The Cargo Letter

header2b.jpg (5742 bytes)

THE CARGO LETTER [333]
Air & Ocean Freight Forwarder - Customs Broker News
30 October 1998


Good Friday Morning from our Observation Deck...... overlooking the officially designated "Cargo City" area and....... Runway 25-Right, at Los Angeles International Airport, voted ``Best Cargo Airport in North America''.

Happy 50th Birthday John F. Kennedy Int'l Airport! There's BIG NEWS for our industry in The Cargo Letter with passage of U.S. Ocean Shipping Reform, U.S. ratification of Montreal Protocol 4, and the FIATA 1998 World Congress. We've brought it all to you this month, and more!

Looking for a job with U,S. Customs? ....... see our story "Customs Top Cops" !

Contribute your knowledge, stories & company information ........ by e- mail to The Cargo Letter. We strive to bring you useful information which is timely & topical. Be sure to visit our web site .......... https://cargolaw.com.

To post comments or discuss articles, go to ....... http://www.interpool.com/tcl/disc1_frm.htm.

Michael S. McDaniel, Editor & Publisher, Countryman & McDaniel, forwarder/broker attorneys at LAX.

INDEX to The Cargo Letter:

OUR Top Story
   1. U.S. Ocean Shipping Reform Act Of 1998
      * To Become Law May 1999
   2. U.S. Senate Passes Montreal Protocol 4
      * Int'l Air Cargo Law Takes A Leap
   3. FIATA 1998 World Congress Takes Sydney
      * Focus On The Future
OUR "A" Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News
   4. Freight Forwarder Trade Briefs
   5. The Cargo Letter Financial Page
OUR "B" Section: FF World Air News
   6. Freight Forwarder World Air Briefs
OUR "C" Section:  FF World Ocean News
   7. FF World Ocean Briefs
   8. The Cargo Letter Cargo Damage Dispatches
OUR "D" Section: FF in Cyberspace
   9. The Cargo Letter "Cyber Ports Of Call"
      * Featuring: The Cargo Letter Software Center
OUR "E" Section: The Forwarder/Broker World
  10. New U.S. Transport Related Legal Cases
  11. Creating Universal AWBs On The Personal PC
OUR "F" Section: Editorials From Our Warren Levine
  12. Violence Spreads In Indonesia
      * Teenaged Rape Counselor Murdered;
         Witch Hunts Prompt Cries For Intervention
  13. China, Taiwan On Speaking Terms; 
       Historically Rocky Road May Be Smoothing
  14. New Cargo Airport For Southern California?
      * Doings In The Mojave Desert

OUR Top Stories


1. U.S. Ocean Shipping Reform Act Of 1998

-- by Cameron W. Roberts for The Cargo Letter

LAX - 28 Oct. - President Clinton has signed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act 1998 (OSRA) into law. In anticipation of the signing, The Journal of Commerce sponsored a symposium entitled "NVOCC's: The Next Wave" at the New York's World Trade Center this month to discuss the key provisions of OSRA with an eye toward industry change. Among the speakers was Michael S. McDaniel, Esq. of The Cargo Letter.

Much remains familiar about the new law, but experts expect certain provisions to alter the industry & regulatory landscape. The new law will take effect in May 1999, after the Federal Maritime Commission issues regulations for implementation.

Key provisions of the OSRA are as follows:

1.] Confidential service contracts. Vessel Operating Carriers (VOC), not NVOCC’s will now be able to keep key parts of the contracts confidential, such as rates, service commitments, intermodal origin and damages for non- performance. Service contracts may only be between shippers and VOC’s or shippers associations and VOC’s. NVOCC’s may not enter into service agreements with shippers.

Winners: VOC’s gain a competitive advantage while retaining anti-trust exemption. Shippers Associations will gain importance as shippers and NVOCC band together in an attempt to keep the contracts secret.

Losers: Small shippers & NVOCC’s will not be able to request a "me to" approach to pricing, etc. may effectively end common carriage as private contracts dominate the industry. Conferences may become less importance as members look to confidential contracts that deviate from conference interests.

2.] Tariffs will no longer be filed with the FMC.

Winners: VOC’s & NVOCC’s will reduce costs of filing.
Losers: Small shippers will have a harder time determining rates.

