China helps Cuba get current on communications technology
By I. J. Toby Westerman. © 2000 WorldNetDaily.com. Sunday June 4 2000
With all the attention paid to the immigration tragicomedy involving Elian Gonzalez, little notice has gone to Cuba's move to modernize its telecommunications and computer capabilities -- or its attempt to develop an advanced electronics industry on the island nation with China's help.
Wu Jichuan, head of Beijing's Information Industry Ministry, led a delegation from China on a recent three-day visit to Cuba, according to Radio Habana Cuba, the official broadcasting service of the Cuban government.
Cuban President Fidel Castro congratulated the Chinese delegation for its efforts and for China's continued "solidarity" with Havana. According to Castro, relations between the two communist nations "have never been better."
"China will play a decisive role in the improvement of Cuban telecommunications," said Wu. Concluding the visit, the two nations signed a cooperation protocol in the areas of information and communications technology.
Wu has been successful in greatly expanding advanced communications technology within mainland China, as well as keeping that technology firmly in under governmental control -- especially the Internet.
The Chinese delegation's visit comes at a time when Cuba seeks to end the 40-year U.S. embargo against the island. There is increasing pressure from U.S. business and agricultural communities to begin brisk trade with Cuba and take advantage of a new and potentially highly profitable market.
A delegation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, led by Chamber of Commerce Vice President Craig Johnstone, arrived in Cuba the same day the Chinese delegation departed. Johnstone's visit successfully "refined" agreements previously concluded at last year's Chamber of Commerce visit to
the island.
"Now we're ready to move," Johnstone stated, adding that he received "excellent cooperation from the government of Cuba" and had "excellent meetings" with various Cuban officials. If he can obtain permission from the U.S. government, Johnstone says he is planning to
bring a delegation of Cuban business leaders to the U.S.
Cuba seeks to attract foreign investment and has patterned its own brand of economic reform based upon China's experience. In 1995, Castro visited China and stated that China's experiment with market reform was "an example" for the Cuban government.
While many hope Cuba will follow the Chinese model of market reforms -- with a "subversive exhibit" of "anti-socialist and pro-capitalist art" recently closed after Cuban authorities learned of it -- many are also concerned that Fidel's island nation will continue to follow
the Chinese model of political repression.
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