1)Corruption by local officials in the People's Republic of China; 2)Treatment of capitalists in the wake of recent unrest; 3)Penalties for illegal exit from the PRC; 4)Information on the recent demonstrations in Canton [CHN1816]

1) For information on corruption among local officials in the People's Republic of China, please see the following attachments:

James L. Tyson, "Beijing's Anti-Corruption Drive", The Christian Science Monitor, 31 July 1989

"China finds 11 000 cases of official wrongdoing", The Globe and Mail, 19 January 1989.

"Corrupt officials exposed in China", The Globe and Mail, 15 August 1988.

Chu-yuan Cheng, "China's Economy: New Strategies and Dilemmas", Current History, September 1988, p. 304.

Edward A Gargan, "As China's Economy Grows, So Grows Official Corruption", The New York Times, 10 July 1988.

Louise doRosario, "The Private Dilemma", Far Eastern Economic Review, 20 November 1986.

"China in revolt: the significance of economic corruption", The Economist, 27 May 1989.

Dorothy J. Solinger, "China's Economy: Reform and State Control", Current History, September 1986.

Ellen Salem, "Closing the back door", Far Eastern Economic Review, 17 November 1988.

Louise doRosario, "A hunt for economic steroids", Far Eastern Economic Review, 20 October 1988.

2) For information on the current Party perspective on capitalists, please see the following attachments:

Patrick Sabatier, "Le Retour de la Peur Dans la Chine Normalisée", Libération, 3 aout 1989.

Anne Scott Tyson, "China Moves to Cure Economic Ills, Reverses Market-Oriented Reforms", The Christian Science Monitor, 3 August 1989.

3) In a letter to Sharon Rusu, Chief of Research, IRBDC Ottawa, the Refugee Coordinator of Amnesty International in Canada, Fay Sims, provided details on the application of Chinese regulations regarding exit and return to the People's Republic of China. This information is based on research carried out by the China research team of Amnesty International's International Secretariat in London. The researchers noted that the treatment meted out to people returned to China after an unsuccessful attempt to claim asylum abroad depends on their personal background, police record, and their connections and the circumstances in which they left the country and claimed asylum abroad. For further details, please see the attached copy of the letter from Ms. Sims, to the Chief of Research, IRBDC. In addition, an English-language copy of article 176, which is mentioned in the Amnesty International letter, is attached.

4) Despite Western press interest in the recent events in China, the Southern city of Canton has been largely ignored. As the attached press clippings indicate, this may be due to the fact that the demonstrations and aftermath in that city were of a much lesser magnitude than in Beijing. This, in turn, has been attributed to the relative prosperity of the Guangdong region and the fact that Cantonese have access to Hong Kong television and thus are well aware of the violent government crackdown which the demonstrations in Beijing provoked (The Times 14 June 1989). For details of the demonstrations in Canton, please see the attached articles from the IRBDC'S on-line data-base.

With regard to government reprisals against the students, according to The Times, troops were brought into Canton but remained out of sight. When news of the events in Beijing reached the demonstrators in Canton, they reportedly blocked the Haizhu Bridge for two days but dispersed without major incident after stern warnings from the regional (Guangdong) government. A report in The Globe and Mail, dated 06 June 1989, notes that besides blocking the five main bridges in Canton, the demonstrations had brought the city to a standstill with people refusing to work or attend classes. The article from The Times further claims that about a dozen people were known to have been detained, mostly unemployed labourers from the rural areas. A shortwave broadcast by a Hong Kong source, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), reported on 14 June 1989 that a "combing out" movement is underway in Canton. "Combing out" is a Communist Party order for all personnel in Party, government and army organs, as well as in certain enterprises, to state whether they had participated in or expressed support for the demonstrations. For further details, please consult the attached documentation.