News of the Day (June 12)

From the China Freedom Blog Alliance: The city of Vancouver has reversed its five-year stance and demanded Falun Gong shut down a protest site that has been continuously running since 2001; Between Heaven and Earth sounds the alarm (see also Epoch Times). The Korea Liberator aims the rhetorical double-barrel at the Kaesong outrage (see also United Press Int'l via Washington Times), rejoices in the release of imprisoned refugees in Laos (fourth item), laments the arrest of refugees in Thailand, comments on Stalinist North Korea's dabbling in South Korean politics (see also Daily NK), and has the latest Korean news.

More on the satellite regimes: The Communists' Korean colony issues threats over alleged U.S. spying (BBC). A British manager of a Stalinist bank (am I the only person disturbed by that?) threatens to sue Macao over the freezing of Banco Delta Asia funds (Washington Times and third item). Meanwhile, prices are going up in SNK (Daily NK), and apparently so are attempts against Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il's life (Daily NK). As for Iran, the reaction to America's diplomatic cave-in to the mullahcracy ranged from hopeful (Kristeligt Dagblad, Denmark, via Washington Times) to skeptical (Victor Davis Hanson, Washington Times); Mohammad Parvin, a founder of the Mission for Establishment of Human Rights in Iran, calls for the U.S. to help the Iranian people liberate themselves (and scores the Enlightened Comment of the Day) in National Review Online.

Amnesty International rips Communist arms sales: The human rights group ventured into the arms trade by ripping the Communist regime's litany of arms for dictators as "reckless and dangerous, paying no heed to human rights" (quoted by Epoch Times). Although the anti-Americanism behind the policy was not targeted by AI, the Communists' lies in front of it were: "China describes its approach to arms export licensing as 'cautious and responsible', yet the reality couldn't be further from the truth" (quoted by the BBC).

As the Shanghai Cooperation Organization approaches its fifth anniversary, Heide B. Malhotra and Stephen Gregory (Epoch Times) describe the membership perfectly: "authoritarian regimes that feel threatened by the West's advocacy of democracy and free markets."

Stratfor sees India as next Asian power, courtesy of the United States: The world's largest democracies can gain quite a bit - at Communist China's expense - from working together (The Peninsula, Qatar).

More on Communist China and the United States: A vague warning of possible terrorism in "Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou" (Washington Times) is reported. Trend becomes one of the few journalistic sources to see that the issue of Communist China's currency is not purely economic (via Epoch Times). A "religious exhibit" by a Communist-controlled church shuts its door to a dissident journalist (Epoch Times).

More on Communist China and the rest of the world: Dr. Mohan Malik, Power and Interest News Report, comments on Communist China's ambitions in Latin America. Communist China's monthly trade surplus sets a new record (BBC). Japan offers a standing invitation to Hu Jintao (BBC). Singapore comes closer to mimicking Communist China's treatment of Falun Gong (Asia News).

Fate of Chen Shui-bian captivates Taiwan: Thousands marched in the street calling for the President of Taiwan to step down (Washington Post); opposition lawmakers discusses a recall motion, which is likely to fail (BBC); and reports surface that Lee Teng-hui himself is hoping Chen resigns in favor of Annette Lu, the fiercely anti-Communist Vice President (UPI via Washington Times, see also tenth, fifth, seventh, seventh, nineteenth, and last items).

Ex-Party members reach 11 million: The number of withdrawals now stands at more than one for every 125 citizens, and better than one in seven party members (Epoch Times).

As June 4 fades, Google is unblocked, but internet crackdown continues: The intensity of Communist China's crackdown against the internet no longer includes Google (Boxun). However, "Software companies such as Dynapass, Ultrasurf, Freegate, and Garden Networks, used by thousands of the Mainland Chinese Internet users to get around China's 'Great Firewall' and acquire news and information from outside of China, are losing the battle" against the determined Communist regime (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, last, sixth, eighth, tenth, and thirteenth items), comments on European Parliament Vice-President Edward McMillan-Scott (Epoch Times, see also fourth, seventh, and tenth items), praised the Canadian Sujiatun investigators (Epoch Times, see also fourth item), and provides the Epoch Times more information about the Communist attempts to silence him.

More on the Falun Gong War: Chen Ying talks about her time in a Communist labor camp (Epoch Times).

Whoops! Attempt to copy AWACS technology leads to plane crash: A test-flight of a Communist plane equipped with AWACS technology likely copied from Israel led to a crash which "robbed China of 35 of its best electronic warfare technicians, according to sources in Hong Kong" (London Times).

How bad is the bad loan problem in Communist China? Ernst and Young temporarily put the bad-loan figure at $900 billion (Weekly Standard).

Just in time for Three Gorges Dam's startup, a cadre admitted that "an average of 68 reservoir dams collapse every year in China" (Epoch Times).

More on the ecology in Communist China: The World Bank listed the 20 most polluted cities in the world; sixteen of them are in Communist China (Epoch Times). That fact, plus a growing desertification problem, is exposing Communist China's slogan for their 2008 Games - the "green" Olympics - to be a joke (Epoch Times). Speaking of the Olympics, here's another chance to sign the petition calling for the U.S. to stay home.