News of the Day (September 2)

Iran got nuclear weapons metal from Communist China: The anti-mullahcracy National Council of Resistance of Iran accused the Khameini regime of “smuggling 20kilos of beryllium from China in 2004 for use in the regime's nuclear weapons project” (Gulf Daily News, Bahrain). Beryllium is a “neutron reflector” metal “commonly used as the closest layer surrounding the fissile material in nuclear weapons. While NRCI says nothing about how Iran acquired the metal from Communist China, the Zhongnanhai regime has been instrumental in Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons.

Communist China to stay out of PSI: Meanwhile, the Communists continued to cast aspersions on the U.S.-inspired Proliferation Security Initiative, “citing concerns about the legality of interdictions” (United Press Int’l via Washington Times). The unspoken, but more plausible, problem the Communists had was “North Korea's sensitivities,” especially since the Stalinist regime is the main reason the PSI was founded (fourth item).

Syria looking for Stalinist Nodong missiles: Speaking of Stalinist North Korea, World Net Daily, citing the Congressional Research Service, reports that the Ba’athist, terrorist-sponsoring Syrian regime “may attempt to acquire longer-range systems such as the No-Dong MRBM” from SNK. Syria hosted current Communist leader Hu Jintao when he claimed Israel was an anti-Arab, “colonialist plot” (sixteenth item).

More on Stalinist North Korea: South Korea’s Foreign Minister says the Stalinists’ demand for civilian nuclear power could continue to derail efforts to reach a deal at the six-party nuclear talks (UPI via Washington Times) – as if a deal was a good thing. Two South Korean prisoners of war who escaped SNK decades later told their stories to Jong-Heon Lee (UPI via Washington Times).

As textile talks end without agreement, U.S. restricts more Communist imports: The trade talks between Communist China and the United States (fifth item) “failed to reach a comprehensive textile agreement” (UPI via Washington Times). Within hours, the U.S. “introduced further quotas on Chinese-made clothing exports” (BBC), in particular “bras and synthetic fabrics.” These restrictions are not the first placed by the U.S. on Communist textile exports after the end worldwide textile trade curbs on January 1 (fifth item), which led to a Communist export surge that has hit both American manufacturers and exporters from developing nations (fifth, fourth, and second items).

More on Communist China and the United States: Daniel Blumenthal, of the American Enterprise Institute, and Gary Schmitt, of the Project for the New American Century, rips the “sinologists and American government officials who would like an excuse for the problem of Taiwan to just go away” for their attempt to smear President Chen Shui-bian as being unserious about Taiwan’s defense and ignoring the role of the appeasement-tinged Kuomintang opposition (see second item for more on this).

Goldman Sachs buys chunk of Communist-owned bank: The cadres tricked Goldman Sachs, Allianz, and American Express out of $3 billion – ahem, sold a 10% stake in the Communist-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to the firms (BBC).

Resignations pass 4 million: Just before the number of resignations from the Chinese Communist Party inspired by the Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party passed four million, a rally was held in their support in New York (Epoch Times). This was the rally where John Patrick made his comments reported here, fourth item.

UN human rights official “guardedly optimistic” about Communist China: United Nations human rights commissioner Louise Arbour told the media she was “guardedly optimistic about the enormous potential for positive change” (BBC) in Communist China. She later went further into Pollyannaville: “I think there is no question that there has been an opening, particularly on political and social rights, which is starting, I think, to permeate throughout the country.” Obviously, she never saw Hanyuan County.

Canadian Supreme Court denies Lai Changxing asylum: Canada’s Supreme Court “refused a plea for refugee status by a man described by the Chinese government as its most wanted fugitive” (BBC). That man would be Lai Changxing, purported to be at the center of the massive Xiamen smuggling scandal. Lai’s only chance to avoid being sent back to Communist China lies with the Canadian immigration board.

Ignorant Comment of the Day: I have to hit another National Review Online blogger – this time TKS author Jim Geraghty. In a post on Able Danger, Geraghty badly mangled a report that some of the folks working on Able Danger were canned after putting together a chart on Communist China’s technology swindling that included current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: “One could easily see Able Danger’s assessments about al-Qaeda terrorists on U.S. soil being ignored, if they were also putting forward politically-explosive and wacky accusations too.” Perhaps if he had actually read the piece (or our summary of it, third item), he would find there was “no suggestion that Rice or any of the others had done anything wrong.” Sloppy, Jim, really sloppy.

More commentary on Communist China: The Epoch Times reprints in full the speech of Ethan Gutmann, author of Losing the New China (and Member since 2004) to the Taipei China Investment Forum (first reported here, fourth item); they also reprint the remarks of former cadre Professor Yuan Hongbing at the “Where the Chinese Economy is Headed” forum in Australia. Genevieve Long, Epoch Times, documents the jailing of her colleagues in Communist China.