3.] NVOCC’s & Forwarders will be known as "Ocean Intermediaries". NVOCC’s will now be required to be licensed by the FMC, Forwarders will continue to be licensed. The bonding requirement will continue as will carrier compensation for Forwarder bookings.

4.] Conferences will not be allowed to interfere with VOC negotiation of service contracts and can not require VOC’s to disclose terms of service agreements.

5.] VOC’s may collectively negotiate rates with inland carriers, subject to antitrust regulation and oversight.

6.] Assembled motor vehicles will be exempted from filing requirements for tariffs and service agreements. FMC will expand authority of tariff exemptions of other commodities.

For the time being, the big winners may be the VOC’s, large shippers &organized maritime labor. However, NVOCC’s have already announced plans to request the FMC under its expanded authority to allow NVOCC’s to enter into confidential service contracts. Only time will tell how if the playing field is level.

Read the entire act at The Cargo Letter's "Law Navigator" feature: https://cargolaw.com/navigator.html

2. U.S. Senate Passes Montreal Protocol 4

-- By Michael S. McDaniel for The Cargo Letter

LAX - 29 Oct. - After 23 of occasional discussion and debate, on 28 September the U.S. Senate finally ratified Montreal Protocol 4 to the Warsaw Convention (Congressional Record pages S11059). This amendment to the original 1929 Warsaw Convention has been pending since 1975. Despite the dramatic effect this act will have on the law of Int'l air cargo law, so little has been said about passage of Montreal Protocol 4 that most in our industry are unaware and literally nothing has been available in the trade press, although posted to The Cargo Letter web site days ago. Many will report the story, but we were 1st with this important information to the industry. Next Month The Cargo Letter will provide you with full details and practical tips for dealing with the new changes.

We are proud to bring you the official IATA Press Release, just issued:

"Pierre Jeanniot, Director General of IATA said that the IATA airlines are "delighted" by the news of the U.S. Senate's ratification of Montreal Protocol No. 4 on 28 September.

"This protocol updates the Warsaw Convention by allowing airlines registered in signatory states to replace paper air waybills with electronic records for air cargo - thus improving customer service, saving time &reducing costs by up to US$7 per shipment. Open for signature since 1975, the protocol came into force only on 14 June this year, when the necessary 30 states had signed it.

"The United States now joins the growing list of countries that have signed onto this updating of the Warsaw Convention. We expect the U.S. ratification will trigger other signatures. IATA welcomes the U.S. as a major partner in demonstrating the cost savings to be achieved by the air freight industry using the electronic tools now permitted," said Jeanniot.

"At IATA's Annual General Meeting in June 1998 Fred Smith, Chairman of IATA's Board of Governors and FEDEX President, urged the U.S. to ratify the protocol as soon as possible - so it is with great delight that we welcome the news of the vote by the US Senate. "

Under the terms of the official resolution, Montreal Protocol 4 becomes effective to/from the United States 90 days following the U.S. deposit of its instrument of ratification at the Foreign Ministry in Warsaw, Poland - a step which normally takes 5-10 days.

Jeanniot urged those states that haven't yet ratified "to reconsider the importance of Montreal Protocol 4 to the development of their air freight industries - allowing them to enter the 21st century using electronic records instead of paper and gaining tremendous time and resource savings." from .... Bernard Dubroca, Director, IATA Distribution Services - Cargo

NOTE: Montreal Protocol 4 and its effect on our airfreight industry will be a major topic of the "Air Cargo Internet Symposium 3", an electronic commerce and air logistics event sponsored by IATA and The Journal of Commerce at New Orleans from 17 through 19 January 1999. The Cargo Letter will be participating in this major industry event. For full details visit our "Air Cargo Central" web page at https://cargolaw.com/d2.airports.html.

Read the entire Montreal Protocol 4 at The Cargo Letter's "Law Navigator" feature: https://cargolaw.com/navigator.html.

