6A
Wednesday, July 2, 1997
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Celebration finished, communism arrives
Handover swaps flags, stamps uniforms, ideas
The Associated Press
HONG KONG — It was the last thing expected from a Chinese soldier: an outfit and demeanor that made him seem more like a hotel concierge than a professional warrior.
Britain had just handed over Hong Kong to China early yesterday, and the first Chinese soldiers were arriving at their new home, the Prince of Wales military headquarters.
There they met 50 rain-soaked foreign journalists who had staked out the barracks to cover the soldier's every move.
"Thank you everyone for your attention," the white-gloved soldier said, speaking in Mandarin, China's official language.
"Thank you. Please leave now," he said, waving his arms gently and trying vainly to usher the reporters out.
This clearly was a unit of the People's Liberation Army that China had trained to deal with people accustomed to more freedoms than Chinese enjoy.
Eventually, eight more soldiers arrived to help their comrade fend off the media. They, too, remained polite until the reporters left on their own.
Across Hong Kong, the enormity of the change wrought by the handover at midnight Monday could be seen.
At a post office, people waited to buy stamps bearing the territory's new name, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Queen Elizabeth II's profile was missing.
At Government House, the official residence of Hong Kong's 28 British governors, the royal insignia on the gates had been taken down. The red flag of Hong Kong, with its five-petal design, hung from the flagpole.
badges, which replace the colonial insignia with the five-petal design set against a Hong Kong skyline.
Police guarding the governor's mansion sported their new cap
But street and place names with royal roots — Queen's Road, Albert Road — were unchanged and probably will stay that way. Authorities have said changing them would only make life worse on Hong Kong's crowded roads.
The changeover also was evident as the festivities continued.
The celebrations leading up to the British withdrawal featured bagpipers dressed in tartans, the royal family, and old British melodies such as "Auld Lang Syne."
But that had changed by last night, when a foundation set up by Hong Kong businesses financed an elaborate parade of floats across Victoria Harbor.
Tens of thousands of people lined the waterfront, up to 60 deep in some places, to watch the floats pass. Each contained gigantic electrified images of Chinese good luck and prosperity, such as dragons, bats and leaping carp.
Yeltsin's foes criticize daughter's official role
The Associated Press
MOSCOW — The speaker of Russia's lower parliament house said yesterday that President Boris Yeltsin broke the law when he appointed his younger daughter as his image adviser.
Gennady Seleznyov, a member of the opposition Communist Party, said the appointment of Tatyana Dyachenko, 37, was
Borls Yeltsin
got under the civil service law, the Interfax news agency reported. The law bans close relatives of government workers from official posts.
The president's press service denied that Yeltsin broke the law.
"Under the law, the Russian president is not a civil servant and the limits on employment of close relatives do not concern him," the service said in a statement.
Seleznyov did not say whether the State Duma would respond to Yeltsin's move, but action appeared unlikely because parliament has no control for government appointments.
Yeltsin's foes have targeted Dyachenko, a computer engineer by training, for manipulating her
father and for controlling access to him.
Her appointment, announced Monday, had been expected since early 1996 when she emerged as a key player in Yeltsin's re-election bid. She has been credited with transforming the president's sluggish campaign into a powerful platform that played on fears of communism.
Most Russian media supported Yeltsin in his re-election campaign a factor credited to Dyachenko and the media were sympathetic to her appointment.
"That was a reasonable idea to make her role as an adviser official," Komsomolskaya Pravda said in a front-page commentary.
Critics worry that Dyachenko's expanded clout might create a dangerous precedent.
In Soviet times it was not unusual for government officials to advance family members. Yeltsin also has appointed his elder daughter's husband to lead Aeroft, the state-run airline.
Dyachenko said that the appointment clarified her position. In an interview with Kommersant, she said her responsibilities would remain the same.
She also said reports had exaggerated her influence on her father. "I'm a convenient person to tell him unpleasant things," Dyachenko said. "It's easier for him to hear them from me."
British beef back on menu at Burger King
The Associated Press
NEWS IN BRIEF
LONDON — With Britain's meat eaters less worried about mad cow disease, Burger King said yesterday that like rival McDonald's, it will begin using British beef in its restaurants in the next few weeks.
was linked to mad cow disease.
Both McDonald's and Burger King maintained British beef was safe, but they had to import other meat because too many customers would not eat it.
McDonald's said it would begin using British beef again because surveys showed 75 percent of its customers supported the move.
Burger King customers also want British beef back on the menu, representative Emma Sturt said.
Russian law to limit sales of hard liquor
The Associated Press
MOSCOW - Russians will have a harder time buying their national drink -vodka -after a presidential decree barring small retailers and street kiosks from selling it went into effect yesterday.
The decree is part of the government's campaign against Russia's thriving black market in vodka and other hard liquor. The move restricts sales of liquor with an
alcohol content of more than 12 percent to larger stores.
The government raised the price of vodka by 40 percent earlier this year, trying to force black market prices up as well. Officials hoped the price hike would encourage drinkers to choose legal liquor rather than moonshine.