VOASE0528_Agriculture Report

28 May 2007

United States Urges Chinese To Accept New Rules for Food Safety
American and Chinese officials deal with food safety issue at trade talks.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

The United States has urged China to accept new safety rules for its food and drug exports. American officials said the rules would include a new list of Chinese exporters.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt made the statements. They spoke the day after high-level trade talks between the two nations.

Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi, left, with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson at US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue in Washington, 22 May 2007

The Americans met last week in Washington with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi.

The United States Food and Drug Administration said inspectors rejected more than one hundred shipments of food imports from China during April alone. The inspectors rejected them for being unclean or containing harmful substances.

China has a lot to lose if people fear its food and drugs. The nation earns an estimated thirty billion dollars yearly in food and drug exports. Companies in the United States would also suffer. For example, American companies depend on China for large amounts of apple juice.
Last week, United States health inspectors began examining toothpaste from China. The government acted after tubes of the teeth-cleaning substance were sent to Panama and the Dominican Republic. The toothpaste was found to contain diethylene glycol, a deadly chemical. But no deaths linked to the toothpaste have been reported.

In recent months, wheat flour produced in China for use in pet food sickened or killed many dogs and cats in the United States and Canada.

Critics of Chinese imports suspect that Chinese companies placed the industrial chemical melamine in the wheat flour to increase the amount of protein.

Worries increased when chicken, fish and pork in the United States were also found to contain melamine. The animals got the melamine in their feed. The chemical is used to make plastics and fertilizers. It is not meant for human food.

There also have been incidents of bad effects from foods made and used inside China. For example, a number of babies died because of falsely marked baby milk. Earlier this month, China announced new measures to make food companies improve conditions.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jeri Watson. You can read scripts and download audio from our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0527_Development Report

27 May 2007

Are the World’s Institution Lenders Ready to Reform?
Both the African and Asian Development Banks discussed reforms at their yearly meetings this month. But, one expert believes the two lenders must reform differently because they serve completely separate parts of the world.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

May 17, 2007: Delegates at the yearly meeting of the African Development Bank in Shanghai, China.

The African Development Bank held its yearly meeting in Shanghai, China earlier this month. The bank’s chief economist announced the economic growth rate in Africa is expected to reach six percent this year. This is the highest in twenty years. Foreign demand for natural resources, especially oil, has helped create the growth.

Dennis de Tray is vice president of the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C. He says that six percent economic growth in Africa is good. But he says long-term development on the continent will be a problem for generations.

Mister de Tray led a working group last year that provided independent advice to the bank’s shareholders and its president, Donald Kaberuka. The Rwandan economist took over leadership of the African bank in two thousand five. Ten years earlier, the economic security of the African Development Bank had been in question. It was almost out of money.

Mister de Tray says needed reforms at the African bank are different from reforms announced at a meeting of the Asian Development Bank. That bank met earlier this month in Kyoto, Japan. Mister de Tray believes the Asian Development Bank is facing an identity crisis. The countries receiving the most money are becoming established nations with rich resources. As a result, loans from the Asian Development Bank are unnecessary. Yet, Mister de Tray says there is a small group of countries in Asia still developing, including Laos and Cambodia. These countries will continue to need assistance from the Asian Development Bank.

He says the African Development Bank is in the middle of a continent that will need development aid for years to come. Some countries have gained success. But many others are still trying to create continued development that does not harm the environment. The African Development Bank is doing a better job serving its member countries, Mister De Tray says. But, he believes the bank still has a long way to go to reach a level of success.

Mister De Tray thinks that reforms needed within all of the world’s international banks are related. And, over the next year, he predicts a debate about how the system works.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. You can read and download audio of Special English programs at our web site, voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Shep O'Neal.

VOASE0527_This Is America

27 May 2007

Remembering Troops Who Died, and Worrying About Those About to Be Sent Into Harm's Way
In North Carolina, a wife and mother of soldiers thinks about her family, and Iraq: "I just got one man home safe and, now, here goes the other one."

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Memorial Day two thousand seven is our subject this week.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Personal sacrifice and service to a nation might seem like the last things Memorial Day is about.

For lucky workers, the holiday means the freedom of a three-day weekend, the traditional start of the summer travel season. For many businesses, the Memorial Day weekend means a time to lower prices to get more people to come in.

Cameron Dostie of Fort Campbell Kentucky places memorial stones on the grave of his father at Arlington National Cemetery. Sergeant First Class Shawn Dostie was killed in Iraq in 2005.

Yet, across America, Memorial Day still holds meaning as a day to remember the men and women who have died in military service.

This is the fifth Memorial Day since the start of the Iraq war. More than three thousand four hundred American troops have died in Iraq since March of two thousand three. About four hundred have died in Afghanistan since military operations began there in October of two thousand one.

VOICE TWO:

Cities and towns across the United States hold Memorial Day events. And while the holiday has a serious meaning, the observances often include family entertainment in addition to events like military parades.

In Fayetteville, North Carolina, the Glory Days celebration includes a bicycle race, an apple-pie eating competition and music. Fayetteville has a strong connection with the military. The city is neighbors with the Army base at Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base.

VOICE ONE:

Ann Zetterstrom is a retired Army captain. Her plans for Memorial Day include attending a ceremony at Freedom Memorial Park in Fayetteville. She says she has been very much looking forward to this holiday with her family.