3. FIATA 1998 World Congress Takes Sydney

-- by Michael S. McDaniel, Esq. for The Cargo Letter

LAX - 29 Oct. -- Some 1,000 freight forwarders from 94 countries gathered for opening ceremonies of the 1998 FIATA World Congress at Sydney Australia on 19 September, with keynote remarks by Australia's Deputy Prime Minister. Staged at historic and dramatic Darling Harbour, hosting this year's world global event was the Australian Federation of International Forwarders, and its hosting officers Barry Vining and Geoff Rout.

A wide variety of working sessions for the four day conference were conducted under the theme "The Forwarder - Logistics Solutions Through Technologies". True to its theme, Australia had just adopted Montreal Protocol 4 to the Warsaw Convention which represents the next great leap forward in legal allowance of new air forwarder technologies. The exhibit hall in the Australian National Convention Center showcased an impressive grouping of technology, software & services from around the world. Indeed, over 100 custodial carriers, vendors, national agencies & service providers from around the world had gathered to address our industry, which is embodied in FIATA [The International Federation of Forwarding Associations].

Hailed by some as "the biggest change since containerization", star of the show was "Project Bolero", a developing program which is seen to allow the secure transmission of electronic bills of lading, letters of credit & other freight documents. A more controversial topic of continuing interest at the FIATA Congress was the U.S. Carriage of Goods By Sea Act of 1998 (COGSA 1998) which remains pending before the U.S. Congress. Intercargo Insurance Company's revolutionary "Project Intercept" program of loss prevention and world wide cargo recovery, presented by industry expert Alan Spear, was so well received that it will likely come center stage at the FIATA 1999 World Congress at Dubai next October. Noted transportation attorney Peter Jones, Esq. of Toronto, Canada was elected to the post of Chairman, FIATA Advisory Board Legal Matters.

Delegates to FIATA were treated to a galaxy of speakers, including George Hsu, president of Evergreen Marine, Australian Minister of Transport Mark Vaile, Robert Cooper for Project Bolero, Douglas Tweddle, Director of Compliance for the World Cargo Organization, the TT Club's David Martin Clark, and Michael S. McDaniel, speaking on the issue of COGSA 1998 as an educational program of Intercargo Insurance Company. In typical FIATA fashion, the presentations and workshops met the highest standards of our industry and were never dull. It was four days of hard work which will take our industry into the next century.

When night fell, however, the Australian Federation of Int'l Forwarders hosts made an art of entertaining visiting forwarders ....... to the max. FIATA Delegates enjoyed evenings under the Sydney stars, always ending with fireworks over Darling Harbour. An initial presentation of Australian cultural delights was exceeded the next evening by "Australia Night" as Delegates were ferried under Sydney Bridge to the national cruise ship terminal where actors in historic Australian costumes awaited. With Delegates and spouses numbering near 2,000, FIATA was transformed into the entire country of Australia, with historic convicts, British soldiers & settlers, wombats, Kangaroos and whip cracking sheep shearers present to represent each region and historic period of the country. We suspect you have not lately witnessed an "Out Back" cowboy riding his horse boldly through a fine buffet of shrimp on ice & caviar!!! Still, the best was yet to come as FIATA's Australian forwarder hosts converted an abandoned train locomotive barn into the most elegant "Italian Villa" looking site for a black tie event ever seen, as the "Gala Night" began. The special effects were superb as hundreds of ten light candelabras welcomed all of us to "THE MAIN EVENT" for our global industry in 1998. Thanks Barry & Geoff!

Join with the FIATA effort to conserve and promote our international forwarding industry for the 21st Century!! http://www.fiata.com/.


OUR "A" Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News


4. Freight Forwarder Trade Briefs

......In Remembrance for U.S. Border Patrol Agent Walter Scott Panchison, 53, whose Border Patrol plane crashed on 23 Oct. in remote terrain in northwestern Washington State. The agency's Cessna 182 was responding to motion sensors tripped in the Columbia Valley Canyon. The canyon, East of Bellingham, WA., is a known drug & alien smuggling area. The important work continues.

5. The Cargo Letter Financial Page

Report From The Hospital Ward ........... as Asian flu sufferers continue in bad shape, according to Barre International Ltd., and its forecasts for the future of region aviation based on a survey of more than 1,000 stock brokers.

ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS
   Net loss, fiscal 1998: $39 million.
   Forecast, fiscal 1999: $42 million loss.
CHINA AIRLINES (Taiwan)
   Net profit, fiscal 1997: $74 million.
   Forecast, fiscal 1998: $3 million profit.
JAPAN AIRLINES
   Net loss, fiscal 1998: minus $462 million.
   Forecast, fiscal 1999: $26 million.
KOREAN AIR
   Net loss, fiscal 1997: $753 million.
   Forecast, fiscal 1998: $139 million loss.
MALAYSIAN AIRLINES SYSTEM
   Net loss, fiscal 1998: $68 million.
   Forecast, fiscal 1999: $88 million loss.
QANTAS AIRWAYS (Australia)
   Net profit, fiscal 1997: $149 million.
   Forecast, fiscal 1998: $168 million profit.
SINGAPORE AIRLINES
   Net profit, fiscal 1998: $788 million.
   Forecast, fiscal 1999: $494 million profit.
THAI AIRWAYS INTERNATIONAL
   Net profit, fiscal 1997: $50 million.
   Forecast, fiscal 1998: $250 million loss.

OUR "B" Section: FF World Air News


6. Freight Forwarder World Air Briefs


OUR "C" Section: FF World Ocean News


7. Freight Forwarder World Ocean Briefs

8. The Cargo Letter Cargo Damage Dispatches

As the world is now so taken by the movie "TITANIC", we seriously question what the response might be if the public came to know just how dangerous is the sea. Make certain your customers know the truth. Arrange quality marine cargo insurance for all shippers and let them see the following .........

Due to scheduling difficulties for our valued Correspondent Steve Schultz, this important feature of The Cargo Letter is on an hiatus. For those of our readers who look forward to this vital shipping information each month. We have just spoken to Mr. Schultz. He Promises a speedy return. McD

However, our usual warning for this feature will remain, because it is very dangerous out there ................

NOTE: The historic dangers of carriage by sea continue to be quite real. Shippers must be encouraged to purchase high quality marine cargo insurance from their freight forwarder or customs broker.


OUR "D" Section: FF in Cyberspace


9. The Cargo Letter "Cyber Ports Of Call"

Here are our suggested world wide web sites of the week for your business, your information and your amusement ..............

Damco Maritime's Tips For The Internet Surfer .............. as our friend Markus Wiedemeier has constructed a colorful new page which guides you to many high points of our industry on the web.
http://www.damcomar.com/the-net.htm

U.S. Customs Trilingual NAFTA Center Web Site
http://www.nafta-customs.org

TheTrip.com ....... now voted the BEST on-line travel service for business needs. THE one stop travel site. Along with other travel needs, you may access through:
https://cargolaw.com/d.traveler.html

Airline Safety
http://airlinesafety.com

World Trade Organization ........ read the newsletter.
http://www.wto.org

Fritz Companies ......... newly upgraded web site.
http://www.fritz.com

NWA.com ....... Northwest Air's newly upgraded web site.
http://www.nwa.com

Roadway Express ....... newly upgraded web site.
http://www.roadway.com

Yellow Freight System ....... newly upgraded web site.
http://www.yellowfreight.com

Eurotunnel ........... said to be on the financial mend.
http://www.eurotunnel.com

Transport Law of Venezuela ........ from the Sabatino Pizzolante Law Firm.
http://www.sabatinop.com

U.S. Rails To Trails Conservancy ............. this month celebrating the 1,000th abandoned rail route which has been converted to a hiking trail. Today, less than half of America's original rail system remains and 2,000 miles of tracks are abandoned every year. So, make "Rail-Trails" your next walk.
http://www.railtrails.org

AfriCargo Airlines ........ serving Accra, Gaborone and Entebbe.
http://www.transoceanic.net/

Freight Forwarder Directory
http://www.forwarders.com

ABF eCenter .......... a new suite of Internet- based tools tailored to services customers.
http://www.abfs.com

World Trade Zone ........ private fee service. Directory listings.
http://www.worldtradezone.com/

USA-FSU Trade ......... a mailing list on the subject of trade between the U.S., Russia and Former Soviet Union.
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/usa-fsu_trade

Buying Real Estate In Beijing?
http://www.glory-group.com/html/intr.html

News Trawler ........ search the primary sources.
http://www.newstrawler.com/nt/nt_home.html

