News of the Day (May 12)

Epoch Times squeezed by Communist pressure: In an open letter to residents of Hong Kong, the dissident-run Epoch Times (full disclosure: the overwhelming majority of my columns have run in this paper) announced that it has lost its printer because “the CCP has exerted hard and soft pressure on the printing house.” While the editions outside Hong Kong would be unaffected, it would be a crippling blow for the truth – and another example of one country, one-and-a-half systems – if the HK version were to go down.

As Taiwan fights to enter WHO, Soong fetes and criticizes Communist China: Just as Taiwan was preparing another attempt to enter the World Health Organization over the objections of Communist China (Cybercast News), Taiwan’s People First Leader and former 2000 presidential candidate James Soong “issued a joint statement” with Communist head Hu Jintao “virtually identical to one issued by Mr. Hu and Lien Chan” (BBC). Lien, the Nationalist Party leader who embarrassed himself in Beijing earlier this month, and Soong ran on the joint presidential ticket defeated by Chen Shui-bian, who ran on the more anti-Communist, pro-independent Democratic Progressive Party, last year. Still, Soong did advise Communist China to “change its approach to Taiwan, and stop taking measures that deepen the divide between the two rivals” (Voice of America via Epoch Times), something Lien could not bring himself to say.

Communist spy system third-largest in the world: Communist China “has developed the world's third-largest spy system, after the U.S. and Russia, according to the ‘Intelligence Threat Handbook’ distributed to Pentagon personnel” (Newsmax). The main source of strength for the Communists is their “far-flung human spy system in the U.S.”, although they are rapidly building up their technology-based espionage.

Communist China won’t revalue its currency: The Communist mouthpiece People's Daily announced that the regime would “revalue the yuan next week” (BBC), but the Communist central bank denied it, and the paper later issued a correction. The deliberately devalued currency – called the yuan or renminbi – has greatly damaged both U.S. manufacturing and the export sectors of America’s allies in Asia.

Man tortured into false confession of killing wife suing Communist China: She Xianglin is suing the regime for “mental damage and restrictions on his freedom” (BBC) after being tortured into falsely confessing to murder his wife and spending fifteen years in jail for killing her. How do we know he didn’t kill her? Simple, she’s not dead!

On Communist prison labor camps: Tim Luard, BBC, examines the state of Communist China’s labor camps, and the plight of those sent inside them.

On Communist China and Stalinist North Korea: The editors of the Washington Post and Concerned Women for America (via Newsmax) come out in favor of confirming UN Ambassador-designate John Bolton. The latter explicitly endorse Bolton’s tough talk on Stalinist North Korea, while the editors note that his most well-known critics are mainly upset about said tough talk, as well as Bolton’s belief in pushing Communist Chinese firms that sell weapons to terrorists and rouge states. Meanwhile, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman lays the blame for the SNK nuclear problem right where it belongs: Communist China. He is clearly starting to learn.

On Stalinist North Korea’s enablers: Anthony Faiola, Washington Post, details how Communist China, Russia, and dovish South Korea are trading with Stalinist North Korea, thus enriching the regime and effectively allowing it to “not feel as much of a need to address the nuclear issue.” Regarding the Communists, this should not surprise.

More on SNK: The BBC, CNN, and Jong-Heon Lee (United Press International via Washington Times) examine the reaction from the Stalinists’ removal of 8,000 rods of plutonium, which can now be weaponized, from its shut-down Yongbyon power plant.