News of the Day (May 1)

Yours truly very much appreciates the numerous offers of concern for my son, who as expected recovered quickly from a minor illness. In the interim, there was quite a bit of news.

From the China Support Network: The parent org comments on the people (which people?) vs. Dr. Wenyi Wang (third and third items).

From the China Freedom Blog Alliance: Between Heaven and Earth's home page has become painfully slow (which I mention in part to alert the author that something fishy may be going on), but the post pages have no such problem; here's the latest from BHaE on organ harvesting, the Good Doctor, and land seizures. The Korea Liberator was very busy, as one would expect given North Korea Freedom Week. TKL also has posts on the ability of Stalinist North Korea's military to fight, the economics and politics of Kaesong, Stalinist propaganda, refugees and those who help them, abductees, and the latest news.

More on Dr. Wang and the organ harvesting issue: Ethan Gutmann, author of Losing the New China (and Member since 2004) lays out why he believes the Sujiatun witness to whom he spoke, and the parts of this story that are still unknown, in the Weekly Standard. Lev Navrozov (Newsmax) had high praise for The Good Doctor. Dr. Wang herself talked to the Epoch Times. An anonymous doctor who earlier claimed several organ camps existed gives some details to the Epoch Times. The harvesting was condemned by over 1,500 people in Hong Kong to march in protest (Epoch Times), Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian demanded an investigation (Central News Agency, Taiwan, via Epoch Times), transplant surgeons in Australia (Epoch Times), Dr. John Dossetor of Canada (Epoch Times), Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant (Calgary Sun), and the Illinois General Assembly (Epoch Times). Meanwhile, organ "donations" from Communist China are not expected to fall, and may in fact be on the rise (Epoch Times).

Gao Zhisheng on Falun Gong: The human rights attorney (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, seventh, fifth, fourth, last, fifth, seventh, next to last, fourth, last, twenty-first, twenty-second, and seventh items) comes to the spiritual movement's defense in an Epoch Times interview.

Communist China sticks with Iran; Stalinist North Korea sells it missiles that can hit Europe: As Bill Gertz, Washington Times, reports that Communist leader Hu Jintao refused a personal appeal from President Bush to back sanctions against the Iranian mullahcracy, Ha'aretz (Israel) reports that the mullahcracy "has purchased ground-to-ground missiles . . . with a range of 2,500 kilometers" from the Communists' Korean colony. Communist China itself has been a strong ally of the Iranian mullahcracy.

SCO announce more "anti-terrorist" exercises - just before admitting Iran: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization "will hold joint anti-terrorism exercises in Russia next year" (BBC), in part with a supposed eye to "a threat from Islamic militants." Whether this exercise will come before or after the Iranian mullahcracy is admitted as a member (fifteenth item) was not stated.

More on the satellite regimes: Italian authorities blame Iranian agents for a bloody attack on Italy's military forces in Iraq (Washington Times); mullahcratic forces crossed the border into Iraq to attack an anti-regime Kurdish group (London Telegraph). The Stalinists' history of kidnapping Japanese citizens received front-page treatment in Washington, including a visit to the White House (Washington Times) and Congress (Epoch Times) by Sakie Yokota, mother of still missing abduction victim Megumi Yokota; Japan itself is considering economic sanctions against SNK (BBC). Jay Leftkowitz calls for the democratic world to "expand freedom across the entire Korean peninsula" (Worldwide Standard), and President Bush's participation in North Korea Freedom Week (Daily NK) are among the many things creating a "more hopeful spring" in SNK, even as Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il seems ready to name a successor (Asia Times). The U.S. also announced it had "seized some US$50 million of high-quality counterfeit American currency" (Daily NK), likely produced by the Stalinists. Meanwhile, South Korea's National Human Rights Commission receives its first petition "to halt public execution by North Korean government" (Daily NK).

Yahoo caught helping Communists arrest a fourth dissident: Add Wang Xiaoning to the list of cyberdissidents arrested by the Communist regime with the help of Yahoo (Boxun); the other three are, Shi Tao (fourteenth, fifth, lead, third, eighth, seventh, third, fifth, eighth, last, third, fourth, and fourth items), Li Zhi (third, eighth, and eighth items), and Jiang Lijun (eleventh item).

