, most of whom now BJP sympathisers. The Foreign Exchange Management Bill, 1998, introduced in Parliament on Tuesday, will serve this duel purpose. This explains, to some extent, why industrialists' organisations have avoided to point out loopholes in the Bill, which seeks to replace the much-maligned FERA. The Foreign Exchange
Management Bill, which will become an Act (FEMA) after
its expected passage by Parliament in its winter session,
is accompanied by a supplementing piece of legislation,
the Money Laundering Prevention Bill. The second
legislation has come under sharp criticism from business
interests. It has been described as a "super
Act" aimed at creating a "super authority"
with "draconian powers". The basic reason is
that there are any number of businessmen who indulge in
the falsification of accounts which will be treated as a
"heinous criminal offence" under the new law.
Even chartered accountants' firms giving a fair
certificate in such cases will not be spared. The Bill,
if it is allowed to become an Act in its present
complexion, may bring in more revenue for the government,
besides putting a curb on the generation of black money.
Such cases will be dealt with under Section 477-A of the
IPC, which is not to the liking of the business houses.
Their argument is that the new law will cause them
"tremendous harassment”. But why indulge in
such activities as are not in accordance with the law of
the land? |
Constitutional review INDIA'S constitutional and political structure demands a fresh look, taking into account the changing economic, cultural and ethnic necessities of the people. In fact, in today's complex socio-political scenario the country has no choice but to evolve a more creative approach to federal functioning. How have we handled our multi-dimensional problems? Who is to blame? The system? Or, the ruling elite? I would say both. The Constitution of India was said to be one of the finest. In 50 years, it has proved to be one of the worst. As for the quality of our rulers, the less said the better. The "Mandalisation" of Indian politics by Mr V.P.Singh made the ruling class of India conscious of the electoral power of the backward classes for the first time. And, now, Ms Jayalalitha has demonstrated that the Centre can be reduced to a powerless entity. Both these developments were not anticipated by our founding fathers. Also, the senseless assertion by sectarian leaders and the weakening of Central power in the states with regional parties in return for their support at the Centre have gravely damaged the federal system. Apart from the blunders committed by the Congress governments, the faulty working of the United Front government gave the regional parties enormous opportunities to blackmail the authorities in New Delhi. The situation is no different today. The BJP-led coalition government has no answer to the politics of blackmail pursued by its partners in power. The situation is disquieting. Instead of advancing the established federal principles, power is being increasingly used for the promotion of personal and sectarian goals. Indeed, power is not being distributed on the basis of any principle, but it is being usurped through blackmail. It is true Jawaharlal Nehru never allowed blatant violation of the federal principles and enforced a modicum of democracy within the Congress. The process of centralisation of power began with Indira Gandhi when the states were reduced to vassals. The entire process was against the spirit of the Constitution. The consequences were calamitous. The real danger to the nation comes from its internal weaknesses, particularly from its great diversity. Unfortunately, the founding fathers, not to speak of political parties, were in the least exercised over the constitutional implications of this diversity. They chose the British parliamentary system of government which is highly divisive of society. (It does not divide British society because it is almost homogenous.) It does the greatest damage to a society of great diversity, for every politician tries to widen the fissures in society in order to create a vote bank. Thus, in India, not only is the polity totally fragmented, but is also on a steady retrogressive slide. The parliamentary system can never be progressive, for the appeal is always to the conservative and feudal inclinations of society. And the men who came to power had no intention to build the new nation and make it enduring . They had only one objective: to seize power and enjoy it. The founding fathers of our Constitution had neither the vision of an Aurobindo nor had they a philosophy of politics that suited a nation of India's diversity. India's diversity is not only in race, language, religion and culture, but also in its systems of thought and philosophy. This freedom to think is the central characteristic of the Indian civilisation which makes it greater than any other civilisation. But the leader of the
Congress (or, for that matter, of any other party) talked
of values—democracy, secularism, socialism,
etc.—which would deliver the votes. Power—this
was their true goal. In any case, they were small men
with small minds and wanted to raise no controversies
which would deny them the votes. All they wanted were
vote banks based on communal or caste considerations.