The Cargo Letter Transport Software Center

PowerQuest's ............. "PowerPartners" program, designed to reach the needs of the VARs (Value Added Resellers) & system integrators. Voted "Best Vendor-Int'l at the recent VarVision event.
http://www.powerquest.com

ITM Corporation ........on-line logistics resource enables you to book shipments, create forms & track domestic or Int'l shipments over the Internet, 24 hours a day.
http://www.itmship.com/

InterConn Network ........ supply chain software.
http://www.interconn.com

Descartes Systems ...... supply chain software.
http://www.descartes.com

ExisTechnologies ........computerized systems for dangerous goods control. Brochure available.
http://www.existec.com

Int'l Software Marketing ........ new trade management WT/3 software provides extensive transaction processing capability and automation for companies involved in buying& selling goods into foreign markets. Ability to send, receive, and process international transactions automatically.
http://www.ismworld.com

Workwise Corp. ........ E-commerce software.
http://www.workwise.com


OUR "E" Section: The Forwarder/Broker World


10. New U.S. Transport Related Legal Cases

Wright v. Universal Maritime Service Corp. - U. S. Supreme Court

No. 97-889
STATUS: Pending

Court below: U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit At issue in this arbitration case is whether a person under a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) containing a mandatory arbitration clause may bring a court action under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) without first filing a grievance under the CBA.

Wright was a longshoreman in Charleston, SC and a member of a local union. The CBA contained an arbitration clause covering "all matters affecting wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment." In 1992, Wright was injured on the job, received a settlement of $250,000, and was certified "permanently and totally disabled." In 1994 Wright's physician informed him that his condition had improved and he was able to return to work. Respondent employers agreed not to employ Wright due to his permanent disability status, which prompted Wright to file an ADA claim in the district court. The court below held Wright was required to submit his claim to arbitration pursuant to the CBA before he could bring an action in court.

Brooker v. Durocher Dock & Dredge - U. S. Supreme Court

No. 98-18
Court below: 133 F.3d 1390 (11th Cir 01/26/98)
STATUS: Pending

At issue in this workers' compensation case is whether a seawall is a covered "situs" under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA), 33 USC ss 901 et seq. (1994) which caused injuries to an employee who fell off the old seawall during the course of his employment at Durocher Dock & Dredge. The court below held that the seawall was neither a "pier" or "other adjoining area customarily used by an employee in loading, unloading, repairing, dismantling, or building a vessel," such that Brooker's injury would be covered by the LHWCA.

United States v. Haggar Apparel Company - U.S. Supreme Court

No. 97-2044
Court below: 127 F.3d 1460 (Fed Cir 10/22/97)
STATUS: Pending

At issue in this tariff law case is whether the oven-baking process used to cure Haggar's post-cure fabric is an operation that is "incidental to assembly" under the tariff laws of the United States. The tariff provisions provide a partial duty allowance for certain U.S.-made components that are assembled outside the U.S. for return to the U.S. so long as the components are not advanced in value or improved in condition "except [by the actual assembly itself or] by operations [which are] incidental to the assembly process." (Item 807.00 Tariff Schedule of the United States). The court below held that Haggar's process was incidental to the assembly process. It held in addition that the statute did not prohibit advancement in value of Haggar's product when the operation is incidental to the assembly process. Haggar's duty allowance was therefore permitted. See our article "Customs Makes A Federal Case Of It" in OUR "A" Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News (part 1).

Cree v. Flores U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit

No. 97-35305
STATUS: Decided Oct. 8, 1998

Holding: District court's historical analysis of 1855 treaty contained no errors & evidence proved tribal members interest in travel, therefore, exempting them from licensing and permit fees for logging trucks.

