Globalization a double-edged sword, says President Jiang

Globalization a double-edged sword, says President Jiang

HONG KONG (AP): Unfair international politics has made globalization both a blessing and a bane for Asia, Chinese President Jiang Zemin said on Tuesday in a speech to corporate leaders championing the trend toward a global economy.

In a keynote speech to the Fortune Global Forum, Jiang described globalization as a "double-edged sword" that, due to what he called an "unfair and unreasonable international and political order," had made developing countries more vulnerable to economic turmoil.

The increasingly global economy offers poor countries easier access to international capital, new markets and opportunities to acquire advanced technology, Jiang said.

At the same time, Jiang said the gap between rich and poor countries was widening and developing countries had become more prone to shocks such as the Asian financial crisis.

Jiang did not elaborate, but China often accuses the United States and other Western countries of economic and military imperialism. Those denunciations have intensified since the collision of a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea last month.

Still, Jiang noted no country can develop in isolation. He pledged China would continue to open its own economy, particularly its banking, insurance and telecoms industries, and reiterated Beijing's determination to join the World Trade Organization, which sets global trade rules.

He reassured executives gathered for the three-day conference that Beijing would "continue to improve its investment climate and attract more foreign capital."

From 2001 to 2005, China will import an estimated US$1.4 trillion of equipment, technologies and other products and its development will "present huge business opportunities," Jiang said.

Jiang gave a positive appraisal of Hong Kong and its political leader, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. Hong Kong's freedoms and its capitalist way of life have remained intact following the former British colony's return to Chinese rule in 1997, he said.

Shielded by intense police security from protests by pro- democracy activists and members of the Falun Gong meditation sect, which is outlawed on the Chinese mainland, Jiang praised Tung for his "wisdom" and attacked groups he accused of trying to "create tension."

Jiang did not specifically mention Falun Gong, which remains legal here and, under tight police control, is demonstrating against Beijing's suppression.

Jiang said Beijing would avoid interference in Hong Kong's internal affairs.

With its "relatively sound banking regime, market mechanisms and legal system" Hong Kong would remain a bridge between mainland China and the rest of the world, he said.