Thus was the future of this country sacrificed for the
interests of political parties and politicians. After
having said this, can we seriously discuss the future of
this country? To be honest, we cannot. An Indian
politician is incapable of having a future perspective.
And yet parties do maintain a facade of seriousness to
prevent the rebellious from taking to arms. The BJP is for a commission to review the Constitution. There is a strong lobby in this country in favour of a review—that is to find out what went wrong during the past 50 years, particularly why democracy has failed in this country. Alas! No commission can give us an accurate explanation, nor can it provide a real solution to the problems. But I am not advocating a philosophy of despair. The point I wish to make is this: we must examine everything from different angles so that we can come closer to the truth. The BJP, for example, is for a presidential system. Not because it has a clue to how it will function in India, but because it believes that the Hindus will return a BJP president. True, the parliamentary system is an utter failure, but we have had the experience of running it for 50 years. It is claimed that a presidential system can ensure unity of the nation. But this is by no means assured in today's conditions. Our polity is totally fragmented. It is difficult to unite the Hindus under one umbrella. The OBCs have realised that they stand to gain by being divided. And that is true of Muslims, Christians and other minorities. No more will any of them trust the old national parties. There is thus little chance of the Hindus coming together to form a solid bloc. There are serious weaknesses in a presidential system. It can never be truly representative of the people. Four states can monopolise the presidency as they monopolised the prime ministership. The BJP has always been for a strong Centre. But the OBCs and the minorities are for a weak Centre. They do not accept any further dictation from the Centre. Thus, there are basic contradictions within the Indian polity. They have neither been debated nor resolved. And they can be the cause for serious conflict in the future. For example, if the threat from China persists, there will be a demand for a strong Centre. How will the OBCs and the minorities react to this situation? Thus, whether a nation should be strong at the Centre or not depends as much on its external threat perception as on its assessment of domestic realities. Afterall, a nation cannot prepare itself to defend its freedom overnight. There is a limit to federalism and autonomy. The OBCs and the minorities must understand their limit. Similarly, the BJP supporters must know that if the review of the Constitution has a hidden agenda, the remedy will be worse than the disease. Still, we must freely debate all facets of the problems facing the polity. India needs a down-to-earth response to the problems to get out of the present chaotic situation. The existing order is tilted in favour of operators, manipulators, middlemen, smugglers and anti-social agents and their collaborators, both within the government and outside of it. We must plug all avenues that create distortions in the system. We must honestly review
all facets of constitutional and political functioning of
the polity with a view to evolving a
politico-administrative structure that runs on merit and
fairplay. A wider distribution of power, a responsive
administration, all-round accountability, a decentralised
system of resource mobilisation and development
initiatives will not only ensure faster economic growth,
but also greater stability and a stronger nation. |
In search of a 3rd alternative IN the known history of the civilised world we have come across two alternative ways of life having been adopted and followed by mankind. The first was the soul-based spiritual way, embracing all the spiritual traditions of the world — whether of Indian origin or foreign — which targeted the “other world” and ignored this world of earthly existence in which they actually lived physically. The more this way developed, the more physical life got neglected, and ultimately it came to be regarded as something condemnable, to be rejected and got rid of. It led to the development of a negative attitude towards man’s physical existence which crippled life. As any extremism produces its own reaction and brings its opposite into being, the same thing happened to spiritual extremism and one-sidedness. Some 500 years ago when the subjective element of faith in human nature reached its saturation point, in reaction to spiritual (religious) other-worldliness, “this-worldliness” took birth. This was the genesis of modern science. It focused on the body and exploration of the physical world and nature, and developed the physical capacities to produce and consume to dangerous proportions. The hunger for limitless consumption made man a demon, exploiting not only man and all the other forms of life but also mother earth and nature itself. This destructive way of life has made man his own enemy, and all scientific and technological development has started becoming counter-productive. Now the question is how to save man from himself. Again as this materialistic way of life is reaching its extreme, it is threatening not only the sustenance of civilisations but also the very survival of planetary life. Having experienced the limitations and mutually contradictory nature of the lateral ways of life — spiritual or physical exclusively — man has come to realise the need for a third central and integral way of life, wherein the above two constitute as the complementary aspects: the vertical and horizontal dimensions of human personality, individual as well as global, which develop simultaneously for the healthy and harmonious growth of the world. There is no such thing as
either this or that in life; it is a non-divisible whole.
