News of the Day (July 6)

American Falun Gong practitioner receives death threat: Mitchell Gerber is a student at Georgia State University and a Falun Gong practitioner who has highlighted the Communist persecution against the practice. For that, an unnamed caller, through an unnamed translator, said this: “We will kill many more of your people in China, and kill you and anyone else who tries to come against our great nation” (Epoch Times).

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it will put an office in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing “aimed at enhancing cooperation on energy and nuclear energy security between the two countries” (United Press Int’l via Washington Times), and the Communist-run Xinhua news agency announced that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is headed to Beijing for talks on, among other things “the North Korean nuclear crisis” (UPI via Washington Times). Two questions: will Mr. Gerber’s plight be addressed, and regarding Stalinist North Korea – altogether now – will they never learn?

“Anti-terrorism” group led by Communist China wants U.S. out, Iran in: The Shanghai Cooperative Organization (SCO) which has a “stated focus . . . of combating terrorism and instability in Central Asia” (Cybercast News), completely undermined said purpose by inviting the mullahcracy of Iran to become an observer nation. The SCO –which consists of Communist China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan – also called “for the United States to set a date for withdrawing from military bases in Central Asia.” This move reveals the real reason Communist China created the SCO: to create a “Chinese NATO,” i.e., an anti-American Central Asian alliance.

Espionage in Europe known for two years: It turns out the Communist espionage network in Europe was known “for about two years” (Epoch Times), and merely confirmed by the unnamed defector to Belgium (third item). Why was no action taken? According to Claude Moniquet, CEO of European Strategic Intelligence Security Center, “The intelligence and security services in Europe are under high pressure from the politicians because the politicians don’t want any trouble with China. China is stealing the secrets and spying on the dissidents in Europe, but they have the possibility to sell what they want to sell to China.” Moniquet rightly called this “very short-term thinking.”

Communist China sells arms to Taiwan: The cadres agreed to a tanks-for-food deal with Thailand. UPI (via Washington Times, second item) started the story thusly, “China is now moving into a field previously monopolized by the West – arms exports.” Monopolized? That would be news to the mullahs of Iran and Saddam Hussein.

Sydney University of Technology tells the Communists to buzz off on Falun Gong: Communist China told the Sydney University of Technology (UTS) to remove any mention of a Falun Gong university club from its website. UTS initially buckled, but then reversed itself after hearing from outraged professors and students. Communist China then blocked the site, “which is expected to lower the number of incoming Chinese students, substantially affecting university revenue” (Epoch Times).

Japan moving ahead on missile defense: Japan announced plans to “its sea-based missile defense research project to the development stage in the coming fiscal year” (UPI via Washington Times). The move comes “after consultations in early June with Henry A. Oberling III, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.” There has yet to be a reaction from Communist China, but one can be assured they’re not happy.

Minister on trial for handing out Bibles: Cai Zhuohua, his wife, and two other members of the underground church of which he is a minister are all on trial for “illegal business practices” (BBC), i.e., printing and handing out Bibles. Cai has already spent ten months in prison, which has included torture with electric cattle prods (fifth item).

Maybe the Vatican didn’t appoint Xing after all: Earlier reports that the Vatican and the Communists had jointly appointed Xing Wenzhi as a bishop may have been in error. Liu Bainian, from Communist China’s “Patriotic Catholic Association,” insisted Xing was “elected by the masses” (UPI via Washington Times), i.e., picked by the cadres only.

CCP anniversary chills stock markets: According to investors willing to talk to the Epoch Times, the swoon in Communist China’s stock markets last Friday was caused by the date: July 1 – the anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.

On Jiang Zemin: The main beneficiary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, and the man who began Communist China’s continuing military buildup, is the subject of an in-depth biography from the Epoch Times. Here are the Introduction and the Prologue.

On Communist China and the United States: Jeffrey R. Nyquist has an excellent piece in Financial Sense Online on Bill Gertz’s recent exposés on Communist China’s plans for the U.S. Meanwhile, a fellow who calls himself “P. Gvaskov, scientist of China” writes in Pravda that Russia should work with Communist China and Japan against the U.S., and if that sounds nonsensical, then you already get the jist of the piece. Almost as bad is Robert Samuelson, Washington Post, who dismissively claims: “if we reflexively treat the Chinese as a threat . . . They will become a threat” (Um, Robert, they’re already a threat). Harold Meyerson’s answer veers a bit off course, but he comes down on the right side. Finally, Charles Q. Choi (UPI via Washington Times) sounds the alarm about the U.S. risking “its global lead in nanotechnology,” but maddeningly, he makes no mention of the military aspects of such (where in fact we remain far behind).

On Hong Kong: While this story from Thomas Olivier (Epoch Times) does not report anything new, the Hu Jintao/Donald Tsang puppet display was well worth the mention.