News of the Day (November 15)

From the China Freedom Blog Alliance: Member One Free Korea takes note of another Stalinist crossing of the Northern Limit Line, finds a South Korean poltician he acutally likes, rips one he doesn’t (and deservedly so), and sees signs of hope from House Int’l Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde and, of all things, the State Department.

Bush begins Asia tour in Japan: President Bush is now in Japan for the first leg of his Asia trip, which will include three days in Communist China. There was plenty of commentary on the President’s trip. The best came from Frank Gaffney, Jr., whose Washington Times piece easily wins the Enlightened Comment of the Day. The Ignorant Comment of the Day, ironically enough, comes from the Washington Times editors, who advise Bush to “huddle with the Chinese on a strategy for confronting the North Korean nuclear threat, which concerns Beijing as it concerns Washington” (will they never learn?). Meanwhile, Michael Scroccaro, in the Epoch Times, has seven excellent questions for the President vis a vis Communist China. Peter Brookes of the Heritage Foundation has high praise for Bush’s policy toward Japan in Cybercast News. John Barry (Newsweek) and Peter Baker (Washington Post) examine how Communist China’s rise will, or at least should, be a major issue for the President. Finally, Edward Lanfranco, United Press Int’l via Washington Times, gives a quick reminder of the failings of the elder President Bush vis a vis Communist China.

U.S. Trade Representative calls on Communist China to stop piracy, open markets: U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman called on Communist China to “open more to our exports and investment” (UPI via Washington Times) and “act vigorously to address intellectual property infringement” (UPI via Washington Times), i.e., end counterfeiting.

Zimbabwe gets Communist help in jamming opposition radio broadcasts: As part of its policy of making the world safe for dictators, Communist China is helping Zimbabwe jam the radio transmissions of Voice of the People, an independent Zimbabwean radio station (Reporters Without Borders). Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe has rapidly lost support from the rest of the world, but Communist China is sticking by him (third, sixth, sixth, seventh, sixth, ninth, second, and ninth items).

British Parliament hears about abuses in Communist China; cadre avoids lawsuit: During Hu Jintao’s visit to Great Britain (third item), “a seminar in Parliament discussed how to address the human rights abuses still rife in the regime” (Epoch Times). Among those who spoke were Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun. Meanwhile, Communist Commerce Minister Bo Xilai (third item) was saved from a Falun Gong practitioner lawsuit by a British magistrate who cited diplomatic immunity (Epoch Times).

Communist China and South Korea locked in kimchi trade battle: South Korea recently stopped importing kimchi from Communist China for health reasons: “parasite eggs were found in three of the products” (Epoch Times). Communist China responded with a ban of all kimchi imports from South Korea, citing the same health issue, despite the fact that Korean kimchi “has not had any problem passing the high standards of quality and the testing procedure in Japan.”

Uighur editor arrested for publishing story Communists don’t like: Korash Huseyin, chief editor at Kashgar Literature Journal, is now in jail for three years for “publishing the original short story ‘Wild Pigeon’ by Nurmuhemmet Yasin, currently serving a 10-year sentence for inciting Uighur separatism by writing it” (Radio Free Asia via Epoch Times). Meanwhile, the fate of Uighurs caught by the U.S. military in the War on Terror came up again, this time in a National Review Online column by Andrew C. McCarthy. It should be noted that as McCarthy and Sabin Willet argue the issue of Guantanamo Bay (second item), neither consider it to be the proper home for the innocent Uighur captives.

House church offers support for Gao Zhisheng and others: The Poshang Village Family Church, one of the myriad of “underground” churches that refuse to put the Chinse Communist Party between themselves and their God, offers an open letter of support – reprinted by the Epoch Times – for attorney Gao Zhisheng (sixth, tenth, fifth, and lead items), Dr. Fan Yafeng, Dr. Teng Biao, attorney Zhang Xingshui, attorney Jin Xiaoguang, Professor Wang Yi, Dr. Xu Zhiyong, and Mr. Cheng Yongmiao.

Communists will honor Hu Yaobang, but refuse to say where or when: In another comical atttempt to pass themselves off as “reformers,” the Communists intend “to mark for the first time the birthday of former leader Hu Yaobang, whose death in 1989 was a catalyst for the Tiananmen Square protests” (BBC). Of course, the bloddy crackdown against said protests themselves are still praised to the skies by the cadres. Meanwhile, the Communists couldn’t bother to mention when or where Hu will be honored.

Communist China to try massive poultry vaccination to fight bird flu: The latest Communist attempt to stem the H5N1 bird flu virus now includes a plan to “vaccinate all of its estimated 14 billion poultry” (BBC). Meanwhile, another outbreak hit occupied East Turkestan, and the World Health Organization is still “investigating the possible transmission of the disease to four people in Hunan province.” That refers to the case of He Yin, the twelve-year-old girl whose body was cremated after she died (eighth item).

On the Communist economy: Communist China is starting to worry about industrial overproduction, particularly in steel and cars (BBC). Xiong Jianjun, Epoch Times, finds the best way the Communists can help the economy: “doing nothing.” George Wehrfritz, Joe Cochrane, and Jonathan Ansfield (Newsweek) actually do a nice job analyzing the causes of rural poverty in Communist China, but miss the solution: ending the CCP reign.