News of the Day (March 3)

Tung Chee-hwa tight-lipped about his future: Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa refused to deny he is the reports of his impending resignation. Tung was widely reviled – largely for doing the bidding of the Communists who appointed the panel that “elected” him. His place at the center of pro-democracy criticism in the city led CNN to speculate that his departure “could take the wind out of the sails of Hong Kong's democracy movement.” However, if Martin Lee, a legislator from Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, is any indication – “This new chief executive will do everything he is instructed to do” (Epoch Times) – the movement is far more sophisticated than that.

Dissidents join yours truly to stand against EU plans to end arms embargo: Among the speakers were China Support Network’s John Kusumi and Yongjun "Majer" Zhou.

Communist China criticizes U.S. on human rights: Communist China repeated its annual slap at the U.S. State Department’s human rights report with a “report” on its own that highlighted the abuses at Iraq’s Abu Grahib prison. Until the Communists start jailing their policemen – rather than praising them – for killing Falun Gong practitioners and torturing dissidents, their credibility on this subject remains zero. Report: BBC

Communists try to sell “international” control of internet again: Sha Zukang, the Communist Ambassador to the United Nations, brought back the cadres’ dream of internet “international controls.” Sha said this was to stop American “monopolization" of the internet, but the real reason had more to do with Communist China’s “fears (that) the Internet would dilute Beijing's control over its population” (World Tribune.com).

Underground Christians jailed, tortured: Just in time to present the aforementioned Communist comments on the U.S. in context, World Net Daily reported that Communist police “detained 140 Chinese house-church leaders” and deported ten foreign counterparts in a raid last month. Meanwhile, the Christian activist group China Aid “said it has learned from an eyewitness that imprisoned Beijing house-church pastor Zhuohua Cai was tortured for a confession with electric cattle prods by his interrogators.” Roughly 10 million Catholics and between 40 and 70 million Protestants refuse to worship in Communist-controlled churches, and thus worship “underground.”

Cadres’ admit rampant overdevelopment causing ecological disaster: In a meeting with British Chancellor (Foreign Minister) Gordon Brown (second item), Shenzhen Mayor Li Hongzhong “conceded that continuing with the current development methods would be ‘a dead end’” (Liberty Times via Epoch Times). That was a reference to Communist China’s rampant overdevelopment which no free market would allow.

Stalinist North Korea threatens to resume missile tests: The Kim Jong-il regime ended its self-imposed suspension of missile tests. Whether or not an actual missile test is coming is not clear. Japan’s Foreign Ministry speculated that “North Korea might be trying to raise the stakes ahead of a possible resumption of nuclear talks” (BBC). Of course, SNK doesn’t need to test missiles – Iran is doing it for them (eleventh item).