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Maurice Strong, United Nations, China
Maurice Strong resurfaces in China
By Judi McLeodFriday, September 23, 2005
Little has been heard of Kofi Annan pointman Maurice Strong since his alleged ties to the UN oil-for-food scandal surfaced.
"Ou est Maurice Strong?" has been water cooler speculation for UN watchers.
Strong, whose Lost Lake, Buckhorn, Ontario property has been up for sale, hasn't been heard from since he admitted to recognizing his signature on a $1-million cheque from deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to Tongsun Park to Cordex, a now defunct company once run by his son, Fred, after having first denied any knowledge of the cheque.
Maurice Strong is alive and well in Taiyuan, China. At least that's where he was yesterday.
Strong, co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Earth Council Alliance, and Qu Geping, media dubbed "the father of China's environmental protection", made a joint announcement Thursday that the two sides will join efforts to promote the research, development and utilization of environment-friendly technologies in different industries worldwide.
"Strong, who is a former under-secretary-general of the United Nations, addressed the meeting, speaking highly of China's enormous efforts in environmental protection by governments at all levels, different organizations and individuals, over the past decades." (www.chinaview.cn).
One of the People of the Republic of China's biggest boosters, Strong believes that China will someday soon replace the United States as a superpower.
He urged China to give greater importance to the study, development and spread of environment-friendly technologies in all industries, so as to curb increasingly severe industrial pollution.
Qu, who is former minister of the State Environmental Protection Administration and former chairman of the Environmental Protection and Land Resources Committee of the National People's Congress, expressed optimism about the future of environmental protection in the country.
The government has paid close attention to the issue and China's enormous achievements in this field have drawn worldwide attention, Qu said. But serious problems still exist in the country and in some areas the problems have caused social problems, he noted.
A group of Chinese and foreign environmental experts and scholars gathered in the Mianshan Tourist Resort, in north China's Shanxi Province, to attend the annual conference of the Earth Council Alliance, which is focused on clean industrial technologies.
The Earth Council Alliance gave an award to Yan Jiying, chairman of the board of the Sanjia Coal-Chemical Company Ltd., for his "exceptional contribution to sustainable development through the innovation and utilization of clean coke technology."
Yan, the first Chinese entrepreneur to receive the award, invented a clean coke technology that minimizes coking plant pollution.
At the meeting, Strong and Qu made a joint proposal, calling for spreading Yan's invention to China and other coke-producing countries in an effort to curb rampant coking industry pollution.
Strong established the Earth Council in 1992. In 2004, he and Tommy Short co-founded the Earth Council Alliance to coordinate the cooperation of earth councils in various countries.
The Canadian diplomat has been well received in China where his cousin, Louise, a personal friend of Chairman Mao, was buried with full honours.
Meanwhile, everything is not going so well for Strong's home base, the United Nations. Sen. James Inhofe will introduce the Protection Against UN Taxation Act of 2005. The bill will request the withholding of United States contributions to the United Nations until the President certifies that the UN is not engaged in global taxation schemes.
Canada Free Press founding editor Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck and The Rant. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