It cannot be dissected into insulated physical or
spiritual halves. The law of life is one and the same whether applied in the case of the life of a plant or human life. The deeper the roots descend into the soil, the lighter the shoot rises into the sky and thicker the tree grows. Likewise, if human personality is healthy and the human mind does not distort it, artificial division, its inward spiritual development and physical growth go simultaneously. The deeper the silence in the soul, the more creative and commanding becomes the action in the physical world. Mahatma Gandhi in recent history is the example of such a healthy person and an integral approach to life. It was Gandhi’s spiritual sadhana which made him a commanding political leader with moral authority in the age of the machine. Gandhi’s “atomic bomb” proved more powerful than the real atomic bomb. Thus he provides us a clue for the development of a third alternative. The evolution of a third
alternative through the revolutionary development in the
field of spirituality, a new kind of spirituality which
is oriented towards this world and is committed to
bringing about a transformatory change in the life of man
and his world, is the need of the hour not only for India
but also for the whole humanity. At the same time science
too must recognise the need for a purpose and values in
human life, and must break the self-imposed barrier of
“objectivity” — the material existence by
freeing itself from the unscientific spirit, it must
embrace the totality of existence and make the wholeness
of life as its playing field. The wisdom and power will
embrace each other and launch man into the future of a
new world. |
Hail helmet!
I CAN'T understand all this fuss about pillion-riders and women having to wear helmets on two-wheelers. Contrary to the grumblers — who see a hidden ‘’head”, if not a hand, behind the new law — I say “hats off” to its enactment. I have, in fact, discovered some hidden advantages of the headgear! First of all, it should be hailed as a feather in the cap (if not the helmet) of all women activists. The majesty of law now makes no gender discrimination and ordains equal protection against the age-old head-on collision of the two sexes. There have been some unexpected economic spin-offs of the new law also, hopefully making the post-Pokhran grim Finance Minister grin! Instead of being a hitherto one-helmet household, we have now been transformed into a four-helmet home — one for self, one for the dear lady and another two for the children who ride their own mopeds. Who says that the great Indian middle class is not on the move? In fact, the display of four helmets in our home is such a moving sight that we are now inspired to name our house “The Helmet Hut”, on the lines of the fancy names of quaint English cottages at Kasauli and Shimla. Another “moving” sight that turns my head on the roads is of the numerous roadside vendors, earlier selling juicy watermelons and pumpkins, now swapping their old wares for shiny, bulbous helmets on sale, at bargain prices! An added advantage of carrying two helmets on a shopping spree with your wife is that she now tends to shop less, considering your now limited mule-pack” carrying capacity. Also, helmets are the ultimate middle class state-us symbol. When you strut into a swanky shop carrying one — or rather two of them — the shopkeeper gives a sympathetic nod, places your purse-pulse rightly, and saves you the agony of eyeing fancy stuff, beyond your economy class budget. The murderous traffic on the city roads today shall soon warrant new safety norms for car drivers, making helmets compulsory for them too, besides the safety belts and other such accessories. Of course, these ones would have to be more expensive and stylish than those for the two-wheelers, in keeping with the snob value of the limousine owners. I see a bright future for helmets ahead as a fashionable headgear — reminiscent of the old custom of wearing hats and turbans. Soon there would be designer helmets which one need not take off even when not driving. They could have in-built earphones, pagers and various other multimedia gizmos with on-off options, for use at work or at home. Helmets have multiple
domestic uses. Wear one as a safety device when your
teenage daughter is swinging to loud rock music or when
your wife is at her Sunday nagging best! In any case I
need to wear one all the time — with my bald pate
— for such “headless” thoughts. |
