News of the Day (May 23)

Pelosi blasts U.S. policy toward Communist China: In what is arguably the most comprehensive criticism of “engagement” to come form a leading Washington politician, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) ripped PNTR and “all those geniuses who told us that if we just continue to engage in the same trade relationship with China that there would be freedom in China, and it would stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and they would stop engaging in unfair trade practices” (Agence France Presse via Taipei Times). She did not spare her own party, either, “The China policy of the United States – Democrats’ and Republicans’ alike – has been a total failure.” Pelosi has always been one of the most anti-Communists members of the House of Representatives; her words were music to our ears.

Eutelsat extends NTDTV negotiations to June 6: Eutelsat, the French satellite company that nearly cut off transmission of the dissident network New Tang Dynasty Television (sixth item, third item, eighth item), has extended the deadline for a new contract with the network to June 6, just after the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre (Epoch Times, which also had an editorial on what’s at stake).

Communist China will act against U.S. efforts to protect satellites: Communist China “takes U.S. plans to boost its space military capabilities very seriously and is likely to respond with energetic counter-measures of her own” (United Press Int’l via Washington Times). Of course, the Communists are spouting their desire to avoid “an arms race in outer space,” which would supposedly be triggered by American efforts to protect its communications satellites against attack. Care to guess who is most likely to attack?

Communist-owned oil firm may go after Unocal: The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) may take advantage of a floundering deal between Chevron and Unocal to make “a competing offer” (Time Asia) for Unocal, the ninth-largest oil firm on the planet. If successful, it would be a major coup for the Communist-owned CNOOC.

Communist Vice-Premier cancels meeting with Koizumi: Communist Vice-Premier Wu Yi “cancelled talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi which had been aimed at easing troubled ties” (BBC) stemming from cadre-inspired anti-Japan riots in Beijing and other cities. Wu claimed “domestic duties” forced her to return home. Shinzo Abe, a high-ranking official in Koizumi’s Liberal Democratic Party, scored the understatement of the day, “many people in Japan may feel it is rude.” Indeed.

Cadres to allow mainlanders to visit Taiwan, but elected government still shafted: Communist China has decided “lift a decades-old ban on mainland tourists visiting political rival Taiwan” (Washington Times, third item). However, given that “Taiwan has its own rules restricting mainland visitors,” this is likely just a public relations ploy. The Communists have repeatedly tried to divide Taiwan’s people from its elected government (lead item and second item). David Tawei Lee, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the U.S., talked to the Washington Times about how Communist China really treats the island democracy, as does the Taipei Times (via Washington Times). Roy Clancy (Calgary Sun) visits Taiwan and sees for himself the constant threat its people face.

Resignations pass 1.7 million: The Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party has now inspired over 1.7 million Party members to resign. Among them are branch secretary Zhao Jun and Hua Yi. Meanwhile, pro-democracy activists talked about the importance of the withdrawals to the Epoch Times (the source for the above links).

On Communist China and the United States: John Kusumi, Director Emeritus of the China Support Network, has a surprisingly soft column advocating a “nuanced way” of dealing with the Communists. Still, it’s better than William S. Lind, of the Free Congress Foundation, who throws Taiwan under the bus in the Washington Times. William Hawkins, of the U.S. business and Industry Council, does a far better job dealing with the diplomatic battle in Latin American (Washington Times). Michael Powell, Washington Post, examines the plight of one of the many victims of Communist China’s growing domination of the textile industry: Chinatown, New York.

Other Commentary on Communist China: Annette Lu, Vice President of Taiwan, presented the case for the island democracy having never been a part of Communist China to students of National Chengchi University. She cited the much discussed San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1952, which according to Richard Hartzell makes the case for Taiwan as a U.S. territory (next to last item). Lu sees it more as justification for Taiwanese independence (Epoch Times). Hannah Beech, Time Asia, examines the Communists’ growing influence on the economies of Southeast Asia (in particular Vietnam). Zengni, Epoch Times, details how Communist China’s stock markets have taken investors to the cleaners.

On Communist China and Stalinist North Korea: Roland Flamini (UPI/Washington Times), examines the state of the diplomacy on Stalinist North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, and finds that the Bush Administration “has recently toned down its anti-Pyongyang posture” in part to “encourage the Chinese” on this subject. Will they never learn?

SNK rips Japan for possible sanctions, U.S. for wrong Newsweek story: The Stalinist regime threatened a “dangerous phase of explosion” (Washington Post) if Japan imposed sanctions against the regime, something Japan has avoided despite “anger in Japan over Pyongyang's abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s combined with concern over its nuclear arms programs.” Meanwhile, the regime also parroted the Newsweek charge – since retracted – of American military desecration of the Muslim Koran (World Net Daily). Does anyone want to guess how the Stalinists would react to the mere presence of the Koran in northern Korea?

Mass shipment of fertilizer from South Korea to SNK begins: The first shipment of the nearly 200,000 tons of fertilizer promised to the Stalinists by the dovish government of South Korea is being loaded for delivery (CNN), despite the fact that South Korea received no promise for SNK to attend the floundering talks on its nuclear weapons.