Her husband, Erik, is a lieutenant colonel in the Army. This will be the first Memorial Day that he spends with their two-year-old daughter, Britta. He returned home in February after twenty-two months in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ann Zetterstrom says it is a great relief to have her husband home safely. She thinks it is easier to be the one deployed, even in harm's way, than to be the one waiting and worrying, she says. But she knew what she was signing up for when she married another soldier.

Being the mother of a soldier, however, is a different story. Her son, Brian, is a lieutenant in the Army. He is currently stationed in Germany. But he is preparing for deployment to Iraq in the fall.

His mom supported his interest in military service. But, she says, "I just got one man home safe and, now, here goes the other one."

(MUSIC)

A Navy officer visits a grave at Arlington National Cemetery. Flags are placed on the graves in honor of Memorial Day.

VOICE TWO:

On May twentieth, a ceremony called a "Time of Remembrance" took place on the grounds of the Washington Monument. The event brought together more than three thousand family members and friends of service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The children of those service members received a Gold Medal of Remembrance. The event also recognized families of those killed in military service throughout American history.

This was the second year that the ceremony has been held. It was established by the White House Commission on Remembrance.

VOICE ONE:

In the year two thousand Congress passed a law to establish a National Moment of Remembrance on Memorial Day. The law asks Americans wherever they are to stop for one minute at three o'clock in the afternoon in an act of national unity.

Yet Congress created some disunity when it moved Memorial Day to the last Monday in May to create a three-day weekend. That happened under a nineteen seventy-one law, the National Holiday Act. Some people support a campaign to return Memorial Day to its traditional day of observance -- May thirtieth.

Memorial Day began as a way to remember soldiers killed in the Civil War. On May thirtieth, eighteen sixty-eight, flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The war to prevent the Confederate states of the South from leaving the Union was fought from eighteen sixty-one to eighteen sixty-five.

VOICE TWO:

Arlington National Cemetery is a military burial ground but also a final resting place for people of national and historical importance. Each year more than four million people visit the cemetery. It is located in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington. Next to the cemetery is the Pentagon, the Defense Department headquarters.

Part of the tradition of an American military funeral is the playing of a bugle call known as taps. Taps is also played at Arlington and other burial grounds during ceremonies on Memorial Day.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Washington capital area has a number of military memorials.

At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, people look for the names of family members or friends. The memorial lists the names of more than fifty-eight thousand Americans who were killed or declared missing-in-action.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, known as the Wall, opened in nineteen eighty-two. Two black, shiny stone walls, each about seventy-six meters long, are set into the earth. They meet to form a wide V.

Many visitors leave flowers or personal remembrances. To copy a name, they rub a pencil on paper over the letters cut into the stone.

Nearby is a statue of three soldiers. They are looking toward the names. Another statue honors the service of women in the war.

The Vietnam War ended in nineteen seventy-five. Many soldiers coming home faced the anger of Americans who opposed the war. So a Vietnam veteran named Jan Scruggs organized an effort to remember those who never returned. The result is the Wall.

VOICE TWO:

Near the Vietnam memorial is the Korean War Veterans Memorial. It opened in nineteen ninety-five.

The Korean War lasted from nineteen fifty to nineteen fifty-three. The memorial honors those who died and those who survived. "Freedom Is Not Free" is the message cut into the wall above a Pool of Remembrance. There are listings of the numbers of American and United Nations forces killed, wounded, captured or missing, more than two million in all.

Boy Scout Ricky Bischoff places flags for Memorial Day at Long Island National Cemetery in New York

On one side of the Korean War Veterans Memorial is a stone walkway. It lists the names of the twenty-two countries that sent troops to Korea under United Nations command. On the other side is a shiny stone wall. Sandblasted into the wall are images from photographs of more than two thousand five hundred support troops.

There are statues of nineteen soldiers who look like they are moving across a battlefield. The statues are gray and lifelike, although a little bigger than life size. Artist Frank Gaylord made them out of stainless steel. They capture the eye and the imagination.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The newest of the major memorials in Washington is the National World War Two Memorial. It opened in two thousand four between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument on the National Mall.

The memorial is a large, open area built of bronze and granite. In the center, at ground level, is a round pool. Water shoots from a circle of fountains in the middle.

Around the pool are fifty-six stone pillars. They represent each of the American states and territories at the time of the war, plus the District of Columbia.

On two tall arches are the names of where the fighting took place. One says Atlantic; the other says Pacific. The United States entered the war after Japan bombed the naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December seventh, ninety forty-one.

Sixteen million men and women served in the American military between nineteen forty-one and nineteen forty-five. More than four hundred thousand of them never came home.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Caty Weaver and produced by Mario Ritter. Internet users can find archives of transcripts and audio files of our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. We hope you can join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

Bush Calls on Americans to Remember Members of the Armed Forces

By Marissa Melton Washington 26 May 2007

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President Bush, 24 May 2007

President Bush has called on Americans to rededicate themselves to the cause of freedom, as the nation remembers its war dead on this Memorial Day weekend. Marissa Melton reports from Washington.