Towards a foreign policy framework LET us not fool ourselves to believe that the world has changed. It has not. The game is the same — hegemony — and the principal actors are also the same. Only one actor — Russia — has taken a short leave. But this Western civilisation and its goals based on Judeo-Christianity cannot be a teleological model for the rest of the world, though European thinkers had held on to such pretensions. Europe might have thought that it was leading a procession of humanity, with the unregenerate non-whites on the tow. But it was only a short nightmare in man’s history. In any case, Marxism tried to chart a new course, although it came to grief. The world is back to the old game. If capitalism and communism are irrelevant — the first because it breeds crises and economic inequality, and the other because it breeds political slavery, then mankind has only one option — it must opt for a global system that is managed by the entire world community (that is by the UN members). It must provide a framework of security, both political and economic, within which nations can work out their destinies according to the genius of each. Above all, the UN system must provide order against the chaos of the free market. India must follow this objective in its interest. Western civilisation has never been committed to a world democratic system. Creation of veto power within the Security Council, monopoly of nuclear power to a few, weighted decision-making in multilateral financial bodies — all these are anti-democratic. Today the West is engaged in creating an unjust society on a global scale with little option for those who think otherwise to opt out. When the UN was given a special role in the development of the poorer countries, the West agreed to this not because it approved of UN interventions in economic matters, but because it was anxious to use the UN system to promote its neocolonial strategy. The fact that it had control over the financial institutions of the UN made the West bold. But when the demand for a New International Economic Order arose in the seventies, it must have become clear to the West that the UN was creating a “planned” global system — with its active involvement in the maintenance of peace, economic development, trade, finance, currency, transfer of technology, information, etc. In short, a world under UN management. This was a challenge to
Western hegemony over the world. This was not what the
Western ruling class expected of the UN, when they agreed
to set it up. It was this realisation that led the West to create a major crisis in the world — by reducing official development assistance, by manipulating an oil crisis, by demanding the winding up of certain UN agencies, and by forcing indigent nations to seek financial help from the rapacious private banks. Perhaps it was the Third World demand for a code of conduct to regulate the MNCs operating in the Third World, which was the last straw for the rich. The developing countries wanted powers to regulate the activities of MNCs touching national sovereignties, employment, working conditions, technology transfer, consumer and environmental protection and others. The MNCs which controlled the levers of power in the West, were not ready to make any such concessions. It must have been clear to the West by then that the UN system had outlived its usefulness to the West. Hence its decision to paralyse it. The first step in this direction was to take the North-South negotiations outside the UN and impose new institutions (WTO) for this purpose. UNCTAD, UNIDO and UNESCO were reduced to nominal departments of the UN. And had it not been for the debt crisis, Washington had every intention to reduce the power and role of the IMF and World Bank, and enhance the role of commercial banks. Today, however, the IMF and World Bank are playing a major role in the globalisation of world economies — a task which has already seen two major crises. The tragedy of the Third World is that it is never united. Looking at this disunity, Prof Galbraith had once said that if the local leadership of the Third World was strong, effective and well-regarded, it would not tolerate foreign exploitation or domination. Unfortunately, such leaders are no more than three or four in the world. The others are generally sold out to the West in order to perpetuate their power. But after having opted for market economy and capitalism, we have no ground to complain against the West. It is part of the game if we lose. The rich are rich not because of better management or technology, but because they were able to create favourable global conditions for themselves. The UN tried to help the poor countries to create such a framework, but the poor failed the UN. Today, a country like Japan — second in the world — has no real say in how the world economy is ordered! It is busy picking up the crumbs that is thrown down to it. Many Western economists and others have warned the Third World not to imitate the West. Galbraith had said that Third World countries should “challenge” the belief that what is right for the advanced industrial countries is