News of the Day (February 11)

World Reacts to Stalinist North Korea’s nuke boasts, demands for one-on-one talks: The world’s reaction to Stalinist North Korea’s boast of having nuclear weapons was disappointing. Communist China had its usual boilerplate about “the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” (CNN), without a single word of criticism against its Stalinist ally. Japan and South Korea all but begged SNK to return to the talks (BBC). U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called the Stalinist boast “worrisome” (Voice of America via Epoch Times), but also said “he does not necessarily believe North Korea's claim.” South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo expressed outrage, though no solution.

Why the Stalinist made its statement now, which more confirmed suspicions than broke news (BBC) was a subject of debate. Sarah Buckley, BBC, saw distraction from the reports of Stalinist uranium sold to Libya as a possible motivation for the regime. Other analysts assumed the Stalinists are merely posturing for more concessions (Cybercast News). The Stalinists themselves demanded bilateral talks with the U.S. (MSNBC). The most intelligent analysis came from the Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler and Anthony Faiola (via MSNBC), noted the U.S. has made several concessions already, only to have them rejected by the Stalinist regime which “appears to be gambling that the United States and its allies will ultimately accept the idea of a nuclear North Korea.” For those keeping count: the number of references to liberation as a solution was exactly zero.

On SNK refugees: Jeremy Kirk, Washington Times, has a good piece on the plight of Stalinist refugees and the ungodly callousness of the dovish South Korean government.

Communist China faces coal shortage: Communist China appears headed for a major shortage in usable coal – there is plenty of coal, but no one can get to it because “foreign capital in energy-related enterprises . . . is now generally withdrawing” (Radio Free Asia via Epoch Times). The projected shortage is 100 million tons.

Almost half the fireworks in Communist China unsafe: The cadres admitted that “nearly half of the fireworks and firecrackers made in China fail to meet basic safety standards” (VOA via Epoch Times). This comes as no surprise to Jiangxi Province, where an elementary school that doubled as a fireworks factory (yes, you read that right – see Follow Up) exploded in 2001, killing at least sixty.

Exile’s books cast spotlight on Inner Mongolia: The plight of Inner Mongolia – either Communist China’s northernmost province or occupied territory, depending upon who’s talking – is not very well known. Yuan Hongbing, an Inner Mongolian native, is now in exile in Australia for his two books highlighting the Communist cruelty that “killed millions of Inner Mongolians” (Epoch Times): Wen Shang and Freedom at Sunset.

Lev Navrozov, Newsmax, repeats his endless – and necessary – warning about Communist China’s lead in the nanotechnology arms race.