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News item on China and Y2K

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This news item was circulated in the Year 2000 Mailing List. It has been reformatted but has not otherwise been modified from the version originally received. The Pocket Website does not assert its authenticity or accuracy.

Hong Kong Ping Kuo Jih Pao in Chinese 11 May 1998

PRC Efforts To Fight Computer 'Millennium Bug' Deficient

"Millennium Bug Attacks Mainland China Ahead of Time"

(first paragraph is editorial introduction)

The computer "millennium bug" has attacked mainland China ahead of time. Some of the two-year credit cards issued by a certain bank in China
at the beginning of this year were swallowed by cash dispensers time and again. After realizing that the "millennium bug" was doing the mischief, the customers were much dissatisfied with the bank for not taking precautions in a timely manner. However, the problem caused by the
"millennium bug" has not yet drawn the attention of our government; so far, governments from the central level to the grass roots have not yet
established a coordinating organization for resolving this problem. Specialists were worried: "It is impossible for China to resolve the
problem of the 'millennium bug' before 2000."

Mainland China calls the computer "millennium bug" a "computer problem of the year 2000." According to data provided by the IBM Company, the United States and Australia were the first in the world to pay attention to the "millennium bug" while mainland China was two years late in this area. Of the hundreds of participants in the 1997 October information technology symposium of China, less than 10 participants were familiar with the "year 2000 computer problem."

An Error Is Like a Time Bomb

Specialists maintained that an error would possibly be similar to a time bomb. The problem of the "millennium bug" exists in all spheres, including large-sized computerized projects, such as the Three-Gorges Project, and household electrical appliances. The failure to resolve this problem in a timely manner may lead to disastrous consequences. Therefore, resolving this problem with the participation of the government has become the common understanding of all western countries. In February this year, US President Clinton issued an order to organize a special committee with Vice President Gore as its head to coordinate with the related work of the federal government. British Prime Minister Blair declared last month that 97 million pounds (about 1.26 billion Hong Kong dollars) would be invested to deal with the problem of the "millennium bug" and to cultivate related expertise.

Nobody Takes Charge of the Work Even as the Crisis Draws Near

There are only 20 months to go before the arrival of "millennium bug." It is still very hard to see related reports in mainland China, and the government is not acting as a mediator in solving this problem. Responsible persons of the information center of the Chinese securities supervision society expressed: Society is now studying ways to deal with the "millennium bug"; however, who will take charge of the work
has not yet been decided. It is going to issue a notice, suggesting that stock exchanges do what they should do.

It Is Not a Good Idea That Everyone Repairs His Own Software

Since time is pressing, some organizations are fighting against the bug with their own efforts. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China expects that it will be able to add a text ready for the year 2000 to its key application modular system in the first half of this year. In April this year, the Civil Aviation Administration of China decided to revise the program of the passenger seat reservation system at the end of this year and to revise the aviation control system June 1999 with another six months for trial operation. At the end of last year, the Chinese Academy of Sciences established a group for "resolving this problem and making resolution plans"; now it is preparing to establish a test center.

Presently, some organizations still place hopes on computer corporations to resolve this problem. As everybody knows, it is still very hard for the computer corporations to play the game of "mine clearance" since all units continue revising their software during operation.

[Description of source: Hong Kong Ping Kuo Jih Pao in Chinese -- non-PRC-owned daily newspaper ("Apple Daily"); contains features on andanalysis of PRC and Hong Kong political, social, and economic issues]

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