News of the Day (March 22)

Rush to lift EU arms embargo losing steam: Due to “second thoughts” (London Times) from several members of the European Union, the plan to lift the EU arms embargo against Communist China is in serious trouble. Among those getting skittish are the UK, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic. Even Germany’s Green Party – part of the governing coalition there – is “uneasy” about it. Also reporting: BBC, Cybercast News

Kadeer calls for democracy in China; Government-in-exile grants asylum en masse: The East Turkestan government in exile officially granted temporary asylum to “all Chinese political prisoners and dissidents in Communist jails on East Turkestani soil” (press release). Meanwhile, recently exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer “said she will remain in the U.S. as an advocate of Uighur rights” (Bloomberg).

Human rights groups angry at U.S. refusal to condemn Communist abuses in UN: The decision by the United States not to sponsor a UN resolution criticizing Communist China’s human rights abuses (second item) earned the U.S. criticism of its own from Human Rights Watch and the Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group (Epoch Times).

Commentary and Analysis: The editors of the Washington Times have high praise for
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s ripping the EU’s plans to lift its arms embargo against the Communists. Dana Dillon, of the Heritage Foundation, sounds the alarm at the Communists’ attempt to drive wedge between the U.S. and Australia (Fox News). Gal Luft and Anne Korin, both from the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, note the growing ties between Communist China and Saudi Arabia. Tong Qing, Epoch Times, praises the U.S. for not allowing Communist Party members to immigrate. One hundred doctors anonymously plead for better education in Communist China’s impoverished rural interior (reprinted by the Epoch Times). Jonathan Kent, BBC, examines the pitfalls faced by those looking for those mythical “one billion customers.”

Stalinist official in Communist China: Pak Pong-ju, whose official title in Stalinist North Korea is Premier, is visiting Communist China for economic talks (BBC).

SNK claims to have more nukes as Rice “hints” of sanctions: The Stalinists are “claiming to have boosted its nuclear weapons arsenal” (CNN) in response to what they called U.S. plans “to isolate and stifle the DPRK (North Korea)” (Channel News Asia). What was this plan for isolation, you ask? The words of Secretary of State Rice “hinting that North Korea could face sanctions if it refuses to return to multiparty talks on its nuclear programs” (Cybercast News); that certainly falls far short of liberation.

SNK execution video smuggled out: The shootings of those who were helping refugees have stunned Japanese viewers (New York Times via International Herald Tribune).

Kim Jong-il love child in Japan: The Stalinist-in-chief has a mistress and a daughter in Japan, where police “keep an eye on mother and daughter out of concern for their safety” (Newsmax). One of KJI’s sons survived an assassination attempt last year.