Week of March 28, 2003
Week
of March 28, 2003
The U.S. and China This Week
INTERNATIONAL: Beijing Plans to Send Aid for Iraqi Refugees
The People's Republic of China plans to send humanitarian supplies
to Amman in expectation of the flood of refugees soon to be streaming across
the border with Iraq. According to the Chinese press, aid will be flown into
the Jordanian capital shortly. Jordan, which is already home to 400, 000 Iraqi
refugees, is expecting an exodus Iraqis numbering close to a quarter of a
million.
With the scale of U.S. and British intervention to oust Saddam
Hussein increasing daily, the number of refugees fleeing the country has been
steadily increasing. Iran and Syria, countries which both border Iraq, have
already received thousands. According to some reports, however, Jordan has
seen only small amounts of refugees as U.S. airpower has made the trip to
the border difficult.
China, which has consistently backed a diplomatic solution to
the conflict, remains opposed to the war.
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INTERNATIONAL: SARS Grows to Epidemic Proportions
The Chinese government's recent release of information
regarding the number of people who have contracted the severe acute
respirtory syndrome (SARS) that has been rapidly spreading throughout
the world has significantly increased previous estimates of infection.
SARS, the mysterious flu-like sickness that has spread
rapidly first throughout Southeast and East Asia and now North America,
has reportedly killed at least fifty people worldwide. The disease,
which is suspected to have originated in Guangdong, a province in southern
China adjacent to Hong Kong, has quickly spread infecting over 1,200
people throughout the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has
issued a global warning for the disease, calling it a "worldwide
health threat" and has attempted to work with the Chinese government
to investigate the origins of the disease.
Taiwanese health authorities have cautioned residents against
travel to both Hong Kong and mainland China because of worries regarding
the disease, which has already made its way to Taiwan.
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The U.S. and China This Week
uscpf@uscpf.org
Last updated: 17 January 2001
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