In his weekly radio address, President Bush urged Americans to honor those who have given their lives in service to the nation as well as those who are defending freedom around the world today. He told the story of Sergeant David Christoff of Ohio, a U.S. Marine who enlisted immediately following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

"Asked why he made the decision to serve, David said: 'I don't want my brother and sister to live in fear,'" he said.

Mr. Bush said Christoff earned a medal for wounds suffered in street battles in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, and later requested a second tour in Iraq because he believed there was a job to finish there. Christoff died in Anbar province a year ago. But Mr. Bush said, even in death, Christoff found a way to express his concern and support for his fellow soldiers.

"When his family received his belongings, his mother and his father each found a letter from David. He asked that they pray for his fellow Marines and all those still serving overseas," he said.

A flag placed by a Boy Scout sits in front of a World War II soldier's head stone at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York, 26 May 2007

Mr. Bush said on Memorial Day, celebrated Monday, the nation will honor Christoff's request by praying for those serving overseas and their families and loved ones. He said Memorial Day is a time for Americans to rededicate themselves to freedom's cause. He said it is also a time to pay tribute to Americans from every generation who have given their lives for freedom.

In the Democrats' radio address, former Marine Elliott Anderson, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, said he was proud to serve his country but that he and some of his fellow service members oppose U.S. involvement in Iraq.

"I know I speak for many of my friends overseas when I say that the best way to honor the troops is to responsibly end our involvement in Iraq's civil war," he said.

President Bush is spending Memorial Day weekend at Camp David, the presidential mountain retreat near Washington. Before he left Friday, he presented five Purple Heart medals to wounded service members at the National Naval Medical Center. Monday, he returns to the nation's capital to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

Nigeria's Ogoni People Resist Oil Companies

By Nico Colombant Ogoniland, Nigeria 26 May 2007

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Market women share anti-oil company feelings

In Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta, one area, Ogoniland in Rivers State, resists oil production. Residents there say oil companies refuse to meet their demands to redistribute wealth and protect the environment. VOA's Nico Colombant reports.

Young men walking along roads in Ogoniland stare menacingly at those they consider outsiders, thinking they may be from oil companies.

Dutch-based oil conglomerate Shell stopped operations here in the mid 1990s, amid an international uproar over the execution of anti-oil Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa by the military government.

Godwin Dumnu, an unemployed father of three, is one of many in Ogoniland who say they will not give up fighting for fair treatment, whatever the consequences. "The Ogoni people demand their bill of rights. When Shell refuses to give us our rights then we will stop them from operating on Ogoni land. Unless they are agreeing to comply with us and do the Ogoni bill of rights, they should develop our youth, and our communities, our area," he said.

Ogoni people want no more drilling wanted here at this abandonned drilling area

Oil insiders say Shell is trying to resume production in Ogoniland. Nigerian authorities have warned the company they may revoke their prospecting license in the area due to inactivity.

Dumnu warns the government and Shell not to do anything without the permission of the Ogoni people. "If the federal government just signs a contract with Shell and they do not give us our rights, there will be trouble. Everybody, every youth, they will not be happy," he said.

Shell officials refused to comment, saying they did not have time to speak to reporters.

Youth activist Ledum shows latest oil spill

A youth leader, Atu Ledum, says the Ogoni have a tradition of non-violence, but that frustration is growing. He points to an area that recently went up in flames after a Shell pipeline burst. There is no production here, but pipelines taking oil from nearby areas still criss-cross Ogoni land. "There was a spillage recently here. There was no clean-up. Shell company just sent people to come and stop the spillage and the light (fire). There was light (fire) burning all over here," he said.

Ledum says when a Shell team came to do a clean up, angry youths nearly rioted. "When they saw the Shell people coming to stop the light (burning), they thought they were coming to drill oil again, which the Ogoni people do not want them to drill, not until they settle the problems at hand," he said.

There is commotion, but little business being done at this vegetable market in B. Dere, another main town of Ogoniland.

Here as elsewhere, Saro-Wiwa is remembered. Speaking in the Gokana language, a market woman says he was a good person, because he asked Shell to pay compensation for environmental degradation.

Making mats Ogoni style

In the town of Wiiyaakara, while she weaves some mats, Deekor Fepea explains in the Khana language, she would accept the return of oil companies if they guaranteed development. In this small area of about one million people, at least five languages are spoken. Fepea says Ogonis feel marginalized.

But an old fisherman, Friday Ototoh, a father of 18, says he was much happier before oil production started here in the late 1950s, causing pollution in waterways.

He says there was less jealousy and anger, and many more fish in the creeks.

VOASE0527_People In America

26 May 2007

Ella Fitzgerald, 1917-1996: She Was America's First Lady of Song
Critics said she raised the American popular song to the level of art.

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ANNOUNCER:

Now, the VOA Special English program, People in America. Today, Shirley Griffith and Steve Ember tell about the jazz singer, Ella Fitzgerald. She was known as America's first lady of song.

(MUSIC: "How High The Moon")

VOICE ONE:

Ella Fitzgerald

The year was nineteen thirty-three. The place was New York City. Ella Fitzgerald was sixteen years old. She had entered a competition at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. She was going to dance. But she had just watched two dancers perform. They were better dancers than she.

So, instead of dancing, she sang a song called "Judy. " People watching the competition urged her to sing another song. She did. She won first prize - twenty-five dollars.

