News of the Day (February 10)

Stalinist North Korea boasts having nuclear weapons, says talks are off: Kim Jong-il’s regime issued a statement (reprinted by BBC) ripping the United States for “a new ideological stand-off aimed at a ‘regime change’” (if only it were true) The regime also announced “that it already has nuclear weapons – to protect itself from the United States” (Cybercast News), and that it would “stay away from talks on its nuclear programme for an ‘indefinite period’” (BBC). In response, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice still tried pushing for resumption of the talks (MSNBC), despite their past history of failure. Meanwhile, Representative Tom Lantos (D-California), recommended bringing in Communist China to use its “leverage” (Fox News) on its Stalinist ally (he obviously hasn’t read Part I of yours truly’s SNK series). Also reporting: World Net Daily, CNN

On the North Korea Conundrum: Speaking of yours truly’s four-part series on what should be done about Stalinist North Korea, Part II is in the Epoch Times today.

Japan 2, SNK 1: MSNBC has more on the match’s ramifications (last item).

Rice visits EU HQ to push arms embargo; hosts ignore her: Secretary Rice also discussed the European Union arms embargo with Communist China, telling the EU leadership in Brussels, “All that we can ask is that the European Union is aware of our concerns, understands them fully and takes them fully into consideration in any decision that is made” (Cybercast News). In response, EU top dog Jose Barroso basically told her to get lost: “the European Union is moving to lift the arms embargo.” The good news is that all 25 EU members must agree to the embargo being lifted, or it remains in place. The Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Sweden have rejected past efforts to lift the embargo. Also reporting: BBC, Bill Gertz, Washington Times

Legislators call for an end to PNTR: Three members of the House of Representatives – North Carolina Republican Walter Jones, Oregon Democrat Peter DeFazio, and Vermont Socialist Bernie Sanders – called for an end to permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Communist China. All three cited American job losses, although Sanders also noted the danger of “making China the economic superpower of the 21st century” (CNN).

Falun Gong “self-immolation” was Communist hoax: The Epoch Times includes in its column on the outrage a United Nations report “saying the alleged Tiananmen self-immolation incident was ‘staged by the government.’” Meanwhile, Newsmax has this report on the Communists’ anti-Falun Gong “Cold Calls” (see also seventh item).

On the Communist military-industrial complex: Softwar has an excellent primer on the holdings of Communist China’s military (courtesy Kevin Steel, Western Standard).

More Commentary on Communist China: Wang Zhen, Epoch Times, details the Chinese Communist Party’s hammerlock on its “government.” Meanwhile, exiled professor Cheng Xiaonong talks with the Epoch Times about the late Zhao Ziyang, and how Deng Xiaoping seized power from him to order the Tiananmen Square massacre.