News of the Day (August 24)

Fifteen Uighurs at Guantanamo are cleared, but have nowhere to go: This is a heart-rendering piece by Robin Wright, Washington Post (via MSNBC), for several reasons: the plight of the fifteen Uighurs who had no intention to harm a single American soul; the idiocy of the Bush Administration’s treatment of them (is there nowhere in Guantanamo where they can be housed besides the prison?), and the lingering annoyance of Wright calling them “Chinese Muslims.” Their actual nationality is East Turkestani.

Commission on Communist China hit for ignoring certain issues: The K Street project has criticized the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission for focusing on trade issues and becoming “a lobbying arm of the AFL-CIO, usurping 3 million (in) taxpayer dollars” (Bill Gertz, Washington Times). The Project called on Congress to “restore the security requirements of the commission so that it conducts more research into Chinese military issues.” It should be noted that while the concern on the Communist military is certainly not without merit, the K Street Project “is affiliated with Americans for Tax Reform, headed by conservative activist Grover Norquist,” and known for opposing any action against Communist China’s predatory trade policies.

Communist Chinese ally admits his scientist sent centrifuges to SNK: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf admitted to Japan’s Kyodo News Agency that A.Q. Khan, the now-disgraced scientist who was the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program “supplied North Korea with centrifuges and their designs” (BBC). While Musharraf tried to down play Khan’s role, even he admitted such a transaction meant Khan had a role in “enriching the uranium to weapons grade.” Both Pakistan and Stalinist North Korea have been allies of Communist China for over half a century.

Kazakh Foreign Minister tried to get U.S. bid for PetroKazakhstan: Sometimes, when news such as PetroKazakhstan’s sale to Communist China (third item) comes to light, one is tempted to wonder what the host country (the Canadian firm operated entirely in Kazakhstan) is thinking. Well, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev gave the Washington Times the answer: “he encouraged a U.S. executive to bid on PetroKazakhstan, but the executive told him, ‘It's very difficult to compete with the Chinese.’” The unnamed executive’s timidity aside, one has to admit the Kazakhs at least tried to keep the firm out of Communist hands. As for the Canadian government, well, let’s just not go there (third and third items).

Other “Great Game” (Central Asia) News: It was a busy day in Central Asia, where the geopolitical battle between the U.S. and Communist China has brought back the nineteenth century phrase “the Great Game” (thus its place in the title). Cao Gangchuan, Communist Defense Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Central Military Commission, “met with Tajik, Kyrgyz and Kazakh defense officials observing Sino-Russian military exercises” (United Press Int’l via Washington Times) and called for closer military ties with the fellow Shanghai Cooperation Organization (third item) members (UPI via Washington Times, last item). Russia seemed to be on board (Newsmax), but Kazakhstan may be getting skittish – its aforementioned foreign minister rebuked an earlier SCO call (third item) for a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan (Washington Times).

Communist China has 10 to 1 edge in science graduates: In an address to the AFCEA Technology Showcase conference in Fort Lauderdale, USMC Lt. Gen. Robert M. Shea noted that Communist China graduated 600,000 students in hard sciences, a number 10 times the size of the graduates in the United States (UPI via Washington Times).

What happened to the other seven percent? A poll sponsored by the Communist newspaper China Daily found that “more than 93% of the Chinese people questioned said Japan should take most or all of the responsibility for the worsening of relations” (BBC). The fate of the nearly seven percent brave enough not to blame Japan was not discussed.

Communists prepare for another money grab: Of course, they’re calling it a “sale of state-owned shares” (BBC). Over 1,300 firms will sell pieces of themselves on the market, but “there were few details of how this would be done,” and, of course, no mention of any firms that would put up a majority stake.

On Communist China slamming the door shut on foreign media: Meanwhile, Xiang Ling, Epoch Times, gives foreign media a well-deserved blast for being so “willing to grovel before this tyranny” in the hope of entering the Communist media market – a market the Communists recently slammed shut (second item).

On Taiwan: Ben Hurley, Epoch Times, rips the Australian government for doing the Communists’ bidding and helping them isolate the island democracy from the world.

Where not to eat: A Washington Post review of TemptAsian Café unwittingly gives the reason no one should eat there: “a framed photograph of the new restaurant's chef, Peter Chang, alongside a beaming Hu Jintao.” Hasn’t Chang heard of the Hanyuan Massacre?

More on Stalinist North Korea: Representatives of SNK and South Korea’s Red Cross organizations met for “three days of talks expected to focus on hundreds of South Korean prisoners of war and abductees believed held in North Korea” (Mainichi Group, Japan). Over 500 South Korean veterans of the Korean War are still in SNK prisons, and nearly 500 civilians from the democratic South have been abducted by the Stalinists.