That competition at the Apollo Theater changed Ella Fitzgerald's life forever. Band leader Chick Webb was watching the competition. He hired Ella to sing with his band. He taught her about singing in public. He even showed her what kind of clothes to wear. In three years, she had her first hit record, "A-Tisket-a-Tasket":

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Ella Fitzgerald was born in the southern city of Newport News, Virginia in nineteen seventeen. Her father left soon after her birth. Her mother took Ella and moved to New York City. Ella's mother died when Ella was fifteen years old.

The next year, Ella started singing with Chick Webb's band. She stayed with Chick Webb until he died in nineteen thirty-nine. Ella kept his band together after he died until World War Two started. Then most of the band members joined the armed forces. While she was with the band, Ella recorded almost one hundred fifty songs.

VOICE ONE:

Ella Fitzgerald was greatly influenced by the experimental music of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. It was called be-bop. She used be-bop rhythms in her singing. In nineteen forty-five, she recorded the song "Flying Home," using the be-bop method known as "scat". In scat, the singer's voice sounds like another instrument in the orchestra. Critics say it was the most influential jazz record of the time.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen forty-nine, jazz musician Norman Granz invited her to join his band. It was with his band in Berlin, Germany in nineteen sixty that Ella sang a famous song in a very different way. A man asked her if she knew the song "Mack the Knife. " Ella said she had heard it a few times but the band did not have the music for it. She said she would try to sing it anyway. This recording shows how she continued to sing "Mack the Knife" when she did not remember the words. The people listening loved it.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Norman Granz later became her manager. He started a new recording company just for her. It was his idea for Ella to record the now famous series of record albums called the “Songbooks." On each record, she sang works of a different songwriter.

She recorded songbooks of the music of Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen. Critics say the best songbook is Ella singing the songs of George and Ira Gershwin. Ira Gershwin reportedly said: "I never knew how good our songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them. Here, she sings the Gershwin song, "I Got Rhythm":

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Ella Fitzgerald also appeared in movies and on television. She became popular internationally. She performed in concerts around the world sometimes forty weeks a year. She also recorded for different record companies.

In the nineteen sixties, she began to sing more modern songs such as those written by the Beatles and Burt Bacharach. But she was not very successful with that kind of popular music. She returned to jazz in Nineteen seventy-three, again with Norman Granz. She also began performing with symphony orchestras.

VOICE ONE:

Ella Fitzgerald was married two times. Both marriages ended in divorce. She raised three children who were not her own.

Ella lived quietly in Beverly Hills, California. Throughout her life she was a very private person. She wanted to be known only for her music. Her friends included members of the Duke Ellington band, Count Basie's band, and singers like Sarah Vaughn and Peggy Lee.

Ella Fitzgerald began to have health problems during the nineteen seventies. She had the disease diabetes which caused problems with her eyes. She had a heart operation in nineteen eighty-six. In nineteen ninety-three, the effects of diabetes led to operations to remove both her legs. She died June fifteenth, nineteen ninety-six.

VOICE TWO:

People around the world loved Ella Fitzgerald's joyful singing. Critics said she had raised the American popular song to the level of art.

She won many awards. She received the National Medal of the Arts and a Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime work. The University of Maryland named a performing arts center for her.

Ella Fitzgerald's wonderful voice lives on in her two hundred fifty albums. She won thirteen Grammy awards given each year for the best recordings. Her last Grammy was for the nineteen ninety record: "All That Jazz":

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

This Special English program was written by Nancy Steinbach. The announcers were Shirley Griffith and Steve Ember. I'm Sarah Long. Listen again next week for another People in America program on the Voice of America.

VOASE0525_In the News

25 May 2007

Bush Wins on Iraq Bill, but Democrats Promise to Renew Fight
Congress approves a war spending bill without any withdrawal date. Also, lawmakers debate an immigration bill, and continue hearings into Justice Department dismissals.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

This week in Washington, Congress approved a war spending bill that President Bush

said he would sign. There was debate on an immigration bill. And hearings continued into why the Justice Department dismissed eight federal prosecutors last year.

The Iraq spending bill was approved Thursday after majority Democrats dropped their demand to set a date for a troop withdrawal. But the bill does threaten to cut economic aid if the Iraqi government fails to make progress on political and security reforms.

Democrats say they will renew their fight for a withdrawal plan in the next war-financing bill.

The one just approved contains one hundred twenty billion dollars in spending. Ninety-five billion of that will pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through September. Billions will go to unrelated projects at home.

Also included in the bill is the first increase in almost ten years in the federal minimum wage. Many of the lowest-paid workers are immigrants. And on Monday the Senate opened debate on an immigration bill.

Supporters of immigration reform, including President Bush, say the bill is needed to help fix a broken system. An estimated twelve million immigrants are in the United States illegally.

Proposals include stronger border security, a temporary worker program and a path for undocumented workers to become legal.

One proposal would create two-year renewable visas for foreign temporary workers. On Wednesday the Senate voted to cut the proposed number of temporary workers in half, to two hundred thousand a year.

Some groups say the bill would separate families of immigrant workers. Labor unions worry that the bill would create a new class of poorly paid migrants with few legal protections. Employers are divided over proposed changes that could also affect highly skilled foreign workers. And some critics say the bill would reward people who entered the country illegally.