right for all. But how easily they fell for “globalisation” and the new round of trade negotiations! In no developing country there is unanimity among political leaders, the bureaucracy and the business community on what goals to pursue. So they pursue their sectarian interests. India tried to lead this disparate flock and suffered in consequence. It must avoid this mistake. It must follow its own national interest. Perhaps not at the expense of the developing countries. Those who make the decision today to cast our lot with the Western ruling class — and they are growing by the millions — bear a great responsibility to the future generations, for they may be fettering the fortunes of the poorer countries for centuries. The point is: can we ask the rich to be more generous to the poorer nations when the poorer nations themselves are not willing to make any concessions among themselves? What step have we taken in this direction? This is what Prof Gunnar Myrdal advised the poorer nations to do. But even our intellectuals fail to understand the logic of his stand. India cannot go back to
the Nehruvian days. Nonalignment has proved to be
ineffective in the absence of unity among the nonaligned.
India must, therefore, follow its own self-interest. But
India is also a great power, with global
responsibilities. That is why it must prepare a framework
for the pursuit of its own foreign policy objectives. It
must create favourable conditions, first of all for
itself, and for all the needy countries. |
History of Ancient India in Hindi, Price Rs 2.4; cloth bound Rs 2.12. THE Tribune critic writes:- It is a deplorable fact that our young men are quite ignorant of their past history and a nation which feels no interest or delight in the glories of its past, cannot be expected to have a bright future. Lala Lajpat Rai, in his preface, refers to the apathy of our young men, and it is with a view to providing useful and necessary information regarding that period of Indian history that the book has been written. Lala ji has taken great pains to compile this book. He says that he has gone through almost all the books available on the subject. The book has a further charm of its own on account of its being written within the precincts of the jail. There are four illustrations and three maps. The photo of the author is given in the beginning. There are four very useful appendices attached to the book. They are full of reliable and important information. We have great pleasure in
recommending the book to our young men and also to our
nationalist workers because we feel that every Indian
must know as to what his ancestors have done in the past
to enrich literature, philosophy and other branches of
the world’s knowledge. The work is very useful for
women and children, affords interesting as well as easy
reading and can be introduced as a text book in
boys’ and girls’ schools. |
Army clean-up drive in China THE focus in China is on the abnormal situation in the Chinese Army. The talk of the day is a recent fiat issued by President Jiang Zemin, who is also General Secretary of the Communist Party and Chairman of the all-powerful Military Commission, asking the country’s armed forces to withdraw from commercial activities. Observers feel the fiat is indicative of the enormity of the problems of smuggling, corruption, indiscipline and moral degradation plaguing the army’s ranks. In the past, whenever the Chinese Government took some steps to control the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) corrupt and criminal practices, it resisted such attempts. It is not known whether the latest order will meet the same fate. Perhaps, the country’s leadership is more determined to go ahead with the clean-up drive this time. Recent reports in Chinese media revealed that smuggling of oil, cars and cigarettes was costing China about $ 12 billion a year. The media was particularly concerned about what they called “the decadent lifestyles of army units in southern Gyangdong province”. The wording of President Jiang’s order does not make it clear whether he is tackling the vested interests of central military headquarters, which directly controls several vast business empires. The unlawful activities — piracy, profiteering, money laundering and black-market trading — had been tolerated from the mid-1980s, when the PLA was allowed to go into business to make up for revenue shortfalls and improve the living standards of the army. But alarm bells started ringing by early 1990s when the cost of economic crimes began to overtake the benefits of commercial activities. Corruption continued despite a rectification campaign in 1993 that resulted in the closure of some 40 per cent of the PLA’s commercial ventures. The campaign also led to a ban on combat units’ involvement in businesses