News of the Day (February 17)

Our new hero – Porter Goss – brings sanity to the CIA’s view on Communist China: One of the most annoying things in Washington in recent years has been the soft touch on Communist China from the Central Intelligence Agency. Porter Goss has taken a lot of flak for his bare-knuckles approach to changing the Agency, but his first annual report on Communist China came out today, and here, the change is clearly for the better. Gone were foolish references to “engagement in areas of mutual interest” (Cybercast News) and “our shared fight against terrorism.” In its place was: “Improved Chinese capabilities threaten U.S. forces in the region . . . Beijing's military modernization and military buildup could tilt the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait.” Here’s to Director Goss!

PTNR repeal introduced in House: Representative Bernard Sanders, Vermont Socialist, has introduced legislation repealing Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with Communist China. Sanders, a longtime opponent of PNTR, has roughly 45 Democratic and 17 Republican co-sponsors, and is looking for more. As yours truly begins the mammoth task of fixing the China e-Lobby House e-mail list, please find your Congressman’s web site and see if they are a co-sponsor (lists of co-sponsors are here and here). If they’re not on the list, ask them to sign on; if they are on the list, be sure to thank them. This may be an uphill battle, but the more support for the bill, the more publicity for the issue, and the more aware the American people become of the $160 billion trade deficit, which funds the Communist military twice over.

Communist China now largest consumer of numerous goods: Communist China “is now the world's largest consumer of grain, meat, coal and steel,” according to the Earth Policy Institute. One other ominous fact the BBC added involves stolen wood: “Chinese factories process one stolen Indonesian log every minute of every working day.” As a result, “Indonesia is now . . . losing a wooded area the size of Switzerland every year.”

Italian wine maker hands Communist China $58 million: The money comes from Illva Saronno, which is buying a stake in Changyu, a winery owned by “a government agency in the north-eastern city of Yantai” (BBC) – i.e., the cadres who run the city.

Goss on Stalinist North Korea: Goss was just as good on this subject, noting that the Stalinists are building the Taepodong II missile, which is “capable of reaching the United States with a nuclear-weapon-sized payload” (Cybercast News). Goss also warned about the regime’s “active chemical weapons and biological weapons programs” (CNN).

Viewpoints of the Stalinist regime: Jack Wheeler tells World Net Daily the U.S. should demand SNK prove it has nuclear weapons (he thinks it doesn’t really have them); Ivan Eland, of The Independent Institute, says the U.S. should give the regime what it wants (Newsmax); Frank Gaffney Jr., of the Center for Security Policy, includes a call for liberation in his Washington Times column.