The Senate is expected to end debate on the immigration bill in the middle of June. At that time senators could take a rare no-confidence vote in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales over the Justice Department dismissals.

On Wednesday a committee in the House questioned a former Gonzales aide who worked with the White House. Monica Goodling said she "crossed the line" by bringing political considerations into some hiring decisions at the department. But she said she had only a limited part in the replacement of United States attorneys.

Democrats said her statements raised new questions about dismissals that they suggest were made for political reasons. But a Republican lawmaker said there were no surprises and no evidence of corruption.

Democrats and some Republicans want Alberto Gonzales to resign. President Bush says he supports him and hopes Congress will move quickly to finish hearings that he calls "political theater."

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

Pentagon Says China Working to Project Power Farther

By Al Pessin Pentagon 25 May 2007

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The U.S. Defense Department has issued its annual report on China's military capability, citing continuing efforts to project Chinese power beyond its immediate region and to develop high-technology systems that can challenge the best in the world. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says some of China's efforts cause him concern. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

The report says "China is pursuing long-term, comprehensive transformation of its military forces" to enable it to project power and deny other countries the ability to threaten it.

The report says China's short-term focus is on preventing Taiwan from becoming independent, and preventing the United States from helping Taiwan in any cross-straits confrontation.

But it says China is also developing weapons systems designed to protect its access to resources, particularly oil, and to compete in long-range, modern warfare with increasingly sophisticated missiles, aircraft and ships, including possibly aircraft carriers. The report says the modernization is based partly on purchases, especially from Russia, but also on increasingly capable domestic military industries.

It says China is also developing the capability to compete in outer space and systems that could attack other nations' computer networks and communications capabilities. China was widely condemned for using an anti-satellite weapon to destroy one of its own satellites in January.

Robert Gates, 24 May 2007

Defense Secretary Robert Gates would not say which of China' military moves cause him concern, but at a news conference on Thursday he indicated he is worried about China's continuing refusal to provide detailed information about its defense capabilities. The report says secrecy is part of China's basic defense strategy.

"We wish that there were greater transparency, that they would talk more about what their intentions are, what their strategies are," said Gates. "These are assessments that are in this publication. It would be nice to hear first hand from the Chinese how they view some of these things."

In the past, China has criticized these annual Pentagon reports, which are required by congress. But Secretary Gates says the report does not exaggerate or attempt to paint China's growing capabilities as a threat.

"I think it's a realistic appraisal of the Chinese view of their own security needs and what their strategies are," said the defnese secretary. "It paints a picture of a country that has steadily devoted increasing resources to their military, that is developing some very sophisticated capabilities."

One area of ambiguity involves China's defense budget, which is officially $45 billion this year, a nearly 18 percent increase over last year. The Pentagon report says China's real defense spending is likely double or triple that figure.

The report also says China's longstanding pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons is becoming 'ambiguous,' as Chinese experts debate how to use their growing missile capabilities.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (l) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace speak with reporters at a Pentagon media roundtable, 24 May 2007

But the top U.S. military officer, General Peter Pace, who visited China in March, says China's current intentions are not the most important thing for him. He says the U.S. military needs to plan based on China's growing capabilities, which could be put to a variety of uses in the future.

"The most important thing from my perspective is for the United States military to stay well out ahead of any potential adversary, so that we are properly prepared should somebody's intent change to deal with that threat when it arises," he said.

The Pentagon report on China's military capability also notes that Chinese leaders have cooperated with the United States on a variety of issues, including North Korea's nuclear arsenal, and that China has a growing interest in global stability as it pursues economic development.

But the report also says China has demonstrated an increased willingness to work with rogue states and countries with poor human rights records, if those countries can help China reach its goals. It also says China has sold military technology to some countries in order to secure deals on fuel purchases.

The report calls China's efforts to modernize its forces and military doctrines "impressive," and it says there is an emphasis on what China calls "active defense," which the report's authors say means developing a preemptive strike capability, and using it if Chinese leaders feel it is necessary. The report says the concept also involves increasing China's ability to use military coercion, without actually using force.

At the same time, the report also expresses concern about potential miscalculation by Chinese leaders of their own military strength that could lead to unnecessary conflicts.

And the authors are also concerned that Chinese leaders could respond to internal dissent by launching a foreign military adventure in order to appeal to feelings nationalism and restore domestic stability. It says China's Communist Party leaders have "a deep rooted fear of losing political power" that shapes their strategic outlook and drives many of their decisions.

Burmese Opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi to Remain in Detention

By Ron Corben Bangkok 25 May 2007

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Burma's military leaders have extended their detention of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi for another year, despite growing international pressure. Government sources say Burmese officials visited her residence Friday and read out the extension of her term. Ron Corben reports from Bangkok.

Aung San Suu Kyi (May 2002 file photo)

For weeks, there have been renewed international calls for the release of Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The calls came from fellow Nobel Prize laureates, past and current world leaders, and human rights groups. The U.S. government has said that she should be freed and Burma should implement political reforms quickly.

The head of the National League for Democracy has been detained continuously since May 2003, when she was taken into custody after a pro-government mob attacked her supporters while she was visiting rural Burma. She has spent 11 of the past 17 years in confinement.

