News of the Day (March 7)

From the China Freedom Blog Alliance: Between Heaven and Earth has an excellent analysis of the true situation in Communist China today. The Korea Liberator examines the South Korean political situation, its future impact on the U.S.-South Korea alliance, the question of Stalinism as a cult, and the latest news.

More on the satellite regimes: As millions die of starvation, one man already dead - Stalinist North Korea founder Kim Il Sung - rests in an nearly $9 billion mausoleum built against his own wishes by his heir (Daily NK). Meanwhile, Communist China finds the boilerplate language on Iran (BBC); look for it to be used over and over again to trick those unaware of the Communists' history with the mullahcracy.

Did the Communists try to cover up the murder of an American citizen in Beijing? According to Agence France Presse (via China Post, Taiwan), Communist police attempted to cover up the murder of Tina Tai, an American citizen and "wife of an engineer with a U.S. energy firm" who "she died of multiple stab wounds Tuesday inside her home in Le Leman Lake villa - a (Beijing) residential compound favored by wealthy expatriates." According to other Le Leman Lake residents, "police tried to cover up the killing by saying she died of a heart attack . . . amid speculation a domestic worker was involved in the murder."

Communists warn U.S. on Taiwan, but Taiwanese people have a message of their own: Communist Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing demanded the U.S. take "concrete measures to oppose Taiwan independence forces" (BBC). Meanwhile, a poll of Taiwanese by the Institute for National Policy Research found the people of the island democracy would prefer Li et al to keep their mouths shut: "87.1 percent of respondents believed Taiwan's future should be decided by the Taiwanese people; 88.7 percent were opposed to China's anti-secession law tactic; and more than 85 percent felt the international community should pay attention to the military threat posed by China against Taiwan" (Cybercast News). Only 12% of those polled supported merging with Communist China.

Communists praise Brokeback Mountain director, but cut off his speech and ban his film: According to the Communist-run China Daily (cited by the BBC), "Ang Lee is the pride of Chinese people." However, Ang's kind words for Taiwan and any mention of his film Brokeback Mountain were cut from broadcast by Communist-run television. The movie itself is also illegal in Communist China (fourth item).

Hong Kong politician debunks "new socialist countryside": Hong Kong University Professor Victor Sit decided to move beyond the rubber-stamp mentality of his other job - member of the Communist Parliament - and ripped Premier Wen Jiabao's pie-in-the-sky "new socialist countryside" (thirteenth item) as "merely a political slogan " (United Press International via Washington Times).

Hunger strike news: James Burke, Epoch Times, reports on the recently-ended one-day strike in Australia.

On Communist China and the internet: University of Ottawa Law Professor Michael Geist analyzes how Communist China's desire to censor the internet could very well lead to the regime building its own - and ending the "worldwide" in worldwide web (BBC). Meanwhile, George Koo, of New American Media wins the Ignorant Comment of the Day by insisting no one cares about cyberdissidents in Communist China, and implying that no one should (San Francisco Chronicle).

More on Communist China: Member John Derbyshire, National Review Online, takes note (not for the first time) of Hu Jintao increasingly iron grip (Corner blog).