News of the Day (July 18)

We have a new feature: the Ignorant Comment of the Day. It will be as regular as the number of ignorant, silly, or naïve comments on Communist China are, which to say it can be expected every day.

On Communist China and the War on Terror: As the issue of Communist China’s support for our enemies in the war on terror finally gets some traction (Friendly Blog Shotgun), Cong Rong, Epoch Times, finds that Communist internet censors just happen to be very lenient on domestic posts loudly praising the July 7 terrorist attack in London: “People who don't know the situation in China might have the impression that they are visiting a Web site for terrorists.” Meanwhile, Samina Ahmed and Andrew Stroehlein,
of the International Crisis Group, find that the promises from longtime Communist ally Pakistan to crack down on the virulently pro-terrorist madrassas has largely rung hollow, and for good reason: Pakistani strongman Pervez Musharraf “needs the religious parties to bolster his military dictatorship against the democratic forces seeking to reverse his 1999 coup” (Washington Post). Finally, as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh comes to Washington, Patrick Goodenough (Cybercast News), details India’s common interests with the U.S. in both fighting terrorism and confronting Communist China.

Reaction to Communist general’s nuke threat: The United States ripped Communist General Zhu Chenghu’s threat to go nuclear against the U.S. should it come to Taiwan’s defense as “highly irresponsible” (Bill Gertz, Washington Times). Communist China responded by insisting Zhu’s comments were “personal” (Cybercast News), but it would not “allow anybody with any means to separate Taiwan from the motherland.” Of course, Zhu himself also insisted his views were “personal” at the time he made them (Time Asia), and his position as head of the Communist National Defense University's College of Defense Studies lead many to believe that “personal” means less than meets the eye. One of them is Charls R. Smith, who called Zhu’s words “a wake-up call” and ended his excellent Newsmax column thusly: “The policy of appeasement, feeding the dragon in the hopes it will not devour us, is a failure. It is time to show communist China for what it is: an "evil empire" bent on world domination.” Also reporting: BBC

EU leader says arms ban stays unless rights improve in Communist China: José Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission, “urged China to take effective measures to improve human rights and begin a dialogue with Taiwan before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games” (AsiaNews). He went further to say “that the (arms) ban would stay in place until the country’s human rights situation is improved.” It was the strongest statement from a European official on the embargo, and a clear sign that Jacques Chirac and Gerhardt Schroeder’s bid to lift it has completely run aground. Also reporting: BBC

Communists seizing domestic oil ventures: Over a decade ago, counties in Communist China “sold mineral rights to citizens for around $10,000 per square kilometer” (Time Asia). In response, “Entire villages often pooled their money to invest in rights and rigs.” This being Communist China, it didn’t last long: “The State Council in 1999 declared the independent wells illegal and ordered a ‘rectification.’ Over the next several years, the wildcat wells were steadily taken over by the government.” Complaints about seizures and inadequate compensation were met with arrest – so much for “private” enterprise.

Resignations pass 3 million: The Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party (reviewed by Bina Bektiati, Tempo via Epoch Times) has inspired over 3 million Party members to quit since its publication nine monthhs ago (Epoch Times).

Tibet Communist praises Buddhism, but disses Dalai Lama: Qiangba Puncog, head of Communist-occupied “Autonomous” Tibet, praised Buddhism as a faith that “could play a role in bringing harmony to Chinese society” (United Press Int’l via Washington Times). Of course, Communist China has its own “official” Buddhism that answers to the Party. As for Tibet’s Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, the cadre has this to say: “Unless he gives up his efforts to split China there is no need to talk of his role in China.”

Taipei Mayor wins race to lead Kuomintang: Ma Ying-jeou, Mayor of Taipei, was elected leader of the Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party over the weekend. Ma has been critical of Communist China in the past, but he “would continue a process begun by the current chairman, Lien Chan, who made an historic visit to China in April and worked to push for closer ties with the mainland” (BBC). If Ma really mean to follow in Lien’s footseps, we can expect more failures for his party, which has lost millions of voters to President Chen Shui-bian’s anti-Communist Democratic Progressive Party (fourth item).

On Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun: The former Communist consular officer who defected with evidence of Communist overseas espionage and the ex-cop who worked in the anti-Falun Gong 610 office before he escaped (third and fifth items) spoke to Sarah Ferguson of MSN. Meanwhile, an anonymous Communist consular officer in Eastern Europe told Lin Chong and Yang Xiaomei (Epoch Times), that “many Chinese consulate workers . . . are just waiting for their chance to escape to freedom. None of them really wish to continue working for a government that is an enemy to its own people.” We repeat our call for the U.S. to grant Hao Fengjun asylum.

On Communist China and the United States: George Friedman, Stratfor, has a good piece in the Jewish World Review discussing the economic weakness in Communist China and how it has fueled the cadres’ saber-rattling on Taiwan. Meanwhile, Alan Reynolds, of the Cato Institute, has a far worse column on Communist China’s bid for Unocal in the Washington Times.

Ignorant Comment of the Day – On Communist China and Stalinist North Korea: Michael O’Hanlon, Time Asia, takes the newly minted China e-Lobby prize with this whopper: “North Korea needs to move the way Vietnam and China have in the past quarter-century—gradually liberalizing their economies and even their politics, cutting back on military forces, improving human rights.”

Members of Congress call for softer tone on SNK: Representatives Tom Lantos (Democrat – California) and Ron Paul (Republican – Texas) called for “U.S. negotiators to change their tone from the past when six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program resume July 25” (UPI via Washington Times). Unfortunately, they consider the last U.S. position to be too harsh. Will they never learn?

South Korea and SNK to hook up cables for video reunions: The dovish South Korean government agreed to “video reunions” for families separated by the Korean War. A Stalinist mouthpiece called the agreement “the foundation for accelerating inter-Korean exchanges” (BBC). There have been a few reunions in recent years, but now the Stalinists can milk all the emotions from them without risking any of the people under their thumb actually physically meeting any relative from the South outside their control.