More on the lack of press freedom in Communist China: The Epoch Times has the latest on the case of Yang Tianshui, a freelance writer currently in jail awaiting trial for "subversion."

Hardship money paid to mother of a Tiananmen protestor: The woman's son was killed in 1989 by the regime, but Tiananmen Mothers founder Ding Zilin noted, "hardship assistance does not amount to compensation" (BBC), i.e., an admission by the Communists that they erred on that bloody day in 1989.

Paintings taken off the wall in Dashanzi: The regime called some paintings in Dashanzi politically troubling, so off the walls they went. Said one artist: "This is China and it is still run by the Communist Party. You look outside and see skyscrapers. But a lot isn't modernized" (Christian Science Monitor).

Professor calls for freedom in China: His name is He Weifang; he is (or perhaps by now, was) a professor at Beijing University, and according to the Epoch Times, he broke with the Communist orthodoxy and called for "a multi-party political system, the nationalization of the army and freedom of the press in China."

Communists appoint Catholic Bishop despite Vatican protest: Communist China consecrated Ma Yingling as bishop of Kunming, ignoring a call by the Holy See "for a delay in the appointment over concerns the bishop is inexperienced and too closely aligned with China's communist regime" (BBC). Joseph Cardinal Zen, who made the call on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI, said the move "would be deliberately wrecking China-Vatican negotiations."

Ten million in Communist China threatened by drought: The cadres have admitted that drought has "affected both areas in the north of the country and in Yunnan province in the southwest," (Agence France Presse via Breitbart), and could leave 10 million without drinking water. Of course, what water is there is largely polluted. Speaking of polluted water, the second wave of chemicals from the Jilin plant explosion (seventh, fourth, ninth, fourth, fourth, fifth, fourth, fifth, third, seventh, and tenth items) has entered Russia's Amur River (BBC).

Communist China's Africa ambitions hit a local snag in Nigeria: Just after Hu Jintao "secured four oil drilling licences (UK sp) from Nigeria in a deal involving $4bn in investment" (BBC), a rebel group in Nigeria's oil region threatened anyone affiliated with the Communists' oil exploration in the country (Washington Post). Given the history of the area (Washington Times), this may be the beginning of an extortion attempt. If so, the Communists would certainly not let a few million get in the way of their Africa plans, which also include inroads into Kenya (BBC), Sudan, and possibly Chadian rebels (Washington Times).

United Nations Reform blocked by Communist China and "Group of 77": The quotes are due to the fact that said group actually has 132 nations as members. Either way, the Group "forced a vote on a resolution in the main budget committee that delays action on Annan's management reform proposal for the United Nations for months" (Washington Post); the Communist regime sided with the Group.

Canada file: Jason Kenney- the prime minister’s parliamentary secretary - publicly ripped Uzbekistan for its treatment of Huseyin Celil, who escaped occupied East Turkestan for Canada roughly a decade ago and is now a Canadian citizen (Toronto Star). The East Turkestan Government in exile thanked Ottawa for its actions on Mr. Celil's behalf, and asked it to keep the pressure on. Meanwhile, John Gleeson (Winnipeg Sun) has the latest on the head tax issue (sixth, lead, second, second, second, third, second, and sixth items).

On Tibet: The Pan-Himalayan railway will be open for business on July 1; Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, BBC, examines what that may mean for the Tibetan people.

Enlightened Comment of the Day: Robert Kagan, Washington Post, sounds the alarm bell on Communist China's "informal league of dictators," and noses out Charles R. Smith's latest warning about Hutchison Whampoa (Newsmax via Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).

More on Communist China and the rest of the world: Congressman Peter King (R-New York) calls on Hu Jintao to end "provocations that upset the status quo, from its continuing buildup of missiles aimed at Taiwan to the so-called "anti-secession" law rubber-stamped by China's legislature, to the shifting preconditions for simple talks between Beijing and Taipei" (Washington Times). Willy Lam (China Brief) saw a more assertive - and therefore, dangerous - Hu Jintao during the summit with President Bush; China Brief also had two pieces on Communist China's diplomatic recent forays in Asia in general and Cambodia in particular.