News of the Day (June 6)

Ex-Communist Envoy in Australia defects, cites mass spying on dissidents: Chen Yonglin, formerly the political affairs attaché at China's consulate-general in Sydney, Australia, asked for political asylum after he could “no longer support the CCP’s persecution” (Epoch Times). Chen’s job had been to oversee the Communist surveillance of “the activities of dissident Chinese groups, including Falun Gong practitioners and supporters of Tibet, Taiwan and Uighur separatists in western China” (that’s East Turkestan to you, CNN). Despite the obvious persecution Chen would face by blowing the whistle on this overseas spying – which included “up to 1,000 Chinese spies” (BBC) – the Australian government “tried to persuade him to return to the consulate and had even phoned his superiors” (Cybercast News). Chen promptly went into hiding until last Friday, when he spoke at a Sydney rally marking the anniversary of the massacre of Tiananmen Square (BBC). Meanwhile, many are asking what the Australian government, which denied Chen asylum, was thinking, and are increasingly worried that a future Australia-Communist China free-trade agreement may be the answer (fifth item). This quarter fervently believes the U.S. should step in and grant Chen asylum, now.

Tiananmen Square remembered by anti-Communists and justified by cadres: Hong Kong (BBC, Washington Post) and Washington, D.C. (Epoch Times) held gatherings to remember the brave souls who died for freedom on June 4, 1989. Meanwhile, in the face of an official U.S. request for “a reexamination of Tiananmen” (Cybercast News), Communist China insisted the bloody massacre was the right thing to do, and for good measure, “accused Washington of interfering in another country's internal affairs” (BBC).

Rumsfeld questions Communist military buildup and calls for open government: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld publicly questioned Communist China’s continuing military buildup, and pointedly challenged the cadres regarding its menacing position on Taiwan: “If everyone agrees the question of Taiwan is going to be settled in a peaceful way, why this increase in ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan?” (Cybercast News). Rumsfeld went further, calling on the regime to “embrace some form of open, representative government” (BBC). He also noted that the Communist military budget is the third largest in the world, behind the U.S. and Russia. The one sour note came during Q&A, when he told a cadre that “that the U.S. did not feel threatened by China's rise.”

HK Legislators pressure regime on Ching Cheong: Members of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council called for the Communist-appointed city regime “to do all it can to help a Hong Kong reporter detained in mainland China and accused of spying” (Voice of America). Said reporter, Ching Cheong, is currently in jail for “obtaining state secrets” (second item) – in this case a manuscript of interviews with Zhao Ziyang, the late Communist leader who became a prisoner for his opposition to the Tiananmen massacre.

Dissident released after ten years in prison: Chen Youcai was jailed for forming an opposition party in Guizhou (Central News Agency, Taiwan via Epoch Times).

Power shortages continue in Zhejiang; LNG supply may be affected: Cadres in Zhejiang province are putting together “contingency measures” (United Press Int’l via Washington Times, third item) to combat “the most-severe power shortages in its history.” Several Communist provinces have suffered power shortages in recent years. As a result, the bountiful supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Communist China could vanish quickly (same UPI link, fourth item).

U.S. and Communist China hold talks on textiles: Negotiators from the United States and Communist China are in talks “to try to solve a damaging row over textiles” (BBC). The talks take place amid U.S. restrictions Communist textile exports that have surged recently due to currency devaluation and wage suppression (second item, fifth item).

Ugly Communist exhibit in San Fransisco; support for quitting cadres in San Diego: The Masonic Center in San Francisco (Full disclosure: yours truly is a direct descendant of the founder of the Antimasonic Party of Western New York) hosted an exhibit of 21 corpses sponsored by Communist China. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Communists were less than honest about the source of the bodies for the sickening “World under the Skin” display – and the Masonic hosts “were not allowed to talk about where the corpses came from” (Epoch Times). Contrast this to a public gathering in San Diego to “support for 2 million Chinese who have taken a step towards freedom by publicly withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party” (Epoch Times).

Buy this book now (well after Dragon in the Dark)! Donald Morrison, Time Asia, reviews Mao: The Unknown Story: “Just so you know where they stand, Jung Chang and Jon Halliday declare in the very first sentence of their impeccably detailed biography of Mao Zedong that he ‘was responsible for well over 70 million deaths in peacetime, more than any other 20th-century leader.’ And that's one of the more positive things they have to say about the man” What else do you need to know about the book?

On Communist China and the United States: Radio host Geoff Metcalf, in Newsmax, details Communist China’s threat to the U.S. Sebastian Mallaby, Washington Post, agrees that “China's political system is odious, and its arms buildup is menacing,” but maddeningly refuses to consider either point while he defends the Communists’ trade record. Worse still is Azam S. Ahmed (UPI via Washington Times) whose supposed column on Communist China and Taiwan becomes a platform for long-time “engagement” flack Ken Lieberthal. For a more realistic assessment, check out Brad Carson’s Epoch Times report on the comments of Ethan Guttman – author of Losing the New China – and others at the Pasadena forum on the Nine Commentaries.

More on the Nine Commentaries: Xin Fei, Epoch Times, interviewed Li Hongkuan, publisher of the anti-Communist VIP Reference, about the effect of the Nine Commentaries and the over two million withdrawals from the Chinese Communist Party.

On the Falun Gong War: Peter Valk is a Dutch national, Falun Gong pracititioner, and for two days was a prisoner of Communist China. He tells his story to the Epoch Times.

On “China’s Spring Chill”: That was the (well-deserved) title Time Asia gave Hannah Beech’s column on the arrests of Ching Cheong and Zhao Yan.

On the danger of investing in Communist China: Lin Dan, Xie Zongyan and Chen Xiuwen (New Tang Dynasty Television via Epoch Times) talked to economist-turned-dissident He Qinglian about the Communist-imposed pitfalls for outside investors. Matthew Forney, Time Asia, examines the mass counterfeiting in Communist China, and the cadres unwillingness to do anything about it.

Rice gently criticizes Defense “official” about Security Council action on SNK: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice responded to a “senior defense official” who told the Washington Post that “a decision on referring (Stalinist North Korea) to the United Nations would be made within weeks” thusly: “idea that within weeks we are going to decide one way or another is a little forward-leaning.” Given Communist China’s veto power on the Security Council, the UN idea isn’t worth very much anyway.