Defendants appeal the district court's holding that the Treaty with the Yakamas exempts the Yakama Indian Nation from Washington truck license &overweight container/trailer permit fees. Plaintiffs originally brought suit after defendants, who are officers of the State of Washington, issued citations to tribal members who had refuse to pay the applicable fees on their logging trucks. In affirming the district court's decision, the court found that proper weight was given to the historical fact that travel was a significant interest of the Yakamas at the time of the treaty. The court did not find it erroneous to interpret the treaty as the Yakamas understood it at the time of its creation. Finally, the court affirmed the Yakamas assertion of their rights under the treaty as timely. AFFIRMED

Read the full opinion at: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=9th&navby=case&no=9735305  

11. Creating Universal AWBs On The Personal PC

-- by Michal Douglas for The Cargo Letter

There are several very good software packages that provide a multitude of forwarder services. But if generation of generic AWBs is your chief concern, the answer may be easier than you think.

Using any word processor, you can create an AWB in the form of a table. Write-protect all but the data fields as well as the file itself (this forces you to save the file with a new name each time).

Now you can bring up this 'master' file, tab through all the fields, print as many copies as necessary, and save each shipment by whatever name/number you choose.

Not perfect - but free!

Michal Douglas is the Moderator of the AIRCARGO Mailing List, a service to 3100 industry professionals, and president of IMAGINATION, INC., Internet Solutions for the Air Cargo Industry. http://www.imaginationinc.com


OUR "F" Section: Editorials From Our Warren Levine


12. Violence Spreads In Indonesia

-- by Warren S. Levine, for The Cargo Letter

SEATTLE, October 27 -- In the latest round of violence to hit Indonesia, an 18-year-old rape counselor was brutally murdered in her home near a military complex in the center of Jakarta on October 9th. The young woman was found dead of multiple stab wounds and a slashed neck by her father, reports said. The military, long accused of having too much power in this, the world's most populous Islamic country was said to be investigating this latest in a series of senseless killings. The victim of this latest civil unrest, which many say has been fueled by the military, was a Christian. The murdered young woman, Martadinata Haryono, a high school student, worked with her mother for Volunteers for Humanity, one of many groups trying to end the anti- Chinese violence which has pervaded Indonesia over the past eighteen months.

In other violence in this economically ravaged country, over 150 people, most of them Muslims, have been killed in what can only be described as Salem- style witch hunts.

In Serang, a small town west of Jakarta, a 55-year-old man was attacked outside of a mosque and accused of being a sorcerer. Before the crowd could put him in a pool of water to determine if he was indeed a black-magic practitioner, he was beaten with sticks and stoned to death by the mob.

The Indonesian Justice Minister, in apparent denial of the incidents, told The Jakarta Post that the killings "often claim innocent victims." However, he stopped short of outright condemnation of the murders -- indeed he almost seemed to justify the murders -- when he suggested that anyone who claims they can kill or hurt people with "black magic" should be punished. Most of the previous violence in Indonesia had been directed at ethnic Chinese, traditionally Buddhists or Christians. But now the violence seems to be aimed at Muslims, including a number of clerics who have been victimized as well.

Many groups have protested the involvement of Indonesia's military in the investigations, since the military has wielded almost absolute power for decades in that country's civil affairs. The U.S. Department of State has advisories out for Americans traveling to Indonesia. Any foreigners who plan to visit Indonesia should register their itineraries with their Embassies in Jakarta.

13. China, Taiwan On Speaking Terms;

-- by Warren S. Levine, for The Cargo Letter

SEATTLE, October 24 -- In a series of high-level talks over the past weeks, representatives of The People's Republic of China and Taiwan have made their most serious attempts ever to iron out the differences between the two governments.

A given in the equation is that there is only one China. Another given is that Taiwan will never, after experiencing a free market system and a representative democracy, agree to the communist way of government. The biggest variable is the way in which the two systems will interact once China and Taiwan have been unified.

After their first series of meetings in the beginning of October, Koo Chenfu, Taiwan's chief negotiator, called PRC President Jiang Zemin, "lao pengyou" -- "old friend" -- but he also held fast to Taiwan's hesitation to reunify with the mainland until the PRC becomes a democracy.

Oddly enough, the Central Committee of the Communist Party (CCCP) has operated quite like a democracy within itself, while ruling the populace of the PRC as a socialist system. The system which governs the masses has been referred to as "Market Leninism," a spoof on the traditional type of Marxist- Leninist system to which China has tried to hold fast.