other than subsistence farming and transfer of those units’ firms to higher military authorities, in what experts now admit, was a recipe for further corruption. Illegal activities aside, PLA firms were allowed to be involved in almost every lucrative sector of the economy — from transportation to mining to real estate. Military control of key radio frequencies made it a big player in telecommunications, too. The instances of criminal involvement of some top army brass highlighted the deep-rooted malaise. He Ping and Wang Xiaochao were two prominent figures who held high-ranking positions in a conspicuous arms manufacturing corporation called Poly Technologies. He Ping is the son-in-law of Deng Xiaoping and began working for Poly when Deng was the chairman of the Central Military Commission. Wang Xiaochao is the son-in-law of Yang Shangkun, a retired general who was once the military’s most powerful figure in the Communist Party politburo. Because Poly was a prominent arms exporter, its profit motive could be in direct conflict with China’s security interests and international position. Poly marketed conventional weapons to so called “rogue” states in West Asia that may some day pose as much of a terrorist threat to China (a country with a large, restive Muslim minority and an insatiable demand for energy) as to Western nations. Poly was also implicated in the recent illegal export to the USA of 2,000 AK-47 assault rifles. If US customs officials are correct, Poly’s leading families committed a diplomatic faux pas against a nation that Chinese commanders regarded as their greatest long-term adversary. In January 1997, Zhou Keyu, a former commissar of the PLA Logistics Department, became the first Chinese general in years to be detained in a criminal investigation. He was allegedly involved in a business that smuggled cars from Europe, Japan, and South Korea into China using public funds. Other corrupt practices by this general, including enormous entertainment and travel bills, are said to have cost the military a few hundred million yuan. According to The Straits
Times (Singapore), Zhang Wannian (a vice-chairman of the
Central Military Commission) knew about Zhou’s
corrupt dealings, but did nothing to stop him. In another case, a jewellery shop jointly run by the headquarters of the general staff and officials in the city of Tianjin was implicated in a scandal involving unspecified “illegal transactions” worth millions of yuan. The same investigation implicated the general staff in what appeared to have been a prostitution ring involving young women soldiers who, as part of their job, were asked to provide sexual favours to high-ranking officials. The army’s commercial activities developed into a large network. Some 400 PLA pharmaceutical firms produce 10 per cent of China’s drugs. The PLA business empire comprises about 15,000 companies, of which 90-95 per cent are small and 5-10 per cent large. Some 1,000 to 2,000 firms are in industrial manufacturing. They employ tens of thousands of civilians and account for as much as 90 per cent of the total revenue and profits of the PLA’s business activities. (Foreign Affairs — a US magazine). In January, the official China Daily said, “Exports from the military sector reached $ 7 billion in 1997”. Many ills of the military business empire are reflected in the Chinese economy: overstaffing, poor management, violation of minimum wage law and low profitability. Military monopolies have distorted markets in mining, transportation and other sectors. Jiang’s ban on PLA business is the military “parallel” of the overhaul of the civilian state sector the Communist Party unveiled last year. Jiang’s decree could lead to a wave of mergers and moves to consolidate big manufacturers. Small and medium-sized firms will become joint stock holding companies, it is predicted. As head of the Army, President Jiang supports the desire of the PLA’s top brass to professionalise and modernise China’s military. For some years, the army’s commercial activities have made a significant contribution to the defence budget. The conversion of old military factories into viable civilian industries has also been an official policy. The army also runs big agricultural operations, providing much of the food supplied to military bases. Such direct supply activities, as well as actual weapons and defence businesses, it is assumed, are not covered by the new edict. Getting the military out
of business may not be so easy. The army depends on its
enterprises for over a third of the money needed for
military operations. No indication is available of how
the businesses are to be closed and when. — IPA |
 |
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | | Chandigarh | Business | Stocks | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