Debbie Stothardt, spokeswoman for the rights group the Alternative ASEAN Network, says the government fears releasing Aung San Suu Kyi could lead to unrest from her many supporters, and from rising public anger over the country's economic problems.

"The regime is definitely not releasing Aung San Suu Kyi. But it's not because of international pressure, it's because of their own fear of what could happen if Aung San Suu Kyi is released and there's a national uprising against them," said Stothardt.

Naing Aung, a former Burmese student leader and democracy rights advocate, says the government will detain Aung San Suu Kyi until a new constitution - now being drafted - is completed.

"The military regime doesn't want to have any dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and they don't think that they need to talk to solve their problems together," he said.

Politicians from the Association of South East Asian Nations have demanded that regional governments push Burma to free more than 1,100 political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi.

Kraisak Choonhavan, a former Thai senator and rights advocate, says the ASEAN politicians have worked hard at raising the issue.

"We have been very diligent in persevering for the release of all political prisoners in Burma, and our agenda has been very, very consistent with our principles, but this extension of the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is absolutely unacceptable, absolutely unacceptable," he said.

Stothardt of the Alternative ASEAN Network says rights groups will continue to work for change in Burma.

"We need an increase in domestic and international pressure on this regime so finally they have no choice but they have to release Aung San Suu Kyi and they have no choice but to democratize," said Stothardt.

The country has been under a military government since 1962. The National League for Democracy won a landside victory in elections in 1990, but the military refused to acknowledge the results. The government has promised general elections after a new constitution is drafted, but there is no indication of when that will be.

US Disappointed Over Failure of Bosnia Reform Talks

By David Gollust Washington 24 May 2007

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Bosnia-Herzegovina

The U.S. State Department is expressing disappointment over the failure by key leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina to make progress on government reforms in three days of U.S.-brokered talks in Washington. U.S. officials say the stalemate is blocking the Balkan country's prospective membership in the European Union and NATO. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Officials here are using unusually blunt terms to express their displeasure over the continuing impasse in U.S.-mediated reform talks between the Bosnian Serb and Muslim leaders.

Haris Silajdzic, leader of the country's Muslim community, and prime minister Milorad Dodik of the country's ethnic-Serb entity the Republika Serbska, spent three days behind closed doors with senior State Department officials in a new U.S. push for constitutional reforms.

The Bush administration had hoped to conclude an agreement to unify the ethnically-separate police forces of the country's two mini-states, one led by Serbs and the other by Muslims and Croats, and to at least make progress on a streamlined central government.

But a written statement issued at the close of the meetings late Thursday by State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey expressed disappointment that the two leaders had failed to reach agreement on the issues.

Casey said by failing to overcome the differences, the sides are making it impossible for Bosnia and Herzegovina to proceed on a path of full integration into Euro-Atlantic structures.

Casey said the leaders must work within the framework of the 1995 Dayton peace accords to resolve their issues, and live up to their obligations to the country's citizens for a stable and prosperous future.

U.S. participants in the talks included Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicolas Burns, Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia Dan Fried, and the U.S. Ambassador in Sarajevo Douglas McElhaney.

In a VOA interview, McElhaney said the United States will not halt its mediation efforts though no new talks are in immediate prospect. He declined to apportion blame, and said both sides need to compromise. "We thought we had a good chance of coming to agreements and I think a lot of people were very optimistic. This doesn't mean however that we're somehow or another going to walk away from the issues involved here. We're going to continue to push this forward, and we're going to have to remind people, as we reminded Mr. Dodik and Mr. Silajdzic, that you can't do anything today in Bosnia and Herzegovina without compromising. And the compromise was not there," he said.

Ambassador McElhaney said it is virtually impossible under the country's current political structure to get anything done on the national level, and he said unifying the police is a fundamental condition for Bosnia reaching a stabilization and association agreement with the EU.

The statement issued here said Undersecretary Burns stressed the importance of halting the nationalist rhetoric that has characterized the Bosnian political environment for the past year.

In an appearance earlier Thursday at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, Silajdzic accused the ethnic-Serb side of wanting to make the divided status-quo a permanent solution, though he said he remained hopeful of an agreement in the near future.

Before leaving for Washington, Mr. Dodik reiterated his party's stand that Bosnia should become a federation of three ethnically-based units, one Serb, one Muslim and the other Croat.

US Senate Rejects Efforts to Derail Immigration Bill

By Deborah Tate Capitol Hill 24 May 2007

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The U.S. Senate has voted down proposals that could have derailed a broad immigration reform bill. The action came after President Bush urged lawmakers to back the legislation. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

The Senate rejected challenges to the immigration bill from both conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats.

Senators voted 66-29 late Thursday against a measure sponsored by Republican Senator David Vitter of Louisiana to strip the bill of a provision that would grant the estimated 12 million undocumented workers in the United States legal status if they obtain a so-called 'z visa'.

Vitter argued the provision rewards immigrants who crossed U.S. borders illegally.

"The 'z visa' amnesty provision absolutely rewards those who have broken the law," said David Vitter.

Senator Edward Kennedy, 24 May 2007

But Senator Ted Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, argued the plan is not amnesty because undocumented workers can only gain legal status after meeting certain conditions, including paying a fine, learning English and undergoing a background check.

