By Alessandro RAIMONDI
(THE GLOBE)
It�s of these days the war of words launched by leading figures of the People�s Republic of China, against Taiwan which considers itself the Republic of China, the other China.
The 2 Chinas � who�s more China than the other is still to be seen � are only a straits apart, yet the two countries � yes 2, not one like Beijing pretends to believe � are much more apart: politically and economically. In fact, Taipei (ROC) is represented by a president democratically elected by the people, Peking (PRC) is still represented by somebody who needs to be told what democracy means on the treshhold of the third millennium!
What Mao has accomplished with the �long march� has been, no question about, a failure: after the extensive trekking the People�s Republic of China has found itself short of breath, able to develop only a war economy, i.e. an economic system swallowing resources to expand the military apparatus, motivated perhaps, by her fear to be attacked by every neighbour, Soviets, Indians, Taiwanese and by distant countries such as the U. S. and, who knows, even the Republic of San Marino!
To revive her economy, or better to re-establish it, China had to open her doors once more to foreigners, their technological supremacy, their funds, their experience, their democratic system. In other words not only demonstrating that almost 40 years of Communist rule had brought no valuable advantage, but also almost self-proclaiming, by having done so, that the responsabilities of such a backwardness laid on her leaders.
The parallel comparison with the Republic of China has been marked by the latter�s success all the way. Not militarly, of course, even if Taiwan is certainly not an idly country as for military expenditures, but economically. True mainland China is almost a continent and as such the problems that the Communist government had to cope with � left to it by the previous regime � had immense dimensions, but the Taiwanese Province (at that time it was so), isolated and far away from the political center, just because of that had been completely neglected, almost a savage land. Well, already in the sixties Taiwan was a booming country, more so in the �70s and still continuing to grow. For sure she didn�t do all by herself, the U.S. poured dollars by the billions, but what the Taiwanese did and the Communist refused to do in the mainland, i.e., opening the country to a more democratic system and to the law of the market, has achieved the island an advancement decades before the People�s Republic of China, and by the latter still unmatched.
By closing herself the way that some leaders imposed to, so much so to force those who could afford it to flee their motherland, China has much delayed her progress, causing millions of Chinese to suffer unnecessary troubles.
Crazy adventures such as the backing of the northern side during the Korean War, afraid of a Western invasion (?), or China�s own invasion of peaceful Tibet (have monks ever been dangerous?�), or aiding the North Viet Namese during the Viet Nam War (to go at war against them only few years later�) have burned resources by billions of dollars. Money that might have had a more suitable allocation.
There are disquieting aspects in China�s guilty behaviour, at least to European eyes, over the last decades. Without going back to the Tien An Men events of 10 years ago � a wounderful opportunity that the sclerotic Chinese leadership has failed to grab to gain credit itself as the sponsor of the renewal movement of the country � one can speculate that the danger constituted by a non-democratic country of one billion inhabitants has delayed the democratic processes in nearby countries. Authoritative leadership, in fact, always ensure quicker decisions in times of needs and danger, though not always the most appropriate.
An armed China , moreover, compulsorily means armed neighbours: India, Pakistan, Viet-Nam, Afganistan and, of course, South Korea and Taiwan that have experienced on their own skins China�s threat.
An unsustainable situation that today�s China�s behaviour doesn�t relax. During the right Kosovo War � Europeans� opinion, of course � the Chinese leadership had nothing better to do than backing a criminal, so judged by a U.N. authority, the same that China claimed had solely the power to take action in the Balkans. Another flop of a little enlightened Chinese nomenklatura of Communist imprint. But of course, Red China was protecting her interests in Tibet where similar Milosevic�s decisions had been implemented decades in advance.
At this stage a little consideration ought to be made: having �unfriendly� neighbours all around, perhaps might mean that something is wrong with China. Or not?
These days� delirious declarations by some supposedly distinguished leaders are the cherry on the cake. Not only Red China�s leadership hasn�t learned much over the past decades in terms of democracy and human rights (Tien An Men and Hong Kong, where as soon as they stepped in the Chinese dismissed the democratically elected Civil Council, mean something on this regard), which is no news, of course, but it�s clear that the �real politik� concept is something that hardliners are not at ease with. 50 years is not only water running under bridges, in half a century two countries have developed, although differently, two different breeds of people have raised, two little histories developed, two situations emerged. That�s for real, Europeans do believe that if Taipei cannot claim to be the legitimate government of the whole of China � to this respect addressing itself as the Republic of China doesn�t help and, in all honesty, sounds a bit too much pompous � neigher Peking can consider Formosa a rebellious province. Better would be considering it a lost province. Forever.
Today�s China�s rancorous war drums sound a bit too folkloristic: credibility needs to be gained first. So keep cool, boy, keep cool�...
Chris Johnson
July 10
I was scheduled to leave Almaty on Lufthansa at 5:10 AM on Saturday, July 10, 1999. However, in the early morning hours of July 10th I learned a fire had engulfed the entire domestic terminal at the Almaty airport. The fire apparently started in the kitchen, but after burning most of the night it had gutted almost all of the domestic terminal.
I first heard of the fire when I was leaving my fiance (Dina Popkova) and checking out of the Hyatt at 2 AM. (The flight crew for Lufthansa stays at the Hyatt as well. So the front desk knew everything first hand. In hindsight, the Hyatt did a magnificent job of managing this crisis for me. Thanks : - ) I was told a fired had closed the airport to incomming and outgoing traffice - and the airport would not reopen until after 8 AM at the earliest. International flights were diverted to Tashkent and Astana because they couldn�t land at Almaty.
