News of the Day (August 8)

SNK talks in “recess” as Japan mulls their own nuclear weapons: After nearly two weeks, the talks on Stalinist North Korea’s nucelar weapons are in a three-week “recess.” What held up the agreement to a “statement of principles” was “whether North Korea should be allowed civilian nuclear power after dismantling its weapons programs” (Cybercast News). Communist China, the Stalinists’ best friend and the host of the talks, insisted “mutual understanding, broader common ground and positive progress” (BBC) were achieved. Of course, given that the U.S. has already made huge concessions while the Stalinists – who still get to build and hide their nuclear weapons – haven’t budged, the Communists would see that as “positive progress” indeed. Meanwhile, dovish South Korea “vowed to make all-out diplomatic efforts during a three-week recess to bridge gaps over how to end the North Korea's nuclear weapons program” (United Press Int’l via Washington Times). We’ve asked before; we ask again: Will they never learn? The talks failure likely added the momentum in Japan to build its own nuclear deterrent, momentum noted by Lucille Craft (Washington Times). Also reporting: CNN

Communist China can hit U.S. cities, but Boeing still sells to them: One of the less-discussed parts of the Pentagon’s report on Communist China is the fact that the regime “has the capability of targeting nuclear weapons throughout most of the world, including the continental United States” (Epoch Times). This didn’t seem to phase Boeing, who sold over foty 787 “Drreamliners” to Communist China (BBC).

Communists kill 98 practitioners last month, get sued for actions in U.S.: According to Clearwisdom.net (cited by the Epoch Times), “from July 20, 1999 to July 2005 . . . there have been 2,739 confirmed cases of Falun Gong practitioners being tortured to death. 98 cases were confirmed in July 2005.” Meanwhile, the Communists’ efforts to watch and abuse Falun Gong practitioners here in the United States has led to a RICO lawsuit against the regime (Epoch Times). At a rally marking the sixth anniversary of the beginnging of the crackdown, Representatives Tom Lantos (D-California) and Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida) condemned the Communists (both reprinted by Epoch Times).

Woe Canada! Xiaoping Hu is a Falun Gong practitioner who has also “renounced communism” (Edmonton Sun) and has already suffered a stint of Communist torture before she escaped to Canada. Despite this, the Canadian government seems determined to send her back to Communist China – in fact, it may have done so already. David Kilgour, a Member of Parliamant who left the governing Liberal Party eariler this year, was livid: “I worry enormously that we place so much stress on our trade relationship with China that matters of human rights tend to get put aside” (Epoch Times).

Malaysia confiscates Epoch Times again: In order to “maintain the Malaysia-China relationship,” the Malaysian government has now banned the Epoch Times, again, and has resumed seizing the paper’s editions (see also sixth item).

“Pig disease” death rate up to 39: In the latest on the disease the Communists call “pig fever” and at least one doctor says is actualy Ebola (fourth item), “The number of human infections has risen to 214 cases and the death toll has hit 39” (Central News Agency, Taiwan, via Epoch Times). The World Health Organization continues to be shut out by the cadres, leading many to suspect a SARS-like coverup.

Resignations pass 3.5 million: The Epoch Times speaks to one of the oldest ex-Communists – Yu Lisheng, a former clerk in the Communist Air Force.

Ignorant Comment of the Day: Sebastian Mallaby, Washington Post, actually does a good job exposing Communist China’s ties to corrupt, resource-rich regimes (he uses Sudan and Zimbabwe as examples). However, he earned the prize by claiming the Communists are driven to do this due to “congressional bullying” about Unocal.

More on Communist China and the United States: Ellen Bork, of the Project for the New American Century, highlights and laments the plight of Uighur detainees in Guantanamo who have already been cleared by the U.S. military, but have nowhere to go. In the Weekly Standard, she calls for them to be granted asylum in the U.S. (we emphatically agree with her on this).

On the 2008 Olympic Games: Catherine Armitage, in the Australian, sees the Communists’ tyranny already getting in the way of a smoothly-run Olympiad – all the more reason the United States should not be there.

On Communist China and the rest of the world: Asahi Shimbun (cited by the Washington Times) calls on Japan to “pay sufficient attention to its home turf among Asian countries” to block Communist China’s power and ambitions. Meanwhile, Sam Logan and Ben Bain (ISN Security Watch – Switzerland) examine Communist China’s economic and geopolitical forays into South America.