News of the Day (May 25)

Supporter of EU arms ban on Communist China leading German polls: According to a Politbarometer poll in Germany, Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder, Jacques Chirac’s partner-in-crime on lifting the European Union arms embargo against Communist China, is more than twenty points behind his leading opponent, Angela Merkel (Cybercast News). Merkel has come out against Schroeder’s unsuccessful efforts to kill the embargo, saying the move “would endanger trans-Atlantic defense cooperation.” Schroeder has set in motion a procedure to force an election this fall, one year early.

Uzbek leader gets full Communist backing for crackdown: Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov is in Communist China, where he won full support for “a bloody crackdown on protesters at home” (BBC), in the midst of what U.S. State department spokesman Richard Boucher called “increasingly organized and increasingly persistent” calls for an investigation into the crackdown. The Communists also trumpeted “its own crackdown on alleged Muslim militants” in East Turkestan, the independent nation are suffering under Communist occupation for 56 years (twelfth item, next to last item).

Communist China shuts out NTDTV from Australia event: Wu Bangguo, head of Communist China’s rubber-stamp parliament, visited New South Wales Governor Marie Bashir. Media coverage of the event was to include New Tang Dynasty Television, until Communist China got a hold of the media list; the dissident-run network was then told they were “not allowed because there was no room” (Epoch Times).

Tibetan monks sent to jail for flying their nations’ flag: Lobsang Khedrup and Gyalpo are two Tibetan Buddhist monks sentenced to prison for 11 years. Their crime was flying the Tibetan national flag (Radio Free Asia via Epoch Times). Like East Turkestan, Tibet is an independent nation that has been occupied by Communist China for over 50 years.

Hong Kong acting Chief Executive begins “campaign” for post: Donald Tsang, the acting Chief Executive of Hong Kong ever since Tung Chee-hwa resigned, “stepped down to start campaigning for the permanent job as leader” (BBC). Given that Tsang has the backing of the Communists who control the 800-person panel that “elects” the Chief, the outcome is not in doubt. However, many in the city “resent the interference of Beijing in an issue they argue should have been left to Hong Kong to decide.”

Wei Jingsheng examines the state of affairs: In an excellent, wide-ranging interview with Wang Lulu (Epoch Times), exiled dissident Wei Jingsheng discusses Communist China’s thirst for Taiwan, the likelihood of war, the role of Stalinist North Korea, and how it could all lead to World War III unless the Communists are removed from power.

On Trade with Communist China: Robert Samuelson, Newsweek, and George Mason University professor Anthony Williams, in World Net Daily, lament those of us who worry about the yawning trade deficit with Communist China. Although Samuelson acknowledges the Communists’ deliberately devalued currency is an issue that must be address, neither examine the national security implications of the trade imbalance.

Woe Canada! The Kevin Steel, Western Standard (Canada), gives damning detail of Communist China’s ties to Canada’s governing Liberal Party.

Another attempted resignation from beyond the grave: Chen Difei tells the story of his father Chen Xinpan, both a Party member and Party victim, and in a touching gesture makes a “withdrawal from the party on my father’s behalf, hoping that his soul can be soothed and extricated from the evil’s shackles for ultimate rebirth” (Epoch Times).