News of the Day (January 12)

Media is finally seeing the real Hu Jintao: For those of us who have been screaming from the proverbial rooftops that Communist China’s new leader, Hu Jintao, is just as brutal and anti-American as his predecessors – if not more so – it is heartening to see everyone else start to catch up. Tim Luard, the BBC’s most clear-eyed analyst on the Communist regime, details how Hu is “showing his true political colours (UK sp) by cracking down on dissent and squaring up fiercely to Taiwan.” Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Apple Daily (cited by the Epoch Times) finds the same: “he has hunted down and arrested dissidents on a large scale, and tightened control over public opinion, thus betraying an anti-humanistic proclivity.”

Communist China leads the world in jailed reporters: Further evidence of Hu’s real agenda came form Reporters Without Borders, which noted that “the Chinese Communist Party still brutally reminds journalists they are not free to say what they want” (quoted by Epoch Times). How so? The Party imprisoned more reporters, 26 of them, then any other regime on Earth.

UK joins France and Germany in push to lift arms embargo on Communists: British Foreign Minister Jack Straw predicted the European Union’s embargo on Communist China would be lifted sometime in the next six months. Straw also openly endorsed such a move, saying this of the Communists: “to lump them in with, say, Burma and Zimbabwe is not appropriate” (BBC). Burma and Zimbabwe, one a longtime ally of the Communists (BBC again), the other rapidly moving under their wing (Cybercast News), are banned from buying EU weapons due to their atrocious human rights records (Communist China not like them, Minister Straw? Ever hear of Hanyuan County?). France and Germany have been trying to lift the embargo for years, but all EU members must agree. To date, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, and the Czech Republic have resisted the idea. The only elected piece of the EU – the European Parliament – strongly supports keeping the ban; but the will of the people doesn’t seem to mean much in Paris, Berlin, or London.

Communists’ “offer” of direct flights to Taiwan for one week only: Remember the Communist offer to allow direct flights to and from Taiwan after a meeting with anti-Chen Shui-bian politicians (last item)? As it turns out, the offer was only for “the Lunar New Year holiday in February” (BBC). As for actually talking with the fellow elected by Taiwan’s people as their leader (Chen) on the subject, the Communists declared such an idea “inappropriate.”

Communist China launches anti-gambling campaign: Smarting from myriad reports of cadres losing fortunes of pilfered public money on gambling sprees – which are still illegal in Communist China – the regime launched an anti-wagering campaign. Report: BBC

U.S. Congressman says Stalinist-controlled northern Korea “waiting to see” new Bush picks: Representative Tom Lantos (D-California), a leading human rights advocate in Congress, told reporters – including the Washington Post – that Kim Jong-il’s regime is “waiting to see the shape of the second Bush administration” before restarting talks on its nuclear ambitions. Three previous rounds of talks – involving SCNK, democratic “South” Korea, Japan, Communist China, the U.S., and Russia – have led to little besides American concessions. The possible exit of leading State Department hawk John Bolton (last item), if true (third item), would certainly thrill the Stalinists.

Communist economy far from perfect: Dar Haddix, United Press International, details the many problems within Communist China’s supposedly beautiful economy (via Washington Times).