I thus eagerly returned to spend another 6 hours with my future wife. I ended up getting a wake up call at about 8 AM, when I was told my flight had a target checkin time of 9 AM and a target departure of 11 AM. Fortunately, the Lufthansa flight had arrived around 11 PM (before the fire) and thus was not diverted.
The chaos at the airport when I arrived at 9 AM was unreal. No cars, trucks, vans, or vehicles were allowed to enter the airport grounds. Thus, vehicles were unloading passengers along the road approaching the airport. These unlucky travelers were forced to carry their bags several hundred meters to the international terminal gate.
I still do not know what the status of the airport will be. This report is being written on my laptop above Russia enroute to Frankfurt (about 5 PM Saturday Almaty time). It will be emailed from Frankfurt during my layover. My flight ended up taking off about 12 noon - only about 7 hours late.
My understanding of Almaty International is that only about 15% of flights are international. The remaining 85% are domestic. The small international terminal (on the left as you approach the airport from the connecting road) was not damaged. This international terminal is only about 10% the size of the very large domestic terminal. But, the international terminal in my estimation serves 3 or 4 times the number of passengers it was designed to handle. (Which those of us who had the unpleasant experience of arriving or departing from Almaty know all too well.)
Thus, it is likley a new terminal, or at least a temporary terminal, will need to be built quickly. And international travel via Almaty will likely get worse before it gets better.
One last thought . . . this is the first fire I have seen in Central Asia. I thought cement buildings didn�t burn - or at least almost never burned. Moreover, there were thunderstorms overnight so nature should have helped to fight the fire. Just made me wonder, thats all. I wondered because I know Kazakstan, like Kyrgyzstan, is strapped for cash. Maybe they have insurance - I hope so!!! Because, I don�t believe Kazakstan has the funds or resources to rebuild or repair its airport. Thus, it is possible that international aid organizations that will end up footing the bill. . . . . . . At the very least, these internaitonal aid organizations should strongly suggest, recommend, whatever that there exist proper arrival & departure procedures and courtesy for international travelers. I am continually dismayed that I travel half the globe - over 20 hours - and arrive at Almaty only to find an hour or two wait to get processed through immigration and customs (with a 25% chance of being hit up for a �payment� for some violation that some official has invented). Central Asia needs to and wants to open up to international investment and welcome tourism. It makes little sense that traveling through Almaty is such an unpleasant experience.
So, how did I fare this latest Central Asian ordeal? Like a seasoned traveler. I instructed the Hyatt Van driver to take me to �Uzshnee VEEP Diplomatch-key.� For those of you who don�t speak Russian, that means the South Diplomatic VIP. This is a new lounge on the RIGHT side of the Domestic Terminal and appartently was just build several months ago. I was one of about 25 passengers there who were waiting to fly out on Lufthansa, British Air, and Turkish Air. I had the pleasure of sitting next to the German Ambassador to Kazakstan who seemed to take all this in stride as well!
FYI, there is another VIP lounge between the International terminal and Domestic Terminal, but no vehicles were allowed in that area. But, for the princely sum of $50 I was afforded the opportunity to bypass the cofusion of the chaos created by the fire. After a 90 minute or so wait, I boarded a bus that took me to the Lufthansa flight.
In hindsight, that was the best $50 I ever spent. I just wonder what my awaits me upon my next arrival to Almaty!
Erkanat ABENI
ALMATY, July 13 (THE GLOBE)
�The burnt airport cannot be reconstructed. The only way-out is to dismantle the building and to erect the new one in the same place,� the Vice-President of the JSC �Airport� announced in Almaty on July 13.
Igor Grachyov stated that according to the preliminary calculations, the damage from the fire was more than US$ 2 million. Almost all the equipments were saved from the fire, but most part of it suffered from water.
According to Mr. Grachyov, the airport was insured in accordance with the law on transport, but due to unknown reasons the building was not insured.
�Big areas in the airport building are leased by private organisations. Cafes, hairdressing salon, subsidiary of the People�s Bank, trade booths, etc. were located in the building. It was difficult due to this, to take anti-fire measures,� Mr. Grachyov emphasised and added: �In the new building there will be no private companies.�
Mr. Grachyov stated that the heads of the airport had tried to regulate the number of private organisations, but failed. �For example, an owner of the restaurant where, by the way, the fire began, Mr. Yevgrafov twice applied to the court and won the cases,� the Vice-President of the JSC �Airport� remarked.
�At present Yevgrafov blames us for the arson, and is going to lay a case to the court against us,� Mr. Grachyov said.
According to the Vice-President, at present the airport is working, flights are made through the Southern hall, which was not damaged. The flights were recommenced from 8 a.m. on the day of the fire.
�It was found out that the fire arose in the southern part of the building and spread all over the building at the rate of 10 metres/second, which was promoted by a strong wind,� the chief of the Extraordinary Situations Department of RK announced.
Serik Apparbekov said that 43 fire-engines from almost all fire departments of the city took part in the liquidation of the fire, but is was practically impossible to stop the fire. Firemen could only temporarily stop the fire and their main efforts were directed to evacuate people, property, technique and weapons.
According to Mr. Apparbekov, in the beginning the personnel of the airport tried to stop the fire with their own forces. According to the preliminary calculations, the fire began 30 to 40 minutes before the fire brigade was called. Firemen came in 6 minutes from the moment of the call. Mr. Apparbekov paid attention to the fact that the last check of this object was executed on February 7, 1997, after which the fire inspection recommended the heads of the airport to take 26 protection measures. The spokesmen emphasised that the state commission would put the main point in this case.
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