However, the idea of China as a true democracy scares most Party elders who, over the past 50 years, have seen a Nationalist Revolution (which created the Republic of China on Taiwan), a Cultural Revolution, a terrorist government over which Mao Zedong presided, and an Information Revolution, brought on as a result of the Tiananmen Square events of 1989.

The Nationalists were banished, chased off the mainland, to Taiwan. The Cultural Revolution has long since been decried as a perversion of the system, a massive crime committed against the people by a corrupt and paranoid regime.

But the information revolution is in progress and cannot be stopped. The ever-growing popularity of the Internet has guaranteed that. No matter how many firewalls and roadblocks China attempts to throw in the faces of free information entering that country, the innumerable mirror sites and the sheer volume of communications entering China every second of every day, cannot be monitored.

And although no deal was struck in the latest round of talks, there was no anger demonstrated during the meetings, and to demonstrate the most positive aspects of Taiwan's democratic form of government, Koo invited Wang Daohan, an 84-year-old former mayor of Shanghai and mentor to the Chinese President, to visit Taiwan in December of this year, to observe the general election.

Mainland Chinese, of course, got the official version of the meetings from Xinhua, the government-controlled news agency of the PRC, and were seemingly happy to have the talks occur, but their cousins on Taiwan were more pessimistic about China's continued claims to Taiwan. On Taiwan, the people can receive CCTV from the Mainland, however, news from Taiwan is very strictly controlled within the PRC.

Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui was pleased with the dialogue, but held fast that Taiwan must be seen as an equal partner in talks with the Mainland. In contrast to the March 1996 war games which China staged during Taiwan's last presidential election, the attitude was much more peaceful. However, both sides agreed that there were still major differences to be resolved.

Lee has been president of Taiwan since 1988, and was reelected in Taiwan's first free general elections in March 1996. He has said that he will resign at the end of this term, in March of 2000. In between, however, there will be more talks, more warm exchanges, more hot disagreements and more cooling-off periods.

The most critical time coming up will be the first ten days of October 1999, when The People's Republic of China will celebrate their 50th anniversary on October 1 and The Republic of China will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the relocation of the Nationalist government on October 10.

If the rival governments can get through that time peacefully, then there may be hope for the eventual reunification of China under peaceful terms in our lifetime.

14. New Cargo Airport For Southern California?

28 Oct. -- Site plans have been unveiled for an international air cargo center and business hub at the former George Air Force Base by Stirling Corp., in a joint participation arrangement with the Southern California Int'l Airport Authority (SCIAA). The plan is for development of a "Southern California Int'l Airport" (SCIA), a 4,000-acre master-planned business &industrial airport complex located in the City of Victorville

Intended to serve as the second int'l gateway for Southern California, SCIA would support increasing Int'l air cargo operations, forecasted to grow from 2.65 to 8.9 million tons per year over the next 16 years (SCAG 1998 Regional Transportation Plan). Stirling's goal is to invest $418 million to develop SCIA into a worldwide distribution hub and successful business and industrial park, bringing 15,000 jobs to the Victor Valley, about 120 miles East of Los Angeles on the road to Las Vegas.

Currently, SCIA has two (10,047-foot and 9,136-foot) runways that benefit from 360 days of good flying weather and 2,000 acres of land designated for facilities development. It also features a full service fixed based operator (FBO) and flight facility that provides passenger, cargo and fueling services for general aviation and commercial transport aircraft, including 747-400 aircraft and over 125 acres of concrete aircraft parking apron on the flight line. At completion, SCIA has a projected capability to handle more than 4-million tons of air cargo per year, a major portion of the region's forecasted growth.

Located in the City of Victorville, approximately 10 minutes off Interstate 15 in the southeast corner of the Mojave Desert, SCIA is approximately 40 miles northeast of Los Angeles County & 40 minutes north of Ontario Airport (ONT). There are major trucking & rail routes through the Victor Valley, providing access to the major Southern California, U.S., and Mexico markets.

SCIA is seen attractive to business because of a number of pro-business development programs including the LAMBRA Business Enterprise Zone which provides a variety of special tax credits to businesses relocating to the former Air Force base, as well as a redevelopment project area providing assistance and incentives including site and infrastructure improvements. The project will also benefit from the development of an 1,800-acre Foreign Trade Zone at SCIA.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]