"Legalization is important for our national security, we have to know who is in the United States of America," said Ted Kennedy.

Earlier, the Senate voted 49 to 48 against a Democratic-sponsored proposal to phase out temporary worker provision after five years. Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat was the sponsor:

"Why don't we take a look in five years and see, were the claims that were made for the temporary worker provision, were they claims that turned out to be accurate," he asked.

The guest worker proposal would allow temporary workers to come to the United States on two-year visas and renew them up to three times, but only after they return to the home countries for a year.

Many Democrats are critical of the plan, saying it would depress wages of U.S. workers and would deny temporary workers the opportunity to become American citizens.

It was Dorgan's second unsuccessful challenge to the guest worker program. Earlier this week he proposed stripping the bill of the provision, but that, too, was rejected. A separate Democratic amendment to slash the number of temporary worker visas issued each year from 400,000 to 200,000 was approved on Wednesday.

The guest worker program and the provision that would grant legal status to undocumented workers are seen as the key underpinnings of the immigration reform bill, and supporters warned that removing either one of them would kill the overall legislation.

The Senate action came after President Bush urged lawmakers to approve the legislation, which also includes measures to boost border security.

"If you are serious about securing our borders and bringing millions of illegal immigrants in our country out of the shadows, this bipartisan bill is the best opportunity to move forward," said President Bush.

Senators are expected to vote on the overall legislation when they return from a week-long recess in early June.

The House is scheduled to begin debating the issue later this year.

UN Nuclear Chief: Iran 3-8 Years Away From Bomb

By Sonja Pace London 24 May 2007

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The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog group, the IAEA, says Iran is probably three to eight years away from being able to produce a nuclear bomb and urges negotiations to keep that from happening. But, in Washington, President Bush is calling for tougher sanctions against Tehran. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from London.

Mohamed ElBaradei, 24 May 2007

Speaking at a news conference in Luxembourg, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said he agrees with U.S. intelligence assessments that if Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons, it is three to eight years away from being able to do so.

He said there is no doubt that Iran is increasing its capacity, but he also urged an easing of the rhetoric and the start of comprehensive negotiations to contain the threat of a nuclear arms race.

"I see a proliferation issue that is deteriorating, that we are heading toward a confrontation," he said. "I wanted to make it clear that people understand they need to assess their strategy to do something about it so that we can contain an emerging threat to a region that is, to say the least, an absolute mess right now."

ElBaradei was in Luxembourg for an international conference on nuclear arms technology.

Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes only. But the United States and many other nations say Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

The U.N. Security Council has already imposed sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend its uranium enrichment program. The U.S. and other nations say such a halt is a prelude to any negotiations. But the most recent IAEA report, issued Wednesday, said Tehran has not halted, but has actually expanded its uranium-enrichment activities.

President George Bush holds a press conference in the Rose Garden at White House, 24 May 07

In Washington, President Bush said Iran knows what it has to do.

"The world has spoken and said: No nuclear weapons programs. And yet they are constantly ignoring the demands," he said. "My view is that we need to strengthen our sanction regime."

Mr. Bush said the U.S. will work with its European partners to develop further sanctions. The president said he will also discuss the issue with the leaders of Russia and China.

"The first thing that these leaders have got to understand is that an Iran with a nuclear weapon would be incredibly destabilizing for the world," he said.

The United States will need the support of Russia and China to get additional sanctions approved in the UN Security Council.

Recently, IAEA chief ElBaradei suggested that Iran should be allowed to keep some elements of its nuclear enrichment program. His comments, made to the media, have angered U.S. officials. On Thursday, a senior U.S. diplomat, speaking in Washington, called ElBaradei's comments "inappropriate" and said a delegation of American and European officials is to meet with the IAEA chief in Vienna.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, 21 May 2007

In Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the threat of sanctions. Speaking to members of the elite Revolutionary Guards, Mr. Ahmadinejad said Iran will not give in to the demands of its enemies, whom he accused of trying to eradicate the roots and principles of the Islamic Republic.

VOASE0524_Economics Report

24 May 2007

US and China Hold High-Level Trade Discussions
The talks in Washington end with an agreement to increase air links, but no word of progress on the deficit issue.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Top officials from the United States and China held two days of trade talks this week in Washington.

Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renquing, Vice Premier Wu Yi and US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson at the US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue

They agreed to increase the number of direct flights between the United States and China. And Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi said the talks cleared the way for other progress. But no progress was reported on the issue of the trade deficit.

It was the second in a series of talks, the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue. The next meeting is later this year in Beijing. Vice Premier Wu says talks are better than threats of what she calls "irresponsible" protectionist measures against China.

Some American lawmakers say China is taking too long to raise the value of the yuan. They say China unfairly keeps its currency weak. They say this fuels the deficit by pushing down the cost of its exports and raising the price of American-made imports.

China eased controls on the yuan this week, but not enough to satisfy many critics. China promises more but says a large increase would hurt its fast-growing economy. Some experts say the yuan would rise fifty percent if permitted to trade freely. Others think it would be much less.

China's huge trade surplus has left it with the world's largest foreign exchange reserves, more than one trillion dollars. Most of that is held in United States government debt. But China took steps this week to change the way it invests its reserves, in order to seek higher returns.

