News of the Day (March 27)

From the China Freedom Blog Alliance: Shaun Kenney includes East Turkestan's defense of religious freedom in the Virginia Blog Carnival. China Intel singes the Bush Administration over the Hutchison Whampoa port deal, notes the State Department's decision to buy Communist computers (Lenovo, actually, remember them? - second item), pointedly (and correctly) criticizes Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's plans for relations with the Communists, and cites the Communist military buildup as evidence of the need for a missile defense system. The Korea Liberator welcomes pianist Kim Chul-Woong into the democratic world, praises talk of a possible indictment against Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il for the regime's counterfeiting, ponders Stalinist North Korea's attempt to wait the Bush Administration out, and laments the political situation in South Korea (including possible complicity by some South Koreans in the Stalinist abduction of Japanese).

More on the Hutchison Whampoa fiasco: Congressman Dana Rohrabacher gave the port deal a much-needed rhetorical double-barrel (Los Angeles Chronicle); Charles Smith (Newsmax) examines the larger issue of Communist China and ports in general - and it's even worse than you think.

More on Taiwan - Vatican moves and Mayor Ma: The Vatican is playing diplomatic footsie with the Communists again (United Press Int'l via Washington Times), and strongly hinting that Taiwan will soon join the Shanghai underground Church as victims of the rapprochement (last item). Meanwhile, to see a report on Mayor Ma without the probing question China Intel asks, see Bill Powell and Tim Culpan of Time Asia.

More on the satellite regimes: What is a gift not a gift? When Kim Jong-il can't take any credit for it (Daily NK); money may be the "root of all evil," but it may also be the seed of a free northern Korea, according to Young Howard of Open Radio for North Korea (via Daily NK). Meanwhile, Robert Kagan (Washington Post) makes another eloquent case for liberating the Iranian people, but the Administration seems more interested in striking a deal with the mullahs on Iraq - an error Claude Salhani (UPI via Washington Times) rightly blasts.

News of the Sujiatun horror continues to spread, reaching Toronto Sun columnist Peter Worthington over the weekend (although he got the source wrong). Rallies against the organ-harvesting camp (lead, seventh, second, seventh, third, and fourth items) were held in New York, San Francisco, and Seoul, South Korea (all rallies covered by Epoch Times). Human-rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng (sixth, tenth, fifth, lead, third, last, twelfth, eighth, third, second, third, eighth, eleventh, eighth, fourth, fourth, last, fourth, fifth, twelfth, fifth, second, lead, next to last, seventh, last, next to last, lead, second, last, sixth, tenth, eighth, second, eighth, ninth, lead, sixth, eighth, and seventh items), spoke out against the camp (Epoch Times), which won him the praise of a group calling itself the Tangshan City Great Alliance of Morality (Epoch Times). Shizhong Chen, co-founder of the Conscience Foundation, also blasted the camp (Epoch Times).

East Turkestan statement against organ-harvesting also spreading: The Epoch Times noted the strong statement by the East Turkestan government-in-exile against this hideous practice (second item).

More on human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party: Gao Zhisheng recounts his attempts to defend the rights of his clients, and the Communist regime's efforts to stop him, in an open letter to the Communist legislature (Epoch Times). Reporters Without Borders (via Boxun) rips the arrest of filmmaker Hao Wu. Robert T. McLean, of the Center for Security Policy, details how Communist China is bending the internet to its will in Front Page Magazine.

Guangdong cadres seize peasants' land - again: Today it's Aoshi, a small village "on the edge of fast-growing Yunfu city" (Washington Post).

Communist-owned gas well spring a leak, causing explosion: The leaking gas well in Chongqing "forced 11,500 villagers to evacuate their homes" (BBC) and "triggered a huge explosion." The well was "run by the Chuandong Drilling Company, owned by China's largest oil firm" - i.e., a regime-owned firm.

Communist China lists "Five Major Hostile Forces": They were the usual suspects - "(1) international anti-China/anti-communist organizations; (2) international hostile organizations (42 international and regional organizations were named); (3) Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang separatist forces; (4) cults and anti-China/anti-communist religious forces; and (5) hostile forces in exile" (Cheng Ming via Epoch Times).

Hu Jintao's visit Washington causing trouble before it even happens: Communist China is determined to call the Washington visit by its leader Hu Jintao a "state visit." However, the U.S. disputes that, calling it only an "official visit" (Washington Times). Either way, Hu still gets a 21-gun salute.

More on Communist China and the United States: Austin Ramzy (Time Asia) interviews Senator Charles Schumer (co-sponsor of the currency corrective tariff - fifth, eighth, and eighth items), and the "ping-pong diplomacy" participants are back in Beijing (BBC).

Zimbabwe to set up special office for "brothers" from Communist China: The Mugabe dictatorship "ordered the police to set up a special desk in Harare to offer special treatment and service to Chinese nationals in the country" (ZWNews, Zimbabwe). Mugabe has long been supported by Communist China.

Hao Fengjun discusses Communist espionage in New Zealand: Former Communist 610 officer Hao Fengjun visited a seminar on Communist China in Auckland to discuss the regime's espionage network there. His speech was reprinted by the Epoch Times.

More on Communist China and the rest of the world: William R. Hawkins, of the U.S. Business and Industry Council, examines Communist China's role in the Darfur outrage (Washington Times).