News of the Day (May 30)

From the China Freedom Blog Alliance: The Korea Liberator comments on dictator-chic (also on Daily NK), LiNK's Operation Sunshine, the DMZ-train fiasco (see also fourth and fifth items), South Korea's elections, Kaesong, and, well, nearly everything else.

Camp 22 is Stalinist North Korea's camp for chemical tests - on political prisoners: According to the British MI-6, the Stalinists are running a prison camp "larger than Auschwitz or Dachau" (World Net Daily) where "Hundreds of prisoners die there each week, the victims of biological or chemical experiments to test out [chemical and biological] weapons for North Korea's CBW arsenal."

More on the Communists' Korean colony: SNK's Foreign Minister visits Beijing (BBC). The famine returns (Daily NK). The regime tries to use the upcoming visit of Kim Dae-jung (that's the "DJ" to which Daily NK refers) to score political points. William Taylor, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Georgetown University, endorses South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon for Secretary General (Washington Times).

Tiananmen remembered: As the anniversary of the massacre approaches, Xu Yonghai remembers the victims he tried to help on that bloody night (Epoch Times), and the Tiananmen Mothers call for compensation for victims' families (Human Rights in China).

Shanwei survivors sent to jail: Thirteen survivors of the Shanwei massacre were recognized in the manner one would expect from the Communists - with "heavy sentences of three to seven years in jail for crimes of 'detonation, gathering the public to disturb the social order and disrupting traffic'" (Epoch Times).

From Gao Zhisheng: 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, seventh, fourth, sixth, fourth, sixth, eleventh, eleventh, fourth, and last items) turns his thoughts to foreign affairs, and pens the Enlightened Comment of the Day in the Epoch Times. Meanwhile, his would-be client, Dr. Wenyi Wang (third and second, fourth, third, fourth, third, and fourth items) many avoid a needless trial (Epoch Times).

Speaking of Dr. Wang, she spoke to Kevin Steel (Western Standard) about the issue that led her to speak out in Washington: organ harvesting; web cartoonist Pan Qi can speak on that, too - after a car accident that led to surgery, Pan "discovered he was missing a kidney" (Epoch Times). The organ harvesting issue also came up during European Parliament Vice President Edward McMillan-Scott's fact-finding trip to Beijing (Epoch Times, see also fourth item).

Amnesty International highlights Shi Tao in campaign against internet repression: The new campaign focuses on regime repression of the web, and highlights the case of Shi Tao (fourteenth, fifth, lead, third, eighth, seventh, third, fifth, eighth, last, third, fourth, fourth, and lead items) specifically (BBC, which also discussed Communist suppression of the net). Yahoo's help in Shi Tao's arrest has sparked a discussion on the proper behavior of American companies in Communist China (Epoch Times). Meanwhile, Shandong University Professor Sun Wenguang, who "published articles on Web sites many times criticizing the Chinese communist regime's suppression of Falun Gong" had his computer confiscated (Epoch Times).

Zhao Yan to be tried next week: The New York Times researcher who earlier had charges against him dropped will be tried for new charges on June 8 (second, sixth, and tenth items). Report: Washington Post

More on human rights in Communist China: Jim Hoagland (Washington Post) talks to dissident Yu Jie (eighth and last items). A boat race steeped in history is sunk by the regime (Epoch Times).

General Electric to throw in $50 million to clean up Communist ecology: The money will specifically be invested in "developing green technologies" (BBC). It may be too late for the Yangtze River, which has suffered so much from pollution it could become "a 'dead river' within five years" (BBC).

Software piracy in Communist China at 86% in 2005 - and that's good news: How so? Because in 2004, the percentage of software that was illegal - according to the Business Software Alliance - was at 90% (United Press International via Washington Times).

More on Communist China and the rest of the world: The Washington Times runs a condensed version of William Hawkins' warning about loose technology export controls to Communist China (second item). The paper's editors warned about the Communists' plans for Latin America. Bertil Lintner, formerly of the Far Eastern Economic Review, examines the situation in the Not-so-Russia Far East (Asia Times). The regime plans to "deepen military exchanges" (Washington Times) with India.