China will invest three billion dollars in the Blackstone Group, a private-equity company based in New York. The deal will take place as Blackstone sells stock to the public for the first time. But China said it did not want any voting rights in the company.

President Bush met Thursday with Vice Premier Wu. He later said the two countries have a complex relationship but the two hundred thirty-three billion dollar trade deficit must be dealt with.

One of the ways, he said, is to get the Chinese people to spend more, to change from savers to consumers. For example, the United States has been trying to get China to open up its beef market.

The negotiators talked about food safety. The United States is importing more and more food products from China. Yet there is growing concern that they are not always very safe.

Still another issue: The United States is pushing China to do more about illegal copying of movies, music, software and books.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0524_American Mosaic

24 May 2007

Mason Bates Creates a 'Liquid Interface' Between Electronica and Classical Music
Also: music by classical and popular singer Josh Groban. And a listener in Taiwan asks about the Jim Crow laws that once enforced racial separation in the US.

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We answer a question about racial separation laws of the past …

Play music from Josh Groban …

And report about musical composer Mason Bates.

Mason Bates

The worlds of techno music and classical symphonies are usually very separate. But the musical composer Mason Bates is changing this. This thirty-year-old musician from Virginia artfully combines classical music with the sound of electronic beats. Barbara Klein has more.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN:

Mason Bates

That was part of a work called "Liquid Interface." Mason Bates performed it for the first time in February with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. He was influenced to write the musical piece while living in Berlin, Germany. He watched the lake near where he lived transform from an ice formation to a warm swimming place.

In “Liquid Interface” you can listen to the many forms water takes and the effects of climate change. You can hear the breaking of large ice glaciers, as well as melting drops of water. Bates also makes a musical reference to New Orleans, Louisiana to show the more destructive side of water.

This work needs a very large orchestra. Musicians played more than forty traditional instruments at the Washington, D.C. performance. They were guided by the orchestra's musical director, Leonard Slatkin. Mason Bates stood on the side with his own instrument, the portable computer. He fluidly worked the electronic sounds and beats into the structured classical music.

But Mason Bates does not only write symphonies. At night, you can find him playing trip-hop and French house techno music in the clubs of San Francisco, California. He is also finishing his doctorate degree at the nearby University of California, Berkeley. Mason Bates’ skill at combining these two very different musical worlds has been recognized. He has won important awards for his music pieces such as the Prix de Rome.

Mason Bates believes that when you listen to music it lives in your imagination and your blood at the same time. He wants his music to be intelligent as well as interesting. To listen to more music by Mason Bates, go to voaspecialenglish.com for a link to his Web site.

Jim Crow Laws

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Taiwan. Howlong Wu asks about “Jim Crow laws."

These laws enforced racial separation between black people and white people in the

Jim Crow laws enforced racial separation

American South. The term was taken from a character called Jim Crow in musical shows in the eighteen thirties. In these minstrel shows, white people darkened their faces and performed as if they were black people. These shows were insulting to black people.

Starting in the eighteen eighties, Jim Crow became the name for the laws enacted by Southern cities and states to oppress black people and keep them separate from white people. For example, Jim Crow laws made it illegal for the two races to attend the same schools, eat at the same restaurants or use the same public transportation.

The United States Supreme Court supported Jim Crow laws in some of its decisions. An important one was Plessy versus Ferguson in eighteen ninety-six. The Court ruled that railroads could require white and black passengers to ride in different cars. It said this was legal because the treatment in the two cars was "separate but equal." In another case in eighteen ninety-nine, the Court ruled that no one’s rights were violated by the two races attending separate schools.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People led the long effort to overturn Jim Crow laws through legal action. Finally, in nineteen fifty-four, a Supreme Court ruling overturned the Plessy versus Ferguson decision. The decision was called Brown versus the Board of Education. The Supreme Court ruled that separate schools for blacks and whites were unconstitutional. This ruling required towns and cities across the country to permit blacks and whites to attend the same schools.

The Jim Crow system was finally ended in the nineteen sixties through the efforts of the civil rights movement. These efforts resulted in a series of federal laws including the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act.

Josh Groban

Josh Groban is a young singer who performs classical and popular songs. His record albums have sold millions of copies. Katherine Cole plays some music from Groban's latest album called "Awake."

KATHERINE COLE:

Josh Groban

Josh Groban is twenty-six years old. He is from Los Angeles, California. As a teenager, he sang at the inauguration of former California governor Gray Davis in nineteen ninety-nine. That was when he was discovered by a record company official. He released his first studio album two years later.

Josh Groban's third studio album is called "Awake." Like his other albums, he sings in English, Italian and Spanish. Groban says the music on his latest album sounds like it is coming from his heart and soul as well as his voice. This song, "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)," was also released as a single.

(MUSIC)

Josh Groban plays several instruments, including piano, drums, electric guitar, marimbas, flugelhorn and dulcimer. Groban also helped write some of the songs on his latest album, like this one, called "Machine." The famous jazz musician Herbie Hancock plays piano.

(MUSIC)

Josh Groban has appeared on many American television shows. Now he is in the middle of a seven-month performance tour to seventy cities in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Groban performs two songs on his latest album with the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Groban first heard this song during a visit to South Africa in two thousand four. We leave you now with the song "Weeping."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

It was written by Dana Demange, Shelley Gollust and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com. Please include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.